maskormenacelogs | Troll Hunting

Entry tags:

Troll Hunting

WHO: "Leander" aka Walter Strickler, and you!
WHERE: Jeopardy
WHEN: January 21, in the late evening
WHAT: There's a new cryptid in town! And some petty criminals.
WARNINGS: Possible violence.

[It's been a while since he's been in his troll form. True form, perhaps, but it's hard to take that thought apart. He's been avoiding it since he got here, instead relishing in the old comforts of his humanity. But if he wasn't summoned by some misguided clarion call for heroism, this is all he would be, forever. When he sighs, the air rumbles out of him in an alien growl. He'll have to go back home someday, so he needs to get used to himself again. In a practical sense as well, he needs to know whether the nanites have affected his ability to exist in this skin.

And thus he finds himself standing alone on a darkened rooftop in Jeopardy at night, stretching his wings out to their full width and cracking the stiffness out of his stony joints. If the dangers of this world are as prevalent as he's heard, he needs to be able to rely on his inhuman strengths. So tonight he's getting re-acclimated to his troll form. He's chosen this particular city in hopes that he might be written off by most of the locals as a trick of the light, or a side effect of the ever-present radiation.

Though he's certainly not being as careful as he would be... It's known that the Porter can bring people who aren't human, and if he ever expects to use this form in a real emergency, he needs to make himself known to at least a few people. The obvious answer is to try and spark a bit of attention, and from there he can try to make a good first impression as “Leander”.]

A - Above the city
[Maybe you've heard the rumors in town tonight, or you're watching the quiet buzz unfold on the late-night corners of social media. There's something skulking around Jeopardy right now. Some even claim that it has attacked people on the outskirts of town. The description is a bit more than the standard shadow... The longtime locals don't seem to notice it much (or care), but maybe you'll have better luck encountering this unknown creature.

When you find him, he'll be somewhere on the rooftops of Jeopardy. He's an odd sight: a seven foot tall troll with long horns, sharp fangs, and glowing green eyes. He has enormous bat-like wings that he uses to take short flights between buildings, and tucks behind a frilled cape when he lands. His body is humanoid, but the limbs are a little too long, and his skin has the appearance of smooth, carved stone rather than flesh. He doesn't appear to be doing anything other than exploring the city.]

B - Outskirts
[Leander isn't the only one stalking around Jeopardy tonight. A small group of criminals have been committing petty thefts and muggings on the edge of town for a couple of days now, catching unsuspecting nuclear plant employees on their way home late at night. It's the perfect opportunity to use his abilities for something positive. But when he tries to stop one of the suspects in the act, both the mugger and victim begin screaming bloody murder.

And this is the sight you're likely to stumble upon in the alleyway: one terrified man wearing a respirator mask and wielding a hammer, one cowering nuclear plant employee on the ground, and a tall, somewhat startled troll looming in the shadows.]

C -Wildcard
((You're welcome to create our own prompt! And feel free to contact me at

genalovestoons if you want to plan anything out first.))

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[ It's been weeks since Catra has arrived in this world, and still, she is restless. She has little sense of direction or time, and spends days or nights exploring, depending on when she feels like it.

So it happens that tonight, she has chosen Jeopardy for her ventures; it's not the first time, either. There's something about the atmosphere that both rouses her curiosity and makes it feel strangely familiar -- and starkly foreign at the same time. It gives her the creeps, and yet she feels herself drawn back here again and again.

She seeks higher ground, as she often does to gain a sliver of a feeling of safety, the comfort of spatial advantage; so she jumps across the rooftops, sometimes in bipedal mode, sometimes on all fours.

It is when she is crouching atop the ridge of a roof that she first sees it: a tall, winged skin with marble skin and glowing eyes. Catra's eyes widen; it's the first time she sees anything quite like this here. She decides to quietly tail the stranger for now. ]

[He hears Catra well before he sees her. The light, irregular footfalls clue him in, and he could almost laugh at the absurdity of it. Of course it's her. He lets her follow behind from a distance, leading her off to a less populated area of town.

He waits until she's close enough for him to see her, and unexpectedly turns on his heel to face her directly. He flares his wings open in an aggressive display. It even alters the position of his cloak, making the collar of blades around his neck hackle like feathers.

His voice is completely different from his human one. It's a deep, growling register that makes his words rumble in his chest.]

Who are you?

[ When he turns around to face her, Catra stops in her tracks, eyes widening in surprise. She observes his intimidating display, feeling a too familiar kind of fear prickling at her neck.

Oh. This, she knows how to deal with. She stands up tall and lets a smirk form on her lips. ]

Let's just say... a curious observer. How 'bout you?

[Walter already knows who Catra is. He knows that while she can certainly defend herself, he’s not in any immediate danger against her right now.

But “Leander” need to be a believably different person. He's out of his element and still trying to determine friend from foe. His lowers his wings a bit and squints down at her suspiciously.]

So am I.

[ Catra meets his gaze, her initial fear quickly abating as she switches into her big-scary-person-surivival-mode. ]

Yeah? You're a bit conspicuous to be skulking about.

[Leander's eyes widen and his posture stiffens- but it's a visibly awkward, embarrassed reaction. His wings slip back under the cover of his cloak.]

I'm aware.

[ In turn, Catra quirks an eyebrow, a bit surprised by the change in demeanor. She relaxes a fraction. ]

So. Just here to observe, huh? No heroics, no nefarious plans?

[He scowls.] No. I’m here to help. That’s what they told me.

[He doesn’t sound sure. In fact, his whole demeanor seems to indicate that his earlier intimidation act was defensive, and he’s unsure about all of this in general.]

[ Catra's eyeroll and derisive scoff go through her whole body. ]

That's what they tell everyone here. Do you really buy all that stuff?

Edited 2019-01-23 12:53 (UTC)

Would you prefer the alternative?

[She's not the only one who can be snarky. Though there's a certain edge to his tone that says you would not like the alternative.]

I don't have a problem with humans. I'm just not used to this.

[ ... well. Isn't that interesting. ]

Meaning?

Most trolls don't tolerate humans, so you're lucky I can. But it's the ‘helping’ part that is... difficult.

[ She musters him with renewed interest. ]

So, you're a troll, huh? Haven't met one of those before.

You wouldn't have. We keep to ourselves.

[He gives her another glance-over as well.]

And what are you supposed to be?

[ Of course, she looks offended. ]

Uhh, I'm me.

I meant you're not a human, obviously. You smell like a cat.

[Hi, how's that for offensive.]

[ Now she's just pulling a face. ]

I mean, yeah, I'm a cat person of some kind.

'Of some kind?'

[He tilts his head to the side with an amused snort. In truth, he is a bit confused, but he doubts that Catra knows the finer points of her origin.]

Whatever. It's not that important. What do they call you?

[ She eyes him, pondering the question for a second. But she's given her name out so many times, so what's one more? ]

Hmph. Name's Catra. What about you?

Leander.

[He has used this false name in the past, so there's no uncertainty in the way he gives it.]

If you have no interest in helping these humans, why are you out here?

[ Eyeroll. ]

What, I can't even be out and about without some superhero mission?

[It doesn't matter what identity or form he takes, Catra is always the same.]

I asked because I don't know, obviously. I don't know what you people spend most of your time doing.

[ Well, that takes the wind out of the sails of mild outrage. ]

Oh.

[He huffs in exasperation.]

Would you prefer I leave you to your skulking?

[ Huffs back!! ]

Whatever. Do what you want.

I’ll do that.

[He unfurls wings out from under his cloak and steps back, eyeing her once more before taking off into the night.]

After all those weird spider toys turning up, Jonathan decides to attend one of those spider masses...as a human, of course, because his goal here was to be inconspicuous. Again, they didn't do anything that made them seem suspicious (other than worshiping a spider goddess), so he starts walking back to the porter..

At least, until he passes an alley with a troll, a power plant employee, and a man in a respirator mask. Jonathan pauses, staring for a moment.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt but...what exactly is going on here?"

The question seems to knock them out of their scared stupor. The man in the respirator mask and the troll accidentally talk over each other in their attempt to get Jonathan's help, with one voice muffled and the other rasping and deep. They even point at each other, in an absurdly childish ‘he did it!’ move.

”That thing tried to kill me!”

“He was going to attack that man!”

The power plant employee just wails on the ground.

"Right, got it! He tried to kill you, because you tried to attack that man, is that right?" he asks the man, a devious grin spreading across Jonathan's face.

He knows he can't actually trust what's being said to be accurate, of course, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy watching this man's reaction when he sees that Jonathan is accepting the green guy's accusation. As much of his reaction as Jonathan can see, anyway.

He takes a step toward the man. "I guess that explains the mask. You know, there are a lot more comfortable ways to disguise your face. Ever heard of a ski mask?"

His face may not be visible, but it’s very clear from his body language that this isn’t the way that the masked man wanted this to go. He staggers backwards at Jonathan’s approach until his back is flush against the wall.

Leander also takes this opportunity to step closer, reaching out to try and take the hammer out of the assailant’s shaking hand. But instead the man takes a swing at him, and then a few wider ones around himself, blindly swinging in Jonathan's direction as well. He’s panicking, and his body seems to be choosing fight instead of flight.

Jonathan rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Okay, let me take that way from you before somebody--" Jonathan takes a step toward the man, attempting to grab the hammer, only to get clocked in the head with a wild swing.

"Ow!"

He staggers back, gripping his head, eyes screwed shut for a moment as he reeled in pain. Then Jonathan suddenly opens his eyes, revealing that they've reverted to their natural state. Their apparent similarity to Strickland's eyes, with their slit pupils and yellow hue, seems to make the man panic even more, and Jonathan raises his hand just in time to stop another swing that the man more purposefully swings in his direction.

"Stop that!"

Well. That's certainly interesting.

He only takes a moment to balk at the strikingly similar feature before he rushes to Jonathan's aide. He comes up behind the masked man, grabs him by the wrists, and lifts him straight off the ground. The uncomfortable angle of his hands causes him to drop the hammer, which cracks loudly against Leander's stone forearm on the way down. He hisses and holds the man out at length like a bag of particularly foul garbage.

"AHH! Let me go! Help! Somebody!"

He screams and flails as much as he can, but having his arms above him is restraining. The commotion is finally enough to scare away the nuclear plant employee for good, who takes off running into the night.

Leander sighs and looks to the other golden-eyed hero.

"Any ideas what we should do with him?"

"I don't know. Tie his legs together and hang him upside down from a lamp post?"

Judging by the continued cries and flailing, the man didn't much like that idea.

"Or we could take the mask off turn him in to the police. But hanging him from a lamp post sounds more fun. Maybe we could combine the two? Hang him on a lamp post in front of the police station with a note? I'm sure they should be able to track down that runaway witness."

Edited 2019-02-03 05:06 (UTC)

He cracks a wide grin at the prospect, and his voice growls a bit at the edges. "I like the way you think!"

He adjusts his grip on the masked man. It's not a great way to hold a person up, but anything else might put them at risk of being kicked. At least the poor circulation seems to be tiring him out quicker.

"There's some rope further down in the alley. Probably somebody's clotheslines, but it's going to a good cause.."

Jonathan grins.

"I'll go get it."

He runs down the alley, fetching the clothesline and returning. Rope is cheap, and he could always replace it later for them.

"Ready to do this?"

"With pleasure."

Leander makes quick work of tying up their abductee with most of the rope, which makes him much easier to carry. It's a short walk to the Jeopardy Police station, and thankfully there aren't many people out on this side of town, this late at night.

There's a lamp post across the street and in clear view of the station. They'll have to move fast if they want to do this without being caught in the act. Leander passes the tied up man over to Jonathan, and shifts his large wings out from under his cloak. With a few quick wingbeats, he flies up and lands on the top of the pole. He kneels carefully and reaches one clawed hand toward them.

"Toss me the end of the rope, quickly."

Jonathan's enhanced strength becomes apparent when he easily takes the struggling man from Leander, slinging his body over his shoulder. While the man desperately tries to wiggle free, Jonathan's steely grip is too much for him to make any headway. He simply waits until Leander's request, and quickly tosses the other end of the rope up to the flying troll.

"Nice wings. Those must come in handy."

He catches the rope with a smirk. “It has its moments.”

Jonathan’s strength doesn’t surprise him much. In fact, it all seems to make more sense with each passing similarity. He’s almost convinced that he’s somehow stumbled into another changeling, but he's not sure. He wouldn't want to give up his identity, in any case...

Once the rope is tied securely to the outstretched pole, Leander leaps off of his perch and lands behind Jonathan.

"That ought to hold him."

"Great job! Now, let's get out of here before someone sees us."

Not that they are technically breaking the law, since he's pretty sure a citizen's arrest is a thing, but he'd rather avoid any confusion on that front.

"Good idea. Though we probably shouldn't leave him out here forever..."

The upside-down orientation is not good for their captive, who is now too disoriented and exhausted to properly scream for help. No one will come out at this rate. He plucks one of the feather-shaped knives from his collar and flings it across the street, shatter a light on the exterior of the police station. The result is immediate, and already the shadow of a person inside can be seen approaching the door.

"Now we run!"

Leander bolts toward a nearby alley, aiming for the fire escape inside.

Jonathan follows his lead, ducking into the alley so he can race up the fire escape as well. He's hoping they'll be too focused on getting the man down to follow them, but he can't be sure.

"Hey," he pants as he races up toward the roof, "When you fly, can you carry another person?"

Because if not, going to the roof might not be the best plan for someone who has no other way to go back down other than using that same fire escape.

“You asking for a lift?”, he asks with a grin.

He stops and holds his arms out to Jonathan. He can carry people, and it's honestly not a bad idea at the moment. While it's clear from the rising ruckus below them that the police are mostly interested in the dangling man, a fast getaway will save them both a lot of trouble.

"If you could," he says, smiling when he sees Leander put his arms out, and he climbs into the changeling's arms.

Sure, they weren't paying attention now, but he was sure they'd wonder sooner or later who had done this, and it certainly wouldn't do for people to say that they saw him leaving the scene of the crime. He was, of course, hoping that the man either wouldn't be believed when he described what had happened, or that his description wouldn't be clear enough to confirm their identities. Granted, his hopes weren't high for Leander not being identified, but Jonathan figures he still has a shot.

Leander hasn't made himself incredibly public yet, but that wouldn't last long if he were connected to something of questionable legality like this. He lifts Jonathan with ease and crouches low to prepare for takeoff. The cloak vanishes from around his shoulders and his wings fold out to their full width. In a great burst of air, Leander launches them high into the night sky, and for one heart-dropping moment they fall. But there's enough air for the wings to catch onto and push forward, which settles quickly into the steady wing beat rhythm of flight. They're high enough to avoid the glow of any streetlights below.

Jonathan likely saw the appearance of Leander's skin before, but now that he's being held in his arms it's undeniably made of smooth, cool stone. In close quarters, it's also easy to see that there are markings carved into his body; across the arms, chest, and chin.

"Unless you have somewhere particular in mind," he says at last, "I can leave you on the other side of town."

"Yeah, that'll work. Unless you just want to leave me near the porter, and then I can zip to another city entirely."

All he cares about is getting far enough away that he's unlikely to be associated with any of this as quickly as possible. As they fly, he looks at the carved marks in this flying stone individual's skin.

"Nice markings. Are they kind of like tattoos?"

Edited 2019-03-16 00:32 (UTC)

The question seems to catch him off guard for a moment. ”I suppose so, yes. They’re carvings.”

He doesn’t delve further into what they might mean, or why he has them. Instead he glides downward in the direction of Jeopardy’s porter. They land softly in the shadow of a nearby building, and Leander helps Jonathan get his feet back onto solid ground.

”Leaving town will be the safest option for you.”

"Yeah," he agrees once he's on his feet again, turning to head toward the porter before pausing. "What about you? Do you have a plan for yourself?"

"I'll be fine. I have somewhere to hide out for tonight, but I may not stay in Jeopardy much longer," he shakes his head with a faint, crooked smile. "This place is a bit too bizarre for me."

"Yeah, can't blame you. Well, see you around."

Jonathan gives one final wave before turning and heading toward the porter.

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Troll Hunting

Above the city

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Outskirts

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