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@ Stone, audio | December 5

Who's shitting great idea was it to show some people something out in the middle of the lake and then kill them when they try to find it again?

[The querulous old man voice is currently very angry-sounding. There's a weird rumbling in the background of his voice. Stone might actually be... growling? Yeah, he's definitely growling.]

Did anyone see what did it? I want to find whatever that was and tear their throat out.

[He's a bit bloodthirsty when he's pissed off. Sorry, kids.]

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[Stone's winged form won't fit inside the church, so the poor spirit under the trapdoor had to figure out how to get him shifted before setting him back outside. He shoots to his feet as soon as he's awake enough to do so, growl echoing around the open space.

Come bother the newly-alive ancient dragon-man. If you feel like getting growled at, anyway.]

[ .... ]

[ THIS SURE IS A BAD TIME TO VISIT HIS FRIEND BENEATH THE TRAPDOOR, HUH?? ]

[ but, just like every danger day has faced, his concern for his own well-being is overridden when he realises the guy(??) could only be here because...

daylight immediately steps forward, raising his servos up to show he's friendly. ]

Are you hurting anywhere still? Are you missing anything? [ day hadn't gotten a chance to visit the docks this month - stuff's been coming up - and so he's left wondering what the heck is going on. ] What happened?

[At least a tall but brittle-looking old man probably isn't an obviously huge threat. And compares to Daylight, he's not that tall, anyway.

He stops his irritable pacing to frown over-- and then up-- at Daylight. Then he flashes his teeth-- sharper than the average human's-- in a grimace. Or maybe another growl. The subtle rumble hasn't let up yet.]

Rook and I tried to follow the ferry. Something didn't like that.

[As deaths go? He's not an expert or anything. Doing something twice can't possibly make you an expert, right? No matter how weird the thing. But as deaths go. Bit more painful than a grenade in the cockpit. Took longer. But not nearly as stressful, overall. He wakes more surprised than anything else. They get to do this again?

Disoriented, he does more staring and blinking than he's proud of before he actually gets up to figure out what's going on.]

[Stone has been waiting around to see if and when Bodhi showed up again, but the moment he prowls out of the church to grab something to eat is when it happens. He's stalking back in when he spots the familiar messy hair.]

Rook! There you are.

[He doesn't sound relieved. Or friendly, really. But he doesn't sound hostile, either. Just really, really annoyed.]

[He jumps just a little at the sounds of his name, but Stone has seen enough to know that's just how he responds to most stimuli.]</small Oh, yeah, I... I guess I am.

[On returning from his failed boating trip, one of the first things Rosinante does after settling back in is to keep an eye out for Stone and Bodhi, who hopefully made it back after their own very short adventure over the water. He finds Stone first by pure chance, as he's passing through the bonfire square on his way toward the museum, and lifts his lantern to light the way as he walks closer.]

Hey. Glad to see you around. Did Bodhi... Is he back?

[ day isn't a fan of confrontation if it can be avoided. (especially with the seemingly elderly. he was taught to be polite around them by his grandma!)

when he hears what happens, daylight's winglets hitch up in both shock and recognition. ]

The ferry on the lake...? [ he lowers his servos now. if only to rest one under his chin as he went over the bare facts he had. ] It might have been the thing that the others talked about last month. Um- Did you guys manage to get a glimpse of anything in particular before...

[ you know. ]

And oh! Do you need anything, mister? Or need me to contact anyone?

[ Asking if he's all right seems a bit tactless, so Elizabeth opts for a something more benign. ]

I'm sorry you went through that. I didn't see anything, but... is there anything else I can do?

Edited 2019-12-08 03:11 (UTC)

Whatever it was, it hit me from behind, and I couldn't smell anything from it.

[He hunches and then flattens his shoulders, as if there might be something on them that needs settling, but the growl fades away, at least.]

I'm fine. I think. For someone who just died.

[He pauses.]

What day is it? How long was I dead for?

Are you all right?

[He prowls over, tongue flicking out to taste the air, taste Bodhi's scent.]

You remember what happened okay?

Yeah, an hour or two after I did.

[Stone pushes up from the bench he's sitting on to meet Rosinante halfway.]

Did you see what did it? I couldn't even catch a damn scent from whatever it was.

No. I don't think so, anyway. Is there something we're supposed to do after we die again? I've never done this before.

I didn't. I still don't know what to make of it. I was hoping you saw something I didn't, actually, since it was dark and I thought maybe from shore, whatever it was wasn't easy to see. Did you feel it hit?

[An awful thing to ask someone who died but here they are. Was it a massive force? Claws pulling him down from below? Are there invisible creatures here they need to be made aware of, lurking in the shadows this whole time? Wouldn't surprise him, actually.]

[Stone makes an annoyed rumbling noise that would probably be more at home in his winged form.]

I heard a rushing sound, like wind. Then something hit the back of my head. Which means whatever it was, it either has very good aim, or weren't fully solid. I have a lot of sharp spines back there, in that form, and I'm pretty sure nothing bled on me.

Some sort of flying spirit, maybe. Couldn't see any light on it from your lanterns though, so not fully solid is a good guess.

[But he frowns, puzzled. Why would a spirit attack someone so far from the lighthouse? Perhaps the air is simply its domain - like the ones he found in the water, that attacked without provocation? Green-eyed spirits are surely not the only ones prone to immediate violence, they just seem to plan it out better.]

Sorry it happened, anyway. And I'm glad Bodhi made it back also. We can't afford to keep losing people.

[Stone snorts at the apology, giving Rosinante a narrow look, but doesn't otherwise comment on it.]

I just wish we knew if it was just some random territorial spirit thing, or if it's something supposed to keep us away from whatever's out there.

[He shakes his head.]

Was it a worry that we wouldn't come back?

[So much for offering sympathy. It was worth learning, but he's not a big fan of people dying in the process. Maybe he's annoyed about the delay - about how he's just now saying anything several days after Stone returned. Hm. Should've left him a message on his tablet while the older man was still being revived, so he'd have it on returning. He'll do that for next time something like this happens.]

Yeah, of course. You read the bulletins, don't you? There were people listed on the last one who died in the last attack who haven't come back yet. At this point, that probably means they won't at all.

[More like he's got a similar problem to you, Rosinante: not great at accepting help or sympathy. Mostly because he's used to being the biggest, toughest thing in any situation.]

I can't read those things very well, and the way the text got all scrambled made it pretty much impossible. So the written parts, no, I didn't read the last one.

[He frowns, this time in thought rather than annoyance.]

That's not great, though. Is there any difference between who came back and who didn't?

[This is certainly not the first time people have just not come back. How have people, even the more recent arrivals, not heard about the initial massacre after the lighthouse trip? But - fine, he can't really question it. It's normally beneficial to be around people who don't pay much attention but here he just finds it frustrating. They're all supposed to be working together, after all.]

I've never seen any obvious difference, but there could easily be something I'm missing. So far, though...

[Hold on while he pulls up his tablet. He just had this same conversation a week or so ago, he's got the numbers now.]

This might not be entirely accurate if people went missing without Robin knowing, and I don't have the full latest numbers after those recent two weeks. But with the bulletins plus word of mouth, I know of forty-five deaths. Of those, something like eight returned. One case, Eleven - that's the strangest one. It looks almost as if there was a longer gap than usual between her death and revival, something like a month if not two.

[Stone's head snaps up and back.]

Eleven died? When?

[Ah, so he knows her. Well, good, maybe he can answer a few questions Rosinante has.]

August. Same time we lost most of the people here when we reconnected Robin.

That isn't possible. She came in on the same ferry I did. Helped lift things out of the water with that magic she has.

[Stone turns a little to try and see the numbers and names on Rosinante's tablet, leaning back and tilting his head to look with his good eye.]

You sure it's the same person?

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@ Stone, audio | December 5

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Dec. 7

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un: @elizabeth

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