IC Time: Evening on October 11
Location: Forks - Public Park
Synopsis: It all started with a moldy sandwich…
Submitted by: Ramona
October night, and under the supposed safety of the shadows, Valerie is searching for a midnight snack. Along the side of the park's path, she's nothing but a big, white and black form that appears to have its head stuck inside a garbage can. The tin causes her snorts and grumbles to echo out into the open air, making more noise than she had intended. Her stubby poof of a tail wiggles back and forth when she finds something inside of interest; a shoe perhaps, or an uneaten half of a sandwich. Pieces of waste and paper scatter around the munching area, blown sideways by the gentle autumn breeze.
As Valerie pushes her head further into the can, front paws on the opening, she comes across a problem. Her shoulders are much too board to let her mouth reach the end of the container, where her prize is, the old moldy sandwich. Her back paw, big and clumsy, is set against the can, trying to hoist herself up further, but she's just too big. A snort of discontent escapes her.
The shadows hold no safety for Ramona tonight, who is currently fleeing from something. What exactly, remains to be seen, but she emerges from the brush quite suddenly and rather loudly for one of her species, slowing only when she reaches a pool of lamp light shed near the playground. It's lucky she isn't out of breath. She stands quite still, moving only to tear a branch from her sweater. She's not dressed for hiking; clad in a thigh-length black sweater and red leggings, and her boots are hardly the forest-y type. Her eyes focus in on the park as she stands tall, trying to reflect an air of casualness despite her seemingly random emergence from the woods. Luckily for Ramona, she's not the only strange thing in the park right now, the metallic clang of the garbage can causes her brows to rise high as she approaches the shadows, sniffing tentatively. "…What the hell?" Okay, so it wasn't so odd to see a bear here, in the middle of nowhere. But was that a /white/ bear? "Shoo!" Unafraid and unsympathetic of the bear's situation, she leans to pick up a rock and chuck it at the bear's backside.
The clanging and the crashing would have likely scared the flighty, blonde teenager who is currently stepping down the trail, but as luck would have it, she has her earbuds in and is out for her nightly stroll… or something. The music on her little mp3 player is turned up so loudly that it can be heard in a one and a half foot radius around her, so it is no wonder that she is oblivious to her surroundings. The woods might be a dangerous place for a walk at night, but the young girl has taken (lately) to making a circuit or two around the park to keep her form. It is on one such walk that finds her here, whispering to herself as she practices some dance moves. To the astute, "shoulder step nothing step shoulder step shoulder step, step booty bounce together booty bounce" can be heard as she does the steps she is saying aloud.
Valerie, applying more pressure and trying her darnest to push her head further in, just ends up doing a weird sort of headstand, head STILL inside the can, before toppling over. Surprised and taken aback, the bear pulls her head from the can, eyes blinking rapidly as she sits on her rump. When the rock comes flying at her, it smacks her square on the noggin, as her body had been displaced since Ramona initially tossed it. She moans loudly, hunching her shoulders and bringing her paws up to hide her head from any further attack. As a retort to Ramona, the bear utters a small grumble. But to a bear, small ends up being rather loud. The bestial form backs away from the path when the teenager comes running along, behind scooting over the ground, because she didn't have enough time to stand up. The garbage can has spilled over, letting the sandwich fall out to the ground. Valerie spends a moment wondering why she hadn't just tipped it over in the first place.
"Stupid bear," Ramona calls out when the animal emits a rumble after the rock hits. The sound of music and singing has her looking toward the trail a moment later, though she keeps the lumbering bear in her peripheral vision as she eyes the human. There is something familiar about the scent and the lilt of Carly's voice, but Ramona doesn't place her right away, instead, coming up with a much better idea. "Bear!" Her eyes light up in spite of her realization, watching it scoot away from the trail. She spring off the tall heels of her boots toward the trash can, grabbing for the moldy sandwich and placing herself much closer to the animal. Still, it's /just/ an animal, right? And animals are allowed to kill people in Forks, even if vampires, sadly, cannot.
Ramona flings the sandwich toward Carly, clearly hoping for the bear and human to cross in a heated tangle. From there, the bloody remains are all hers! But in the meantime, Ramona just wipes her hand on her sweater, rather disgusted with having to touch garbage. Belatedly, there's also a worried glance shot toward the woods where she emerged, tilting her head a bit.
A howl can be heard in the woods, not too far from the woods and, judging by the sound of it, coming closer. This would be a proven point when a large grey wolf launches out of the woods, seeming to fly into the air. A thud is emitted as her paws hit the ground, and the wolf takes off, full steam ahead, towards Ramona. At the moment she hasn't registered either bear or human. Mona should be shooting worried glances towards the woods, Piper-puppy doesn't chase for fun and games.
And *smack* the moldy sandwich hits the teen right in the face at the exact moment she is making her final dance moves "walk left right 3-4-5-6-7-8 and Sca— re…?" She jumps back a few feet, wondering what has hit her and as her wide eyes survey the scene, she lets out a shrill shriek. There's a bear, there's a wolf, and there's a blond woman a little off in the distance, through the expired mayo and pieces of rotting meat falling from her face, Carly can almost make out who it is. "Oh fuuu—dge nuggets in the middle of my brownie! Someone help!!!" Carly's attempts to keep her potty mouth in check seem to work even in panicky situations! Mom and Dad would be so proud, except for the fact she's in a situation that might have her being sent home in a shoe box, AF1's please.
The bear becomes much less interested in the sandwich, and more engrossed with Ramona. The scent of the undead is quickly recognized, but upon the face of a beast, it's difficult to tell what she's thinking. Valerie sits there for a moment, her back legs spread to each side of her, much in the same way a human baby would sit. When her sandwich is flung, a clear frown appears on the bear's face, followed by a disappointed moan, looking like the victim of a bully. She doesn't catch on to Ramona's plans, but she doesn't do anything to help said plans, either. Clumsily pulling herself up, Valerie pads her way over to Ramona, apparently just as unafraid of Mona as the vampire is of her. Her big black nose presses up against the vampire's hand, smelling with curiosity. She's careful to stay back in the shadows, making it less likely that she'll be spotted by Carly, but with Ramona standing there it's almost a guarantee that she will. Piper's appearance startles the bear, making her take a hopping step away in alarm. She takes another look at the sandwich on the ground, staring longingly, before her eyes move to regard Carly as recognition lights her eyes up. The bear flinches when Carly screams, and lowers her head, trying to make herself seem smaller, and less intimidating. But it seems that the damage has been done, and though her better judgment tells her to flee, she stays, purely because she's curious to see how the vampire and wolf interact. She doesn't seem to realize that it's a hunting scene.
Well. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, right? It certainly seems to have happened in Ramona's case, despite the fact that her 'plans' were on whim. The situation is decidedly ruined by not only the clumsily approaching bear, but the /fast/ advancing wolf, and the human freaking out. The human is perhaps the most annoying in all of it, since Ramona isn't supposed to display her supernatural powers or something like that. But, is there really a choice? "I'd rather /not/ be dinner, thanks," she mutters to herself, eyeing the wolf warily, and, for the moment, forgetting about the bear, until its cold nose presses against her hand. "Oh, EW! Get away, you nasty, dirty thing!"
With that, Ramona takes off in a run. She is careful to not run /too/ fast; there's no blur of motion or anything, but it's a fast enough run to make her look Olympic-worthy, maybe. Her choice in direction is perhaps the most interesting of all: knowing full-well she cannot hope to outrun the wolf shifter, she heads toward Carly.
"Oh, Carly!" Genuine surprise tinges her tone and she skids to a stop /right/ next to the other blonde. She even tries to put her arm over the girl's shoulder. "Um, kind of crazy, huh? We should probably get out of here." Ramona doesn't move to leave, however, seeming to figure clinging to the human might stop potential mauling. One can hope.
The wolf offers a growl as she watches the vampire’s interaction with the human. When Ramona's made herself at home next to the girl, Piper stalks in a circle around them, her icy gaze fixed upon Ramona. Carly she'd rather have run out of here scared, yet alive, than leave with Ramona. For a moment the teen-wolf fixes her gaze upon the bear, curious, of course, but she can't let that deter her from the current job. Protect the human-girl. Oh, sure, she could easily get in front of Ramona and start trying to maul her, but why traumatize the poor human anymore than she already will be?
Frozen in her spot, Carly just stares at the wolf circling her (and Ramona) trying her best not to hyperventilate. When Ramona makes the suggestion to flee, Carly jerks in surprise and begins to tremble. Poor girl, maybe the creepy lady in the woods was right, the outdoors really isn't safe in this town. "Uh.. A-aren't y-y-you sup-p-pposed to play dead or something?" she stammers, obviously fighting with herself to keep her pants clean, who needs to walk home in that, right? She's never been a religious sort, and up until now she's never actually given God a thought beyond the fact that Jesus died so the Easter Bunny could give her chocolate, but right now seems to be the perfect opportunity to commune. "Oh God, oh God… please help me…"
Valerie takes her nose from Ramona's hand seconds after she puts it on. The smell of a vampire is worse than that of garbage, and even a waste-picker like Valerie can't take it at such a close proximity. Her eyes narrow, and she looks back at the wolf stalking around the three of them in circles. The decision is made that she'll at least try and help, seeing as she can illicit fear, while still appearing to be somewhat natural, unlike the over-sized wolf. So, she hops up again, and wanders over to the pathway, moving in long strides towards Carly and Ramona, zeroing in on the vampire rather obviously. Another rumble rips through Valerie's chest, and her lips pull back to reveal her set of perfect, white, carnissial chompers. Hopefully they get the hint that they should flee — it seems that the bear has faith in Ramona to not make a snack out of Carly.
Then, with a steady gallop, the bear begins to immerse herself into the woods after snatching up the shoe that had fallen from the trash can. She lumbers along at a quick pace, slightly faster than normal bears, though she leaves behind a big trail.
The fear that has Carly changing her religious affiliations doesn't seem to have reached Ramona just yet. She eyes Carly and seems to catch on after a moment, widening her eyes and preparing to feign fear as Piper circles around them. Luckily — or perhaps /unluckily/ — the bear begins to amble toward the two of them, which actually /does/ summon up fright in the vampire. She knew one thing for sure: normal bears didn't just approach volatile situations so easily. "Oh, SHIT." The curse comes out loudly and Ramona eyes the human in consideration.
"Carly? Stop freaking out," she says lowly. "Close your eyes, okay? You probably won't die, at least not tonight. But seriously, close them." Her voice turns from a gentle coax to a rather stern demand, and then, she addresses the wolf. "/You/ are the one scaring the shit out of her," she hisses very quietly to the shifter. "Leave." Before she makes a move, Ramona waits to see if the scared teen will obey her command.
Piper settles into a crouched position, having watched the bear make her move, and now depart. She doesn't actually want to scare the crap out of Carly, but she wouldn't mind sinking her teeth into Ramona, quite literally. So, she hunches down, looking as if she'll spring at any moment in time. Though she doesn't. She'll not attack Ramona while she's beside Carly.
It is from the woods rather than the path that Violet comes, booted feet making heavy footfalls as she ambles from the tree-line with hands in pockets and face turned to the breeze. The broad, clean lines of her face are set in a cast of curiosity and occasionally a deep sniff fills her lungs with that light wind. The native woman appears to be following her nose, but to where? Why…there. That interesting trio of females, human and wolf, whose scents are woven through something muskier. Something…ursine. But there's another scent too, sickly sweet and nauseating; only close observation would reveal the narrowing of black eyes. More noticeable is the immediate shift of Violet's path, taking her in long strides on a path to close on that group.
As Ramona commands, so Carly obeys and her eyes are clamped tighter than a nun's chastity belt. "O-okay.. O-okay.. n-nice puppy…" Carly sing songs, as if baby talking to a wolf would actually work. The bear's lumbering toward them didn't do much for the poor girl's sanity, but herself preservation has kicked in and she'll listen to anyone right now if they could just get her out of it. Shutting her eyes has given her a small measure of courage though, out of sight for the young blonde means almost out of mind. And so she begins to pray in earnest now, "God, if I get out of this I promise I won't … uh…" And she's at a loss of things she can bargain with; she's always been a rather good girl. "I promise I won't ever smoke pot… or cigarettes… or drink until I'm legal? Not even a sip of wine on Thanksgiving." The new woman's footsteps fall deaf on Carly's ears, not having the super senses of the others; she's like a blind mouse in a maze.
Predictably, the wolf doesn't leave. The situation has taken one positive spin, however — Carly obeys Ramona willingly, squeezing her eyes shut while she ambles on about God or something. "God can't help you," she says bitterly to Carly, leaning away from the girl ever so slightly and eyeing the open land to the side of her, away from Piper. She bends her legs to begin a leap to the side, but pauses at the scent of something else supernatural fast approaching. "What the fuck, people. Leave me alone," she more or less whines, before rolling her eyes and turning sharply, using all of the speed she is capable of to retreat to the opposite side than she originally intended, making a blur of a dash toward the parking lot, and then, to the road. She doesn't look back to see if Piper follows, heading toward civilization as quick as possible.
The wolf's attention turns towards Violet, momentarily, mentally cursing, though her eyes are quick to return to Ramona and Carly. When the vampire takes off for a run, Piper follows her, leaving Carly to crumple into a puddle, should she choose to do so, wolfie doesn't harm the hooman. Once she decides she's close enough, Piper's hind legs push up and forward, launching herself towards Ramona, hopefully she'll land with the vampire on the bottom.
It is the human that Violet concerns herself with. The tall woman breaks into a run, and there is surprising speed there, considering the extra weight she's carrying. It takes hardly any time at all before she's crossed the remaining distance between herself and Carly. A large, calloused hand reaches for the girl's arm, intending to steady or provide comfort or just to steer her around so that she isn't watching the action. "Breathe, girl, or you'll faint. Are you alright?" she asks gruffly, voice low and husky. But Violet's eyes aren't on the teenager, they are tracking the two who've sped off; beneath her eyes, broad nostrils flare as a deep breath is taken.
Shaking back to a surface consciousness from prayer, Carly looks around frantically before she launches herself into a little bit of a teenage fit. "Alright?! FUCK NO! I'm not alright! I almost got eaten by… by a BEAR! Then… by.. A WOLF!! I'm in the middle of town in a public park for shit's sake! Jesus Titty Fucking Mother of Christ! I hate this town!!" Thankfully she did not vow to God that she wouldn't swear, because she's probably going down south of Heaven for that little spiel anyway. She whirls around, looking for Ramona and then gasps, "Ramona! We have to call the police! The wolf and the bear might get her!"
Too late, Carly. The wolf has Ramona, at the edge of the parking lot, nestled nicely within the gravel. It's very lucky that Ramona has no functioning body systems; else she'd probably be bleeding in multiple places from her high-speed skid across the gravel. Her clothing, however, has not held up quite so well, becoming ripped in multiple places. "Well, now." In the face of having a wolf on top of her, she still doesn't seem too scared, though she is most certainly very irked. "Rip me to pieces here and have a passing car notice? And, I should mention, the Volturi are in town. I don't have to remind you that well, they are just a little more intimidating than /your/ kind." And with that, she tries to demonstrate, groaning to reach for the waistband of her leggings and remove a dagger. Yes, she fights with a dagger, mostly because she lacks the skills to do anything else and prefers not getting her hands dirty — that being said, the blonde vampire grunts and tries thrusting the weapon toward the wolf at any place she can get to, bucking her body at the same time.
A low growl is emitted from the wolf, though it may be low, it's possibly still audible back in the park. The wolf does her best to dodge the knife, succeeding for the most part, but she obtains a few cuts in the process. She does, however, aim her wolfie mouth towards the knife wielding hand. Yes, she wants to bite the hand off, however temporary it may be.
"Take. A. Deep. Breath." The tone Violet uses brooks no argument and is pitched low enough that the sound rumbles in her chest like stones tumbling in a river. Her hand is extended towards Carly. "Give me your phone," she adds, not as a request. The hand on the girl's arm tightens slightly, although care is taken to avoid strength enough to bruise, and she urges the teenager towards the nearest park bench. "Come…we will move over here and I will call them. We will keep you safe until they arrive." There is an odd tilt to her head, as if she were listening to something in the distance.
Nodding quickly, Carly's trembling hand reaches into the pocket of her hoodie and she withdraws a Sidekick, the ultimate in texting phones. It would be surprising that a teenager has a luxury of the sort, but in the big city of Seattle, Carly's parents always wanted her to be safe and what better way to reassure themselves that their daughter would use the phone except by purchasing the one she begged for. "J-just uh… 911? Is there even 911 here? I don't know the police phone number!" Her panicked voice carries a little ways away, it is extremely lucky that the park is somewhat barren tonight. Aside from the five figures involved in the skirmish, no one else has been seen. It may become apparent to Violet that at the moment, Thriller is blaring through the little earbuds dangling from Carly's neck, how very apropos.
Violet steers Carly towards the bench with one hand, accepting the phone rather carelessly in the other. This is not a woman who prizes, or recognizes, much modern technology. The phone looks rather silly in her big paw of a hand, in fact. "Calm yourself. The police will be here soon. And animal control." For the first time, the native woman raises her voice above that gruff murmur; it's not quite a yell but it has a boom to it that's intended to carry. "Sit, put your head between your knees if you feel ill."
Eww, wolf blood. It is not a very pleasing scent to the vampire, who turns her head away in disgust, and, partially, in pain. The saliva of the wolf's bite permeates through her arm as its bit, emitting a rather loud and high-pitched scream for Ramona. In fact, it could rival with any horror-movie heroine, really. She twists and writhes, which probably isn't the best idea, since it only serves to actually rip her arm in parts. There's no blood, of course. A steady drip of venom drains out onto her sweater, however. It's a bit of a wake up call for the vampire, though, she deliver a firm kick toward the wolf's body, trying to haul it off her and then subsequently get up in enough time to try and get away.
The wolf is oblivious to anything outside of Ramona. That's her prey, after all. Unfortunately, her prey fights back and offers a well aimed kick, causing her to offer a high pitched yelp and fly off of the vampire. The knife wounds are already healed, having been, essentially, superficial. Once on her feet, Piper turns her gaze towards Ramona, and growls, snapping in her direction and stalking towards her, though not at a pace to attack.
The police arrive in due haste, animal attacks in the middle of town aren't exactly unheard of but they're quickly put to right. As the sirens wail into the parking lot, a few officers fan out and eventually one of them finds Carly and Violet, with Carly stunned into a gibbering state. "Oh thank God you're here! And I'm alive!" She rushes to the officer, wrapping her arms around him and holding on tightly, as if for her life. He's got a gun, and guns can shoot wild animals… so for now, she's the safest she's ever been. The officer is stunned at the display of the teen and tentatively pats her shoulder to try to calm her, casting a wary eye toward the other woman. Then, perhaps in fear of a sexual assault charge, he eases his way out of the hug, still holding Carly… but at a distance. From there she is led into the back of one of the cars, her mp3 player still blaring Michael Jackson and her cell phone held tightly in her hand. As the car wizzes off, she can be seen in the back seat, her eyes closed and her cheeks stained with tears.
Human dealt with, check. Police avoided, check. That leaves Violet with one item on her list; get the hell over to where she can hear that confrontation between stinky cold one and stinky wolf. Bears do not move quietly, even in human form, and Vi is no exception. The thunder of her approach might be heard long before she bursts into view, eyes darting about to take in the details before she leaps into the fray.
The wolf can stalk all she wants, but Ramona's high tailing it out of there faster than one can say 'police' and 'wrong kind of media attention.' For the moment, the vampire has no qualms about using the full extent of her speed as she shoots down the street, once again not checking if Piper is following. Her target? Through a few yards, down the road, and to the house right next door to Carly's, actually. The only thing that slows her down is her injured arm, but all things said and done, she should get there before the slow police car does.
Piper doesn't stalk the vampire, not this time. Instead she turns her head towards the bear-woman, before slinking off into the woods. She's sure as hell not sticking around that long. It's possibly a good thing that Piper has no clue where Ramona's headed, and that it happens to be Carly's neck of the woods.
