maskormenacelogs | find some kind of glow

[ As he tails her, he has to wonder why he's bothering with her in the first place if this is all some kind of joke to her. He grumbles quietly under his breath, trying to match her pace. ]

Aren't you supposed to ask first before going anywhere?

Under normal circumstances, you would be right. [ How ominous that must sound. ] You don't happen to know any wide open spaces nearby? Preferably the sort without people.

"Normal" circumstances?

[ His eyes narrow, trying to parse the meaning of her words.

He finally catches up to her, though he keeps some distance between his shoulder and hers, eyeballing those spikes still. ]

You would have to head out of the city for that. Maybe a forest...

[ Hey, it's not all spikes. At least ogle the cool fur trim some, gosh! ]

And it would take how long to walk to a forest from here...?

That would take a while... probably a couple of hours or longer.

[ He tilts his head, curious. ]

Why do you ask?

That may be a little too far...

[ Ah, yes, but why does she ask. Hawke tosses a quick glance back over her shoulder again. ]

Something's been following me for the past hour and I'd much rather confront it somewhere wide open and lacking in extra targets.

Edited 2015-03-19 16:45 (UTC)

What?

[ Gil sobers up instantly and he quickly turns his head to look around them, trying to make out anything that might be suspicious. He doesn't see anything, but he actually finds it difficult to believe this woman would lie to him about that.

And him without his guns either.

Perhaps he's far more on edge than he normally is in these situations. Recent events have left him vigilant. ]

A person?

I don't think so. Whatever it is, it's too low to the ground to be a person. I thought it was only more dogs at first, but they aren't usually shy about running up to me.

[ It'd be so much nicer if it were just friendly dogs, so much nicer. ]

The ground...?

[ Immediately, Gil takes a second look behind them, focusing on the sidewalk specifically. Again, there's no trace of anything unusual. For now it's just the two of them, though this doesn't ease away his concerns. ]

You should get inside a building. Someplace high, maybe. If it's that low to the ground, it might not be able to follow you if you get to higher ground.

[ If something is indeed following, it doesn't seem inclined to show itself. There's a reason Hawke doesn't bother with looking back after them too much, damn thing hid better once she caught on. ]

Or I end up leading it right through someone's building. All right, new plan. I'm going to cut through the next alley and wait. That only gives it two ways to come at me from, so that should... work.

[ Probably. ]

You keep walking, though thank you for the help.

[ Or maybe just for the concern, but knowing there aren't any good wide open spaces around did help her narrow down her options. ]

There's no way I can leave you to face whatever this is by yourself.

[ As odd as this has been, Gil isn't selfish enough to abandon anyone, especially a woman (no matter how powerful she is) in the face of oncoming danger.

Who knows what it is, but the odds are two against one is better. ]

[ That earns him a grin. ]

Even if whatever it is might kill us? Are you so sure you want to risk that for a stranger?

We're not going to die.

[ Spoken with a firm resolve. He's been close to death in the past few weeks, but just that. He isn't going to be killed so easily. After all, he has promises to keep. ]

Whatever it is, I'm sure we can face it together.

He boldly declared right before they both got themselves killed. [ Not that she's much better, it's just she tries not to announce how much she isn't going to die out loud so often. ] Here.

[ At the next alley they pass, some narrow path between two tall buildings, stuck in perpetual shadow, she turns, stepping away from the sidewalk and strolling onward up until she reaches about midway. There, she'll stop. There, she'll wait, picking one end of the alley to watch. ]

[ So much for a trouble-free day. Without his guns, all he has is Raven's power which he needs use cautiously. He scours the alleyway for something he can use as a makeshift weapon, finding a broken wooden plank, sturdy enough to do some damage to the head. ]

You never got a look at whatever it was?

[ She didn't exactly bring her staff along, either, so it looks as though they're both without proper weapons. Well, almost. Hawke doesn't make any move to pick up anything to use as one, instead just standing, standing and waiting. ]

I wouldn't be as worried if I had. [ Yes, this is worried. This is totally worried! ] Just so long as it isn't a spider...

[ Though those really only stick to caves and, thankfully (or not thankfully at all), they'll find out soon enough that it really, really isn't a spider. It is, however, still gross. Something comes prowling around the corner of the far side of the alley, low to the ground like she'd said. It's on all fours and low to the ground, growling in dual due to having-- ]

Oh. So it is a dog. Kind... of? Do those normally have two heads around here?

[ Two heads, no fur, and definitely not looking friendly.

Worse, a second one follows after it, then a third, but this time from the other end of the alley. ]

[ He braces himself, shoulders taut with tension and heels digging as far as they can go into pavement. He tries to ready himself for whatever it is trying to corner them in this alleyway, but once it's revealed itself to be some kind of abomination of a dog he loses all train of thought. ]

What the hell is that?

[ He quickly looks at Hawke, shaking his head in response. ]

I've never seen a dog like that before... if it's even a dog.

[ Two heads somehow don't help much in determining if he can label it a dog.

When more rear their heads around the corner, he has to look at the plank in his hand with wary. ]

... shit. There's too many.

Oh, there's only, what? One, two, three, four... Six, if we count all heads.

[ She backs up a few paces. Gilbert will just have to deal with going back to back with a strange lady for now, because she'd rather these things not wriggle past and get between them. ]

Look, on the count of three, switch places with me. There's only one on this end. [ And once she's said that, the alley suddenly brightens, lit up by whatever power Hawke pulls to her, the glimmer of magic collecting in her gauntlet-covered hand, along with a thin layer of frost. The air around them grows cold. ] One, two... three!

[ She'll turn to the side and move to slide past Gilbert, to take his place in facing the two abominations instead and just hoping he'll move as well. Funny as it would be to trip over one another, well... ]

[ Gil jumps as the bright light expands, his gaze flicking over to the source: Hawke's hand. He's temporarily distracted by that display of power and the breath of air visible before his face when it's expelled from his mouth.

When Hawke moves, there's a delay before Gil snaps into action as well. His grip on the plank tightens and when one of the mutant dogs draws near, he swings it as hard as he can into its face in the hopes it'll be startled enough to back off.

It growls instead while flinching back, beady eyes dead set on Gil. ]

An alleyway probably wasn't the best spot!

It was the only contained place I could think of!

[ Admittedly, that also meant they were contained, but it was better than being out in the streets. In her mind, anyway. Once she's on the side facing the pair, she sweeps her hand out, releasing the spell she'd pulled out the air. A wall of spikes, made entirely of thick ice, violently shoot up seemingly from the ground, lots of them, all angling towards the charging mutants.

It makes an awful lot of noise, but not so loud as the reedy, drawn out screech the lead dog lets out when its poor timing puts it in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was charging, charging right into the ice when it erupted out of thin air like that.

The other one, however, takes a detour. Rather than trying its luck with the wall, its first stop is to leap up on a bin, then over. ]

...damn. Clever basta-- WHOA! [ And then leaping aT HER, NO, NO. She shoves her armored arm at the snapping jaws of the first head and stumbles backwards against Gil. The other head, uh, well, she's trying to keep that pushed away. ] Down! Bad... dog! Bad monster dog!

[ Swaying the plank back and forth isn't frightening off the dog(s) edging near him. If anything, it agitates them further and then leap toward Gil with every intention of sinking their fangs into his leg. He's able to narrowly dodge the bite, realizing he might have no choice but to invoke some of Raven's power when his foot slips on some frost on the ground and he skids straight into Hawke. ]

Watch out!

[ This is why you don't claim how much they aren't going to die at the start of combat, Gilbert, this is why. She's stumbling backwards under the weight of the monster on her arm, he's skidding into her thanks to the ice, and that's how they both end up in a heap on the floor of the alley. ]

Oh, good, this is going so well! [ At least she doesn't sound upset! More like... humorously strained. ] Be a dear and keep your head down real quick, would you?

[ Because her next spell is going to be a sudden burst of telekinetic force, enough to throw anything (or anyone) not already down or firmly attached to anything a few meters away. Hopefully into walls, but we'll see.

Unfortunately, the one on her is firmly attached to her arm and she has to punch the second head a few times before she can free her other hand, twist around, and gesture violently at the one leaping at Gil. That one's open and fair game, even if the other one isn't. ]

[ Everything's out of focus for a few seconds and there's an annoying ringing in his right ear, but he can still hear how close those two-headed dogs are. Actually, how close they're getting now that Hawke and Gil lie on the slippery floor. He cracks open an eye just in time to see Hawke cast her spell, obliging her by ducking his head as it shoots forth.

Everything is happening so fast. He scrambles back for the plank that's slipped from his hands, but the dog focused on him steps over it, preventing him from snatching it back. Both heads watch him closely, snarling with sharp teeth bared, saliva dripping in a repulsive fashion from its chin.

Gil takes a deep breath, trying not to allow the adrenaline pumping through him to overtake all rational thought. He doesn't have his guns which makes killing them harder to accomplish and being a narrow alleyway only lends to that issues. However, this is the only way to keep it contained. There's been enough collateral damage around these parts in the past month.

He lifts his left hand, pulling off the glove to expose the skin and gets to his feet, knees shaking. As the dog dives back toward him, he takes a step back and waves his arm, a black streak following closely. It smacks one of the dog's faces and knocks it back a few feet, earning a surprised whimper from it. ]

What else can you do?

[ He steps toward Hawke, keeping his back to hers. ]

Get my arm chewed off, that's what!

[ She's down longer than he is, wrestling with the two-headed monstrosity that has yet to let go. The second head has recovered from the punches it took, snapping at her all over again. In the end, she has to fall back to drastic measures. She'd been trying to avoid fire up until this point, but...

There are sparks, red flames suddenly bursting into life at her fingertips, so when the second head snaps at her again, jaws close enough that, just not for very long. Before it can really take a chunk out of her, she lets the fire build and then releases the spell, letting a fireball erupt right into the back of its mouth.

Both heads react, immediately opening two sets of teeth and Hawke can finally kick the creature away. ]

Okay... there... [ She pants, wiping her hand against the leather and cloth of her top, as if that might ward away the blisters soon to come. ] That. I can do that. I can do a lot. You?

[ He's ready to jump into the fray, but Hawke manages to save her own hide without too much difficulty. Even if he wanted to jump in, the flames that materialize from her hands catch him off guard and he's ready to throw an arm up to shield himself from the scorching heat. When the dogs are knocked back, he positions himself once more near to Hawke, his glove tossed aside and a couple of black feathers lying at his feet. ]

It's hard to use my chain's power in a narrow space like this. I can block attacks for now... so you'll have to be on the offense.

[ They can do this, he tells himself. If he covers her, rather than them working separately, together they can kill these freakish dogs before the use of Raven's power exhausts him. ]

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