faderift | [open] and when i wake up you'll be here

WHO: Clarisse
WHAT: Arrival + some quarantine stuff
WHEN: Now, ig
WHERE: Ferelden somewhere + the Gallows
NOTES: n/a

Arrival

Weird dreams are a near nightly thing for demigods, so Clarisse doesn't bat an eye when she finds herself waiting for the elevator at the top of the Empire State Building in her basketball uniform, other than to wonder what kind of weird symbolism it is and hope that it's not going to interfere with her midterms. Even when the doors open and she steps in and lands on nothing but empty air, she manages not to scream. It all happens too fast, anyway.

Clarisse only has time to think, oh shit, and then she hits the dirt hard. The breath gets punched out of her chest and she wheezes pitifully, wondering since when her dreams are realistic enough to hurt. She rolls onto her back, wipes at the dirt on her chin, and finds herself staring up at something she can't comprehend, much less identify. The air looks... torn open, and through the jagged green split, she can see patches of concrete and red rocks.

The view is interrupted by something moving—something humanoid but elongated, with a grin that spreads too far in each direction. That's comprehendible. She's not sure what she's looking at, specifically, but she knows bad news when she sees it. Clarisse pushes off the ground at a run, angling herself away from the whatever-the-fuck-that-thing-is and trying to put some distance between her and it.

Quarantine - Dining Hall

At least the food here looks... pretty normal. She should be thankful for that.

Clarisse is in the dining hall, sitting straight backed and uncomfortable and pushing a piece of beef (probably?) around with a fork. She looks a little bit miserable, but what else is new? Push, push, push. The fork never seems to actually make it to her mouth.

Finally, she can't stand it anymore, and says to whoever's nearby: "Is there a place around here I can make an offering?"

Quarantine - Training Yard

Maybe she'd been slacking off on training a little bit, before she'd fallen out of the fucking sky, but that's over. If anything, the practice gives Clarisse a sense of familiarity, even while she's stuck in a place that's the complete opposite. She knows the moves. She's done them almost every day, for years. Doesn't matter where she is.

For anyone who happens to walk by and see her, it's clear that Clarisse is no beginner with the spear. She handles it with practiced ease, and it seems like she'd have no problem showing anybody else what it's like to be on the other end of Maimer's barbed tip. But when she does notice somebody watching, Clarisse only gives them a terse nod.

"You waiting for the space?"

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The elbow slams into her gut and Abby grunts, but she doesn’t loosen her hold. She’ll be bruised there tomorrow for the effort. They’re still half-scrabbling around in the dirt, kicking up the dust, so she could be sparring with any member of the WLF back home. The instinct is uncanny enough that she can sort of feel eyes locked on the nape of her neck.

She is trying to bend Clarisse back by the neck, in a concentrated effort to force her into tapping out. She is not really listening to her. “You’re– a what?“

Clarisse would rather die than tap out. Like Arrhichion. She simply refuses.

"What are you, fucking deaf?" ... To be fair to Abby, though, it's kind of hard to understand her right now. She reaches back, fingers snagging in Abby's braid, and yanks as hard as she can. If she's gonna get choked out, she at least wants to pull some of Abby's hair out while she goes.

Guess she'll have to die.

Except that Abby lets go of her the moment she yanks on her braid, letting out a yelp of indignation. She grabs Clarisse's wrist instantly and pries her fingers off, growling, "Okay smartass, that's actually against the fucking rules-" No pinching no biting no hair pulling, this is sparring 101. C'mon!

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Clarisse squirms away from Abby's grip, not to go after her again but to be Very Indignant about being accused of cheating. "You started it when you blasted me in the face with your stupid hand powers after we both agreed on one shot each!"

"Yeah?" Abby challenges, enjoying herself now, god, it's been far too long since she's hung out with somebody her own age. Everybody here is really nice and they'll talk about anything but some of them are old enough that they could easily be parents to her. She can be more of an idiot around Clarisse.

"What, like this?" She shoots at her again.

Edited 2022-09-15 02:59 (UTC)

"Yeah."

The blast hits Clarisse in the shoulder while she's going back from her spear. She flinches and shakes her arm out before grabbing Maimer and turning back to face Abby.

"Do it again so I can see if I can block it."

"Gimme a sec."

She's panting a little, and takes a few steps back to give herself a bit of range, waiting. Waiting... funny how this little bit of magic is wearing her the fuck out, huh. Whewf.

Okay.

Look, she'll even give Clarisse an easy low ball, a shot at waist height.

She holds her spear in the way of where it looks like Abby's aiming. At the last second it strikes her that maybe this was a shitty idea, because, again, if Maimer explodes or something she has no way of fixing it, but—it's too late.

She feels the impact like someone's come at her with a sword, almost. Not quite as much force, maybe, but the spear shudders and she feels the vibration come all the way into her arms. Maimer sparks, but doesn't explode or snap in half, and Clarisse lets out her held breath in a relieved puff of air.

"Okay. Interesting." It doesn't just work on people, then. But in the same token, she can kind of guard against it. Cool.

Abby isn't paying enough attention to notice Clarisse's hands clenching on the stem of her weapon, but the sigh of relief is unmistakable. Abby came here with what was a revolver before the rift, and a gun-shaped rock after the rift. She doesn't put two and two together. Clarisse is probably just glad she didn't get smacked again.

"Very."

Do you know what else is interesting? How drained Abby feels right now. She waves Clarisse off, hands dropping to her knees so she doubles over. "Wow. Figured there had to be a downside to it."

Abby looks exhausted, and when Clarisse approaches her to punch her shoulder, it's friendly and barely hard enough to hurt.

"If you keep practicing, you'll get stronger." Ballsy, considering she's never seen anybody shoot psychic punches out of their hand before, but she figures magic is just like any other muscle. It needs training. She figures Abby will be able to build up to doing bigger and better things before too long.

"You hungry? I am."

"Really?" Abby is panting a little, but she straightens up the moment Clarisse starts to walk over. She's fine, really, it's just- draining? An odd sensation. "Good to know, I never knew that."

Sarcasm.

Look at her, Clarisse.

"Yeah," she adds, almost surprised to realise it, "Starving. Wanna go find food?"

Clarisse isn't offended, though she rolls her eyes. It was a stupid comment. She just meant... magic. Whatever.

"Yeah." She's always down for a post-spar burger. Or whatever passes for a burger around here.

[open] and when i wake up you'll be here

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