My analyst told me that I was right out of my head

[evilst]

“Didn’t I tell you?” Eliza whispered into the giant wolf’s ear. “It’s not just us here.” She ran a hand over her dark hair and pushed it back, then brushed her hands on her jeans. “They don’t seem particularly hostile… but be ready to run, just in case.”

((Tag: Karolina, Xavin, Cyrus, and Eliza))

Comments

[ya_rpg_npc]

They don't smell human. Cyrus wanted to tell his cousin. Of course, he didn't smell human either, but he was a werewolf. These...people, they didn't smell like anything familiar.

But he was always ready to run.

[princeoftarnax]

Xavin was on her feet in moments and she quickly shifted to her skrull form. He recognized nothing, and it was too real to be a dream. "Who are you?" He searched for the voice he had just heard, automatically shifting into a defensive stance.

Where was Karolina? Right by his feet. One less worry among many.

[burningpainting]

Karolina came to with the hangover to end all hangovers, and the self-righteous certainty that she hadn't had anything to drink. They didn't have the money to indulge! She'd only ever had a hangover once in her life, when Chase convinced them to break into some sake at the Minoru's. She'd hated it enough to swear off the experience, and yet here she was with an aching head and that familiar hypersensitivity to sounds and smells

[princeoftarnax]

"I am here." He leant down to help Karolina up. "I do not know where we are or what has brought us here. Are you injured?" He seemed far more occupied in surveying their surroundings, and he was very close to Karolina, in case they were attacked. She would need to be protected.

[burningpainting]

Karolina pressed a hand to her head in hopes of steadying it. Something in Xavin's voice suggested she was going to need her wits about her. Why was he shouting?

"I'm not hurt," she said, "I just feel...wrong." She leaned heavily against him (definitely male, which only worried her further; he only stayed in that form if he felt threatened), angry at herself for needing the support. Unlike other Skrulls, Xavin would never begrudge her her weakness, but she hated it all the same.

She blinked a few times, bringing her vision into startlingly sharp focus, and looked around at the woods. Something drew her eyes upward, and there they stopped, staring.

"The sky," she whispered, knowing deep in her gut that that had something to do with her disorientation. "It's gone wrong too."

[rowenamox]

“Ah, yes,” Eliza said, clearing her throat and stepping into the two alien’s line of sight. “I might be able to explain that. I think. Maybe.” She raised both her hands to show she was weaponless, and stood between the pair and Cyrus. “I come in peace.”

[princeoftarnax]

The tension in the skrull's body did not ease. "Who are you?" The girl looked innocent enough but he would be a fool to underestimate someone based on looks. Especially given his species's abilities.

[burningpainting]

Karolina's eyes slid right past the thin girl, locking onto the enormous white wolf behind her. His tail was firmly between his legs, but she wasn't about to think that meant he was harmless. The only animal she trusted completely was Old Lace.

"What's your theory?" she asked, pleased with her steady voice. There was no reason to be overtly hostile. Yet. Xavin had Bad Cop covered, it usually fell to Karolina to be the approachable one.

[rowenamox]

“Me? I’m Eliza, and I’m as much a victim in this as you are,” the girl said, forcing herself to not snap at Xavin, no matter how tempting it was. Now was not the time for needling a potential ally.

Or at least, a potential shield.

"And it's not really a theory. I'm pretty damn sure I know what's going on."

[burningpainting]

"Then we'd appreciate an explanation," Karolina said, placing a hand against Xavin's chest to halt the growling retort she felt coming.

She felt better by the moment, the hangover subsiding to a not unpleasant buzz. It reminded her of the few tokes of pot she'd had in highschool, a lifetime ago, only without all the giggling and loss of volume control.

[rowenamox]

"It's complicated," Eliza said. "Do you know much about magic? Cause I'm afraid that's what we're dealing with. That and a homicidal maniac, but the magic's the important thing."

[burningpainting]

"Ah, I'm familiar with it," Karolina admitted. "Peripherally. I've never messed with it myself, so you'd have to explain..." she looked over (and slightly down; it never failed to surprise her that she was taller) at Xavin, although she didn't think the Skrull would know much more about the arcane than she did.

[princeoftarnax]

Xavin shook his head. "I know little about it." In fact he was mostly skeptical of magic. He knew it existed, but often enough "magic" could be attributed to other physical forces. And the few instances of real magic could be attributed to less than friendly metaphysical forces.

[rowenamox]

“Okay,” Eliza said, clearing her throat, “Reader’s Digest version goes like this: Once upon a time there was this crazy warlock who used blood and death to power his spells. And this guy was immortal. And now he’s captured us, probably so he can kill us at his leisure. The end.”

[burningpainting]

"But HOW?" Karolina balked. "We were...we were in space!"

The implications of that slowly sank in, filtering through the initial surprise of waking up in this place, with this headache. When she'd gone to sleep, it had been in the bunk of a tiny escape pod hurtling through the fringes of the Milky Way. The autopilot had been locked on Earth, but she'd left Xavin to man the controls anyway, sensing that she'd needed some time alone after...

After...

Karolina looked down at the tattered remains of her wedding dress and paled, nothing more than a dimming of her glow. Her grip on Xavin's arm tightened, though whether out of alarm or the urge to comfort him, she couldn't say. Which was the more important issue to address? That their planets had destroyed each other, or that a homicidal maniac had them locked in some weird dimensional forcefield?

Naturally, she coped by swerving completely off topic.

"Who are you?" she blurted. "And what's with the wolf?"

[ya_rpg_npc]

Cyrus hunkered down low when the glowing girl mentioned him. He'd didn't take his eyes off the shapeshifting thing, though. If either of the new people were going to attack, it would probably be the shapeshifter.

Cyrus shivered and hoped that his sisters weren't here too.