2015/What Did You Hear

What Did You Hear
Date of Scene:	15 August 2017
Location:	Salem Center
Synopsis:	A vampire meets a not-werewolf.
Cast of Characters:	Selene (Underworld), Wolfsbane

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Selene (Underworld) has posed:
9:45 pm on a Tuesday.

Near the movie theater in Salem Center there are a series of alleyways and building enclosures that create a set of maze-like corridors between the fairly large town's central stretch of buildings.

Its in tehse alleyways that a meeting is taking place between a gathering of about ten people, five per side. Its as shady as shady can get, quite literally really.

At the center of the meeting stands a tall woman dressed in all black, a long trenchcoat and a bodysuit beneath that with the coat closed around her clearly lithe frame. She's speaking to a man who's taller than her, he has an ex-military-like glare... but they're speaking in low hushed voices, they seem to both be mildly agitated at one another but nothing overly angry or even violent, yet.

The rest seem to just be watching each group almost like its some kind of gang stand-off.

Wolfsbane has posed:
As it happens, Rahne had gone out to see a movie, some fantasy thing with elves and animal people and magic based on a popular novel. It's one of those summer flicks high on entertainment, low on actual story, but designed to make a lot of money. It certainly entertained, and the soda and popcorn hit the spot.

Notably, she was in the theater looking quite normal, not counting her attire. A few people even wondered if she'd dressed up for the movie. "Whit's cosplaying?" was the best response she could muster, leading to general confusion all around. But, keeping the wolfen side hidden was probably safer.

So it is that after she's left the theater and begun to take one of the side roads back toward a wooded area, planning for a 'run' back home, she does let the wolf out. It's just the fur, fangs, and claws, her face otherwise human-looking, but as soon as she's done that, Wolfsbane becomes more aware of her surroundings. There are also voices coming from an alley just up ahead. Once she reaches it, she peers inside.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
About the time that Wolfsbane arrives at the alley, the meeting breaks up. She'll see the two groups part ways and start to separate. The ex-military man turns to his men and they start walking away down their own corridor between buildings.

The woman with the dark hair and equally dark clothing turns back to her group and she speaks to them, their voices are very quiet... this lasts for about 30 seconds before the group steps away from their would-be-leader and move down an alley that will take them fairly close to Wolfsbane, might make her want to hide to ensure she's kept out of their line of sight.

Selene, remains where she was... standing there and looking down at an item in the palm of her left hand, her leather trenchcoat gently blowing in the night time breezes around her ankles. Wolfsbane would be able to see her face more clearly now, her skin was pale white and her eyes were a brilliant pale blue.

Wolfsbane has posed:
The wolfen mutant inadvertently eavesdrops for a spell, though there isn't a whole lot for her to pick up on apart from the hushed voices of the group that remains behind. Did she just witness a drug deal? An arms deal? Some people planning sinful things?

It's hard to say, but as soon as the rest of that second group comes her way she steps on past the alley to make it look as if she's just on her way by toward another place. Which, of course, is what she meant to do from the start. There was a glimpse caught of the woman still in the alley, the pale skin, the blue eyes, the black attire. Just what is this all about?

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
The people that Selene had spoken with kept walking on past Rahne without even glancing at her. And Rahne herself would be free to continue her trip toward the woodland stretch that wasn't terribly far away.

At least until the sound of a click could be heard behind her.

"Hold for a moment." A female voice said, it was sultry and husky in tone, laced with a smooth accent unfound in the United States.

"Please." The Female voice continued. "Turn around."

Selene stood there, her right hand was down by her right thigh and it was resting on the butt of a large handgun that was still nose-deep into the black strapped holster that clung around her thigh, the 'click' had been the safety strap on the holster being undone.

"I'm curious as to your name... and how much of what you just eaves dropped on, you actually heard?"

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane will just waltz on by like nothing was ever the matter, making her way to the woods, shifting, and enjoying a nice, healthy run back home and...

It's the click that stops her. Not quite the sound of a gun being cocked, but it's still gun-related.

And, she's asked or told to stop and face her, to face this woman in black leather and latex, using the alley as a place for an apparently secretive meeting.

After taking brief note of those that left, the attention remains squarely on the one that stays behind. Eyes have already adjusted well enough for her to make out the woman's appearance quickly, and the question comes up. "Ahh, ye can call me Wolfsbane, an' I didna hear much. Just..something about finding someone." She's probably sizing up the woman and that gun, mulling over how fast she'd have to be to move out of the way of a shot.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene's blue eyes were locked right onto the face of the girl as she turned around and started to speak. She didn't seem to have an aggressive posture or expression on her face, she looked rather calm in fact.. whilst staring at the teenager.

"Is that so." She said then in her British accented voice to the girl's own foreign flavored voice. "Scottish?" Selene asked then, after a second, tilting her head to the side while waiting for a response to this. "Haven't met a lot of Scotts in my years. Usually a very, rambunctious people." Selene glanced toward the forest ahead and then back to the girl.

"Why are you headed into the woods at this hour of night, child?"

Wolfsbane has posed:
"Aye, from th' northern highlands," the wolfen one replies, and if she seems impressed that the other woman picked the accent out correctly, it only shows for a moment. That gun could still be a problem, and as calmly as Selene carries herself, Wolfsbane remains somewhat on edge. She doesn't know anything about this woman, and there's already a weapon that could be involved.

A sniff follows at the observation she has for the Scots, though she squints both speculatively and suspiciously at the question asked of her. "Just a shortcut home. Whit does it matter tae ye?" Possibly a challenging retort, there. An inch or two toward the side wall of the alley comes, a test to see how Selene takes it.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene glanced toward the woods again and then back to the young girl. She seemed to be pondering things inside of her mind, it was clear she was thinking about a lot. Perhaps just how to say what she needed to say, or worse.

After a second, Selene's hand left her gun and she let her coat drape back over her thigh to conceal it, she shifted her weight from one heeled boot to the other and the tight clothing on her body could be heard protesting as the woman inside of it moved/swayed a little.

"I'm sorry for the intimidation tactics, young one. I truly am. I mean you no harm." She said all of this with that same silky smooth voice, it was calming to most to hear it in fact.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane bristles, if mildly. "I'm no' tha' young," she insists. She doesn't know it in comparison to Selene's actual age but so far she can only go by what she's seeing, and what she's seeing is someone who looks quite set in her youth, with..is something she's wearing creaking a bit? A brow drifts upward, though there's a measure of relaxation that follows the gun being left alone. Not much, but it's there.

The mutant looks around quickly, as if expecting an ambush by the others at any moment, but she's back to staring warily, as much at the woman as what she can be seen in, the trenchcoat and the rest. "I'm verra glad tae hear tha'," she finally says, dryly, to the talk of wishing her no ill. "But it's clear tae me ye just had a meeting wi' nearly a dozen people in a hidden place an' tha's no' verra common around here."

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene stared at the girl and she could register her uneasiness and certainly didn't blame her, in reversed situations she would be equally uneasy by all of this transpiring here.

"Perhaps its a lot more common than you think. Its just that you do not commonly see it happening." Selene replied then, allowing a small smile to slowly creep across her lips a second or so later. It faded fast though and Selene glanced toward the woods once more.

"I ran into trouble in those woods recently, a few nights ago.... unsavory types. I wouldn't recommend you use them for a short cut home. It could be badly dangerous for you." Selene's piercing blue eyes returned then to Rahne and waited for her reacation to this friendly warning.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane rests a hand against the wall of a building. Selene could better see the claws, not to mention the thin layer of fur along her arm up to where the material she wears meets at the shoulder. Her expression thins out to something more..flat. "Ye..have a point," she admits, that most of these meetings probably aren't found out.

"But I saw this one, an' ye looked ready tae shoot me. Why is tha'? An' whit did ye see in th' woods? If it's a danger tae anyone else, I should know whit it is." This all seems completely logical to her, enough that she adds, "An' I can defend muhself if I have tae."

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene showed a light and brief grin when the girl said that she could defend herself. Her blue eyes swept up the girl's arm toward the claws and the fur, she could see exceptionally well in the dark so it wasn't hard for her to notice any of these details.

"I am sure that you can." She replied. Selene's eyes swept back to Rahne's face. "I'm here to find a pack of beasts that have claimed residence in the woods of Breakstone. They're hunting... anything that they can find to eat, from dogs to... teenagers looking to shave a bit of time off of their homeward trip."

"Werewolves." Selene dropped that then. "I'm here to kill them."

Wolfsbane has posed:
The claim of being able to defend herself is surely based in truth, but Wolfsbane may be boasting as well in an effort to prop herself up before this woman as someone strong enough to handle things. The hand lowers back to her side after rubbing at her neck and a pointed, otherwise human ear, a frown beginning to mar her features.

"..werewolves?" Something she is not, but that hasn't stopped others from assuming before. "Is..tha' why ye were about tae pull yuir gun on me? Because ye thought I was one?" Some of that fur is beginning to stand on end, which Selene will surely notice before Rahne does. Something about this clearly discomforts her, but she's not yet to the point of putting the why to words.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
"Yes." Selene answered in a summarized and succinct fashion.

"I heard you approach, I heard you listening." Which seemed like it might be impossible, unless Rahne was starting to expect that this strange woman in the rather unusual attire may have abilities that were equally strange and unusual.

"And I'm not blind to the features I see in you that make me think there's more to you than meets the eye... and perhaps even more similar to a werewolf than you might have wanted me to see."

Selene shook her head then, slowly right to left. "But now that we've met, face to face, I can tell you're not one of them. Not a Lycanthrope. You're human. Or more specifically, Mutant.... Right?" The taller woman's gaze seemed to level then as she waited for this answer.

Wolfsbane has posed:
There's about a second or two where Wolfsbane's features lose all wolfen signs, just the pale skin of a young Scottish woman left behind, offset by her flame-red hair, then she reverts back to the way she was. There's no cracking of bones, no roars of pain, just the impression of a flip being switched on or off. Then she morphs further before Selene's eyes, her head taking on more of the look of an actual wolf, hands and toes slightly more paw-like, and it's back - again - to how she was first seen.

"I have verra fine control over how far I can change," is her simple answer after nodding to the question of being a mutant. "If I had tae guess, does tha' have silver bullets?" She asks this of the gun that remains in place, gesturing toward it. "But, aye, it's th' mutant gene I've go'." Maybe this will further keep Selene from being too threatening, following the demonstration.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene watched this disdplay of impressive control over the young lady's mutation that granted her these abilities.

"I'm impressed." The elder vampire said. "Similar to what I'm after... but... you're not my enemy." Others in her coven might disagree with her on that, but she'd already thought it over and found it in her heart that this was nothing like what they'd dedicated their existence to eradicating, it was a completely different thing.

Selene glanced down toward her thigh, but only for a second before she looked back up to the girl.

"Silver nitrate bullets." She told her. "Once the bullet is inside of the target, it breaks apart and it injects the silver nitrate directly into the creature's bloodstream. Its a much faster way to render them lifeless."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane didn't even show the full extent of what she can do. Maybe tonight's not the best time for that. She peeks behind her quickly, just a sweep of the area in case there are other eyes on them at all, then she murmurs, "I should hope no'," when told they're not enemies.

A grimace comes as the bullets are described to her along with why they're so lethal, and try as she might, she can't hide the brief shiver. "But why are they..such a problem? They're no' like me a' all?" Imagine that, the wolfen mutant showing concern over werewolves.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene heard this question and she considered her response, her eyes glanced back toward the Salem Center main street at the far end of a winding alley and then she looked back to Rahne.

"I believe that is a story for another time." She showed a faint smile. "You best be on your way home. But please, do not go through the woods. Not tonight... They'll be safe again within a few days. I promise you that."

Selene turned toward the direction of the town and paused before looking back at the girl. "Make sure your friends know this as well, especially the ones who are not as skilled at protecting themselves as you." She showed another faint smile then upon that icey pale face of hers.

Wolfsbane has posed:
Wolfsbane comes off as disappointed with this answer. There must be a side of her that yearns to know more, for she presses the matter if only a little to start. "But..whit if they can be helped? Ye can see I have control over muhself. Whit if I could help any of them? Do they have nae control?" It's perhaps too simple a concept for her, but there's a caring side of her that shows, even if Selene's targets are more deadly than she knows. "It's just..I have tae believe there's a better way than just..killing someone." Naive? Oh yes.

All the same, she inches closer to the street proper again. Whatever comes of this, she'll at least warn who needs to be, but she's absolutely conflicted.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene paused her retreat at these questions, half-turned in theo ther direction and her left hand on the side of her waistline as she stares at the young mutant.

"What they're going through isn't a mutation, young one." Selene says in response to her, following it with a light sigh. "Trust me on this, the fate that has befallen them is magical in origin. A dark curse, to be more precise. Where-as what you're experiencing in your life, is the mutation of your genes which has become much more common over the past hundred... years. But the Lycans, they date back much further than that. I've been battling them for what would equate to generations of the average human lifespan. We've tried to find alternatives for them, but they're a mongrel species that seek only war and destruction. They are a blight that has to be put down like a dog with a foul disease."

Wolfsbane has posed:
Perhaps Wolfsbane would have been better off just taking Selene's word for it rather than asking to know more, for a more saddened expression twists her features around. "I..dinna really understand magical things a' all, but tha' sounds terrible." Any surprise at how old this makes the woman sound shows primarily in a raising of her brows, but it's secondary to the werewolf news.

In fact, as they're described the way they are, as blights, mongrels, diseased, even if the overriding idea is of them as deadly threats that must be dealt with, it may be that a small part of her feels perhaps wounded. "I think I'll be going noo," is all she can say to the whole thing, and she clearly comes off as troubled.

Selene (Underworld) has posed:
Selene would watch the girl's reaction and she'd understand it entirely. There was a lot more to all of it, but she knew that this awkward meeting wasn't the right time or place for more information than she'd already given the girl... the girl did intrigue her though, those abilities were quite impressive and could be amazingly useful.

Selene's head shook then... Rahne was far too young, far too inexperienced and this wasn't her war.

"Be on your guard, MIss. Please do stay safe." The Elder Vampire would say, as she really wasn't an evil woman, she just did some questionably moral things at the behest of her ultimate goal in life.

She'd be gone the moment Rahne looked away as well.