closed starters || Part 2

[makemeasong]

WHO: Clara Oswald + some closed starters
WHEN: Part two of the arc!
WHERE: frozen forests, the caravan, probably other places eventually.
WHAT: gathering the maiden veil, looking tough, and other misc. things.
WARNINGS: Will update as needed, but so far none needed.

Comments

[makemeasong]

[ Clara is struggling, she's tried, but the wolf is a perfect foil to the paladin; she's really too small to do much. And besides, it's just good sense to defer to the one with many sharp teeth. The longer she's kept in place, the easier it is for Clara to lean into the soft fur.

How much time passes, she isn't sure. It could be hours, or days, everything is so jumbled in her mind. There are moments the paladin surges, the fight rearing its head, but each time, her grip on the fur tightens. She's spent, but she doesn't give up, she never will, never could, willingly.

At some point, Clara's eyes close and she seems asleep, her grip slackening. For long minutes, her breathing is deep and even before her head finally rises and it's her. Exhausted eyes, but her. Pulling back, she presses her face into her hands and then pushes them through her hair. ]

I'm sorry, I—

[ She has no idea what to say. She was possessed? Out of her mind? Briefly, her mind wanders to the Doctor being taken over by the Cyber Planner, and she has a new appreciation for how difficult it is to battle against something in your own head. Her hands move over the wolf the way she would lovingly show affection for an animal she cares for, scratching and trying to gather her bearings. ]

You're so good, thank you. We've met before, and you've always been kind to me.

[ She has no idea this wolf is a person, and the way she treats him wouldn't be any different. ]

[bravelyrunsaway]

( He only relaxes when she starts slakening. He's not sure what else to think of it, but her scent shifts, the tension of it less interrupted with a bloodthirst he can scent for its anger, its violence, opposed with her usual scent. When she lets go, he keeps his hold on her clothing.

When she presses her hands to her face, when the sword is no longer a threat, he lets go. The reward for all this comes in the physical affection that follows, as far as he's concerned. All the pets and scritches and him taking a chance to shove his great head under her hands so she gets all the itchy spots on his skull, or most pleasingly, in the stretch behind his ears.

He doesn't bother this time with his adoptive dog-like behaviours, no wag of a tail, no further vocalisations, just leaning into her hands as she centres herself and letting his eyes half close. His ears flick around, tracking sounds beyond where they stand, until he goes on full alert, eyes opening, head lifting, tail going straight behind him, then subtly beginning its upward curl.

His lips draw back from his teeth, and he stiff legs in front of her and the avenue she'd been attempting to go before, when the paladin had been in greater control. He growls, a low and rumbling sound, his ruff standing on end. Something down in the dark skitters, or rocks do, and he places himself as a warning between her and what comes.

Nothing too big, probably comparable to him, but nothing she'll want to meet. Please get the idea, love, and go the other way. )

[makemeasong]

[ Of course it isn't over, and Clara spies her sword in its smaller state. Grabbing it, she only puts it into her pocket. Her with a sword is never going to be as good as a wolf. That's one sign she isn't possessed anymore, she knows her strengths.

One of them is to take a hint, and she backs up, though she doesn't run, not yet. ]

What is it?

[ Her voice is a whisper, eyes trained on the dark corners, the shadows she can't see into. ]

[bravelyrunsaway]

( He can't answer that, so he does the next best thing: shoves bodily into her legs, using his weight and his massive head and strength of himself to push, bully, and otherwise get her moving away from the dark tunnel.

He can't speak, specifically, without going back to human and being naked and unarmed, but he sure can make it obvious he's trying to herd her away from anything coming. What possibly would make anyone want to say? What can he make more obvious?

Go, go, go! There's no reason in any world he's been in to meet things that smell rank with their own feces and urine in dark tunnels at any point. They're not getting paid! She's been more than a bit possessed! Time to go! )

[makemeasong]

[ Clara's breath catches and that's all the rest of the encouragment she needs. The guilt is there, for leaving the wolf after he stayed with her, but she can't help. ]

Thank you.

[ It's all she can say, all she can do, and she turns to go, needing to find someone she knows to keep a tight hold of her until she feels like herself again. And she hopes she sees this mysterious wolf again, unharmed, and just as magnificent. ]