[ CLOSED ] tooth and nail, tooth and nail

[gynvael]

Who: Geralt + Various
When: December
Where: Cadens; Horizon; Nocwich
What: Catch-all for December
Warnings: General Witcher stuff, will add more as needed.



(( starters in the comments below. find me at discontinued or at Noa#1979 to plot stuff! ))

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alucard.

[gynvael]

[ The contents of the tome itself are not the issue. Long-winded, obviously, but Geralt's read scholars who've expounded upon the finer points of a single constellation at greater length. He just hasn't any idea what he's supposed to do with the information he now knows. It must have some use. He's missing something.

The theological basis of Dean's sphere seems to be common amongst several in Abraxas. But Alucard's world is the only one who shares a good amount of similarities with Geralt's, too. It's why out of all those who might be familiar with these stories of Cain and Lucifer, he chooses the dhampir. Winds up at the vaguely gloomy cabin in the midst of the Horizon.

Carrying, naturally, the bible Dean handed him, along with a few other notes he's taken from sources in the bunker. This is more nebulous than he'd prefer; the Horizon is made up of their memories, meaning he can't verify accuracy or thoroughness of the writings he's been given or found. But it's better than nothing.

He's let Alucard know he's arriving to discuss certain literature. Beyond that, he's said little else.

He knocks on the door, then waits. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Literature.

Alucard can't say that is one of the topics he expected to discuss with Geralt, but the man had reached out. That meant that this literary discussion had real weight, Geralt wasn't the kind to indulge in idle chatter. The man was straight forward in that regard, and Alucard appreciates that.

He can't fully anticipate what will come up, but he can be a good host. That means when Alucard opens the door to let the Witcher in, the kitchen table behind him has a good wine and liquor selection, cold cheeses and meats along wit fruit, and warm bread from the oven.]

Do I get to know what book we're discussing now?

[gynvael]

[ Alucard may indeed know. Geralt holds up the literature in question, leather-bound and Horizon-created by Dean Winchester himself. If there are alternate copies in existence, Geralt is not aware of them, though he'd not be surprised to hear they exist. Prophecies, myths, even historical notations—all writings of that nature go through multiple variations.

But this is the specific version he's been provided.

He peers at the selection of wine, cheese, bread over Alucard's shoulder. The vampire makes for a thoughtful host, as ever. Geralt closes the door behind him. ]

We'll need more wine.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's eyes go to the book. Geralt has probably seen Alucard's face go sour before, but it happens in an instant. He was hoping for something good, not mere Christianity.

He steps aside, allowing Geralt in and shutting the door. The two chairs at the kitchen are cozier than normal, and Alucard is glad for at least that much.

When he speaks, his tone is dark and deeply disapproving.] No, we'll want actual liquor if we're dealing with that.

[gynvael]

[ Geralt raises an eyebrow. Yeah. This is a favour to be certain, not a leisure activity.

Undeterred by Alucard's dour mood, he hooks a foot around a chair leg and pulls it forward to sit. He's already helping himself to a bottle. Actual liquor is welcome. ]

Not to worry. I haven't arrived to debate the question of gods and idols. [ No one needs that headache. Burnt through much of that topic with Nenneke back in the day, anyhow. ] It's to do with a curse. [ He won't give much more detail than that, and he imagines Alucard will not ask beyond what's necessary. ] Have you ever seen one manifest? Out of here. Similar texts.

[ Alucard may be young (younger than Ciri, he keeps having to remind himself, because youth and vampires are not things that go hand-in-hand in his experience), but Alucard seems to have...learned quite a bit. From his father, his mother. There's history recorded, Geralt thinks, that Alucard may know of. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard reaches for a short, square bottle and helps himself. The whiskies he's had in Cadens have been enjoyable, especially the oak aged ones. Tonight is a whiskey sort of night.

He softens slightly. Just a hair, because this has nothing to do with theological witchcraft debates or questions of Heaven and Hell. That's fine.]

Do you mean a curse that has transpired in one's world and followed them here as a natural continuity, or it began here?

[He's seated now, spreading one of the goat cheeses onto a piece of warm bread.]

[gynvael]

Followed.

[ There's a little more to it than that—Dean had not been cursed until the Singularity saw fit to flood him with memories of receiving the curse; how that works, he has no fucking idea. Those are complicating details, though. Ones he isn't sure will be of use for Alucard to know.

He pauses. Some of his reservation is that this is a personal situation, to Dean. He's worked contracts that require discretion before; it requires some navigating for one who prefers to get to the damn point. He doesn't want to spill everything he knows, even if it should be relevant. But keeping too much to himself helps no one, either.

Eventually, he settles on, ] We know its inception began in a man named Cain. Something about a...first murder.

[cryptsleeper]

[Followed. That's fine, but then comes the shoe's anticipated fall. Alucarrd breathes out, and he takes a sip of the whiskey.]

That one. Sypha would have been the better person to speak with you about this, given the nature of her people and how they preserve stories.

[But Alucard has to do for now. He leans back in his chair, considering.]

So let's say the story is the baseline and everything branches off from there, since I assume we're dealing with other worlds. In the predominant monotheistic religion, a god created the earth, and made one man and one woman to populate the earth. They had two sons, Cain and Abel. The point of the story isn't the logistics at play here though, it's fratricide. Cain gardens, Abel is a shepherd, and as worship goes, they both offer some of what they work with naturally. The god involved prefers meat, Cain gets jealous, kills his brother in anger.

[There's a pause. Alucard is no story teller, but he knows there should be a pause.] The god involved disapproves of fratricide and curses Cain with a mark of some sort that marks him as a fratricide. He also cannot be harmed by any others. What became of Cain - for example, if not even the god involved could kill him - is a matter of debate.

[gynvael]

[ In light of Sypha's absence, Alucard is more than sufficient. Geralt can work with what he has. He's solved cases with less.

The theme of fratricide, he gathers. Something about envy probably lies in it, too. Most curses are predicated on a lesson of some sort. It doesn't surprise him that one's been attached to notions of worship and murder and jealousy. ]

These theories of what became of him. Do any say he returned? Or gained something beyond mortality?

[ Because Dean seems to believe Cain himself passed on this curse, so clearly—something allowed that to happen. ]

nadine.

[gynvael]

[ Having impressed upon Nadine the importance of being able to quickly and easily mount her horse and ride it, Geralt had been willing—and expecting—to give Nadine a few solid riding lessons. Frankly, in his view, everyone should be comfortable with a horse. More so than with a blade. A sword won't always save you; escaping on horseback will. Usually.

Nadine has, instead, opted for a somewhat alternate solution. Don't misunderstand him. It isn't a poor solution at all. It's actually a fairly good one. It's just also. Amusing. A bit.

He is absolutely not laughing, because Geralt does not laugh. (Much. Often.) But he isn't hiding his smile, either, when he rides up to meet Nadine with her new mount, a good several hands shorter than Roach. Admittedly, he's...not avoided Nadine, but nor has he gone out of his way to seek her out after that day. He's told himself he's occupied, which is true, but. There's a bit of uncertainty lingering over what happened. Still. The matter of her pony is a simpler topic to begin with.

He stops beside her. ] Hope he was only half the price, as well.

[nadine_he_loves]

She was very reasonably priced, thank you. This is Dumpling. She was trained for children but ended up too big.

[But perfectly Nadine-sized. Julie had been very satisfied with the price, though, so she assumes they paid something very reasonable.

She also doesn't blame Geralt for not exactly being the most social with her lately. Obviously they see one another around the inn, he's there often enough. And they run in the same circles. But they haven't spent much personal time together since...well, since many of them hadn't been exactly themselves.

It's understandable. She doesn't have many regrets about things she'd done during that time, but that afternoon in the desert with Geralt...she isn't proud of it.]

[gynvael]

[ Dumpling. His lips quirk. She does look like one—a bit round and squat. He reaches down to pat the horse's neck, already fond of the animal.

When he urges Roach along, it's at a slow trot for Dumpling to keep up. He's silent for a time, enjoying the cooler mornings now that it isn't in the midst of a scorching summer. ]

Things have gone back to normal for you?

[ Seems it has for everyone, but. He knows things linger, too. There's a lot he has not quite put behind him as much as he wants to. ]

[nadine_he_loves]

Yeah...yeah, they have.

[Nadine doesn't need to ask for clarification. They'd all fallen under some manner of spell, be it the one that claimed her or something else.

She also doesn't need to ask why Geralt is bringing it up. There's no sense that he's angry with her in any way, and he isn't exactly the sort to hide that. But still. She knows what she'd done, even if it hadn't been intentional. Or anything she'd understood at the time.]

About that...I'm sorry about what happened. The other month. I really didn't know what I was doing. What I could do. It's not something I'd ever do on purpose, in my right mind.

[Not after having had it done to her.]

[gynvael]

[ For a minute, he's quiet. He isn't angry, no—not even upset. Truth be told, he's been distant in large part because he's been trying to untangle what did happen. It's too simple to say that Nadine made him do anything. ]

I've had my mind taken over before. It isn't the same. [ Not for him, at least. ] When you called for me—I didn't kill them because you told me to. I did it because...I felt you needed me to protect you.

[ Felt it so strongly he didn't think twice about what had to be done. Does he regret it? Not exactly. If they'd been better armed, chances are he'd have cut them down, too. But perhaps there is something to be said about how his fiercest instinct to protect and his instinct to kill are so closely intertwined.

He supposes he's always known that about himself.

In any case— ]

You didn't bring out anything that wasn't already there.

[nadine_he_loves]

No, but...I didn't help the situation. And I wanted to clear the air on it, you know?

[Nadine probably ought to feel more badly that people were dead because of it, but...they'd been the ones who'd tried to rob the pair of them in the first place. It wasn't unprovoked.

And she knows what Geralt is telling her. He is no stranger to killing, be it creature or person. Still. The context was bothersome to her.]

And that was pretty much just what I needed in the moment, I guess. To be protected. I wasn't armed, I don't have the sort of magic that's useful for defense, I was outnumbered. I'm not upset about what happened, exactly, I just...don't like that I used magic on you. Without either of us knowing it.

[That isn't who she is. Not now. There was a time, not that very long ago, where she'd wanted magic like that. To control and influence and have power over others. But she thinks maybe that was Flagg's influence, whatever it was he'd done in her mind. That or she'd just made up her mind that to be with him would require her to change, to be more like he was.

But those days are gone.]

[gynvael]

[ He gets it. Neither of them had had a choice, and it was—one of those experiences he'd rather not repeat. As much as the incident itself doesn't sit right with him, it bothers him more to have this. Disturbance. Between them. ]

I know. [ Perhaps what makes it difficult is there isn't anyone to blame. Other than, what. The so-named old gods? The Singularity? Forces unknown? He's a little tired of being jerked around like fucking puppets. ] That sort of magic usually doesn't affect me.

[ He isn't sure if he should acknowledge that he suspects at least one of the reason it did is that it was Nadine. That he knows her and trusts her, that she's someone he'd have killed for without hesitation. Outside of Nadine, those influences had been minimal for him in the real world. Only in the Horizon had it gripped him fully.

Nothing will change to say it, though. So he doesn't. ]

I am glad you're safe. [ There are worse outcomes to have befallen them. His only other concern has been the bodies—but that's a hitch for the future. He's banking on monsters devouring the corpses being good enough for Cadens to turn a blind eye.

Either way, Nadine hadn't lifted a finger. Technically. His problem to shoulder if anything, which makes it simpler. ]

[nadine_he_loves]

Thanks. I know I got off pretty easy, compared to a lot of us. I didn't do anything other than that that I regret. It turns out a lot of my impulses are pretty benign.

[For the most part. Maybe if Nadine had found herself in different circumstances, if she'd been in danger more than the once...

But she hadn't been. And so her own experiences had been ones that left no damage, other than to her wallet and an outfit or two.]

But I'm glad we were able to talk about it. And we can be pretty sure it's not going to happen again. That...that isn't the kind of magic I want to have. Or use, if I did have it.

[Which she knows is a possibility. She still has no idea what Flagg may have awoken in her, when he shared that sliver of his power with her. A part of her hopes it went when he did, but she's relatively certain it doesn't work that way.]

kyle.

[gynvael]

[ Tower-like and flanked with statues. Narrows it down well enough. Geralt isn't often invited to other domains, nor does he wander into others, but that doesn't mean he's not kept an eye on the structures that rise and fall inside the Horizon. Good way of tracking who's here, vanished, returned. Not that he's made much of the information since, but it's worth tucking away.

Being inside the Horizon still sets him a touch on edge. He's cautious when he walks up to the entrance, the trees and bushes heavy with ripe fruit. The wolf head medallion he wears is flipped, revealing the Hanged Man symbol on the other side where the etched runes typically are.

Since the doors are open, Geralt steps inside. Eyes the high glass dome. The tree within stretches tall—not a real tree, but carved from metal. Hm. He's circling the structure, only looking over should Kyle appear. ]

There's a tree in mine, as well. [ How's that for a coincidence. ]

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil has been waiting in a small alcove in the back, writing in a leather-bound journal. On the ground next to him is the yellow dog, its head resting on its paws and eyes closed. It looks as though it's in a deep sleep. It might register as inert, not quite living and not quite dead. A vessel that's not currently being used.

When Geralt circles close to where he's resting Kahlil lifts his gaze, closing the journal and letting it vanish from this space. He hops down from his perch in the stone wall. The same symbol of the Hanged Man is stamped on the shoulder of his cassock. More than one thing in common.

At the comment he glances up at the tree before looking back at Geralt. ]

Trees are great for hiding. [ He frowns to himself, then, bluntly: ] The room with the skeletons was distorted out of my memory. The cellar was yours?

[ The robots and the man named Nemesis belonged to Claude. He eyes the medallion at Geralt's chest. ]

[gynvael]

[ Geralt leans his shoulder against the wall. His eyes flick from the dog—something strange he can't put his finger on—and then to Kyle.

Straight to the point. He doesn't mind. ]

Yes. [ Kyle was not the first encounter he had where memories were pulled forth; he'd found the same in the maze, the snowy mountains. ] When I was boy. It's where we were kept.

[ Kept and trained, and then the whole fucking place fell to pieces. He can see Kyle's gaze on his medallion, and he subconsciously turns it back around to display the wolf head instead. It bothers him, deep down, that he can't rid himself of that symbol he never chose. ]

Is that what you asked me here to talk about?

[ushiri]

[ He considers the question for a moment. ]

I wanted to know more about you. [ Since they met in the woods. So many Summoned have come and gone. He is one of the few that has remained since the Summoning first began again. He likely has more answers than questions Kahlil knows to ask.

His brow furrows.

Kept. ]

That cellar reminded me a little of the place I was raised.

[ Another brief hesitation, and he lifts his hand in front of his face. As he lowers it, heavy scars appear across his features, tattoos on his eyelids and forehead, the back of his hand. This is the first time he's willingly showed someone this face. Geralt seems like someone who can look at his mangled features without feeling pity. ]

Our training was meant to weed out the weak. To harden us. Was it similar for you?

[gynvael]

[ As much as Geralt rarely talks of himself, or his past, it's less to do with reluctance and more that it simply is not relevant. A complicated history that most have no need to know nor would it matter much to them.

Kyle is showing him something, though. Something familiar. His eyes wander over the scars, the markings—interest, but also an understanding. There is a difference between scars earned in battle and those gained from what molded you. The Trials didn't physically scar him as some of the others. But it did leave another sort of mark. ]

I wasn't born with these eyes. Or hair. [ He's no longer bitter over it, really, but maybe some part of him has never fully moved on, either. ] They said learning endurance would help us survive the mutations. Always thought that was bullshit. They just didn't want to waste bread when two thirds of us wouldn't see the winter through.

[ Why feed those who might soon be dead? ]

[ushiri]

[ He scoffs at the last part, a light huff of air as he shakes his head. At least Dayyid generally made sure they were fed as well as could be managed in the mountains, unless they had done something to incur their teacher's wrath.

There's a lack of distinct reaction to the survival numbers themselves, though. ]

Mutations? [ There's confusion there, it's not a word he's heard used often outside of texts describing plants and herbs, and in his mind he hears it spoken in John's voice. But there are also memories of late night movies, cheesy horror films with terrible make-up.

He's heard of horrific shock turning a man's hair white, though he's never actually seen it himself. The eyes are interesting, though. In Nocwich he hadn't gotten a good look at them. Here, to him, they strange and beautiful. In Basawar, they would fear him as something other. ]

What is the wolf? [ He nods at the medallion. Their sigil? ]

[gynvael]

[ His brows draw together. Not confusion, just. Consideration. This is, he thinks, the first time he's met someone who isn't familiar with what the term implies. ]

Alchemical enhancements. Grants us certain abilities.

[ Makes them different so that the world eventually came to fear. Or maybe they feared them from the start, and were only distracted by the monsters.

His hand drifts to his medallion, the edges of the wolf's teeth. A sigil is close. ]

School of the Wolf. We were one of the last standing. [ He tilts his head, nodding at the ink which decorates the man. The scars, he can understand why they're hidden. The markings, he finds curious as to why they're also disguised. A reminder of something Kyle would prefer not to acknowledge? ] Are you all marked that way?

[ushiri]

[ That he understands. Kahlil nods slowly. ]

Like your strength. [ Alchemical enhancements. Alchemy he's familiar with now from Yennefer's classes, even if it isn't what he's been learning specifically. But to permanently alter someone, potentially at the cost of their life - that is something entirely new. He's never known any poison with such an effect.

At the question he shakes his head. ]

No. Only the few chosen before me. But our church and its leaders were wiped out years ago in a war, so there won't be any others after me. [ Kahlil hasn't bothered to grapple with that. It never mattered who came after him, only that he become the Kahlil.

He lifts his hand slightly, studying the tattoos on his knuckles. There's nothing to hide in the real world, these marks vanished over two years ago and he still has no real explanation for why. In Horizon, though, he's kept the tattoos hidden out of paranoia that someone from Basawar might arrive and recognize him. Too many people want him dead. But as more time passes, the fear lessens. He lifts his gaze to meet Geralt's again, the tattoos and scars disappearing again. ]

They're meant for protection, but I don't think they work here. [ Unless he found a way to cross worlds in this space. He shakes his head again. ] What destroyed your comrades?