Call me animal.

[phantastus]

WHO: Heather Mason and Maurice Hutch (OC)
WHERE: Dogtrot, Texas
WHEN: Just easing into spring.
WHAT: What probably would have been a night spent loitering around the drug store and breaking bottles in the alley like generic malcontent youths takes several unexpected turns when a vampire hunter interrupts Maurice while waiting for his friend from up north.
RATING: Probably PG. CW for violence, mild body horror and transformation.




awsum
ill be outside where the rentareel used to be

Maurice had put out the call and now he was in his place, hands in his coat pockets. He hadn't seen his friend for a while now. One thing or another would come up (said things including worrying mothers, various injuries, and plain bad weather) and now that at least the weather had calmed its bad self down, the world was ready to be trampled again.

And what a night for it! It was clear with chilly breezes sneaking around buildings and down alleyways. An orange moon hung low on the horizon and kept the clouds far on the edges of the horizon. It wouldn't rain for two more days. Spring was coming. The tiny green shoots had just barely started poking out of the ground where there was enough actual soil instead of the red clay of Dogtrot. Crispy dead leaves still hung in the corners where the buildings met the sidewalk. Easter candy all but overflowed on super market shelves.

The vampire thought of all the things they would do once Heather got there. They could graffiti the old building marked to be torn down the following week since it was technically not illegal anymore. They could eat pizza at Tod's until they were sick. And DRANKS. And Sega. If Meranda hadn't taken over the sofa for the night. An outlet in her room had blown (or so she said) so she spent a lot of time on the sofa during her WoW raids.

Something interrupted his thoughts. He had lived in Dogtrot for years now and not a lot surprised him. He knew the local vampires, he even knew a local spook or two. He knew the drug addicts and the few homeless and what they sounded like. What he heard on that empty chilly street was none of those things.

"Quack quack!" It was mechanical. Grainy.

Maurice lifted a brow and tugged his phone out wondering if Meranda had passive-aggressively changed the ring on it again.

"Quack quack!"

"The hell...?" It wasn't his phone. Maurice pocketed it and looked all around. The quack came from an alley across the street between a now defunct QUICK CASH and what was going to be a shiny new laundromat. Maurice looked both ways and ventured forward into the gloom.

The garbage can at the end of the alley quacked. Maurice screwed up his face in thought. Broken toy that suddenly came back to life? Stranded cyborge duck?

Up above on the rooftop, a long and lean and very crafty hunter was watching his prey fall for his trap hook, line, and sinker. His father had been a hunter--a normal hunter. Deer, ducks, rams. He had watched him make odd noises to get the attention of the deer. A whistle or a click to make them stop in just the right place. Sometimes to even lure them in.

Humans were the most curious animals that he knew of and though the thing in the alleyway wasn't human (not in the slightest) he had to watch it in fascination and amusement before he made his move.

Maurice peered into the trash. There was an old Talkboy straight from the eighties in the trash quacking away.

"Oh, man, sweet!" It was all his! He reached for it. Something dressed in full army camo descended upon him and drove a thin knife into his shoulder. Maurice screamed like a wildcat and the fight began.

Comments

[foolishwren]

The spiky hair-feathers on Heather's neck stood up again as she felt something brush against her feet, which were seemingly hypersensitive to creepy-crawly sensations once they were hidden from view under murky waters, scaled though they were.

"No, I'm getting it-- ah!"

Baring her teeth, she leaned forward to plunge her enormous hands into the water, trying to grab for what was slithering past.

[toothaches]

Shining in the moonlight, barbs broke the surface of the water and they belonged to something that was bigger than any pond fish had a right to be. If Heather's big meaty claws had sensation in them they would feel slick skin writhe between them. Whatever it was was strong.

A hesitant "Did you find it?" came form the shore.

[foolishwren]

When the glimmering spines rose above the water, Heather froze.

Despite her size, despite her power, despite the fact that this body was radically different than the hapless girl who'd once been dragged into a moat of sewer water and ripped to shreds, she froze.

Giant, slimy things in murky water had killed her once.

Why had she thought this was a good idea again?

But all misgivings aside, the only answer Maurice got was a growl. Because Heather's ego would not abide turning back now. She grabbed for it again, wings unfurling to make herself even bigger.

[toothaches]

Something else broke the surface of the water this time.

It was Heather's fishing pole and the creature that had hold of it brought it across her big ugly bird face as if it were a lion tamer's whip. A loud hiss followed.

The mudmaid was a long, glistening creature all catfish spines and wet grey skin. Her hair was pondgrass and her four eyes were murky and brown--narrowed at the abomination that hold of her. This monster did not belong in the wood!

"BE GONE!" It was an ugly, guttural sound.

Maurice, back on the bank, let out a loud squawk of surprise. WAS IT THE HOOKER!?

"Heather!"

[foolishwren]

The rod let out an audible whipcrack as it struck Heather's beak, and she recoiled in surprise more than pain, splashing clumsily in the water as she stumbled a few steps backwards.

She didn't let go of the creature's shiny tail, though-- but judging by the perfect, baffled circles that her glowing eyes had become as the stared at the mudmaid, this was less out of tenacity and more that she might have forgotten she was holding onto something in the first place.

Such a comical dumbfounded look didn't seem like it belonged on the face of a creature like her, but there it was, and she did nothing but gape for a few seconds.

When her voice returned, she put it to use immediately, saying exactly what you'd think a giant demonic bird in a situation like this would.

"Ohmygod. MAURICE, COME QUICK!! I FOUND THE HOOKER!"

[toothaches]

Maurice loped around the side of the pond to get a better look at what his friend was fighting with. The mudmaid came into sight just in time for him to see her try and land another blow against Heather's face.

And then she said that.

"HEATHER, LET HER GO! YOU CAN'T JUST GRAB HOOKERS LIKE THAT! THEY'RE PEOPLE WITH JOBS!"

Now that Maurice could see the creature it looked like no ghost he'd ever seen. Then it became obvious that it was not, in fact, the hooker's ghost. It was the mermaid he thought he'd dreamed up and that meant that they were both in trouble. He quickly clapped his hands over his ears.

"Heather, let her go, oh my God!"


The only thing the mudmaid had to say to all of this was another loud, indignant hiss.

[foolishwren]

Probably too late, Heather dropped the giant fish tail into the water with a splash.

She still looked utterly gobsmacked more than scared or angry-- this time her head bobbed backwards to avoid the blow, still with those comically-round eyes.

"She has my rod though!"

[toothaches]

Mud and water flew as the mudmaid's tail hit the water. She writhed away but did not retreat. Rising like a great snake, clasping the rod in her sticky, three-fingered hands, she opened her mouth.

Instead of a horrible hiss, this time an oddly beautiful sound came out. It was trilling and mournful and alluring at the same time.

Maurice, even with his hands over his ears, found his shoulders going slack. He wanted...to walk out into the water. To go to her.

[foolishwren]

At last, Heather's lamplike eyes squinted. The deep melodic sound washed over her like a wave, making the earlike tufts of feathers on her head splay out. If her beak were still a nose, it would have wrinkled.

She was still somewhat baffled, but there was something deep down in her that knew what that sound was. And what the creature was trying to do. And the mostly-ambivalent flabbergasted surprise was replaced by a flare of indignant anger.

How dare this creature try to pull its tricks.

"Wh-- ... hey, shut up!"

SHUT UP GHOST HOOKER.

"That's MINE! Give it back."

She didn't see Maurice.

[toothaches]

The mudmaid lifted the pole high and raised the pitch of her sirin song. She sang with meaning. It was an ancient, deep tongue that her aria was in. However, loosely translated, it sounded something like:

U BOOTY SO FINE

FINE FINE BOOTY

BOOTY SO FINE

I WANT TO ENGAGE IN IMMORAL CARNAL ACTIVITIES WITH YOU

AND U BOOTY


The fish was becoming the fisherman as she warbled and there was a plunking sound from the far side of the pond. Maurice had stepped into the shadows and like a cow-eyed zombie he started slowly walking deeper and deeper.

[foolishwren]

That primal force deep down inside Heather that knew her true name and could understand those ancient words just fine barely had to quibble with itself before it decided it was Deeply Offended by the mudmaid's attempt to siren-song its way into her too-small pants.

SORRY MUDHOOKER, THIS BIRD AND HER BOOTY WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. I AM A GOD, AND YOU HAVE FOUR EYES AND LIVE IN A POND.

Baring her snaggly teeth, Heather bristled and took a step forward.

"GIVE. ME. THE ROD. Give it to me! Give-- ... Zilla, the hell are you doing?"

She had just noticed her companion wading slowly in their direction.

[toothaches]

Maurice didn't respond. He just kept wading forward. He did not understand the song but in his undead bones he felt like the creature was insinuating that his pasty moon booty may have been desirable in one past life or another. The water reached his hips.

The mudmaid did not stop singing but did back away a few feet as Heather sloshed forward. She raised the rod high and whipped it through the air before casting the line, aiming to smack her in the face with the bobber.

[foolishwren]

Heather had never seen that sort of blank look on her friend's face before.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was causing it.

She whipped back to face the singing seductress just in time to see the bobber flying at her face.

She'd had just about enough of being smacked, so almost without thinking about it, the combined reflexes of an Otherworld survivor and an Otherworld creature kicked in and she snapped her beak shut on the line with a vengeance, aiming to give the mudmaid a vicious yank forwards.

[toothaches]

There was a sound that, if written out, would look something like T W O N G as the line pulled taut and the mudmaid's eyes widened. She had no feet so her tail whipped frantically in the water as she was yanked forward. Her song ended in a loud, unhappy screech.

Maurice stopped walking and stood dumb as a stump for a few seconds before blinking and looking around. Freezing pond water was up to his gut and he could feel mud sinking into his shoes.

"Ugh! What the hell! What--" Then he saw the monster battle happening in front of him. He froze with his elbows lifted out of the water. If he moved backwards he might catch the not-a-hooker's attention again.

[foolishwren]

As the vampire stood stock-still before the Literal Kaiju Battle (tm) taking place in front of him, Heather yanked as hard as she could on the line before letting go of it.

And just to prove she meant business (actually, the heat of the moment was getting the better of her), she lifted her giant meaty hands and ripped the stupidly-small vest that was still on her off. And roared. With every ounce of force and spittle she had.

BWOOAAAARHRHGHGGH NO ONE DOES WEIRD SEDUCEY MAGIC ON PEOPLE ON HEATHER'S WATCH, FISHBITCH!

[toothaches]

The mudmaid recoiled, her tail looping in and around itself under the force of the Blackbird's roar. The spines on her head pressed flat and she shot back a weaker but equally unhappy wail.

Maurice just clapped his hands over his ears and hoped no humans were in earshot. And that there was only one mudmaid. As distracted as he was with these thoughts, he had to admit that the sight of his friend performing a taunt above and beyond anything the WWF ever cranked out was fucking amazing.

[foolishwren]

Letting loose with the battle cry instilled feelings deep inside of her that she hadn't felt since Silent Hill.

Well-- actually, she'd felt it a little the other day, when she'd put the fear of God into that would-be vampire hunter.

But it was stronger right now, with this creature before her.

It wasn't anger exactly. It was one part anger, three parts thrill, and one part a weird giddiness. A glee at her own power.

Look what I can do.

She splashed forward, wings flaring behind her, and swung a giant fist, roaring again.

[toothaches]

Feather and claws connected with slick, sticky skin. The mudmaid ceased its keening because a good portion of its face fractured. The fishing rod was flung away onto the bank. For a split second it looked like she was going to retaliate. Water boiled around the creature as it thrashed and rolled in the shallows and clawed its way back to the middle of the pond where, no doubt, its junk-lined burrow was. Something slick and green stained the water's surface and bubbles rose in a foam.

Maurice cringed when he heard the sound of bone on bone. He stumbled in his attempt to shuffling backwards through the muck and wound up landing on his ass with the water up over his nose leaving nothing but a pair of startled eyes peering up at Heather.

She just...punched it. She punched it and it fucked right off. He tried to say, "Woah..." but it just came out as bubbles.

[foolishwren]

The CRACK as her clenched fingers collided with the mudmaid's face brought her somewhat back down to earth and she stood there as it flailed its way back into the depths with a slight look of surprise replacing the wild, confident grin she'd been wearing a moment before.

... O-oh...

Well... she hadn't quite meant to hit that hard...

Oh well.

Reasonably confident that the fishy creature wouldn't be coming back for seconds, she turned to see what had become of Maurice.

"You okay?"

[toothaches]

Maurice struggled to stand. He slipped once--twice--then he stood. He peeled his shirt away from his body and frowned down at it with his nose wrinkled. Eugh, pond muck.

"I got my hair wet."

Maurice patted the heel of his palm against his ear as he sloshed back to shore. This wasn't the first time he'd heard the mudmaid sing but it was the first time it had nearly drawn him to the center of the pond. He was embarrassed that Heather saw him sucked in like a moth to a bug zapper.

"Y'know maybe it's time to find a different fishin' hole."

[foolishwren]

"Uh... yeah, probably. I don't think that thing was very happy with us."

There was an awkward pause.

Then, the somewhat damp ruff of feathers on her neck and shoulders rose in something like pride.

"I kicked its ass though."

[toothaches]

With a sigh Maurice wrung out his hair and then shook his head. It stood up in every direction and it stank. Everything was terrible.

"You sure did..."

Maurice wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his ass needing to be saved becoming a thing. Granted it was nice to have someone watch his back but...that was his job! He was the big supernatural monster. Not Heather!

"I haven't really explored much further than th--ah! Aaah!" Maurice swatted at his jeans. Suddenly he stopped yelling and reached into his pocket only to pull out a very tiny fish.

He stared at it, then he started to laugh.

"I think I won tonight's fishing trip seeing as yours got away!"

[foolishwren]

She couldn't stop a snort of laughter from escaping at the sight of the tiny fish, but it soon became a good-natured growl.

"HEY, shut up. I kicked its ass and I SAVED yours. I win by default. Now where'd-- aw, man."

She'd turned around to try and find the abandoned vest, only to spot it floating pitifully in the water about twenty feet away.

"Gross..."

Maybe she should have stopped to think before just flinging her clothes off in a random direction.

[toothaches]

"Yeah, yeah." He swatted at her words and stomped his way over to where the lantern and backpack were. He sat down and started dumping water out of his shoes.

When he noticed Heather and her vest problem he let out an ugly snort.

"Good job, Hulk. We'll get you a shirt when we get back to the house. I think we're done here."