Application for Rachel Morgan; Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series

[racheltherunner]

((For playability reasons, Rachel is being taken from the end of Dead Witch Walking, the first in her series. Just for clarification, the italicized portions are her answers. The rest is just...for your reading pleasure, I suppose. XD))I walked into the room, the clack of my boots on the stone floor echoing around. Huh. This was...interesting

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[makeminemayday]

A small, brown-and-white English bulldog puppy (although it's hard to tell since she's a bit dirty) trots into the Sorting Room, trotting as fast as her short legs will carry her. She toddles over to Rachel, sniffing curiously.

"Alley! Where are you?" A teenage girl, wearing a bandanna and overalls and carrying a towel, pokes her head in the room. "There you are! Get back here, silly!" She sees Rachel then. "Oh, geez. I'm sorry. Alley!"

[racheltherunner]

Ooh, a dog! I liked dogs. Crouching down, I grinned at the puppy, scratching behind her ears. Glancing up at who I can only assume is the dog's owner, I shrugged. "Hey, no worries. Cute dog. Alley, you said her name was?" Kind of an odd name for a bulldog, but hey. I've heard worse.

((Reposted because I <3 tenses. *facepalm*))

[makeminemayday]

((Sorry! Had no net access for a few hours there. Oh, and from skimming the responses, Rachel might be able to pick up that May isn't a normal human.))

Attention whore that she is, Alley licks Rachel's hand, then plops down and rolls onto her back, obviously inviting the new worshiper to scratch her belly.

May laughs, kneeling down beside the dog. "Oh, and she knows it, too. Don't you?" Alley just gives her a tongue-lolling grin. "It's short for Alley-Oop, really. May be silly, but it's the first name she approved of." She uses the opportunity to wipe off some of the excess dirt with the towel and Alley whines. "Don't you look at me like that. You're the one that decided to go mud-sliding down that hill."

"Anyway, hi, I'm May. You just got here, I take it?"

[racheltherunner]

((No worries! XD And, yeah, Rache would probably notice the different smell, but not know exactly what. :D No superheroes in her canon, alas!))

A laugh bubbled out at the oh-so-obvious plea for attention, and I rubbed Ally's belly. "You just want some loving, don't you, girl?" I asked the dog, mock-seriously. "And a mud sliding? Now that sounds like fun."

I glanced up at the girl. Hmm...she didn't have that normal 'human' smell about her, but nothing else obvious, either. Mentally shrugging, I grinned up at her. I was no pixy. God knew that unless it was the scent of rosewood heralding at least a wizard, I was useless mostly. "Hello, May. I'm Rachel. And, yeah, just arrived. Apparently I'm waiting for votes."

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Hi, I'm Laura. *waves*

What's Inderland Security, and what's a living vampire runner?

Also, I'm so claiming the ink pen. Quills...well.

[racheltherunner]

I grinned, rolling my eyes a little and handing her the pen. "Yeah, what's the deal with that? I mean, I get the whole 'atmosphere' thing, but dear God, get a Bic." Then her questions hit me and I paused, puzzled. "Er...Inderland Security is the department set up to oversee Inderlanders." Way to explain it, Rache. "You know, non-humans. Since the Turn."

I was honestly a bit gobsmacked. Since when did people not know about the I.S.? "And a living vampire runner is... Well, a living vamp. Who's a runner." I laughed, running one hand through my hair. Right. This...was going well. "A runner is basically a detective and a cop all in one. Or a bounty hunter. We go after black witches, warlocks practicing without a witch license, vamps bespelling the unwilling, leprachauns for tax evasion," here I couldn't help a little snort. Damn Denon. That run had been down right insulting, "Weres and brimstone dealers, you know. Any Inderlander breaking the law."

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Thanks. *takes the pen* Couldn't agree more. Quills get old real quick. Try taking notes standing up outdoors with one sometime, or better yet, don't.

...Okay. I think what we've got here is slightly differing realities. We have some of those concepts here? But not organized in quite the way you're describing. Like, we have a Ministry of Magic, but not an Inderland Security. Aurors, but not Runners.

Let's start with this - did you come to Hogwarts on purpose, or just sort of appear here unawares? Both things happen fairly often here.

[racheltherunner]

Right, so... Wait, what? "Different realities?" Oh, man, Ivy was going to kill me. "I - Kind of on purpose, I guess. At least, I thought so. I intended to go to a magic school. But this..." I paused, shoulders sagging slightly. "This isn't Cincinnati, is it?"

I was so dead.

[soggynotecards]

*The Nobody's eyes widen.* Vampires? Those things exist outside of Halloween Town?

[racheltherunner]

Blinking, I found myself saying, "Halloween Town? That exists outside of a bedtime story?"

Oh, nice, Rachel. Good first impression.

[soggynotecards]

*Demyx nods.* Well, it's another world... unless you're in Halloween Town, which we aren't at the moment, obviously. I've never been there myself, actually, but I know it exists.

*He gives his most winning smile.* I'm Demyx, by the way.

[racheltherunner]

"Another world," I repeated slowly. Ok, and I was officially freaking out. "Rachel," extending my hand, I tried to smile. "Rachel Morgan. Nice to meet you, er, Demyx." What the hell kind of name was that? "So... If you've never been to Halloween Town, how do you know it exists? I mean, other worlds? Kind of...not a normal concept, if you know what I mean."

In other words: Are you a crazy person and should I get the straight jacket?

[castleinthesnow]

Sansa read the application carefully - she wasn't the best reader and did not enjoy it, but she managed as well as she had to - and frowned slightly. Was she the only girl woman in this world who didn't fight like a man? That was a depressing thought.

All the same, she curtseyed in greeting. It was easier to behave like everyone was nobly born, here, rather than trying to work out who was smallfolk and who was not. "Welcome to Hogwarts, my lady. If you don't mind the question, what do tomatoes have to do with bars?"

[racheltherunner]

I very nearly snorted right out loud. And I thanked the Turn that Jenks wasn't around to hear that - I would never live down someone calling me a lady. "Er," I started, wondering absently if I should curtsy back or something. Deciding that I'd probably fall on my ass if I tried - which was less than dignified - I simply smiled in what I hoped was a friendly manner. "Nothing, really. Except most humans won't touch a tomato with a ten-foot pole and naming it after one would pretty much keep most out. Having a mixed-species license is expensive."

[castleinthesnow]

Sansa stared blankly for a moment, then shifted, trying to keep from looking like a stupid girl. Too late. "Ah... why not? Tomatoes aren't particularly frightening." And I know fear.

[racheltherunner]

And a blank stare right back by the girl in the red halter top. "The...Turn?" I managed with a squeak. Oh, for the love of God, this had to be one of those idiotic hidden-camera shows, right? Right?

I twisted around, eyes scanning the walls for some sign of the camera crew or the balloons or Ivy and Jenks hiding behind a false partition waiting to laugh at me as soon as I freaked out. No such luck.

Turning back to the girl, swallowing hard, I asked, "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

[clockwork_elf]

The tall elf girl glances over the application with good-natured amusement. Watch enough of these and they're all a little funny.

"I suppose I shall graciously just eavesdrop rather than heckle you about this Turn you keep mentioning, so instead: what, pray tell, is a white earth witch?"

[racheltherunner]

Ok, I was pretty sure this was a fellow Inderlander, or whatever the equivalent here would be, and, unconsciously, I let out a small sigh of relief. Not that I had anything against humans. I just...wasn't used to hanging around so many of them all at once. Especially not without some non-norms with me. I didn't know what she was, but she didn't smell human and, at this point, I thought I'd even be glad to see a vamp pulling an aura. At least that would be familiar.

"Earth witch means I draw my power from the earth. Plants, animals, that sort of thing. White means I don't use black magic and my sacrifices - all magic requires a balance and, therefore, a sacrifice - are pretty tame. Chopping up a root as opposed to a live chicken."

[clockwork_elf]

An eyebrow quirks upward slightly at the relieved sigh. "Ahhh." Tick-Tick grins. "Your magic is of the vegan kind. I see." She rubs ineffectually at a streak of grease on her wrist and considers. "I would make trenchant commentary at the notion of sacrificial magic, but I am more machinist than mage, even now. Inderland, now, that's a rather odd duck of a name."

[racheltherunner]

I snorted slightly, but grinned. "You could put it that way." I noted the grease and raised an eyebrow slightly. "You say mechanic and mage as if it was a one or the other type of decision. And Inderlander is a catch-all term for non-humans, where I'm from."