pineslog | (catch-all) the storm & the st. paddy's day festival

(catch-all) the storm & the st. paddy's day festival

CATCH-ALL: 16TH & 17TH

march 16

THE THUNDER ROLLS

The day starts off atmospherically heavy. The clouds are low, and the temperature is unusually warm, settling in the mid to high 50s (teens in Celsius). Townies are wandering around town in lightweight jackets and hoodies making small talk about the unusual weather, but for the most part they're pleased with the warmth, even if the clouds off in the distance look rather ominous. As the day goes on, the clouds creep closer and the residents seem more inclined to get a roof over their heads and stay there. The midmorning news predicts heavy rainfall by the late afternoon, but the savvier townsfolk say it’s going to be worse than that.

They’re not wrong. The sun drops low, and the winds start to pick up, howling through the trees, bringing with them nickel-size chunks of hail and torrential rains. The darker the night gets, the worse the storm hits Wayward Pines; by the time the sun has set, the sky is obscured with opaque, swirling clouds, the winds snapping trees in half, rattling the power lines, causing electricity to flicker and sometimes go out. The hail pings against the cars not safely parked inside garages, leaving the more exposed with significant damage to paint and windows, and anyone brave (or stupid) enough to step outside is instantly soaked to the skin in cold rain.

The most chilling thing of all isn’t the rain. Anyone trying to wait the weather out on Main Street will hear three wrenching cries coming from the woods, almost like the exact moment a person shreds their vocal cords in a scream. The townies claim not to hear anything unusual. It’s just the wind, they say, and they may be right. The sound as it shrieks through the trees and between buildings is similar enough to cast doubt, and combined with the rain even the most experienced camper would likely get lost trying to find it.

march 17

THERE’S WHISKEY IN THE JAR, OH

Whatever damage was caused by the previous night’s storm has mostly been cleared from Main Street by the early morning of St Patrick's Day. The streets are still a little wet, with plenty of puddles for the more adventurous children (and adults) to splash around in. The air is still a little chilly, but nothing a sweatshirt can’t fix. Nothing’s fully set up until about nine in the morning, but when it is, the St. Patty’s Day celebration gets under way. It’s small, more of a farmers' market or small festival than anything major. There’s food stalls and tables for eating, as well as a few booths where townsfolk are plying their crafts and non-food wares, as well as live music. The festivities during the daylight hours are pretty tame, a PG-rated good time for all.

When the sun sets, the party gets a little more rowdy. Someone busts out the booze and someone else busts out the Mardi Gras beads, and the music gets louder. While many food stalls are still open, the rest have shut down as the street fills with revelers, many of them holding cups half-filled with beer or something a little stronger. This part of the party isn’t for kids, and if anyone underage is spotted they'll quickly get escorted back home by the police — so try not to get caught, yes?

MOD NOTES

This is a catch-all for any and all threads pertaining to the storm (March 16th) and the St. Patrick's Day festival (March 17th)! Details on both of these happenings can be found in the March Newsletter.

PLEASE INCLUDE IN SUBJECT LINE: Character Name, which Day(s) your top-level takes place in, and Open or Closed, to help keep things a bit more organized. (For example: "Joe Biden | 16th & 17th | Open!")

Should you choose to participate in both mini-events, you're welcome to make separate top-level posts for each day or to combine them both into one.

If you have any questions regarding this event, feel free to ask them here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

march 16
[now that she's got most of her memories back, Rachel remembers why she hates waking up before 11 or crashing before 3am. And no one seems to be saying anything about it yet, so she's trying to keep to her natural sleep cycle as much as possible. So by the time she's dressed and made her coffee and is out of the house, the weather is already turning. Lucky she's in the habit of wearing her leathers, not for warmth but to protect her skin if she falls. She's also got all her usual amulets tucked beneath her collar, all but the one for her hair uninvoked but ready to go at a moment's notice.

Anyone who sees her before the storm really hits will just see a slightly-odd but also kind of hot redhead window shopping and occasionally digging through her giant handbag for lip balm or gum. When the rain starts, she's smart enough to at least step into the semi-protection of a shop doorway, hugging her arms to herself. She really is planning to try to just book it back to her house when the rain starts, but then she hears the screams and--

Yeah, screw laying low. Even as she can hear Ivy and Jenks cursing her recklessness in her head, Rachel's running towards the source of the sound. At the edge of the woods, anyone else who's out there or at least close enough might see her stop eerily still, and even if they can't see her mouth move, they might notice that the way her hair moves doesn't quite make sense even with all the wind whipping about. And then after just a few heartbeats, she's running towards the source of the screaming again, heedless of any beating her body might be taking or the fact her teeth are starting to chatter]

march 17
[despite her case of 'mild hypothermia' which she keeps trying to laugh off, Rachel is at the fair. Partially for a more morbid curiosity to see what people here think of when they think of leprechauns--she's going to have to keep a lot of laugher and eye rolling in check. But she's also checking out the craft booths to see if anyone is making anything that is more than trinkets, anything with real magic in it.

And of course, after sunset, she can be found at the food stalls with a cup in hand looking a lot happier than she has been in days, although there are moments when the loud music seems to catch her off guard for some reason and she stares into space, trying to get one still stubbornly foggy memory to finish clearing]

[ Is it shallow to approach someone because of their hair? No? Okay. Good. It's what draws Katherine's attention, yet there's something else about this woman that makes her feel there's more to know about her. She can just tell. Call it intuition (or any physical properties, smells, that may make up an emanation of magic. One that makes her head tilt in interest, because? It's not like anything she's been around before. All the reason to move in.)

Coming up beside the redhead, she's smiling, a strand of beads around her neck. ] Hey! Love your hair. [ She's come up from the side, so didn't see the gaze that threatens to appear catatonic. Um. Her lips press together. ] But maybe not as much as you like the music? [ A giggle, expression softening, concern (or, her play at such, which appears sincere) rising. ] Are you okay? [ Closer to her now, the tingling scent surfaces more, another warm and woody one surfacing that she wasn't sure on the origin of before, and she wants to know what's up with this chick. ]

[Rachel's used to people saying...something about her hair, at least. Usually it's other witches who can tell she's taming it, and ask just what she's using. And she has to explain that it's a charm she and her mom worked on for years before it came out right. She's not used to straight out compliments. Okay, maybe from men but that was usually the kinds who wanted a redhead as another notch on their broomstick.

Stil, she grins] Ah, thanks. It's a chore, but it's worth it. [if she has another drink, coupled with the pain amulet she's wearing to ward off the effects of taking a beating from the hail last night, she'll probably spill just why her hair looks awesome right now instead of like something from a really bad 80s music video. But she's not that wasted yet. Which is why she also doesn't give into unfocusing herself to open up her second sight to try to figure out just why this woman is giving her a weird vibe. Not bad, not yet. Just weird. She doesn't smell anything she's used to from her world--not the dusky incense of a vamp or the wine and cinnamon of an elf. But this world isn't hers, so she's not betting on that meaning anything]

Me? Yeah, I'm awesome. [and she means it, right now. She feels so good. She knows it's partially what happens when you mix a pain amulet with beer, but a place like this, full of happy people enjoying music and drinks it reminds her of something--something really good, and she wants to remember it but right now she's just having fun while she can] I'm Rachel. Rachel Morgan. [she holds out the hand not holding the beer--not thinking right now about the fact that's her left hand, the one with the weird slashed circle scar on the inside of her wrist, only sort of covered by her shiny bracelet with its black gold band and silver charms]

[ Katherine's stuck manually using beauty tools, but she thinks that she's got her look down pat. Her words are sincere too, a true compliment from someone as egocentric as Katherine Pierce. Smiling back, letting a grin slide in, she nods. ] We both know how that goes. [ There's a generous amount of drinking, everywhere, herself partaking in it too. She doesn't get drunk as quickly as humans, witches, anyone without the super stamina that werewolves and vampires have on their side, but she is carrying around a festive cocktail. Sipping at it as she's answered.

Another smile, and who doesn't appreciate good vibes from someone who looks like they know how to have a fun time (meaning, more partying instead of, oh, goody two-shoe style fun such as rollerskating or sock hops.) She catches sight of the scar, taking in physical details as they show, noting the bracelet too. ] Pretty. [ The jewelry, and she extends her hand to give a solid shake as she says that, polite and smooth; she must mean the bracelet since she has one of her own on too, a silver piece that dangles with a cut lapis lazuli stone, giving it the tiniest shake once their hands part. A silent indication of how they sort of match. ] It's nice to meet you, Rachel. I'm Katherine Pierce. [ A beat. ] Sorry, for asking, I mean I thought...I wanted to make sure. I think you were just into the music? [ Playing that off, for the sake of both of them, laughing under her breath.

Another sip from her glass. ] I didn't think they'd have any parties like this here. Or, none that I remember ever going to, being around. [ Playing up the fact that she outwardly acknowledges she had a life there in town, that she knows is fake but she's obeying the rules set by their weird law enforcement. ] I like it. They should do these more, don't you think?

[Rachel glances at her bracelet with an odd smile. She knows her boyfriend gave it to her, remembers that very strongly, but so much about him is still missing and that's annoying. How could she hit her head so hard that she'd forget someone she loved that much, when she'd remembered Ivy and Jenks after a few days?]

Thanks. Yours is really nice too. [she's usually not one for fancy jewelery herself, as shown by the big silver hoop earrings she'd also wearing, but...the man she loved had money and enjoyed finer things. She remembered that now, looking at Katherine's very nice bracelet.

She laughs a little] Oh yeah, I guess I'm still a bit wiped from getting caught in the storm last night. [and running further into it than towards her house, because she's a dumb hero like that] But I couldn't just stay cooped up in the house when there was a party going on. Hasn't been anything this fun in awhile. [also keeping up the lie. But she think's it's probably also true, this place is too sleepy for her liking. At least on the outside.

She blinks a few times again, as more fuzzy memories try to uncloud themselves, seemingly triggered by...Katherine? How close she is. The fact she's clearly so well put together. Why is her mind screaming vampire? The hidden scar on Rachel's neck isn't tingling, she doesn't smell incense, but she definitely has the grace and beauty to be a living vamp.

She tries to tamp the fear down before it has a chance to make her pulse spike and her body pump out pheremones that would make any vampire think she was as temping as a freshly baked cookie, putting on a brighter smile] They should definitely do something like this again. But maybe with some heavier music. [she grins down at her leathers, the best hint that she's not ususally a fiddles and whistles kind of girl] Maybe a talent show for the kids? There have to be a couple at the high school who are itching for an excuse to play something that would make our eardrums burst. [another flash of memory--bright lights, dancing, blue eyes flashing with a smile--makes her squeeze her eyes shut for a moment but she hides it by taking a long sip of her drink]

[ Why have less than nice when you can live in luxury? Katherine picks and chooses what she has (or, did, at home; the town isn't exactly up to snuff with the nines), what she wants as far as the fine attributes of life go. Great clothes and better booze, since she's a vampire who has her priorities.

She smiles again with the returned compliment, turning her wrist over a couple of times, in a circle at its joint. A faint frown as she remembers the storm, thinking of someone with Rachel's overall human (appearing) body being caught within its torrent. Is the other woman really physically okay, she wonders to herself. Another smile, small. ] It looks like a lot of people did. Good for town morale.

[ Katherine takes a long sip, missing those direct blinks, not reaching her hearing out to pick up on any changes in heartbeat. There's too much activity going on, including the rise and fall of the music. Plus, she's not a ravenous beast and feeds (from blood bags because Salvatore good nature) regularly. She's there out of curiosity, yes, but she's behaving. She's good at doing so, when she wants to.

The smile is returned, their expressions bouncing off each others', chuckling and looking down over the clothing Rachel wears. Head tilting at the idea (she doesn't care about the music, honestly, but she can pretend), she casts a curious look over. ] It'd be appropriate for the -- [ oops, not the decade they're evidently in. she can't say that ] lulls that plague this place. They should, but some of the others, older folks, might complain about noise violation. [ A low laugh. ] It's a good school, well equipped as I remember [ she attended there, after all ], so I bet they have any necessary equipment. Instruments.

Do you...play anything, or are you like me in just being a happy audience member? [ Not that they'd want to be active participants in a talent show for kids, but perhaps someone with such a background might want to help organize it or something! Who knows. ]

[Nyx knows better than to go out in a storm like this. He'd gotten stuck in town and was just going to sit it out with his book, but that flash of red hair was impossible to miss through the window. He sees Rachel take cover under a doorway across the street, and he gets up to go out to get her. Except screams split the air, audible even over the roar of the rain and thunder. It's too dangerous to go investigate right now, much as he wants to locate the source. There's hail smacking into the rooftops and the rain is only getting thicker as they stand here. It'll be something to do when the storm fades out. Except...

Except Rachel's moving again, throwing herself straight out into the downpour towards the edge of town, and like hell is he going to leave her alone to get hurt.

Thankful, now, that his coat as a built in hood, Nyx pulls it up as he bolts after her. He's soaked in moments, the wind trying to push him off course. Visibility is quickly becoming worse the closer they get to the woods. It's only the fact that her hair is so red that Nyx can keep spotting her.

He's able to get closer as she stops at the edge of the trees, noting how weird she looks but not having time to pause when she changes directions and dives into the forest.

Shit.]

Rachel!

[for a moment, Rachel's too high on adrenaline and the sweet burn of the line energy singing inside her, ready to put up a bubble or set someone's ass on fire in a moment to notice that someone's yelling at her. Because now she's herself again, running into danger with barely-learned Latin trigger words on the tip of her tongue, ready to kick the ass of who or whatever is making that poor person scream.

The yelling is almost familiar too. She's more used to hearing a 'dammit' attached to her name when it's said like that, or for it to be buzzed right in her ear by a pixy. But this--it's familiar, but not, because she hasn't fought side by side with Nyx like she has with everyone else who has yelled at her for running into danger seemingly unprepared. But she is prepared, dammit. As prepared as she can be, anyway. And he's--hurt, she remembers, feet faltering at the realization. He'd been more banged up than her when they were in the hospital, he definitely shouldn't be out in this.

She doesn't quite stop, but slows enough to look over her shoulder with a slight eye roll and huff as her damp hair falls in her face] I'm fine! I've got--[...okay, she doesn't have any earth charms that can actually help in a fight. Just an uninvoked pain amulet. She takes a deep breath--she doesn't know how long it's been since she's done this anymore, and she hasn't practiced this part since the memories came back. She's just practiced drawing on the line, not using it. But she doesn't have much choice]

Rhombus! [almost before the word has left her lips, there's something almost like a dome around her, wavering a dark gold color even in the dim light. The hail almost seems to bounce off of it, not touching her. She can't hold it long, and she can't move with it, but it should prove the point. She can protect her own ass, and she doesn't even need to physically draw the circle to do it now. Through a haze tinted with the smoky gold of her aura, she gives Nyx a look that she hopes tells him he needs to get his ass back indoors without her. If she weren't trying to make that point, she would have tried to make the circle big enough to shield him too, but as it is, she figures he can handle a few more hailstones before he backs off]

[Forest running in pitch darkness: bad idea. Later on he'll count himself lucky to not have twisted an ankle or gotten pistol-whipped in the face by a tree branch. Even worse: the trees did very little to block the storm. His coat was almost like armor, but that didn't stop the hail from hurting as it hit the leather. He was going to wake up with some nasty bruises, which made him worry more for her. Rachel didn't have the kind of protection he did.

Although, that didn't mean she had nothing, he soon finds out. The dome trips a memory: interlocking hexagonal plates before an outstretched hand. A fleeting image that fragments as he pulls up short. The rain is dripping into his eyes, so he squints through it at her. He doesn't understand. His mind keeps stumbling over something familiar and unreachable. He clenches his right hand into a fist before slowly uncurling his fingers. Something... a feeling... he can almost--

A hailstone cracks across his temple and he jerks back, yanking his hood closer around his face. It throbs painfully. Whatever he was about to remember is gone, slipping into the wind, but he's not too keen on leaving. Nyx squares his shoulders and steps closer, within reach of--but not quite touching--the dome.]

What is this?

[Rachel does at least have the decency to grimace when the hail stone hits him in the face. She might offer him her pain amulet, but she can't let her focus drop too much, otherwise she'll lose the circle.

She draws a soft breath as he moves closer. He never saw her spell,she knows, and even if he had he wouldn't have seen this. Did they talk about what she is? Well, she thinks they had to, given the peculiarities of witch anatomy. But had she really explained it? She can't remember, really. She swallows softly, before lifting her chin high]

A protection circle. I've been... working for a few months now so I don't have to draw one on the ground before I put it up. I just have to draw on a line to have the energy to do it and say the trigger word. [she smiles ruefully] I wasn't sure it'd actually work, since I just remembered how to do it. That damn car accident.

[she lets out a soft breath. She appreciates his concern, really. There is a part of her, after all, that still has a knight in shining armor complex. But now that she's remembered Kisten, who almost worships her strength and praised her for kicking demon ass, she can't let herself fall into those fantasies. If nothing else, she can't risk Nyx or anyone else getting hurt--and she can't let herself get close to Nyx in that way again, no matter how nice his butt is]

I can do a lot of other things too. If I need to, I'll...start a small fire, just to send someone to check out what's going on if things really hit the fan. And I've got handcuffs in my bag. I'll be fine. ['Fucked In the Extreme' she can hear Ivy saying, and has to keep herself from laughing, because that's probably closer to the truth of it. But she can't turn away from someone in danger, and she can't drag someone else into her stupid half baked plan]

[He doesn't remember this. Figures it should have come up at least once while they were together, but it's stuck in the same cloud as everything else. Had he been too caught up in the war to even pay attention?

Nyx reaches up to touch it, figuring it's safe if the rain is just sliding off of it.]

Magic.

[It's not a real question. The word sounds familiar somehow. Like he's not entirely surprised. He must have known, then, right? There's a little bit of awe on his face, an emotion that morphs into wry amusement at her attempts to convince him that she's fine.

It's cute that she thinks she's going to stay out here alone. If she insists on moving on, he's just going to have to keep up with her. (His arm aches, but when does it not? If he wakes up covered in bruises then it wouldn't be the first, or the last time it happens.]

You ran out here on your own not even knowing whether your...spell would work? I must have rubbed off on you.

[How many times has he jumped straight into battle without thinking?]

[Rachel lets out a small breath as he touches the barrier, but he doesn't seem to care about the black on her aura. Maybe he will later after the adrenaline's spent, but the fact he's not bringing it up is nice. She doesn't regret how she earned the smut, she'd paid the cost for good reasons, but that's easier to explain to herself than other people.

She waits a few moments, lets the circle drop, silently spindling more energy in her head as she does. She's going to be exhausted after this, since it's been...at least a couple weeks since she's done leyline magic like this, but it's probably a good thing. She needs to keep in practice, and not just for moments of kneejerk panic like this.

She manages a tiny smile at his comment. Had it been him? Maybe. She's remembering another man now--a man in Robbie's jacket and an old fashioned hat, a man who had called her 'Mistress' and hadn't been smiling each time. Pierce. Pierce, saving that little girl from that old master--proving herself, like she wanted to now]

I was about eighty percent sure it would work. [she only winces a little at the sting of rain and ice, even though she's having to clench her teeth to keep them from chattering. Another tickling memory, of being in cold water and almost getting hypothermia and...Trent? Right, that's something she's worrying about over tequila] And I've had a lot crappier odds pay out in my favor. [she hesitates--worry for him mingling with the fact she hasn't been running alone for almost two years. And he didn't freak out or try to tell her that her circle wasn't strong enough, which it might not be but it was better than nothing]

Having another set of hands around can make them slightly-less crappy odds, if you think you can keep up.

Will one hand do, you think?

[Injecting humor into a situation that didn't deserve it. Sounded about right.]

Somehow I doubt keeping up is the problem right now. Here, you need something else besides your barrier. This ice'll tear you up.

[He starts stripping out of the coat in order to hand it to her.]

I think we can work with it.

[she manages to grin, before there's another flash of memory--Kisten giving her his jacket on their first not-date, quips about pheremones--and she's glad that shaking her head is a good response here]

I've got my leather, I'll be okay. [she even moves shaking fingers to do up the buttons now. Why wasn't it buttoned before. Oh right, she ran off without thinking like the dumbass witch she is]

You need it more. I don't want to be the reason you wind up back in the hospital. [are they seriously going to stand here fighting about a jacket? Probably, because this is Rachel and stubborn might as well be her middle name. More people would know it then, anyway]

Edited 2017-04-12 02:05 (UTC)

I'd like to think I'm a little more durable than that.

[But nevertheless he keeps his coat. He knows better than to argue with a woman who insists she knows what she's doing. Crowe and Selena both had been like that.

(He gets the impression that there was another, but he couldn't seem to recall her face, much less her name or what she did that was so notable.)]

Could you tell where the screams came from?

It's your skin. Just don't expect me to come vist if you do get laid up again.

[but it's said with a smile. She remembers why she hates hospitals so much now, but she'd still go for a friend. Even if she's not sure if the memories she has of him before are real ones, he's definitely...something to her now.

She sighs, turning her head a bit. Not for the first time, she wishes Ivy and Jenks were here. Sure, Jenks wouldn't last a minute in a hailstorm, but between the two of them she could track better.

She waves vaguely in one direction] Sounded like it was that way, but with this wind and everything, can't be sure. If we even knew who it was out there I'd start yelling for them, but I don't want whatever's got them coming our way first.

[see, she's not always totally thoughtless about danger. She is pulling her handcuffs out of her handbag now, though, hooking them on the loop of her pants for slightly easier access. And waiting for...some reaction to them, as she starts stepping forward]

[His first reaction is not a negative one, per se, but certainly not one appropriate for the time and place.]

I never expect people to visit.

[It's not shouted, so he wouldn't be surprised if she misses hearing it. Doesn't entirely know why he said it. He has friends, after all. He catches up to her, squinting into the darkness and wishing he'd thought to grab some kind of light.]

The chances of us actually finding anything are near impossible. Even I can't track anything in this even if I had proper gear.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(catch-all) the storm & the st. paddy's day festival

Rachel Morgan, 16th and 17th, OTA

17th

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

16th - (Figured I'd go for the trifecta, if that's okay?)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject