Richard supressed a grimace, he really hated how supercilious angels could be. With other beings they would just try to kill you, but with angels you always got the sense they thought they were better than you, regarding you in the same way that you might regard a grandchild with disappointing ambitions. Richard HATED being judged, at no other time was he led to question himself so thoroughly. "Look, I know your ilk isn't particularly fond of me, if you can even be bothered to remember who I am, but I don't think you like serial killers any more than I do. I have heard a rumor that Michael himself is going around killing humans willy-nilly, and I should like you to share your knowledge upon the matter. Most importantly, is this rumor actually true, or is something stranger going on?"
Well, that was a surprise. Seemingly-sloppy technique on Richard's part wasn't very inspiring, but when there was an actual angel in the circle, questions on that front seemed moot. Richard was being rather confrontational about the whole thing, which was concerning, and the angel being the headache-inducingly eldritch type didn't help much either. Tia elects to sit back in her chair with a slight huff and tries to cast an unfocused gaze in Richard's general direction in an attempt to avoid headaches.
So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr
Blood Mage Apologist
Marin - Warehouse
"Not other phoenixes," Marin clarifies, looking slightly bashful. "Humans, on occasion, but it's not a wide spread thing. It's not particularly well liked and- thank the gods- I haven't eaten anyone myself, nor do I plan to, but..." She shrugs. "I can't stand around and condemn him for it when one of our older elders might have devoured a traveller or two a thousand years ago, not when we just generally agree to say nothing and move on. You're in no danger from me or any of our own."
Thankfully that awkward topic is quickly abandoned as they head out to follow the trail. Marin transforms in a burst of blinding fire, suddenly larger and a lot more... feathered, before taking to the air with a cry and following along from the sky. She's not had that many chances to fly lately, and this was a good chance to do so.
Once the group finally finds where the trail seems to lead, she swoops in closer and circles the house, enjoying an aerial view of the area. She doubts she'll see that much different from the sky, but her abilities are unique to the group, so she might as well use them.
And if she's showing off a little bit, well, nobody can really blame her for that, right?
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
SOUL KING BROOK
Daniel trails behind slightly, getting a bit caught up in examining his knife. "Shit, I think I nicked it..." He squats and grabs out the knife sharpener he always brings everywhere. "I'll fix that later. in the meantime, I'll just keep the thing sharp." He grinds away at the blade repeatedly.
He catches back up to Julia. "Hey, uhh, I don't think we're gonna get too far blindly followin' a trail, but if that's what we're gonna do, might as well not leave one of our own. I'm sure there's other nice pals-to-be who wanna find this guy..."
YOHOHO!
At the summoning:
"The Michael? The archangel? If he was going around on Earth killing humans, we'd know. If he was going around on Earth doing anything, we'd know. There are other angels who use the name same name. You must be dealing with either an extremely low tier angel, or one with no real connection to the divine that just has the typical appearance. Honestly, all of the angels you'll ever meet are probably like that. Well, except now. So, is that it? Or do you have more questions?"
On the trail:
"It's not blindly. It's the only lead we have." Julia walks ahead of you, pushing branches aside as you follow the trail. But she does stop to consider what Daniel said. "I hope someone else is hunting him down. We don't have to pay you as much if they get to Feathers first. On the other hand... we wouldn't get to kill him." This is somewhat of a misconception on her part. Although some of you may want to kill the target, and the need certainly may arise, ideally for the company lawyers you would be able to capture him without doing so. Regardless, the thought of vengeance (and maybe fighting off people who want to get to Michael first) seems to drive her forward with renewed speed.
Soon, the rest of you besides Marin arrive outside the decrepit-looking cabin. It seems roughly constructed with flimsy wood, possibly intended to be temporary. Inside, there's a very strong scent that makes it seem like your target has been here recently. There are some cans of food and plastic water bottles in a portable cooler, and a small safe next to it. If he had been sleeping in here, it'd be on the floor. You eventually see a few small white feathers scattered around the room.
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Going into the Woods - Khulan
"The Michael is an archangel, and commonly considered the head badass in charge of the heavenly host." Khulan answered the point slowly, though she knew he'd asked Julia. "This Michael has already killed enough people for Julia to come to us, and he's left them looking like that," she pointed her head toward the ashen remains. "I think at least one of them tried to shoot at him or throw a punch." Really, if they were fighting the Michael, they were all gonna die, but it would be awesome.
The construct got her attention immediately. That very clearly smelled like demon after all. Demon chief? "That's nice..." Khulan answered Marin after a beat. "Most people would just consider eating folks rude." Admittedly, she got distracted and began to try picking out the scent of the demon chief on their 'skulllbuster' and that's when she finally got track of what was probably the 'angel'.
Khulan stands up and points her head. "He didn't just burn and vanish," she says as if that was everything the others needed to know. And without further ado, she heads right out the door and into the woods, following the angel's traces until reaching the cabin.
The only thing that gave her pause was Julia's presence, fine when they were investigating, but if he were still here that was a very different situation. Though given the way he just appeared it may not matter.
Khulan doesn't circle or peek in. She tries the front door and opens it if its not locked. Either way she shouts a cheery "hello!"
Not like subtlety was an option. There was a giant flaming bird circling above. And it would be much better meeting him at the door then going into his house. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
The door is unlocked, so you can see the cabin’s single room is empty. Or your target has the ability to become invisible. Either way, you receive no answer, but you think you hear the walls creaking a little. The floor is made of dirt and grass, bugs crawling all over the place. It doesn’t look like a good place to live.
Edited by pyrounicorn on Apr 5th 2021 at 4:21:22 AM
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
On the Trail
Khulan spins a silk pouch and begins collecting feathers immediately. This was not what Khulan expected an angel's nest to look like. And a spirit wouldn't need a cabin. Hm.
"Find a feather," she pointed at various feathers littering the room. "You can probably test your 'demonic constructs' on them." Khulan experimentally tried to tear one and whistled up to their fire bird.
"Moltres," she shouted up to the phoenix. "How big a smoke signal do you think you can make? We should probably call Feathers back if he's close enough, and I don't want to set the forest on fire. Smokey would be so mad at me." Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
SOUL KING BROOK
In the cabin
Daniel nods, looking around and quickly finding a feather. He sets down his knife, kneeling down. He makes something resembling a glove around his hand, then cautiously touches the feather, waiting to see what may happen.
YOHOHO!
The feather at first doesn’t react, but then slowly starts heating up. The reaction you eventually get is very strange— it melts into a clear liquid with the consistency of water and then evaporates into mist that feels mildly unpleasant when it touches you.
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
Blood Mage Apologist
Marin - On the Trail
The phoenix crows something and promptly dives, wings flashing golden-orange in the sun as she proceeds to set fire to a small patch of grass with a beat of her wings.
For a moment it looks like it'll spread, but another wingbeat and it instead scorches a small circle on the ground, the spread tight and controlled. It grows to bonfire sized but doesn't stray from its 'spot,' smoke billowing upwards as it burns and crackles.
For a moment, she lets it burn before diving down into it and coming to a stop in the middle of the makeshift pyre. Despite a lack of fuel it continues to burn as she begins to preen her feathers, taking a quick rest in the small inferno.
It's a bit hot, especially to anyone standing next to it, but it shows no signs of spreading to anything else, at least. If Marin is good at anything, it's keeping a fire under control, and going even when there's nothing else to eat. There's quite a bit of smoke as well, but she doesn't appear to mind that either.
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
SOUL KING BROOK
Daniel turns to Khulan, grinning widely. "Welp, we got good news, good news, and bad news. The good news is one: he's definitely of angelic nature, or at least holy, and two: I can definitely do damage to him, at least if this is the standard for his whole body. Might take longer to damage flesh, but at least I can get rid of some of his mobility pretty quick." He pauses. "Bad news is, the mist itches like Hell."
Edited by Omega-Z on Apr 5th 2021 at 7:24:57 AM
YOHOHO!
This was exactly as he had expected, the attacker had not been Michael, but rather some other party. Indeed to automatically assume otherwise was rather foolish of their employhers. They seemed to be rather unprofessional about this whole affair, he wondered what sort of crimninals they were. "Just as I suspected, I thought it quite hasty to assume that it was the Archangel, but I needed definitive proof for other parties. I should like you to tell me more about what this assailant might actually be, but beyond that I have no further inquiries."
Removed (it posted this twice for some reason)
Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 7th 2021 at 9:06:00 AM
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
On the Trail - Khulan
Khulan laughs, returning Daniel's grin. "We're really hunting an angel!" She clapped and briefly bounced in place. "And I guess I'm staying out of the mist."
"And the fire..." For a moment, she watches the rising smoke through the cabin's holes—the decrepit condition was good for something. Then she gathers up the water bottles and canned food, ignoring the safe for now. She didn't take them out of hunger or spite.
"If he doesn't see the fire and smoke and come back soon, we can poke around the convenience stores around here. I doubt the clerk will remember who they sold some old snacks to, but everyone's got CCTV nowadays. And he may have to buy more if this is it."
Of course there was the option of just camping here themselves but... "Can anyone crack a safe? Mafia lady?" It was the only thing he might come back for. If there was nothing precious in it, he had no reason not to just move on from this cabin. She pretty much had to hope a righteous avenger would take someone setting his piece of junk cabin on fire as a challenge. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
On the trail:
“Depends. Most serious safes can withstand way more than what I can do. But this looks like he bought it at a Walmart. Alright, hold on.” The transformation is relatively fast. Most werewolves take around 30 seconds, but Julia can do it in five, giving the impression that she is either powerful, or very used to doing this. She’s the anthropomorphic type, which is nice, since a normal wolf wouldn't be able to do much to open a safe. It’s also lucky the safe has external hinges, or it would be impossible to open. You would think that would be included in the design, since the point of a safe is not to open unless unlocked.
After the door is torn off, you can see inside— an uncharacteristically fancy-looking pen, a plain black composition notebook, and the keys to a car. The notebook is full of names written neatly but scattered across lines. Every few pages, one of them is crossed out. “Daniel Browne” is one of the names written inside. If this notebook is indeed his (it does have his scent very strongly), your target has very girly handwriting.
At the summoning:
“Yeah, not the archangel. Other than what I already told you, I’ve got basically nothing. If he really is connected to our God, he might be a soon-to-be fallen angel. We’re not supposed to kill humans.” Even through the feathers, eyes, animal faces, etc., you can see him bite back a “luckily for you.” “I assume you’re planning to stop him from committing future murders? More power to you. Low tier angels are weak to anything unholy, but anything with more than a little divine power can pretty much shrug it off. Other than that, case by case.” He hovers awkwardly for a while, wings tracing an infinity loop pattern. “Can I go now?”
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone
SOUL KING BROOK
"Yo, let's have a look at that. What is it, his damn script for a play? A diary?" He catches a glimpse of his name and a wide, unnerving grin spreads over his face. "Better. A hitlist."
"This sure is a nice change of pace~" He chuckles. "Usually the holy folk don't like to acknowledge the tarnished piece of their record that is my existence." He twirls his blade and flips it in the air. "This is definitely gonna be more fun than I thought. Any other POI's in there?" He tried getting a glance in again. "Anyone in the group/agency/organization/whatever the fuck this company qualifies as?"
YOHOHO!
Well that really wasn't a great deal of information to go on, but it would have to do. "Yes that is our intention, thank-you for your aid."
He dismissed the glyphs that bound the angel to the material plane, the being vanishing in a cloud of light. He turned to Tia, briefly forgetting his disdain. "Well that wasn't very helpful now was it? Not that it matters to me, I'm not the one pursued by a rogue angel after all. Where do you think we go from here?"
Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 8th 2021 at 5:13:03 AM
Blood Mage Apologist
On the Trail - Marin
Marin watches Julia transform with some interest- she's never seen a werewolf in the flesh before, although she's heard stories. It's an interesting thing to watch, really.She shifts back to human form in a flash of fire, going from bird to girl in the blink of an eye- it's not quite a sign of power or experience for her, as phoenix transformation tends to be fast as a rule. "Good job. I could have likely crumpled it, but actually getting it open without smashing everything inside would've probably been outside my abilities," she says cheerfully.
The phoenix is no tracker, but she does take a gander at the notebook... and the keys, actually. "... The angel has a car?" She wonders aloud. "Are his wings not sufficient? Not to mention the teleportation thing he was doing. I suppose it would be less suspicious to drive a car than to appear out of thin air, but... that's a bit dissapointing, really."
She pulls her phone from her pocket- her clothes are just there, somehow, apparently undamaged by her transformation. Or the flickering flames that follow and curl around her legs as she moves. "This Browne guy is probably one of your mafia members, right? If you can get in contact with him, we can try to get there before Feathers does."
She pauses for a moment. "We want to call Tia?" She leaves out Richard. She's not thrilled with the idea of dealing with him. "See if they've got any new info, maybe get her over here?"
Edited by Cwest5538 on Apr 8th 2021 at 2:49:47 AM
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
On the Trail - Khulan
"Pssst," Khulan 'whispered' to Marin about as quietly as a passing jet while pointing at their Daniel Browne.
"And you don't have to ask for good ideas, sweet one. Just tell Tia you're worried about her and we've found our angel's cabin in the woods and we want to camp here. Oh, and our Daniel's got heaven's eye on him."
Khulan reached to take the car keys. Feathers may have been closer than they thought. "By the way, if no one wants a quick joyride after this, I'm gonna see how much I get for its parts. More of these guys really need to leave their car keys laying around." Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
Richard arrived at the site, panting and short of breath. He tried looking nonchalant, but it was clear that the long walk had winded him. By his side was a mess of wooden root-like limbs converging in a bulbous and featureless central node. Fungus sprouted from it forming, strange, abstract structures. He had summoned Autumn's Maw a nature spirit with a reasonable amount of power over rot and decay but very little sentience. "Greetings to you all" he said imperiously, "I trust that nothing has transpired yet, or else you would not still be gathered here."
"Ah yes, I ought to tell you all, the angel we conversed with says that Michael is still in Heaven. We're probably dealing with a lower or soon to be fallen angel, or some other thing that is imitating one. If it is a lesser angel, it will probably be vulnerable to unholy power"
He noticed the pyre Marin had started and was about to ask why the hell somebody had decided to do something so obviously dangerous, but decided that it wasn't really worth asking. Richard walked over to where the others were gathered. "What is our plan for engaging the angel? We do have a plan right?"
SOUL KING BROOK
"I mean, I propose a sort of snowball technique. You ever watch Infinity War? Basically, I could go up to him, seeing as I'm a target, while everyone else waits to get the drop on him. Soon as possible, I'll burn his wings right off, then beat him to a dead, bloody pulp."
YOHOHO!
Tia unsteadily strolls up to the rest of the team, looking rather like she was about to fall over. After a few moments of stabilization, she glances around at the rest of the team, curious as to what had been happening. There was some vaguely menacing guy she didn't recognize in the back and Khulan was holding car keys for some unknown reason. "We are to wait here until the angel returns," she tells Richard, who doesn't look that well himself. "At least, that is what Marin told me when she called. What we are to do is, I assume, a topic that will be broached now that you and I have arrived."
So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
On the Trail - Khulan
"Hey," Khulan approached Richard and Tia, producing a couple of the feathers that she'd collected. "So, Feathers probably lives here... alone. He used to have a car. And he has our Daniel in his little black book." She tilted her head, 'pointing' at Daniel. "And, Our Dan's power seemed to work on these feathers at least. Try one for yourself if you want."
"I've gotta say, I'm glad Feathers isn't the Michael. Not that it wouldn't be interesting but you can hardly enjoy an experience that only lasts microseconds. And even Feathers is lower, we still saw the ash-statue-corpse of one of his victims. I should've taken a selfie with it. A moment." She mimics the thing's pose, though not this time out of mockery. "I think Feathers uses a touch attack, based on that pose. I think." She repeats herself to emphasize the uncertainty.
Being on the wrong end of an angel smite would be pretty bad for her, but she kinda forgot to bring a rocket launcher. Go figure. Khulan folded her arms, exhaling and trying not to imagine what slipping up would feel like. "I'm going to wait for him by the front door." She briefly raises her hand as if whisper-yelling a secret to Daniel. "I want to hear our angel's big motive rant before the dead, bloody pulp part." And it'd probably be bad if Danny turned to ash while rushing in with no nearby backup.
Nothing like wrestling with an angel, holy smite and all. "If you're going to hide, you may want to watch each other too." A good watch could prevent them from being ambushed. She didn't say much more of a plan nor try to come up with one. They knew maybes and probablys about Feathers. Beyond 'don't get bad touched', they'd have to figure something out after meeting him.
"If you like I can sing karaoke while we wait."
Edited by CenturyEye on Apr 11th 2021 at 5:13:13 AM
Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives
At the summoning:
Angelic light briefly blinds you before subsiding. You see an extremely confusing creature with the faces of a man, lion, eagle, and ox, and four overlapping wings covered in countless eyes. All of the eyes eventually land on you. “Hello?” the angel says in an unexpectedly comprehensible, human sounding voice. He notices your summoning circle. “Oh. So, what is it this time?” The way his wings are keeping him hovering in the air makes no logical sense, much less the way his body would have to be constructed to exist in 3 dimensional space. It’s all very headache-inducing.
At the warehouse:
"Phoenixes eat other phoenixes?" Julia notices Marin keeping her talon transformed. She's visibly avoiding looking at the corpse, instead keeping her gaze trained on one of you three at all times. "If I was judgmental about people who enjoyed killing, I wouldn't be in this business. Bloodlust is something I can understand. Eating people is creepy, but neither of you have given me reason to be afraid of you yet."
The angel's scent—well, what seems to be the angel's scent— leads pretty clearly out into the woods. It's very faint for a while, but gets stronger a few dozen yards outside the warehouse. Following it leads you to some trampled brush, which leads you to a mountain road. You can see the road goes downhill towards a cabin next to a small lake, probably half an hour or so by foot.
My time zone keeps changing to Los Angeles I’ve never even been to LA. Or the LA time zone