1st Spell [Open Commentlog]

[taintedtalent]

[The first thing Reese notices is that this is not the road to King's Creek. In fact he's pretty sure it's a cell. The second, and currently more important, thing he notices is this achingly empty feeling he's getting. His magic is gone, completely and utterly gone, and this horrifies him.

He fights the growing panic. First thing's first, he needs to regroup with Dutch. After a quick check of his room, he tests the door. It's unlocked. Why would it be unlocked?

Clutching his Winchester, Reese slowly pushes the door open and steps into the halls.]

Dutch. Dutch you out here?

[When he doesn't get an answer he continues moving through the barracks, calling our her name. He doesn't like it but he's got little choice. This is the most vulnerable he's ever felt. Finding her is his top priority.]

Comments

[yolonceler]

[So the Once-ler coming back from rolling, like, ten more cigars, only to find a guy with a rifle moving through the barracks. Yes, that is indeed a rifle. The Once-ler stops so abruptly his shoes drag on the floor and a few of his, like, ten cigars tumble out of his hands.

He is absolutely catatonic and just stands there staring at Reese. Just staring, with those huge, creepy eyes.

Staring.]

[taintedtalent]

[Whoever this guy is, he doesn't seem to have expected Reese. Maybe he works here, and maybe they forgot to seal Reese's door shut. That may be stretching it but right now Reese is grasping at straws. One thing is for sure though, this guy probably knows a lot more about this place than he does.

Reese levels his rifle at him with his finger sitting on this trigger.]

Howdy. Don't suppose ya mind answerin' a few questions fer me?

[yolonceler]

[Absolutely. Catatonic. He's staring into the heart and soul of that rifle, and all it says is "you are going to fucking die". Dear God, I'm sorry for destroying everything, I love you mom, Brett and Chet you're morons but I love you too, I wish I listened to the Lorax, oh man I am going to get blood all over my suit.

When he manages to speak, it's just a slew of vowels.]

Aeeaouua.

[Look how smooth this guy is. He's the personification of smooth. The Once-ler drops his cigars and raises his hands slowly, like in the movies.]

Q-questions, sure. Whateeever you want, man. Please don't shoot me, puh-lease lower that thing.

[His heart might actually jump out of his ribcage.]

[taintedtalent]

Try usin' yer words there pal.

[This guy is scared out of his mind. Whoever he is, he's no threat. Hell, Reese is pretty sure this guy is in worse shape than he is. There's no way he'll be able to put up a fight even if he wanted to.

Reese lets his rifle drop, holding with only one hand.]

There, the gun's pointed at the ground now. Ain't no reason to fill yer pants. Now, tell me where I am and what happened to my magic.

[yolonceler]

[The Once-ler breathes a sigh of relief. He leans against the wall - he can barely stand. God, is he shaking? He's totally shaking. The Once-ler hasn't taken any of his supplements in, like, two weeks. He's surprised he can still, you know, live.

Alright. Deep breathing exercises.]

You're in a keep, like... a castle. [Inhale. Exhale. Alright, he's good to talk.] It's called Holloway's Keep, and you were brought here from another world, or dimension, or something sci-fi. Your... magic, I... don't really know? G-god, man, you point rifles at everybody?

[taintedtalent]

[Reese sighs and scratches the back of his head. Yeah he's feeling a little bit like an ass right now. He might be pretty freaked out about what's going on here but this guy is shaking in his boots. It's an easy guess that this is the first time anyone has pointed a gun at him.]

Right uh, sorry 'bout that. Just a little shook up is all.

[When he hears the name he's even more confused. He's never heard of this place before.]

So how the hell did I get here? Last I knew I was on the road to King's Creek, and I'm damn sure I still had my magic. Here I can't even feel a thing.

[yolonceler]

Apology denied. [Alright, Oncie, don't be a dick. This guy's still holding a gun, you know.

He's just... going to sit down. Give him a moment. Breathe.]

I've got about zero idea just how you got here, or even how I got here. Probably [Airquotes.] "magic". It appears that people's [Airquotes.] "magic" has been [Airquotes.] "restricted". Man, I don't know.

[dominateartimus]

[It didn't take long for San to hear Reese hollering about Dutch and he wondered if anyone had broken the news to this new person.

Leaning casually on the stairway, he called out to the cowboy.]

If you're asking for someone who speaks Dutch, you might not have much luck with that.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese whips around and aims his rifle at Sandrath. After all this he's not about to trust anyone just yet, especially with his magic being taken away from him. None of this makes any sense to him.]

I'm lookin' fer my friend.

[dominateartimus]

[He doesn't even flinch at having the gun directed at him. He continues to stay where he is and a small, friendly smile creeps to his lips.]

Who happens to be named after a language, not entirely unusual.

[San points at the rifle.]

If I were you, I'd wouldn't be pointing that thing at everyone you meet. Someone might respond negatively to it, but then again, not much you can do with a weapon that can't harm a person or being.

[taintedtalent]

A name's just a name.

[That smile doesn't put him at ease at all. In fact it just worries him even more. He won't be taking his rifle off Sandrath anytime soon.]

Think I'll point it where I like and trust me, it'll do plenty harm.

[dominateartimus]

Do you want to test that theory? ...Although you'll most likely get punished for doing so, if I recall correctly.

[He moves from his perch and starts to descend the stairs.]

Its one of the rules, set by the Lord of this place.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese doesn't waver and his rifle remains trained on Sandrath.]

It's a damn good thing I don't mind breakin' rules then.

[The only thing that keeps Reese from firing right now is his uncertainty of Sandrath's motivations.]

[detectivetroll]

[Nick's on the look out for anyone coming his way, but he'd mostly been watching out for whoever was behind this, for someone who'd want to stop him from his - admittedly, so far pretty easy - escape. Another guy calling for someone wasn't really what he thought he'd run into. Although hell, if this had happened to Nick, no reason to think it wouldn't have happened to someone else.

Except for the Grimm thing, which, honestly, was kind of what Nick had been figuring was the reason for this.

And then he turns the corner and sees that the other guy has a gun as well, which automatically puts him a little bit on guard, though Nick still keeps his handgun pointed at the ground.]

Did you just wake up and find yourself here, by any chance?

[taintedtalent]

[At this point Reese doesn't really know what to expect. For all he knows his friend is missing and his magic is gone completely. No matter how hard he tries to draw on it, it just won't come. It's like nothing is even there, which is worrying. Not to mention that Dutch is the one who has his medicine. Bad news stacked upon more bad news.

Who ever grabbed them knows them well enough to keep them away from each other. Reese is starting to wonder if this might be the Order at work, but that doesn't explain why he's here or how his magic is gone.

When he runs into Nick, he readies his gun. The first thing Reese notices is the gun. It's not a gun he's ever seen before but he knows that's a gun.]

Let me guess, so did you?

[He lowers his gun a little.]

[detectivetroll]

[That's rough, man. Nick'll give this one to Reese, he's got it worse. He raises his other hand, palm out in an 'I mean no harm' gesture, though he doesn't move to put his own gun away.]

And here I thought I was special.

[His tone is dry, but really, he's almost relieved. Good to know at least one thing in his life isn't because he's a Grimm. Sure, that thing turned out to be weird kidnapping, but Nick'll take what he can get.

Except there's something - not human about this guy, a flash of something that Nick's never seen before, and doesn't know what the hell it is. Awesome. And no trailer or Monroe to go to, which means Nick's going to have to try to figure out some way to go 'hey, by the way, what are you?' Only hopefully with more subtly.]

[taintedtalent]

[That's a competition that Reese doesn't exactly want to win. When he sees Nick motion to him he lowers his Winchester the rest of the way.]

Ya can still think that if ya want.

[There's some ease in his voice but not a lot. After all he still hasn't found Dutch or the reason for his missing magic, but knowing someone else is going through the same thing as him is somewhat comforting.

Now if he could only figure out what's up with this guy's odd appearance.]

Don't suppose ya know how ya ended up here?

[detectivetroll]

[Nick relaxes a little at that, though he still doesn't let his guard down completely. Strange castle and kidnapping situation and all.]

Nah, I'm good. It's kind of nice not to be special.

[Or at least, not special enough to warrant being kidnapped because of who he is. Just for some other reason, apparently.

And Nick's noticed the cowboy thing, but he doesn't really think anything of it. He's from Portland, he's seen weirder.]

Unfortunately, no. Didn't even see anyone coming, which doesn't exactly happen all that often.

[taintedtalent]

[Reese is still pretty tense all things considered, and will remain so for some time. Even in the best of circumstances, Reese wouldn't anything about this situation.]

Course it is, right up until ya need to be special again.

[There has to be some common factor between them for both of them to be taken here at the same time.]

Same goes fer me. Even had my partner with me at the time.

[bondedgryphon]

[What's the best thing to throw in front of a trigger happy wizard cowboy? Why something big with sharp pointy claws, of course!! That is clearly the smartest of the smart, and Zhaneel is the perfect victim choice!

Zhaneel is meandering through the halls, having come in from taking down a fresh deer in the forest a short time ago. She had eaten her fill and was making her way back through the stone halls of the barracks to her own room, where she could let things digest a bit.

She's in a bit of a state because of her hunting, beak and chest region covered in drying blood and bits of deer that will never be identifiable.

Unfortunately for the gryphon, she's never seen a gun of any sort before, so she'd have no idea the thing was a weapon. 8D

She rounds a corner, mind already turned to the pile of pillows and blankets awaiting her on her bed, not at all paying attention to anyone else she might encounter in the hallways.]

[taintedtalent]

[Not so much trigger happy as very, very cautious. After having such an important piece of himself torn away, he's more than a little concerned about what's going on here.

Reese rounds the corner at the very moment Zhaneel does, but his reaction might not be what one expects. Seeing her, he stares in a mixture of awe and disbelief. The gun dips down, pointing at the ground instead. The gore throws him for a second, but doesn't frighten him.]

Well I'll be damn...

[bondedgryphon]

[Not being trigger happy is even better, thanks! Her attention snaps back to the here and now as she rounds the corner and finds herself suddenly not alone. She makes a startled sound, clambering to the side to avoid a collision.

Her eyes flit to the unfamiliar man and then down to the thing he's holding that is surely a weapon of some sort. But he's lowering it deliberately and there is nothing about his posture that reflects a threat in the slightest.

She blinks, golden gaze lifting to study the man as her head tilts slightly to one side. Her ear tufts flick forward in interest and she rustles her wing feathers as she readjusts them along her back. Her tone is bemused when she speaks, her voice soft and perfectly clear.]

I should hope not... I would not wish such upon anyone, in truth.

[Sarcasm at it's finest, ladies and gents!]

You have just arrived, I should think?

[taintedtalent]

[When she speaks his eyes widen even more. This is a griffin, the king of creatures, or queen in this case judging from the voice, and it's speaking to him. In his life, Reese has only seen a griffin once before and he was sure it was going to be the end of him. Instead it saved his life.

Now, standing right in front of him, is another griffin. One that can talk. Right now he's not sure what's going on or if this is even real. Have they always been able to talk? The one he saw was only there for a few moments before taking to the skies again.

A few things to strike him though. The first being how small this griffin is, and the second that he's been staring at her for some time now.]

I, uh, yeah. Just found myself here a while ago.

[bondedgryphon]

[Zhaneel is rather used to being on the receiving end of all these surprised looks she tends to get. Apparently, it's not even just the fact that she is a gryphon, but that she speaks that really gets them.

She chortles softly, the sound low in her throat and her beak parting with mirth.

He finally breaks his silence and she bobs her head slightly when he confirms that he's newly arrived.]

Well, then firstly I bid thee welcome to Holloway's Keep. You are, unfortunately, far from your home now and there is, as of now, no way for you to leave this place.

[She gestures absently around her with her wings.]

The Keep grounds, that is... you are able to leave the barracks at any time. My name is Zhaneel... I was brought to this place nearly a year ago from my own homeworld. There was a book in the room you arrived in.. [She sits back on her haunches and pulls her own journal out of her travel satchel.] It would look like this one... it explains how it is you came to be here.

[taintedtalent]

[Again Reese is taken a back, but not by her ability to speak. He was not expecting such an information dump like this at the moment. It takes a a moment for him to wrap his head around.

She's been here for a year and she's not trying to get out anymore? Maybe she's been tamed by the people in the keep. That's a heartbreaking thought really. And this is the second time he's heard about that book.]

Howdy, the name's Reese.

[She's very polite for what people normally consider a wild animal.]

As of now huh? Guess that means I should find one then.

[Something else she said strikes his as extremely odd.]

What's that 'bout "yer own homeworld" now?