𝔎.𝔓. ℌ𝔬𝔟 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sneakery) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
apocalypsehowcomm2022-12-13 03:11 pm
sneakery) wrote in apocalypsehowcomm2022-12-13 03:11 pm
open network + closed exploration log
Who: K.P. Hob and various
Username: K.P.Hob
Warnings: potential discussion of gun violence, severe injury
[ooc note: threadhopping encouraged!]
Mxes., Mmes., and Messrs.—
This is not the time to mince words, and so I will be brief: under no circumstances should anyone who is not adept in the arts of sneakery set foot in the woods at the South-Western border of the park known as Dogtown. Persons unknown, if indeed they were persons, as I could find neither footprint nor scent left behind, began pelting us with stones at lethal velocity. Upon reflection I am confident that it was our conversing which drew their ire. When we went to ground the assault ceased. There was no attempt made to locate us by our assailants. Perhaps they lost interest. However, I am of a mind that it was our quietude which allowed us to pass freely when exiting the park. Whether this was a passing misfortune or a threat of a more constant nature I cannot say.
Again, the facts as I know them are these:
—The South-Western wood of Dogtown is to be presumed unsafe.
—Whoever, or whatever, lurks there leaves no tangible trace.
It is my hope that this warning will reach those with cause to heed it, and my recommendation that any future exploration of these woods be done in silence.
It is better, as they say, to be safe than it is to be sorry.
—K.P. Hob
---
Who: K.P. Hob, Delloso de la Rue
When: backdated 12/9
Where: Dogtown (R3)
Summary: expecting little trouble and overconfident after successful self-defense lessons, Rue decides to accompany Hob on an exploration mission.
Warnings: gun violence, severe injury
[Their exploration of Dogtown has only just begun, and already Hob is doubting himself. From the outside the park looks innocuous enough, if you ignore the fencing ADI has put in place to keep the general public from stumbling into horrors unknown. It seems quite pleasant, in fact, right up until the point he and Rue break the tree line. Abruptly all birdsong cuts out. There is no rustle of squirrels among the branches, no staccato tumbling of loose sticks making their haphazard way to the forest floor. If it wasn't for the sound of Rue's gentle murmuring at his elbow he might think he's gone deaf, so perfect is the silence of this wood.
Hob feels his hackles rising and wonders if he ought not have made an effort to dissuade Rue from joining him, after all.
He halts, relying on their linked arms to guide Rue to fall in at his side. Beneath the glamour his tufted ears are at attention, tilting and flicking in search of sounds that simply aren't there.]
Username: K.P.Hob
Warnings: potential discussion of gun violence, severe injury
[ooc note: threadhopping encouraged!]
Mxes., Mmes., and Messrs.—
This is not the time to mince words, and so I will be brief: under no circumstances should anyone who is not adept in the arts of sneakery set foot in the woods at the South-Western border of the park known as Dogtown. Persons unknown, if indeed they were persons, as I could find neither footprint nor scent left behind, began pelting us with stones at lethal velocity. Upon reflection I am confident that it was our conversing which drew their ire. When we went to ground the assault ceased. There was no attempt made to locate us by our assailants. Perhaps they lost interest. However, I am of a mind that it was our quietude which allowed us to pass freely when exiting the park. Whether this was a passing misfortune or a threat of a more constant nature I cannot say.
Again, the facts as I know them are these:
—The South-Western wood of Dogtown is to be presumed unsafe.
—Whoever, or whatever, lurks there leaves no tangible trace.
It is my hope that this warning will reach those with cause to heed it, and my recommendation that any future exploration of these woods be done in silence.
It is better, as they say, to be safe than it is to be sorry.
—K.P. Hob
---
Who: K.P. Hob, Delloso de la Rue
When: backdated 12/9
Where: Dogtown (R3)
Summary: expecting little trouble and overconfident after successful self-defense lessons, Rue decides to accompany Hob on an exploration mission.
Warnings: gun violence, severe injury
[Their exploration of Dogtown has only just begun, and already Hob is doubting himself. From the outside the park looks innocuous enough, if you ignore the fencing ADI has put in place to keep the general public from stumbling into horrors unknown. It seems quite pleasant, in fact, right up until the point he and Rue break the tree line. Abruptly all birdsong cuts out. There is no rustle of squirrels among the branches, no staccato tumbling of loose sticks making their haphazard way to the forest floor. If it wasn't for the sound of Rue's gentle murmuring at his elbow he might think he's gone deaf, so perfect is the silence of this wood.
Hob feels his hackles rising and wonders if he ought not have made an effort to dissuade Rue from joining him, after all.
He halts, relying on their linked arms to guide Rue to fall in at his side. Beneath the glamour his tufted ears are at attention, tilting and flicking in search of sounds that simply aren't there.]
[closed log]
[Rue may not notice the shifting changes of their surroundings, but they do notice the change in Hob, the shift in his stance beside them, how he draws them to a stop at his side. His gaze is far off, attention pulled in some other direction that Rue can't even begin to follow.
Beneath their glamours, Rue's long claws curl just a touch more firmly at his arm, feathery brows pinching with worry.]
What is it? Is there something out there? I don't hear a thing.
cw: bullets
[This one in particular. Yes, it's hidden away from the rest of the city by ADI's fences, but that shouldn't mean the bustle outside can't reach in. There should be something. There's always something, that's one of the first things Hob noticed about this world. How noisy it is. How loud, at all hours, never a moment without a screech or honk or shout or siren.
Except here, right now, just a step beyond the tree line.]
This is wrong. We should go back—
[And just like that, the eerie silence breaks. It sounds as though a hole rips in the air above his head. A percussive splintering follows, shards of bark and sawdust spraying from a small crater around a half-inch hole bored in the trunk just behind him—]
cw: bullets, injury
But everything is unnaturally still. And for reasons Rue can't even begin to describe, that very idea suddenly fills them with dread.
Their hand atop his arm gives the gentlest of tugs in the direction that they've just come. They don't need all of the man's years of experience in combat and survival to know that Hob's instincts for these things is too sharp to be ignored. If he says they should leave, Rue is right there with him.]
Yes. Yes, I think you're right, Knickolas. I -
[The same terrifying sound rings out through the forest, only this time it hits its mark. Without warning, Rue stumbles back, gasping out in sharp surprise as they fall against Hob's steady frame, the only thing keeping them from losing their footing completely. Behind them, that same shattering of tree bark and splinters explodes into the air, a second hole left behind in the same thick tree trunk.]
I - [It happens so fast, Rue barely knows how to react. The pain doesn't hit them yet, just the strangest sensation of wet warmth spreading out across their shoulder. Their large, dark eyes blink in rapid succession, lashes fluttering, as fey blood seeps out staining the gray of their jacket dark.] I - What - ?
cw addition: blood
Rue!
[Unseen projectiles pelt the ground around them like fat raindrops. The torrent intensifies with the raising of Hob's voice. He doesn't know what's happening, only that they're under attack and in the open. The experience born of millennia of battles won and lost takes hold—Hob takes Rue's wing in his paws and crowds close, shielding them with the bulk of his body while ushering them quickly into the depths of a thicket. His head is on a swivel, ears and eyes alert for any sign of pursuit.
There is none. Not a step, not a twig snap behind them, just the merciless thudding of bullets into the earth. One clips his ear. Another scores a bloody scratch along the meat of his shoulder. Hob pays them no mind. He's had worse, and, ultimately, he doesn't matter. All that matters in this moment is seeing Rue safe.]
no subject
H-Hob! I - I - [But the rain of bullets rings around the pair again, amplifying the very moment that Rue begins to speak again, so instead they turn to curl against the man, whimpering and sobbing into his chest. They are barely even aware that the goblin is moving them, that Hob is seeking out the safety of cover deeper and deeper into the trees. Rue just clings and trembles and ducks their head away from the horrible noise, silently pleading for it all to cease.]
un: Pegasus
They're bullets, probably. Or at least ghost bullets? Me and Rodney just went through a similar thing, we might have been around the same area. I couldn't find any spent bullets or casings or anything either. The only way we got outta there was to be dead quiet, like you.
You made it out okay? Did you run into the birds? If you hear birds that are impossibly loud and are probably invisible, wear earplugs or something. Their chirping will mess you up.
un: K.P.Hob
Be that as it may, we did not encounter any such birds. I will keep them in mind when I return to search more thoroughly for clues as to who, or what, the source of the assault was. Thank you for your warning.
What were the effects of the birds's calls? Bullets are the ammunition used by the "gonnes" wielded by some of the humans here, correct?