(Untitled)

[zeitsein]

There are -

There are ways this is supposed to work. An order to things. A fucking -

She isn't the one who gets snatched, not anymore. She isn't supposed to be. This is wrong. All wrong, like goody-two-shoes and a smile wrongThe tension spidercracks up her arms until she has to shake her shoulders to shake it off; she hisses in misspent

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[has_its_poetry]

Stranger's seven-league boots cut out at exactly the right moment to land her about three inches in front of Tara. It's transitionless: one moment the air is clear, and the next there's a mildly bemused blonde girl in the way.

You might call that exactly the wrong moment, really.

She hasn't noticed Tara yet, which is strange, considering the proximity. But her eyes remain focused on the middle distance, as though there's something incredibly interesting happening on the blank brick wall of that building to Tara's left. (There isn't, for the record.)

[zeitsein]

It's instinct and very little else that causes Tara to duck back, roll, and reach inside the folds of her jacket the moment her vision blurs now-you-don't now-you-do; the cause necessitates effect like the way water slowly pinkens when you drop blood in it. She comes up in a crouch, fingers of her left hand splayed and arched like claws.

It takes her .000007 seconds to take in the scene as it's changed, but she doesn't relax. Instead, she simply flicks her eyes in the direction Stranger looks to see what lies out there that's so fascinating. When she finds nothing her eyes flick back, unmoved.

People don't just happen.

She gets to her feet, takes her hand off the gun; anyone who can do that, there's an even chance something else would be necessary anyway. "What are you doing here?" seems a pertinent question, so that is exactly what she asks.

(Feral paw-crunches against the broken ground, further off. Coming closer. Who sent her here?)

[has_its_poetry]

"Oh."

She blinks, shakes her head, and looks at Tara.

"Hello."

Not noticing the sounds, or at least not assigning them any importance: "I was looking," Stranger explains, "for flowers."

It's her favourite occupation, really.

Beat.

"There aren't any here."

[zeitsein]

"It's a dead city." The rhythm's off; Tara should know what to say, but doesn't. "The only flowers you'd find here aren't the kind to take home to mommy for a nice decoration."

The only flowers here are the ones that look a lot like dead bodies when the sun comes up.

"How did you get here?" How did I get here?

[godofshiny]

Someone is following her.

It might not be obvious, not at first anyways. He doesn't make any noise, as he's not exactly in the same realm of existence as her. When she came through, the strands of fate shifted again, their patterns breaking up once more.

He despises this world sometimes. Back home, things were neat and ordered, and the future had only a few probable paths. Here... These heroic souls, every new one brings new possibilities, new fates. And with her here, the possibility of a major earthquake is, well, pretty damn good.

So, from a window here, a neon sign there, the shiny bumper of a pink Caddy, eyes peer out at her, moving along with her, seeing what he can see.

[zeitsein]

He'll see a fair bit: he'll see her walk along the roads till she finds the Strip; he'll see her kicking at months-old skeletons; he'll see her rifle through car glove compartments for anything useful and turn up empty, time after time.

And, of course, he will see her run into Stranger, and everything that happens then.

After that, who can say?

[godofshiny]

After that, he might deign to be a little more obvious. of course, to Mort, Obvious is simply standing in very window she passes until she takes notice.

[nobodysdog]

A time later, the remaining wolves return to the city with a report to give to the Baron. He's...

...decidedly not happy. There were few enough of his people here tostart with. they didn't need to get themselves killed like that.

There's anger. There's raging. There's - the loss of another of his leutenants when Wolfgang kills him just because he can. There's an emergency game called and Vegas loses another one of her human residents.

And still Wolfgang's not amused. He'll find this girl and get his revenge. And it will be good.