Misleading Tracks [ Maya / Siobahn ]

Siobahn’s relentless hunt for her lover Joachim- or Jack- had led her to the Napoleon Highrise, in particular, the hauntingly beautiful Place d'Italie.  While there could have been a grim possibility that Jack may very well have left the markings of his presence in a time before they met, Siobahn still kept to the possibility of those etched “J’s” into the landscape to be recent.  

No matter what it took she would find him.

Siobahn would brave the widely differing zones and climates of Paris, endure the bitterly freezing cold that crept into the bones.  Elude the demons that roamed and claimed these ravaged ruins of society.  She knew deep down that he was still alive, for they always survived, despite the circumstances.

Huddling up her crossed arms, Siobahn exhaled deeply out of her balaclava that shielded her head and face, wisps of her breath looming out while she traversed through the ice-ravaged remnants of a gorgeous park.

[ Maya, Temperance | Siobahn, The Magus | Rank 1 ]

Maya had been wandering around once again, having slipped out of the place she had been staying and donning her make shift parka again, not wanting to get the thing called a blanket dirty or wet in the snow, she went out to try to find things to make a fire with, and things to eat, and other things she may need, like more clothing... well rags... to add to the parka, and things to make a soft place to sleep in that place, the floor was at least better then the bare rock or the sand, or snow.. and the not-Human she had met had told her to stay there and that she would be back... though it felt weird to her to listen to that, that not-human had given her food and a place to stay warm.. so maybe it would be safe?

As she wandered around she was looking for things, finding rags and collecting them, finding small dead plants likely from the people that used to live in these high rises, not that the One eyed girl even knew about all that, all she knew was they could be eaten and that they burned well, so she Collected them as well, she even found a large metal pot, something she could make the fire in, since the not-human told her fire would harm the cave she was using and she knew from trying to burn it before that what this thing was made out of didn't burn.

Though as she was walking around a place she had just been through and so she was less on guard she hadn't noticed that there was something new there.. and to the occupant of the area that was also walking threw she would see what looked to be a rather round thing moving along in the distance, covered in fur? cloth? it was hard to see at that Distance.

That Thing of course was Maya walking back to the place the not-human had shown her, the pot resting on her head so she looked larger, as it was easier to carry like that, and with all the cloth she found added to her parka for now so she looked even more rounded, the twigs and branches and things also sticking out of the parka as she had no pockets and she liked to keep her hands empty in case she needed to climb, so they were fastened to her parka as well, giving her Silhouette a very spiky appearance.

In her time wandering she had already run into some demons... and gotten injured getting away from them, another reason she was heading back was that not-human had the ability to heal wounds, and while Maya had wrapped the wounds... that healing was very nice... at the very least maybe if she didn't anger the not-human and showed to be useful somehow it would heal her again?

The creature in the far distance caused Siobahn to drop to a knee, raise her firearm immediately, and look through its scope.  The magnification helped just enough for her to discern that it was a humanoid being, the appendages jutting out of it seemed to be tree branches, and the bulbous growth on its head appeared to be... a pot?  

While Siobahn could have retrieved her binoculars to gain a clearer view, it wasn’t going to matter at this point.  They both had seen each other and weren’t making any excessively threatening motions towards one another.  If she was lucky this was another human being and not some demon in disguise.  If she was luckier she could find more information concerning Jack.

“...Hello!  I don’t mean any harm, I just want to talk!” Shouted Siobahn at the figure in the distance, waving an arm.  Her other hand was firmly gripped on her gun, just in case, although it was pointed downward at ease.  Besides, the sooner she found out if this was a demon or not the better, considering their distance from one another.

Maya however had not seen Siobahn in the distance, she was to busy looking for other things on the ground, her eye scanning around her to find anything that could be useful.. like more branches which she was in the middle of collecting when she heard sounds from far away. Hearing them she suddenly stood bolt upright like a scared animal and started to frantically look around for what could have made that sound, her large eye scanning around until she spotted something in the distance. Focusing on it she might as well have had aa scope as well as she was able to make out the Human and they had one of those loud sticks in their hands, making the girls eye go wide with fear as she seen it, were they trying to chase her away? was she to close to a camp?

All she knew was she didn't want to lead them back to the house the not-human had shown her, it was her only safe place to stay at the moment and so she took a step back watching the person for a moment, they were holding the loud stick weirdly but she had seen others hold them like that as well and she knew they could bring them up quickly to use them with the distance and the speed they were talking she couldn't make out what they were saying.. instead the small girl suddenly spun around and broke into a dead sprint away from the human, not wanting to be hurt more.. though her speed was impeded by the deep snow.

“Hey!” Siobahn cried out once she saw the person bolt off almost comically, their rounded form almost waddling through the snow.  She knew information was vitally important, especially in regards to Jack.  A simple conversation could mean life and death at this stage.  So immediately she took to the chase, hoping her longer stride would catch up to the smaller person.

Knowing that her target could have possibly been frightened, Siobahn did something she normally wouldn’t do.  Her deep and husky voice rose in pitch, melodic, a crooning voice to soothe the person.  Thankfully it was just the two of them out here in the barren icescape, otherwise the embarrassment would have likely killed her.

“Wait~  Please~ I want to talk~”

Maya continued to run, tall the layers of Cloth tied around her in a make shift Parka and hood kept her warm but it made her to look quite round... add the amount of sticks and other dried grasses and wood she tucked into the ropes and things she used to secure all of it and it made her seem even more so, and it was making it hard to run at full speed, but she didn't want to lose any of her possible fire making resources, or any of the rags, she had even managed to find the small metal things that had food in them, and for once she wasn't about to ditch all that just to get away, especially since she wanted to seem useful to the non-human that helped her so they wouldn't eat her or get rid of her in a messy way.

It was then she heard the odd sounds from behind her, they sounded quite different then before, long drawn out she never heard that before, but at the same time... it was closer then the last sounds she heard, that's what got her attention more... what ever was making that sound was getting closer.. Frantically she looked around for a place to escape to, unfortunately this particular place didn't seem to offer any easy escapes, but she seen in the distance a tangle of plants that the cold, ice, and wind had made form a rather formidable barrier, or at least she hoped it would be... but it was a long long way off.. but it was her only choice, so she started a making a run for that, changing from running to nearly hopping through the deep snow, which was making her move a bit faster, but not by much.

This person certainly wasn’t making things easy. At the very least their tracks were now giving Siobahn better footing and allowed her to slowly, but surely, close the distance. It wasn’t like they had anywhere to run and hide in such a brazenly open environment; then again Siobahn noted a tangle of frozen brush further ahead. So she angled herself in a path directly towards the growth in an effort to cut off the stranger.

“Listen! I only need to talk! Please stop!” Siobahn was tired of singing, seeing as it had no effect, and felt a thousand times less embarrassed. Instead her pleas sounded desperate, which in a sense they were. The more noise she made the higher the possibility of being discovered by a nasty third party.

Maya continued on, but hearing the voice even closer she realized she wouldn't make it the tangle of bushes and trees, and the human hadn't used the loud stick on her.. Maybe it was just going to catch her and beat her like others had? If so it always went easier if she didn't struggle and just let them beat her.. she could always find things to tend to her wounds after..

As the Girl pondered this she got out of the snow and stepped out onto the ice of what was once a pond in the park and due to her lack of any good footgear... or really any footgear she slipped and faceplanted into the ice and the pot hit with a clang... it didn't go skidding off though as it was lashed to her hood so at least she didn't lose it but the girl tried to frantically get back onto her feet... but failed each time due to the once again her lack of proper foot gear..

Eventually she realized she could hear the footfalls of the one that was following her and instead of trying to get up she curled into a tight ball trying to protect her head as she expected the beating to start soon now and she let out a scared whimper.

Despite Siobahn’s constant cries to stop, the chase ended only when the stranger happened to slip on ice in a painful looking fall and pitifully couldn’t get back up.  Siobahn slowly closed the distance to catch her breath, shaking her head.

“...It didn’t have to end like this, you know.”  Once that was said the stranger soon curled up into a ball, the fetal position, and let out a most pathetic whimper.  Siobahn drew even closer to console the wretched person and could only let out a gasp when looking into their face.  

This person- or rather demon- was a cyclops.  Only one eyelid wrenched shut as they desperately tried to hide their face, quivering in fear.  A sudden feeling of pure disgust washed over Siobahn; her entire life she was in constant dread of demons, dodging them at any given opportunity.  The same demons who had taken her right hand, had separated her from her lover, had extinguished the lives of people she knew.

And this demon was now reduced to the same state that humans felt.

Siobahn released the safety with an audible click and set her firearm to semi-automatic fire.  All her life, as a hunter, she understood nature.  The hierarchy of the strong and their survival.  This demon didn’t deserve to live- it deserved a quick and merciful death.  

However that wouldn’t give her the answers she needed.

“...Hey, can you understand me?  Are you okay?” She slowly and softly asked first in English, then repeated those same words in French, then in slightly broken Spanish, and finally in Gaelic.

Maya could hear the human get closer, she and she tried to think of other things as she waited for the beating to start.. for the pain to start.. but then she heard a gasp.. which confused her quite a bit.. almost enough to make her open her eye, why did they make that sound? Was there something worse in the area? A Demon? They had already seen her so it couldn't have been because of her could it? She decided it was better to try to figure out what was causing it as she opened her eye and looked up at the human.

The thing that would be readily obvious was that Maya was bandaged, wounded already, it was something the girl was used to, but the bandaging was also clearly self administered, though rather skillful meaning it was probably done frequently.. the girls large eye looked up at Sio a moment a look of confusion on her face... which quickly turned to fear even before the woman clicked the selector on her weapon.

Maya could see the anger on the human's face, the disgust.. exactly what she was used to seeing on humans and demons... it was almost universal...  Maya could see the pure hatred on this humans face.. their stance.. they were aggressively postured.. she didn't understand the loud stick but she could tell by how it was being held that the human was ready to use it if needed..

She couldn't see a way out of this situation and as the Human started to say something Maya started to cry large tears falling from her eye, she wasn't going to get away this time was she.... the human spoke slolwy though.. you.. me.. okay...

"pl....please...n...no....no hurt...." she said in a sad whisper like voice clearly not expecting such an outcome as she curled up again and cried whimpering and she could only think of one thing at the moment.. the only being that had actually helped her before.. .what did it call itself?... "p...please......Cherry......help.. Maya....." she whimpered quietly.. desperately.

The piteous state of the demon and the oceanic cascade of tears that fell from its singular eye would have evoked sympathy from most people.  And yet Siobahn could only focus on the weakness.  Even if this appeared to be a child, no demon was this pathetic.  Finally a proper response came from the demon, albeit blubbering and in broken words.

“Cherry!?” Siobahn raised an eyebrow incredulously.  Surely the demon wasn’t referencing fruit, but an almost obnoxiously cheerful girl that had a demonic tree limb for an arm.  What a bizarre coincidence. Calling for her help, covered in those bandages.  Apparently this demon was used to the abuse.

“Cherry is my friend,” slowly Siobahn spoke.  “Cherry helps you.  Cherry helps me.  I help you.  No more tears.  Help here.”

With that said Siobahn shushed the demon much like she would a newborn babe, her gloved hands gently trying to wipe away the endless waterfall of tears.

Maya stayed curled up expecting the last thing she heard to be the sound those loud stick made, and then as a hand touched her she flinched expecting to be hurt, but instead she heard slow words being spoken, the human mentioned Cherry.. the non-human.. on hearing that her eye opened and she dared to look up again, feeling the human wipe aware the tears she sniffled "Cherry... friend?" she asked with that near whisper of a voice as if trying to be sure.

Maya was unsure if the Human was being honest.. but it wasn't hurting her.. but it's body language was a little hard to read at the moment, mostly from her eye still being blurry from the crying, but the human was gently touching her, at the same time their hand was still on that loud stick thing, but they were not sounding angry anymore anyway.

"You....not...hurt...Maya?" she asked in her gentle voice, barely louder then a whisper as she was still quite scared, but Cherry... the non-human.. had offered to help.. and she had... maybe this human...human? Maya could smell... something was off she smelt a lot of metal on this human... a smell she was used to.. she sometimes ate the stuff when she couldn't find anything else, it was basically everywhere but she said nothing of it.. but then... was this a human? or another Non-human like Cherry... and maybe herself? Well... Cherry.... the non-human... said they were the same.

“...Yes, Cherry is a friend.  Our friend.” Softly answered Siobahn with a smile, as she gingerly tucked aside the messy locks of the demon’s hair away from the trail of tears.  The odds of all three of them knowing each other… well, made sense the more she thought about it.  All the better for establishing a connection and getting the answers she wanted.

“...I won’t hurt Maya.  Listen,” Siobahn motioned her hands to Maya’s ears, followed by pointing to her own mouth.  “I said I wouldn’t hurt you before.  Talking is important.”

A harsh breeze of biting cold air passed by them.  Siobahn then pointed to the brush they were heading towards prior to the fall of Maya.  “...Can you walk?  It’s too cold.  We should go there.  I can carry you.”

Maya listened to the human speaking... or was she a non-human too? She still didn't know, but she was saying she was a friend.. so Maya calmed down considerably, she even said she wouldn't hurt her, Cherry hadn't hurt her ether and said she wouldn't so she would believe this human that knew Cherry but when she pointed to her ear and said a word the repeated she understood somewhat what she meant and she looked down "H...Humans...a...always....h..hurt...l..loud..loud sticks...h..hurt..." she said in that whisper of a voice as she looked to the gun the woman had for a moment before she felt the cold breeze.

Looking to the clump of trees she had been heading to as the Human asked if she would.. something.. walk? maybe she was asking if she could move? she nodded and got up, she wasn't hurt from the fall she just wasn't able to get any proper traction on the ice due to her lack of proper shoes.. something the woman would likely notice now that she was right there with the girl as she stumbled to try to stand before finally managing it, it was only another fifty yards to the clump of brush and trees though.

"Cold..Cave..Cherry...cave...for Maya...safe" she whispered as she pointed away from the clump... if this human was a friend of Cherry's then it should be find showing her the place Cherry was letting her stay right? With out even thinking Maya gently tugged on the woman's arm as she tried to lead her towards it instead of to the bush.

“...Humans hurt.” Siobahn pointed at herself, then pointed at her gun.  “Loud sticks- guns- hurt.”

Next she pointed at Maya, then waved her arms around her.  “Demons hurt.  Cold hurts.  All hurt, but not always.  Learn, and become braver- always scared is bad.”

Siobahn hoped her words were enough to make Maya understand her message.  There was no need to be in constant fear of everything all the time.  What a stressful and harrowing life that must have been.  Either way Maya got up and seemed to be fine; as for her lack of proper traction in the environment and footwear, perhaps she’d learn from the experience.  Even better news was the mention of a cave.

“...Good, a cave’s much safer than out in the open.  Please show me the way, Maya.”  Siobahn flashed another smile at the cyclops before following after her.