Signs of Sheer Stubbornness

[reclusivecaster]

Characters: Tara Maclay, Methos, Spike, Two-Face
Rating: PG
Time Period: Modern
Location: A bit too far outside the castle :O
Relative Date: Two or three days after her arrival
Status: Open, to any brave souls that feel like coming to her rescue

Comments

[oldmanmethos]

Methos had spent most of his time since he'd helped bury a body exploring the grounds, keeping away from the edges after actually going through the messages on the cell phone. For all that he was irritated at the inability to leave, he would rather be irritated than incapacitated

[oldmanmethos]

Methos had straightened at the first rustle, opening his eyes further as he searched the woods around them. "Yes, I hear that." He had caught a flash of white, and he was biting back a sarcastic remark along the lines of 'I told you so'. If mostly because it wouldn't be at all useful right now. "And I rather doubt it's something friendly," he added acidly.

[flipism]

"You think?" Two-Face bit back equally, wanting to take a few steps back but knowing if he did the dizziness would come back. The rustling was getting louder; whatever it was seemed to be making a beeline toward them, although he still couldn't see whatever it was. He was watching the spot where he'd seen the white flash, although it had just occurred to him that sound tended to play tricks on you; the thing could be anywhere around them.

Or things.

Two-Face turned slowly in a circle, tense and ready to... do whatever it was he had to do, depending on what the thing was-- and came face to face with what looked like a riderless white horse, standing motionless a few yards away in the dappled shadows. He almost sighed in relief. Horses, in his experience, weren't dangerous-- riders could be.

His relief didn't last for long, as the horse moved its head slightly and a patch of sunlight revealed the gleam of what looked like a horn.

[oldmanmethos]

Tightening his grip on the gun at his hip, Methos kept almost motionless, watching the unicorn warily, waiting to see what it would do. He wouldn't hesitate to shoot it if it came too close to him or Tara. Or even the man whose name he still hadn't gotten.

"Did I mention I brought the gun in case there were unicorns in the area?" Methos said quietly, tensing when the unicorn took a step closer. When it let out a soft wicker, showing off a pair of fangs, he hissed, and let out a vicious invective. He ignored the headache pounding behind his eyes as he twisted, pulling his gun and aiming it in one smooth motion.

[flipism]

Two-Face similarly cursed. "I don't suppose you have a spare," he whispered, keeping his eyes trained on the... the.

Unicorn. It's a unicorn, Harv. Ha ha! And you thought you weren't out-of-your-mind crazy.

The unicorn pawed the ground restlessly with its hooves, snorted. Two-Face had just enough time to wonder again if it was alone when it abruptly bared its fangs again and charged toward the three of them.

[oldmanmethos]

Methos sighted down the barrel, squeezing the trigger twice before moving, gritting his teeth against the nausea as he got to his feet. The unicorn had swerved at the report of the gun, wheeling to one side and around to come at them again.

"No, I don't have a spare, but if you're a good shot, try it!" Methos tossed the gun at the man after making sure the safety was on. Ignoring the worsening nausea as he pulled Tara toward the tree he'd been resting against earlier. And hoping that the damned equine was diurnal, because the light was taking on a more golden quality that he associated with the sun starting to set.

[flipism]

Two-Face caught the gun, thumbing the safety off and swinging it towards the unicorn, which was making a wide turn. There was not much time to register his surprise at the man's show of trust. The damned thing was fast, and this was admittedly a little different from the situations where he usually handled a gun. People tended to freeze. Animals, apparently, bolted, took a chance.

As it began to come back around, Two-Face's bad eye caught sudden motion and he turned his head slightly to get a better look. The guy was dragging the girl's body toward the shelter of the tree. He looked back at the unicorn-- it had also noticed, and it suddenly changed its course, veering toward the pair.

No, no no no no. Two-Face swore and fired several times. The second time the unicorn's flank recoiled slightly, its hips torquing slightly from the blow, and a spot of red blossomed there. The unicorn turned in a little half circle, pausing for a moment, probably dazed.

[oldmanmethos]

Biting back an impulse to curse just as much as the other man had, Methos stepped between Tara and the unicorn. His instinct was to find someplace to shelter, but the best place he could think of, he couldn't get Tara to on his own anymore than he thought he could get her safely back away from the perimeter.

"Don't give it time to regroup unless you're sure it's going to run away," he called to the man who held his gun, never taking his eyes off the large beast. Trying to decide just what he was going to do if it decided to charge him again, because he couldn't just dodge and risk it trampling Tara.

[flipism]

The guy was barking directions at him now, as if the situation wasn't hairy enough. Two-Face carefully took aim between the eyes as he and the unicorn stared each other down, its sides heaving-- and cursed again as the thing suddenly swerved, zigzagging back around toward him. He fired again, unsuccessfully, before throwing himself out of the way, rolling onto his back and wondering how many bullets this thing had left.

As he struggled to pick himself up the unicorn rounded on him again, coming back to finish off the threat. Two-Face fired three more times, frantically, from the ground, unaware he was screaming-- and finally the animal went down, trailing in another dizzy half-circle and skidding to rest on its side a few feet away.

[oldmanmethos]

When the unicorn went down, Methos moved rapidly towards the man with his gun, skirting widely around the still-thrashing animal. Not willing to get close enough to use the knife safely tucked against his side, not yet. "Give me the gun back." A firm order while keeping an eye on the unicorn more than the man.

The thought of mounting the unicorn's head as a visual marker of where the boundary was crossed his mind, and Methos quirked his lips in a wry smile. It would be nice, effective, and he suspected he'd get very odd looks for doing so. A bit more attention than he was quite sure he should garner.

[flipism]

Two-Face had stood up and moved some distance away from the unicorn, watching it struggle valiantly to right itself, and he startled a little at the voice. The guy wanted his gun back.

"What are you going to do?" he asked instead of readily handing it over-- although he figured what the answer might be. "Are you going to kill it?"

He glanced back at the unicorn. He wasn't sure it deserved to die.

[oldmanmethos]

Methos gave the man a bland look that belied the tension in his posture. "Yes, I'm going to put it out of its misery."

Definitely not bringing up the possibility of using the unicorn as a visual marker of where the boundary lay, with the reluctance the man was showing in giving Methos back his gun. And he really didn't want to have to use either of the other weapons on him to dispatch the beast.

[flipism]

Two-Face looked at the unicorn again. Harvey had a dog growing up, that one day had come into the house partially dragging its back legs and obviously in some pain. The only thing they could figure was that it had run out in front of a car, and his mother had it put to sleep. Harvey hadn't been able to watch.

He supposed this was similar, but he didn't particularly want to watch either. Harvey had always privately thought maybe it would have recovered on its own, maybe they were jumping the gun. It felt too much like playing God.

Flipping a coin wasn't even an option-- it was just an animal, and had no crimes to pay for.

He handed the gun over and walked a short distance away, turning his back.

[oldmanmethos]

Watching the man walk a bit away, Methos sighed, looking down at the unicorn, sighting along the barrel. A quick squeeze of the trigger, and it stopped moving, the bullet lodged in its brain. Methos released the magazine, unsurprised to find it empty, and dropped it into his pocket, pulling another one out and reloading the gun. It went back into its holster once the safety was on, and he turned to the man again.

"I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

bye, unicorn. you were neat.

[flipism]

Two-Face flinched when the gun went off. Whatever its story had been, whatever it was, the animal was in a better place. It was what he had to tell himself.

He looked over at the other man, careful not to let his gaze slip to the dead or still dying body.

"Two-Face. You?"

[buffysbitch]

Spike was woken from his light, pre-dusk sleep by the incessant beeping of his phone. He growled and fumbled with the buttons, peering blearily at the screen in the darkness of the curtained bed.

(He'd chosen his room in the castle carefully. He'd been drawn to the room named 'Blood', but that had a bed without curtains right next to the blinking window! Instead, he'd chosen the 'Meadow' room because that had a nice cosy bed in the far corner from the window with extra curtains that could be pulled around it to protect him from any faint trace of daylight reaching him while he slept. He'd have preferred something underground, really, or in fact a cottage, but common sense had made him choose a room in the castle so he would at least be able to wander about indoors in the daytime. No point in being stuck in a tiny cottage all day