DIY DK Pest Control (Traejan, Sego, RP Log)
(( cross-posted from tumblr ))
Sego is italicized. Traejan is normal.
It had been a long morning of trying to keep the production of the shop going and making sure Beast didn’t lick his slash wound on his shoulder. Though Sego had disinfected, stitched, and applied some Light mending to it, the wound could be irritated and infected if he kept bothering it. Overall, Sego though he was being a huge baby about the whole thing and pulled his head away from the wound every time he tried going for it.
In hindsight she thought it was probably a bad idea to so quickly give the Death Knight instructions to her house, but she was in a neutral town now, and when her shop opened she would have to expect Horde visitors
She busied herself while waiting, and is currently marking the wall where the swinging door is going to separate the perfume part of her shop from the tattoo area in the rear. Her hair is pinned back and the dress she’s wearing is more practical for house work than stylish.
At least she had given him clear directions. He -had- actually wondered. Associating with the Alliance brought with it all sorts of prejudices just for the sake of having them, actually. He wasn’t doing it right if he didn’t automatically expect things to be done backwards. Regardless, he had found his way to the two-story house, and approached it as any normal person would. He gave a short but firm knock on the door, waiting patiently alongside his ghoul who was also standing on her doorstep.. as if that was common practice.
Beast knew someone was approaching the house before Sego, and was already on his feet and walking to the door by the time the knock came. Sego is always thankful for this warning from the cat, since she tended to jump when her door was knocked on. Sego placed the pencil she had been marking the wall with on the counter and approached the door with Beast hot on her heels.
She hesitated opening it, but did so after a deep breath to steady herself. Still, she wasn’t prepared for what was on her step. Thistle was tall to Sego, but this elf dwarfed him by half a foot. His eyes were also so different and so not like the warmer green eyes she was used to seeing on Sin’dorei. Then she noticed the ghoul at his side and managed not to growl - though Beast made up for that and growled at the strangers. He got a bump to the leg by Sego and quieted quickly. For a moment she simply gave the elf a stunned stare, but forced a nervous smile that didn’t meet her eyes.
“Oh! Hello! I’m glad you were able to find it!” She cleared her voice, making sure it didn’t crack or waver. Show no fear! “I really appreciate you doing this,” she wondered if she should let them walk through the house to the rear, or take them out around. She stepped out of the way and tries to ignore the goosebumps on her forearms. “Please, come in.”
Despite the fact that Beast could certainly pass for lunch at any other time and place his ghoul simply peered down at the animal with well-mannered interest. If it held any desire to eat him, the creature kept it well hidden. Traejan, on the other hand, obviously spent way more time associating with taller races as at first he found himself staring into empty air before he looked down. Quite a ways down. He raised a brow as he took stock of the comparatively tiny human, but refrained from any particular commentary.
“Yes, it was simple enough. You provided adequate directions.” His tone was flat and carried the typical flange that seemed common to all Death Knights, his Common well-spoken but carrying a noticeable accent. Once invited he stepped inside and his ghoul shuffled forward with the intention to follow, but paused mid-stride seemingly of its own accord as the Knight did not so much as even glance at the creature. He did a brief sweep of his surroundings, observing the interior of her home with mild interest before he looked back to her. It was her problem after all, let the woman speak.
Beast stuck at Sego’s side in a tight heel, curious and wary of the strangers that were welcomed in, but wasn’t given any other commands. He moves with a noticeable limp, with the wound there being obvious as the white and lavender fur has a reddish brown tint.
Once the death knight and his ghoul were inside, Sego shut the door behind them. She almost ducked out of the way to move in front of him out of nervousness, but stayed standing straight as she moved towards the rear of the house, a beckoning hand motioning him to follow. Sego figured she would praise herself later for not shuddering at the extra echo sound to his voice, but wanted things taken care of first
“Oh good, it’s not hard to find, some have found it with just very vague directions,” she was beginning to go off topic, she didn’t need small talk. Sego reached the back door quickly in the small home and peered out the window. The still green, but somewhat winter sparse, forest didn’t currently show a tiger hidden within them
“I can’t see him right now,” she bit her lip, then stepped aside to look back at the death knight. “But I know he’s there, I bet I can bait him out with Beast if you want, I know he still wants to take a bite out of him.” Her brows furrowed somewhat as she looked at the man, and tried to think of what else to say other than ‘Please don’t eat me’. “What’s your name now? I only know your book name.”
He followed along wordlessly, his ghoul never straying from its place just beside and slightly behind him. When they reached the rear door he leaned a bit to look outside, though he hadn’t expected to spot anything scanning from the inside. That would have been too easy, and he had certain expectations of the cat he was hunting.
“Of course you can’t. That’s the beauty of it..” He was quiet a few moments longer as he mulled it over in his head before he again looked down to her. “And you may need to bait it, if you wish this matter to be taken care of in a timely fashion. We could simply track it, but we would almost certainly end up hunting one another and I do not think I’m reaching by assuming that you would not sleep well knowing the both of us are lurking behind your home..” The thought amused him, at least, whether or not that was a sentiment shared all around. There was another pause as he checked a small pouch at his waist, which gave off a sound like glass clinking together as it moved. “I am Traejan Lightrend, to answer your question. And now that you have seen me I am sure you realize that purple would never work.”
She folded her arms and nodded along with what he said, even making a face about he and the tiger both being out in the woods. She slept fine knowing the tiger was lurking back there, the Death Knight, on the other hand.. She shook the thought away as he was reaching for his waist and tensed, though instead of pulling a weapon he reached for a pouch.
“Traejan,” she repeated the name while trying to say it with the same accent he said it in, and only getting it partially correct. “I’m Sego Ryder,” she reached forward and opened the back door, which Beast hurried out despite his limp. “I still think purple could work,” she stepped out the door after Beast, but left it open for Trae to follow her. Beast didn’t go far, but he growled into the forest with his ears flattened.
Sego stood and listened closely, finding that she was less nervous about the elf when she wasn’t looking at him. “How good of a tracker are you, just in case?” She asked over her shoulder.
One ear gave a twitch as she repeated his name. He didn’t know where she was from, but being human she was obviously a native speaker of Common which was enough for it to sound crude to him. “… Sego Ryder? I will never understand human naming conventions..” He remarked, though his attention was diverted to the treeline again as she let Beast outside. His ghoul passed behind him to his other side, lingering just inside the door. It looked wherever he himself wasn’t, and both were attentive for any movement that might arise from the brush.
“Quite good. Ghouls have a very keen sense of smell. The plan is simple. Restrain and subdue the animal with as little trauma as possible at which point it can be sedated long enough to be flown well away from here. The alchemist who prepared the mixtures has experience with cats of this size, in case you were perhaps worried that it would play havoc on the tiger’s system.”
Though it’s winter, this isn’t Northrend and there was still plenty of forest to hide an animal, even a large tiger. She put a hand on her hip as she squinted back at the forest, but couldn’t quite hear anything in it. Human noses were nothing compared to a worgens, but she wasn’t shifting to find out - especially if the ghoul was able to sniff the tiger out.
She did half turn her head to listen to the blood elf, not wanting to turn her back completely on the forest. The tiger had already tried to attack her and Beast, but Trae had volunteered to help and was less of a threat (though still very much one).
“Good! I’m glad you covered everything and came prepared! I wouldn’t mind it being here if it wasn’t trying to run us out,” during this sentence she heard a slight movement to the side of the house, but didn’t think much of it since Trae was still in that direction. Though the tiger knew where Sego and Beast had been and bolted from the hiding spot next to the house silently. Fully grown and furious about it’s territory being invaded by another male, it ignored the others and charged straight for Beast
Sego turned at this and only managed to scramble to the side with a shout of surprise.
His attention snapped at once to the movement, though it was small. There was a shift of stance and presence, the appearance of an experienced hunter seeming as natural as he had been moments ago as simply being the proper Sin’dorei. The atmosphere seemed to change as well, as if the air had grown heavier. If she was particularly perceptive or otherwise familiar with the undead she might recognize it as the presence of concentrated Unholy energy that had gathered about him.
But he waited, knowing instinct would win out in his favour, and it did. The blur of angry, charging tiger was met likewise by the ghoul, seeking to intercept the cat before it could reach Beast. While the ghoul charged head on fearing neither tooth nor claw nor the potential damage of such, Traejan made use of the fact that the tiger had all but ignored him. He summoned ice chains, which sprang from the earth near the cat and sought to seize and restrain it.
Beast also turned at the sound, and tried to charge the much larger, much more mature male in return in spite of his injury. He was quickly stopped as Sego slung her arms around his neck to hold him in place - but still got dragged a couple feet forward before stopping. She watched with wide, terrified eyes as the tiger and ghoul collided, and then be chained by ice
The tiger roared in defiance, trying to bite and slash at the ghoul the best it could though it’s bindings. Beast roared back, but Sego didn’t dare quiet him as the hands that held him in place were tipped with long black claws instead of harmless human fingernails. She didn’t move, especially with the energy that hung in the air. Sego didn’t fully recognize it, but it felt the opposite of everything she sought with the Light.
The ghoul kept provoking the tiger, teasing it repeatedly to hold its attention. Anything to keep the animal from trying to spin in its bindings and attempt to turn its claws on Traejan himself. It dripped ichor from what wounds the tiger had managed to inflict and in one place it seemed as if its grafted skin had been tugged free and hung loose, needing to be tacked down later. Traejan had withdrawn one of the vials and readied it, tipped as it was with an impressive (or frightening, depending on your perspective) dart-like needle. Someone of particular skill and resources might have had success simply -shooting- the animal, but being up close and personal worked well enough too.
Whatever was going on with Sego he failed to notice, singularly focused on his task. Despite his lack of attention to them, the runes on his runeblades burned with a bright blue glow as if in reaction to what was going on. Normally they were what was doing the stabbing, not some thoroughly unsatisfying needle. His aim wasn’t exact with the animal’s struggles, but it didn’t quite need to be, driving it home on the nearest stretch of pelt that wasn’t criss-crossed by the ice. The only thing left was to wait and see if one would be enough to put a raging tiger down for the count.
Sego cringed a bit every time the tiger met the ghoul with teeth or claws and silently hoped whatever it was leaking - which did NOT look like blood - wouldn’t leave a permanent, dead stain on the earth. Her eyes snapped to the vial and she cringed even harder and sunk close to Beast as he withdrew it. The tiger, full of strength and energy still, fought and thrashed against the chains, but snapped at Trae as he stabbed the dart in
At first it didn’t appear there was any effect, but with the surge of adrenaline and pumping blood, the drug began spreading through the tigers body. The animal stopped thrashing as hard, and it began chewing on the ice chains to try and free itself - the ghoul has an awful flavor. It continue to slow until finally sinking down with an ‘oof.’ Though it wasn’t moving besides breathing, the tiger continued to growl lowly
Slowly Sego let go of Beast with a firm, quiet ‘Stay!’ and approached the trio. Her arms were at her sides, and she had momentarily forgotten about the claws. “I think it worked,” she said quietly, if he was watching her, her canine teeth were sharper and longer than a normal humans.
Once the tiger was undoubtedly out the chains receded, melting away to leave dampened lines across the grass and where they had pressed against the tiger. The ghoul shuffled closer to the Knight, huddling in on itself as it pressed clawed fingers against its wounds which helped stem the flow of anything that might drip freely. Traejan straightened up with a quiet sigh, brushing a few clumps of fur away from where it had caught on his bracer with meticulous care, picking at it until he was satisfied the last strand had fallen free. Though their effort had ceased the uncomfortable aura remained, even intensifying momentarily as his runes flared brightly one last time. Energy gathered around one hand, shifting about strangely. At times it seemed a wispy smoke before it congealed into an oily, greenish cloud, always moving and changing until he seemed to press it into the ghoul, laying his hand on its chest. The bleeding wounds began to mend and the smaller gashes knitted themselves closed. Anything larger would need a more direct repair, but at least they no longer made a mess
That done he glanced aside, looking at her almost as if he’d forgotten her presence altogether. The changes she’d undergone were not lost on him as his gaze slid over her a few times, looking as if he was trying to decide if he should be on his guard about her or not. Small as she was, he wasn’t keen on worgen springing up suddenly and likely aiming for his -face-. A hand rested near the hilt of one sword. Just in case. “Yes,” he said flatly, as if to say -of course- it worked. “Now we need only remove your menace permanently.”
Having never really seen a death knight work, she didn’t walk forward anymore as the chains melted in case the cat darted forward again, but breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t. Up close it really was an impressive animal, and his claws were huge and as sharp as knives - no wonder one quick swipe had Beast bleeding. The interaction between Trae and the ghoul, though remarkable, was a bit too much for Sego and she took a step back with a concentrated look. Had that creature once been human? This time she did visible shudder.
She does notice his hand on the runeblade, and doesn’t take another step forward. Beast is at her heels, focused on the not unconscious tiger. Sego pointed at the tiger, finally noticing the claws, then put both hands into quick fists and folded her arms. She stood stiffly and tense, not wanting the worgen part to fully come out, knowing that blade may not stay at his hip.
“Yes. Of course. If you can’t lift it I can levitate it to move it? I’ve moved people that were unable to walk that way,” she nearly bit through her tongue with the sharper canines and hid it behind a closed mouth smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
After a few moments of tense silence between them he shook his head with another small sigh, removing the hand from his weapon to fold his arms over his chest. He had to bend forward quite a bit to bring himself down to her eye level, but stared her right in the face. Somehow he imagined the gesture, for all that he was -attempting- to appear harmless (which is hard, mind you), would still intimidate her. But it was a good thing there was a sizeable gap between them, because she had claws. “R-e-l-a-x. Crisis averted.” He straightened up again, looking again at the tiger. “Man triumphs over nature. You will live another day to..” He waved a hand a bit, searching for the word. “… do whatever it is you do here. So you can stop being..” Another glance at her as he reached for an adjective. “..spikey. Any time now."
His tone seemed more reflective of how he commonly wrote in the tome, less formal and rigid, which made sense as the business had been done. He stepped over one large paw and faced the far end of the clearing, his back to her as he glanced skyward. “He doesn’t need to go far, fortunately. Oh, and fair warning. The large undead thing that will soon drop out of the sky is not going to eat you. Or your cat. That’s my -ride-.”
The very personal movement of bending down to eye level - even though he wasn’t face to face with her, did not make him seem harmless at all. Her eyes widened and a metallic shine reflected from inside her pupils, much like a cat or any other predator. She gulped at his advice to calm down, it was good advice but not very easy to follow at the moment. Regardless, she closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. The claws receded and she dropped her fully human hands at her side, mumbling a quiet, “Sorry.."
“Well, you can take him far, if you like.. I don’t want him returning to fight back his territory.” She went quiet at his warning and looked up at the sky. “Soon? Beast,” she patted her thigh and quickly hurried back to stand against her house. “The one you drew?” She took another calming breath and tried to remember her manners. “Thank you, Traejan, it was really nice of you to come out and help me with this.”
He gave a short nod to acknowledge her next question, as it rather answered itself when the same drake that had been depicted in his sketch touched down in the limited space, seeming even to take care not to gouge its claws into the earth too deeply. It was a loud appearance between the beating of large wings and the clattering of bone and metal. It shook its great armoured head once and rumbled, an odd disembodied sound as gaping ribcages had no business emitting any such sound.
Traejan seemed to be considering something, looking between the tiger and the drake before he made a final decision. “Actually.. forget what I said. You don’t have to levitate anything..” He used the drake’s foreleg to step up and climb onto the saddle, his ghoul following soon after and clinging to the spikes. “… And you’re welcome. Tiger’s sake and all that, etcetera. We also got to spite some trolls. That’s always a good time..” Accepting gratitude seemed to be something he dealt with somewhat awkwardly. The drake shifted, rising to its feet and moving forward to take hold of the tiger gingerly, encasing the animal in a sling of bone. He gave her something like a short salute before they began to rise, another rumble from the drake from the effort of carrying more that it was accustomed to.
Sego pressed herself against the house as the creature touched ground, her breath caught in her throat and for a moment she forgot how to breath. Good thing too, for she also wasn’t able to gasp or shriek at the sound it made. That sound would haunt her for days with how unnatural it was. Trae’s echoy voice snapped her golden eyes from the drake, they were still wide
“I.. uh.. yes,” she agreed weakly, hardly able to find words. Though she would have liked to wave him goodbye at the salute, she was unable to make the gesture and pressed a hand against her sternum instead. Her heart pounded beneath and the claws had reached her fingers again. The tiger was gone, that danger was gone, but had she just invited more in? The Sin’dorei death knight was -far- more dangerous than the tiger, and she couldn’t just have him float away permanently as the tiger was now. Sego remained standing there, stunned, for a few moments until Beast made a groan and pressed his face against her hip. It would take another hour for the claws to go away this time.