our troubles will be out of sight

[westviews]

WHO: Wanda and you!
WHEN: Month of December
WHERE: The Inn
WHAT: Checking things out, getting a feel for her new companions, etc
WARNINGS: Will note as needed.



I.THE LAKE

[A frozen lake is a frozen lake, but this one is strange. Wanda doesn't quite step on the ice itself, but she does stay very close to the edge, eyes narrowed as she tries to discern what she thinks she saw... bump the ice from below?]

Did you see that? [She'll ask whoever is near.]

II. THE MOUTH

Are you sure that's a good idea?

[Interested in taking a sword, shield, or whatever from that pit? Well, Wanda's making a face like she certainly doesn't think it's a good idea.]

III. THE WELLS

[A morning of wandering has Wanda slowly approaching the wells. Generally, she wouldn't care to look, but she's got nothing to do and nowhere to be, so she's allowing her curiosity to win. They look very old, possibly out of use, but as she draws near the first she gives the lid a little push. Far too snug for her to move using her own muscle, which she suspected, but she didn't expect to see blood on the light dusting of snow when she stepped back.

She crouches down to get a better look. It's pretty hard to mistake blood for anything else. Still...

Come spook her while she's already feeling vaguely spooked.]

IV. THE FOREST

[Collecting herbs and berries isn't the most engaging task to help out at the inn, but it does give her an opportunity to watch the villagers. It feels colder out here, and much more dangerous. Which is why Wanda calls out to whoever she might see,]

Careful. They said there are wolves around here.

[Wolves, direwolves. Same difference.]



[ooc: Easy peasy prompts! If you want something more specific, or more actiony, feel free to PM me and I'll gladly work something out for us.]

Comments

[saintclaire]

[A fair point. Kim follows, trudging through the snow with her eyes on her feet. Better not to have to shout.]

What's the difference?

[westviews]

Not one we want to find out, I'm sure.

[It's not a helpful response, and Wanda huffs out a sound of amusement because she's not trying to be the cryptic witch in the woods. That's a little too cliché.]

But if I had to guess... I'm sure it's bigger and meaner.

[saintclaire]

[The absurdity of it catches up with her; small-town Nebraska thinking up against the wealth of crazy things she's already seen. The mind craves normalcy, she supposes.]

It feels like everything here wants us dead. [That's mildly put.] Back home it was just cougars and bears.

[westviews]

I wouldn't be surprised if there are also bears out here, but the locals seem more concerned about the wolves. [Ahem.] Direwolves.

[Wanda, meanwhile, doesn't seem all that concerned about getting eaten or mauled.]

[saintclaire]

[Wanda is doing something useful, and that makes Kim feels like she's being notably useless –– she joins her to help, pulling her hands from her pockets.]

You're pretty calm about this.

[westviews]

I think I'm probably in shock.

[Both the release of the Darkhold and all that's followed has left her feeling very numb. All her dead loved ones could pop out of the snow and she thinks she'd just chalk it up to it being just another day in the life of Wanda Maximoff. Suspicious inns, beacons, whatever.

She tells herself it's just more to get through. Shock? Maybe not the right word. Resigned might be a better fit.]

But I'd like to point out that you're pretty calm about this, too.

[saintclaire]

[Kim shrugs.]

I grew up in rural Nebraska. Plenty of people afraid of wild animals, mostly just for their livestock.

[It's a vague explanation, but it tracks for her: she's taken many hikes between town and the trailer park, rain or shine, snow or sleet. In the 70s, no one blinked at a grade schooler walking alone, and there was never any close call with a cougar. What is there to say but "who cares?" when you've never seen what's out there?]

You just got here, right?

[westviews]

[Wanda would have a hard time pinpointing Nebraska on a map, but it's at least a familiar name. She makes a soft noise of acknowledgement, then wipes her hand on her clothing because she used a little too much force plucking a berry and it's chosen to burst. Sticky.]

Yeah. Are the newcomers usually in more of a panic?

[She could up the sense of anxiety, sure. Pace around.]

[saintclaire]

Hard to say. The last batch of us, we came in on some sort of mass hallucination. It felt so real. When we were all gathered together at a safe house, most people were pretty subdued. [A curt nod.] Some people are more familiar with magic and the undead than others, though.

[westviews]

[She pulls a bit of a face at the mass hallucination bit. That would likely have her more irritable than this inn and the strange things surrounding it.]

I'm guessing there's not a lot of magic or undead in rural Nebraska.

[saintclaire]

[That gets the barest smile. Imagine?]

No, thank god.

What about where you're from?

[westviews]

If you look in the right places.

[She shrugs a shoulder, moving to another part of the bush. Superstition is unavoidable, but there's much more than that.]

Everyone knows there are forces greater than ourselves.

[Forces powerful enough to snap half the population away, bend reality, peer into other universes...]

If I wasn't familiar with that idea, I'd probably be much more frightened right now.

[saintclaire]

[Kim decides it must be easier to adjust if you suspected the existence of these things in the first place; it's a harder bridge to cross if you are skeptical by nature, or religious, or looking for answers the world hasn't offered up. She just nods.]

That's got to make it easier. Some people here, they're used to time travel and outer space and dragons. Combat. Anyone tell you about the tower?

[westviews]

The tower? [She asks with a cant of her head.] What happened?

[Karsa had told her about the citadel, but if Wanda's being honest, a great deal of the details went in one ear and out the other. She wasn't there. It didn't matter. But now that she's a little more settled in her head, she supposes she should have asked more questions.]

[saintclaire]

People had to climb a tower to burn talismans. Inside there were all sorts of things –– giant skeletons, huge bats, one of those, uh... [a vague gesture, like horns, or something.] The big human-bull monster.

The people who went in had a really hard time.

[westviews]

Sounds like I missed all the fun.

[She cannot sound any more less enthused. She's had enough of mystical everything, but there's no way to opt out of it when it seems to be everywhere you go.]

Makes big dogs sound like a walk in the park.

[saintclaire]

I'll take a cold spa and some dogs over that any day of the week.

[There's some measure of guilt there; it does not feel good to be a sitting duck, or a weak link amongst so many people willing to face evil head on, but she knows where her strengths lie.

She pauses and looks over her shoulder.]

People who live around this kind of danger all the time are different.

[westviews]

[There's a considering tip of Wanda's head as she brushes her fingers over the leaves of the bush, having picked most of what she saw.]

They have to always expect the worst. Even when they shouldn't have to.

[Because why would anything ever be calm and peaceful for any amount of time? A thing Wanda should learn, really. Beyond the trees and the curve of a hill, there's a snuffle and a wet sneeze. Wanda lifts her head, but doesn't say anything yet.]

[saintclaire]

[Kim opens her mouth to reply, but she heard it too, and she crouches down a little lower in the snow like she's been seen. One hand goes deep into her pocket again, mittened fingers curling around her rope.

She glances sidelong at Wanda. She mouths: Wolf?]

[westviews]

[Wanda stills, eyes searching their surroundings for some sort of giant canine. She's still moving with an air of calm around her when she steps closer to Kim, an arm held out to keep her behind her.

There's no need to confirm: it is indeed a wolf cresting the hill, much larger than any wolf that Wanda's seen. It sniffs the air, salivating--hungry. Even through the thick fur, it's belly looks hollow, hips jutting out too much to be healthy.]

Stay behind me.

[She'd really not slaughter the thing (she would have liked to make it a week in this place without having to kill), but as it lowers its head, eyes on them, she's pretty sure she knows how this is going to have to go.]

[saintclaire]

[Kim's not quite so good at pretending to be calm –– her expression freezes in something like it, but it's not quite there. She's almost forgotten the breathe. She doesn't have to be told twice, but the order does scrape some sort of awareness out of her –– is this girl equipped to protect either of them?

She replies, barely above a whisper:]

What are you going to do?

[In her mind, there's still time to run.]

[westviews]

Kill it, probably.

[If it decides the two of them are too troublesome, she'll let it be, but as it slinks closer, Wanda doubts it. It's too hungry.]

Unless you have a better idea?

[The more detailed answer to Kim's question is the red ball of energy suddenly in Wanda's palm, a thing the wolf doesn't acknowledge as a threat.]

[saintclaire]

[Kim's eyes widen at the appearance of the –– whatever it is. She's unsentimental about the wolf, unconcerned about the thing's life when theirs are at risk, but it's not quite the same as wanting to see a living thing die. She's sure she'll look away when the time comes.]

I don't.

[Her hands is still deep in her pocket. She has no idea if the rope works. ]

But I might be able to protect us. [If it comes to it.]

[westviews]

Yeah? [Wanda doesn't dare take her eyes on the wolf, ever-approaching. She's thinking the same thing Kim thought earlier--is she actually equipped to do that? Might isn't promising.]

The moment either of us make a move, it's going to come for us.

[Again, Wanda doesn't sound particularly pressed. They're just on a timer as the beast lowers its snout to the snow and inhales, eyes still on them.]

[saintclaire]

[She hasn't tried the rope. Barely even tested it, at least not against anything genuinely threatening. Is this a risk she's willing to take?

No, she decides. Not yet. Not for a wolf's life. Not when it won't give them the same due consideration, no chance to walk away.]

You're going first, then.