abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] tell them that the villains on my list

[This is really the problem with speaking to Alucard in wolf form. (Though he far prefers this over the bats, thank you.) The longer the conversation goes, the more there is this sense in the back of Jaskier's head that he is simply talking to a stray wolf that does not understand him. Even though he knows the scar. He knows that wolves do not simply wander around human cemeteries this close to cities.

Oh, right. Not for free. That's fair. Even though Jaskier doesn't think he needs compensation to help, but the world has always worked that way, hasn't it?]

What's that face for? [He's pretty sure he's pulling a face. Wolf muzzles. Hard to read.] He's your friend, isn't he? [And once the words are out of his mouth, he's not sure. The concept of "Geralt" and "friends"... oof. Right. Jaskier waves a hand through the air. Some bloody things don't change.] All right, he probably isn't, but that's not the point. What would you like? A bag of coin? I can grow you whatever you'd like. We just... [And here, any attempt at humor leaves his tone. He's pale, and his voice cracks.] We have to find him. Please.

[He holds himself back from anything more. If something happened. If he's hurt. If he's dead. He has to know. They have to. Even if this only ends with Geralt having fucked off to another city to heal a wolf bite, whether he'll be fucking pissed to find they've involved everyone they know... it doesn't matter. As long as they do know.]

[ Ciri is losing patience with Alucard choosing to remain in his wolf form for a whole conversation. She doesn't expect him to help for free (she knows too well the world rarely works like that) but she does expect him to at least... discuss this with them. She doesn't understand his penchant for staying in his animal form far past the point where one would normally respond in some way besides staring wolfishly. And she knows better than to haggle against herself, offering up too much trying to just get a response out of him. ]

This will go faster if you adopt a form with the appropriate vocal cords for communicating, don't you think?

We're losing daylight.

Whether or not you accompany us, we intend to ride out within the hour.

[ It's only sort of a bluff. The thing is, even if they do go back out there, Ciri has no idea how to move beyond the point where she'd already tracked Geralt. All traces she could have followed have been destroyed. And the scent is probably fading. Even Alucard may not be able to help, but--

They have to do something. She has to do something. She cannot simply sit around hoping and waiting without answers. ]

[Being harder to read is the point. As a wolf, his expressions are limited, and that allows the dhampir a little bit more time to process as well. It isn't about any power play, it is only about giving himself time. Clawing for it, bit by bit, because the dhampir only felt that luxury for a month or so. Everything else has been a matter of imprisonment or everything coming down because of Sypha's presence.

But it is...hard...to listen to Jaskier talk. It's the kind of thing he wished the other two back home might've done for him, the kind of feelings that might've brought them back and saved a whole lot of trouble. He closes his eyes at that thought, ears twitching for just a moment. He doesn't like this.

When he opens his eyes, they meet Ciri's. Easier to look at, at least for making a considered decision. This is--

--ugh. Goddamnit, he has to be a people. The wolf sighs. Then Alucard does, the transformation showing what a mask the form is right now. The wolf didn't look like ten pounds of shit shoved into a five pound bag, hair a mess and clothes covered in dirt from working to remove rubble.]

You've doubtlessly tracked him already. What do you think you're missing from the scene?

Ciri! [He snaps his gaze over to her. It's a lost lesson that being rude gets people nowhere, apparently.] Please.

[Actually, he wouldn't mind her sharp tone and impatience with anyone else, but Alucard is his friend and... a bit flighty, if he were honest. She is right, though. Whether or not the dhampir deigns himself able to help them, they're going back into the desert. Searching for something they could have missed.

Flighty. Perhaps he was being a little generous with that, when he realizes Hector won't meet his eyes. He only just holds back a sigh himself; it would be too frail, too brittle. His heart is already such a fragile thing right now.

Enough so that his brows turn down as Alucard changes, looking even worse than the last time he's seen him.

Gods. No wonder he stayed the wolf.] The direction he's gone. If someone was with him. We found his camp, but it was -- [And here he hesitates, fingers rubbing together, curling into fists. The memory is still fresh and raw, the blood of it still wet.] There were bandits picking through it. We hoped there would be something else. Something you could find.

[ Jaskier has said please enough times between them; Ciri doesn't add onto it, but she does give Alucard a small nod that might have been in thanks when he shifts back. Good. Feels like less of a waste of time already. (She doesn't even glance at Jaskier when he chides her, but that's probably no surprise.)

Ciri takes a slow, quiet breath, settling her racing, aching heart. ]

We found his supplies, and-- Blood. Some hair. Enough to track his scent, I hope.

Will you come with us?

[ Because there's nothing left but this one hope. No tracks, not after what had happened. She can only hope Alucard's wolf nose or vampire magic or whatever it is he can do can find traces of Geralt under the mess left in his camp. ]

All of that among shifting sands?

[There is the vague suspicion from the dhampir that there are details being left out. He does not prod for them, because if they were pertinent, they'd be leverage - or else things balance on too fine an emotional point, and the other two are trying to remain as cohesive as humanly possible to get what information they possibly can.

Because the sands are the problem, aren't they? Alucard has no delusions that Jaskier's a skilled tracker, but Ciri? Based on everything she's demonstrated to him? If she's missing details then that means there's something more powerful at play here.

There's a long, tired sigh.]

Only one question left: do you have an idea of how long it has been since that site was cleared?

[No surprise at all. Maybe a small bit of surprise that Ciri is holding herself back for so long, though, when he knows both of them are tighter than a pulled bowstring.

He sighs. He can't hold it back anymore.]

It wasn't exactly the cleanest scene.

[He isn't referring, necessarily, to what he and Ciri... it doesn't matter. It's been done, and he cannot linger on it. They have gone as far as they can with what they could find. Ciri is terribly strong and dangerous, but she isn't a full Witcher like Geralt. Doesn't have his nose or his eyes.

And of course his plants aren't a fucking help. Not for this.

Honestly, he would've preferred a simple yes or no. Before things get --]

We found he was missing from Roach -- his horse -- returning home. She must've been out there a day or so on her own, and he wouldn't leave her on her own if he could. I'd estimate three days, four at the most. [He pauses, and his voice is tight.] Is that... too long?

Hills over there are rockier. Packed earth and desert shrubs, dusty as fuck but not so much loose sand as to completely obscure tracks with the wind. That's how we found the place.

[ Geralt giving them a direction he'd be hunting in had helped, of course, but Alucard is right to assume Ciri knows what she's doing on top of that.

She glances from Jaskier to Alucard. The way the bard's voice catches and falters makes her chest hurt, the anger and fear licking like flames at the edges of her thoughts. She shoves them away, holding Alucard's gaze steadily. ]

It's not too long.

[ She answers for him with certainty, her level gaze daring Alucard to object. In truth, she doesn't know-- but a trained hound can hold a scent for a week, more if it's of proper breeding. Surely a dhampir's senses are at least as good as a hound's. ]

[Alucard listens. Tries very pointedly to ignore the tones coming into this conversation, because that makes some things easier. An advantage of perspective, being removed from the emotions of the moment.

They keep mentioning the horse. In that, there's a chance of determining if he can pick up anything at all without needing to be hauled into the desert to be a glorified sniffer dog for someone he's currently not speaking to and isn't sure he'll speak to again.

He also cannot believe the words that are about to come out of his mouth.]

Let me smell the horse. If there is anything especially unusual, it should still be there, and may be more helpful before going any further.

[This is mostly a conversation out of his depth; the way Ciri says that so steadily, so quickly, makes him unsure. He doesn't know shit about tracking; Geralt is mostly the one who has always found him, when they had plans on meeting on the path once more.

Moreso, Jaskier is left unsure because, as far as he knew, Alucard and Geralt were on rather good ground (which says a lot, considering Geralt's... everything.) And now it feels as if he's not only doing them a favor, but needs to bribed to do so.

It's --

His brows raise. Any other context, it would have been funny to hear the very serious dhampir talk about smelling a horse. Roach was exhausted, and they'd only just stabled her so she could rest. Perhaps that was to their advantage.] The stable's not far. I... thank you, Alucard.

[He doubts Ciri is willing to share the same sentiment. (And later, when they know what the fuck is going on, he can. Pick at this.)]

[ Not the sort of offer she'd have thought would come out of Alucard's mouth (or anyone's) but Ciri's not in the mood to find it amusing. She considers what he means, having not thought of that as an option. Best to start closer to home before trekking back out.

Ciri nods. ]

Good idea. We'll start there.

Lead on.

[He's not sure where they've stabled the horse, but this much Alucard knows: he'll get much more out of this if he's a wolf. So within two steps he is no longer human. Big, gold eyes look up at Ciri, waiting for her or Jaskier to start moving.

Best to get started.]

[Jaskier tilts his head and leads the way; this, at least, is a path he's well-acquainted with.

What he's not? People turning into wolves. And there he is, a wolf again already. With barely a conversation between the three of them, and what was there with sharp edges.

He should be used to this. He has. He's seen it the other way around. Unfortunately, it's still quite startling, even if it's sort of beautiful in its fluidity. (Where do his clothes go? Do they become skin and fur? My. That's much more useful than what werewolves have to go through.)

Jaskier keeps walking as if he had no reaction to it, and as if it wasn't strange as fuck to have a companion who kept changing into a wolf (he imagines to avoid further conversation on the way there.) And it is quiet. Tense. He isn't sure what to say after this tentative agreement to either of them, and it feels bizarre to attempt to fill this silence.

So silence it stays. Until he practically itches with it, and the stable's scent carries towards them on the wind. Inside, Roach has her head stuck in a bag, munching away as her tail flicks. Lounging in her gifts now she's back home with a job well done. A journey completed.]

Well. Here you are.

[If only to say something.]

[ Unfortunately for Jaskier, Ciri doesn't break the silence either. She walks alongside him, letting the wolf follow. When they arrive at the stables, she approaches Roach to keep her calm, concerned that she'll take offense to having a wolf sniffing around at her -- but apart from some tail-flicking and ear-twitching, she doesn't seem too upset, just slightly more alert as she continues eating. The food is an excellent distraction, at least.

Ciri stays by the horse's head, stroking her neck and partially blocking her vision while Alucard explores. ]

She probably won't kick you, but watch your head anyway.

[What an awkward, tense little group they make, walking from the graveyard to the stables. Two tense, unhappy humans and a deeply awkward wolf trailing behind them, ears alert and eyes glancing in every direction. How strange it is for all of them to be moving towards one very specific stall to let the wolf smell a horse.

To Ciri's concerns, there is only a nod of the wolf's head. His nose wiggles. Flares. And then Alucard gets to work.

He starts by sniffing at Roach's middle, where any sort of attached saddle or other riding kit would be. The smell of the stable is the strongest, but below that is leather. Then dessert, all open air and dry, dry climes that carry cacti on it. There's...there's something with the leather, but he can't figure out what.

So the wolf stands up on its' hind legs. There's more leather on the top part of the horse (he is aware there's better terminology, but fuck it), so the smell is stronger there. Or at least it should be. Alucard takes a deeper sniff, careful not to press too much weight against Roach.

Ozone?

That can't be right. But the note is similar, and it mixes with the layer of leather.

The wolf moves out of Roach's stall. He knows what he is hunting for now, and it is only a matter of finding where the other two have placed Roach's saddle for now. It takes a few minutes to find the darn thing, but once it happens? Alucard's wolfy snout is pressed against it, working through the layers of scent. (He never wanted to know what Geralt's butt smelled like, but here he is, cursed with knowledge.)

The ozone scent is there again, but with it is something else. A faint undercurrent, and--oh.

Oh dear.

A sigh escapes the wolf, and Alucard is standing in the thing's place a moment later, eyes cast down.]

I can't say what happened. Only that there's traces of magic here that would block further tracking.

[This is monumentally far from the most fun thing to do in his life. He considers whistling as they walk, but that was likely to make the mood worse. And he. Would rather die than sing right now.

So he sighs a few times instead, moving to the other side of Roach's head, but keeping a bit of space between them so she doesn't feel too trapped. With a wolf entering behind them, he imagines she isn't having the time of her life, either. You know what? Join the family.

Jaskier peeks over her shoulder to watch Alucard's investigation, every inch of him tight in the hopes he'll find something. He seems to be following a trail, but... honestly, this has never happened to Jaskier in his life.

The wolf sighs.

Oh. That's a bad sign.]

Magic? [He pats Roach and steps away to peer at the saddle. Shouldn't he be able to sense it himself? Blast it, he has magic. And yet all one needs is the magic of... a nose.] A mage, then. [Of course. It had to be. What did the Witcher lack a defense against? Magic.] Or one of us. The Singularity mages. [He runs a shaking hand through his hair.] Fuck. Can you tell if there's more than one? Even with magic, I don't think one mage could take him alone.

[ Ciri practically bristles at this news, echoing Jaskier's curse under her breath. Roach nickers, pawing a leg at the ground beneath her, tail flicking anxiously. She can sense the tension, probably -- or she's just as freaked out by the wolf becoming a man as person might be.

Ciri takes a deep breath, trying to settle her nerves so she can settle the horse. ]

Can you tell anything more specific than just... magic? Traces of humans or anything else?

[ Alucard's no mage, not as far as she knows, and Ciri's aware it's a ridiculous question, but the way things are beginning to slot together leaves her desperate. Geralt had been ambushed. Taken. He must have been incapacitated to leave his sword and Roach like that. He'd probably been sleeping, and someone with magic took him by surprise and--

What?

The idea of portals immediately comes to mind, the way it would explain Geralt vanishing from his camp without taking any of his gear. It is an explanation. One that fits uncomfortably well, and leaves Ciri's blood ice in her veins. ]

Edited 2021-12-03 09:25 (UTC)

[Alucard's response is a shake of his head no to all inquiries. It is slow, genuinely apologetic without having to say the words I'm sorry. He's not been on the other side of this situation before, but he knows when those words sting more than comfort.]

The scent is too faint for me to make any further kind of determination. [The worst reason, but the truest one.] And I don't think going out to the desert where this happened will help me, unfortunately. The kind of nuance I think you're both hoping for isn't well adjusted to this world's magic yet.

[Maybe if he hadn't had his powers removed upon being dragged to Thorne, it'd be a different story. But here they stand awkwardly in front of a saddle, the dhampir the bearer of bad news.

He looks off to the left, where neither of the other two are standing. Privacy, until he's dismissed.]

[It's hard not to feel completely crestfallen when they've gotten... this far. If it's far at all, really, in the grand scheme of things. At least Jaskier works to keep his expression even, though he listens.

To be honest, he agrees with Alucard. That he shouldn't go out there. Not because he won't find anything -- though there's that -- but there's sure to be remnants of what they did. The bodies still there.

If anything, all he'll smell is blood, anyway.]

It's about as I suspected. Still, it's confirmation of something we weren't sure of. I do appreciate your help, Alucard.

[No matter how terribly the dhampir is wishing to not be here.] When you think of your matter of payment, let me know.

[ It's not the answer she was hoping for, but Ciri understands. It is still information they didn't have, a confirmation of something only suspected. And though it doesn't really give them any direction to go in... it's something. So she tells herself, swallowing back a sigh and a curse that Alucard doesn't deserve. ]

It is more than we had before. Very well.

[ She nods, and gestures vaguely back out at the street, leading them away from the horse to let her eat in peace. ]

Consider it a favor owed, if nothing else.

[ It's a more generous offer than it may seem at first, as she doesn't put specifics to it. Alucard had been decent and understanding, helpful despite his cold demeanor; she intends to have his back when he needs it, if he asks. ]

[ CLOSED ] tell them that the villains on my list

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