Summary:Animal empathy sometimes works with hellcats, who knew! Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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For the residents of Mutant Town trouble is an all too familiar occurrence. At times it's easy to predict, an upcoming skirmish which can be anticipated and planned for. Once in a while it's little more than a feeling, a tugging at the back of one's senses that not all is right and well.
Danielle Moonstar may experience such a feeling as something unnatural is in the neighborhood. Something edging the line of being feral, though not in a familiar sense. There are some skewed details, a mishmash of energies not born of this world. The most identifiable feelings are that it's some manner of animal..and it's on the hunt.
*
Which is more than enough of a clue for Dani to leave Brightwind circling above, while she hunts through the alleys. She doesn't have her armor on, but the nice thing about magical armor is that it's very quick to summon. She creeps carefully through the shadows, eyes narrowed as she focuses on tracking the psychic malaise that this would-be predator is eminating, her lips curved in a small frown as she does so.
*
The upside to the peculiar feeling is that it's easy to track, it doesn't feel like anything else in the neighborhood. There's only one such creature and it's moving quickly because of it. Though as alleys are all a maze of right-angled corridors it isn't difficult for Dani to get on the right trail…
And then it stops. The thing that she's tracking up and aborts the hunt after nearly closing in on a victim whom would not have survived if given another handful of seconds. It spins about on its heels, eyes like polished hematite flickering in the shadows as they stare in Moonstar's direction.
Those eyes aren't attached to some beast. What stands there is a woman who is completely in black aside from a striking bleached white face.
Any sense of concern over someone about to die disappears but the woman slowly steps out from around a dumpster, head wilting to one side as if she's left completely uncertain of what to make of the lone Cheyenne.
*
Dani pauses, and she looks intently at the woman that she's apparently been tracking, "… okay, I wasn't expecting anyone like you." She's still dressed in civilian clothes, black turtleneck (tactileneck!) and black jeans anyway. No weapons visible, but her stance reflects a certain training and readiness.
Overhead, Brightwind does continue to circle, ready to land if necessary…
*
The monochromed woman blinks a couple of times, her head twitching to one side as if snapping out of some sort of dream. At the same moment the peculiar feral energy subsides without completely disappearing.
"Ah..mmh. I could say the same thing. Who..who are you?" she asks with a squint, still gradually making her way closer to Dani. "You're not…" she trails off before she does another weird thing and sniffs at the air. Somehow the pale lady only seems more confused, a distracted hand reaching up to scratch at the left side of her head where the hair's been reduced to stubble.
"Okay, this is really awkward. I've just got..the weirdest damn feeling… Do I know you?"
*
Dani shakes her head, "No, don't think we've met before…" She lowers her guard a little bit, looking curiously at the monochromatic woman, then offers her hand, "You can call me Dani. Everything alright?" Something nice and not leading, since… well, there's something going on around here that's a bit unusual.
*
The offered hand is automatically taken before the albino can give it any thought. "Dani…" she quietly repeats while picking through her memory only to come up blank. "Domi—" she again stops herself short before rolling eyes with a quick sigh. "Neena. Cripes, I'm normally not this awkward and I'm more of one to tiptoe the edge of being creepy rather than dive off the deep end. There is just..SOMETHING..about… You're a mutant, right? It's gotta be power related."
Is she still holding Dani's hand..? Ah hell. Contact is broken as the hand goes straight to her forehead, turning to one side as she mutters something about pulling herself together.
How the heck can she explain any of this? Fact-finding comes first. "What -is- your power?" she pointedly asks, still only assuming that Dani here is in fact some manner of metahuman.
*
Dani grins, "Well, my mutant power is telepathy, though it only works on animals. Though I can do other things…" She arches a brow, "But I'm not just a mutant, since I was taken in by the Valkyries when I was fourteen." Her lips curl a bit wider, as… well, there aren't many women from Earth that got inducted into the Asgardian Valkyries.
She then continues, "So yeah, I can sense when people are about to die, as well. It's not absolute, but the presence lingers… sometimes more strongly than others."
*
Telepathy? Neena's on the verge of getting on the defensive thinking that Dani's somehow fiddling about with her thoughts right up until she mentions -animals.- Half a second later the lightbulb goes off, those mercurial eyes staring wide at the Cheyenne before the albino rolls her head forward and laughs!
"That's a new one! Okay, gahdamn. I sorta..kinda might have a ..closer connection to an animal spirit than most..?" Does that work? Sure, yeah. Let's go with that. "I think it noticed."
Nevermind that she had apparently been about to -kill- someone, though she doesn't seem to be on guard anymore.
"So wait, what's this 'Valkyrie' thing all about? At -fourteen?- That sounds like a trip."
*
Dani snickers, "Well, magic portal goes sideways and the next thing you know you're no longer on the Rez but in Asgard. Long story, but…" She whistles, and suddenly a magnificent white winged stallion descends from the sky above. Landing just behind Dani, the horse noses at her, and looks curiously at Neema. "Okay, well, that explains it then… but yeah, I can't really mess with people's minds. Well, I mean, I guess I can, but it's about as subtle as a brick through a window." She doesn't exactly clarify what that means, though…
*
Neena just about shudders with the subject of portals being brought up. "Yeah, I know the feeEEK!" If she hadn't known what to make of Dani before she REALLY doesn't know what to make of her now!
"That…" she pauses while motioning right at Brightwind, "is a freaking flying -horse.- I didn't get one of those when -I- went through a portal! What the hell!"
This is real, isn't it? Not some sort of psychic hallucination? Dom narrows her eyes and leans a bit to one side, staring right past Dani to the brilliant looking horse beyond. Maybe a bad reaction to some kind of pain killer and tequila? Rather than the stereotypical self-pinch she taps a thumb against the side of a finger a few times.
"Dani, I think you left subtle on the other end of that portal."
*
Dani snickers, "Well, I'm a Valkyrie, subtle isn't exactly my strongest suit, yaknow?" She grins and reaches up, scritching the horses' neck affectionately, then she looks back towards Neema, "Besides, have you ever met a subtle Asgardian? And no, Loki doesn't count. He's the exception."
*
"I haven't met -any- Asgardian," Neena counters. "Got enough to worry about without thinking of gods and aliens and other realms and ..all of that," she dismissively flicks a hand aside. "But this presented opportunity does raise some questions, like 'what does a Valkyrie do' and 'were you following me before?'"
*
Dani hrmms, "Well, Valkyries escort the honored dead to Valhalla, and also do special missions on behalf of the Allfather." She grins, "As far as following you… well, I picked up something… unusual, this evening, so I thought I'd follow up on it, as it seemed to be something worth investigating. Wasn't expecting it to be a someone, though." She flashes Neema a grin at that.
*
"That's kinda morbid" Neena thinks aloud while glancing between Dani and Brightwind. "Oh… That. Right. 'Unusual' is a good description. Just a tourist from another dimension, nothing too strange" she offers with a slightly pointy toothy smile. Nope, nothing to see here! She was just chilling in an alley all by herself. It's a popular past-time around here!
Once again curiosity takes over, the albino woman's arms folding together and head ducking in thought. "So… What counts as being an 'honored' dead, anyway?"
*
Dani shrugs a little, "Typically that involves dying in battle, though battle can be somewhat loosely defined." She smiles a bit, "The bravery is the thing, more than anything else, but there's always some sort of battle going on in the world."
She then peers a bit at Neema, "Wait, tourist from another dimension? That's not something I'd have expected… and you think I'm weird for the flying horse?" A slight grin, because well, she is… but that's different!
*
Domino makes another thoughtful sound with the provided information. Is that all of it, bravery and dying in battle? What about the moral integrity of the—
"Ah, well, in a word..? Yes" she decides. "And you are -completely- weird for the flying horse. No part of me claims to be normal," Dom claims with a smile.
Whether it's because of the peculiar knowledge that Dani happens to have or that Dom feels oddly at ease around the Cheyenne the questions keep on coming. "How about the portal, do you know anything about them? How they might be opened or closed..how to determine where they lead to… Anything?"
*
Dani hrms, "Well, in my case… it was my grandfather trying to send me to a safe place. My mutant powers just turned on, and some people were coming to try and take me away. But something went sideways with his ritual, so instead of going where he wanted to send me, he sent me to Asgard instead." She hrms, "But otherwise I'm not too familiar with the portals you're talking about, I don't think."
*
Hmm. No, that doesn't help out so much. Something going sideways in the ritual also seems to bother Domino some but she doesn't opt to talk about it. "Right" gets muttered in something of a dark tone.
When her head gets brought upright again the moment has passed, the pale lady appearing closer to casual again. "Hey. You and your ..flying horse.. have a good one. Appreciate the help." Like whatever it was that helped calm the beast in her long enough to find herself.
*
Dani tilts her head, and smiles a little, "Wait, before you go… here." She slips out a business card, handing it over to Neema, "If you ever need to talk or something, I can't guarantee that I'll answer right away, but I promise that I will eventually." She flashes Neema a smile, "Seems like you need someone to talk to sometimes."
*
..Well. Neena hadn't expected to get a counselor out of this encounter! The offered card is taken after a bit of hesitation. "Uh… Sure. You might not be wrong there." Like it isn't twelve shades of obvious just by hanging around her. "Thanks."
Now left with the feeling of 'did this just happen?' the ghostly lady in black wanders back out to the street with the card in hand.
*