Difference between revisions of "Log:Unexpected Meetings"

15 October, 2019

Jacqueline makes her escape from the Hedge, right into the arms of a surprised Amity. Nathania is at the Wayhouse and helps get poor Jacqueline settled.

WW02 and MT07 (The Wayhouse)

• • • IC Time: Tue Oct 15 12:18:22 2019 ***
    • OOC Time: Tue Oct 15 12:18:22 2019 ***

It's a brisk, cool fall day in Tamarack Falls and not having to be at work, Amity is taking the opportunity to do a couple of things she rather enjoys--taking a hike around the amazing wilderness in the area of the falls and heading into the near Hedge to pick her weekly supply of goblin fruit. She has plans for jams! It's that season, after all. She's reached a clear spot in the trail over the river and knows that there's Hedge Gate here that she'll be able to slip through. Way better than using the one in a market stuffed full of mortals doing their shopping honestly. Dressed for the weather (overcast and light rain) in windbreaker, sweater, comfy trousers and a pair of solid hiking boots, she pauses in the early afternoon sunlight and shades her eyes to look over the roaring river below her, simply enjoying the peace and quiet. She's armed for her excursion with a small bronze sickle and a basket for her finds, but both of those are forgotten for the moment, set aside as she sits down.

Why not have a bit of lunch before dipping into the Hedge? The rain has mostly gone by now and even though the weather is brisk there's no reason not to take her time. She shrugs free of her backpack and rummages inside to pull out a sandwich and a water bottle. What a lovely, quiet day to enjoy some time to herself. Of course, things aren't usually that simple: she blinks, pricks her ears up as she hears... something crashing through the undergrowth--but is it the greenery /here/ or at the other side of the Gate. She hesitates, then reaches out to fumble for her sickle and holds it tight in one hand. Just in case.

Heart thundering in her chest like a drum, Jacqueline runs blindly through the fabric of the Hedge. She can still hear it, the huntsman's laughter and baying of his hounds as they chased her down. She didn't know this place, she didn't know how she got here, all she could remember was fractured, broken into tiny shards that in her panic, she cant't focus on.

Blood runs in thin rivulets down her body, scratches from the hedgethorns and one large bite on her arm bleeding freely. Her breath is ragged, but adrenaline keeps her moving, and the one memory she can piece together guiding her on.

Jacqueline can see a tent in her mind, and a pair of smiling faces, people she can almost remember, a camping trip? A memory? She sprints for it regardless, a terrible howl, much too close for comfort, driving her to her very limit as she lurches out of the gate and into the crisp fall air.

The chill gives her a start, halting her dead in her tracks as she breaches the gate. Casting her head about, Jacqueline spots someone: A young woman in a windbreaker holding a bronze sickle. Another one of the Huntsman's people?

Amity is on her feet by the time the frankly huge woman, naked as the day she was born, bursts free of the hedge gate, her body covered in thin scratches and cuts where the thorns of the Hedge have caught at her skin. Amity freezes in place, her mind thundering through various possibilities before she realizes what she's seeing. She must have just escaped, must have broken free of the Hedge just in this moment. The sickle drops from suddenly nerveless fingers and she steps forward, opening her hands wide to try and calm the other woman.

"It's alright! I--" Telling this woman that she's safe might be the wrong idea. Because it's not safe. But for the moment? It's true enough. "You're safe, it's going to be alright, you're out of the Hedge..." She steps forward, still keeping her hands open and visible, as if approaching a skittish horse. "I'm not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you any longer." A pause. "I'm Amity. What's your name?"

Still in the grip of panic, Jacqueline can't help but back up as the unknown woman steps towards her. Her chest heaves as struggles to regulate her laboured breathing even as her eyes, wide to the point of pain, dart about, looking for anything else which could potentially be a threat, and her muscles tense as if she were about to break back into a sprint.

But the woman doesn't attack her, doesn't make any aggressive moves, she just talks. Her voice measured, almost calming. Slowly, Jacqueline's words begin to return, disjointed and halting, at least for now.

"He... Called me Elk. Said Elk... Don't talk." As the adrenaline in her system begins to ebb, her vision blurs slightly, and Jacqueline staggers, beginning to shake as she struggles to stay upright. "He took... All of me... Until just bits... Don't want to be Elk..."

Blood loss and exhaustion appear to be catching up with Jacqueline now, her guard dropping as it becomes too hard to maintain it.

Amity fumbles and then offers forward her water bottle, still moving slowly and deliberately as she tries to calm the poor escapee. She remembered her first few hours free of the Hedge, how confused and scared and desperate she'd been. It wasn't easy, but maybe having a friendly face here would be a help.

"Here, drink something. It'll help." She takes another few cautious steps forward and reaches out to gently try and make sure the other woman stays upright. Being a foot shorter and built like a twig might complicate that, of course.

"You aren't Elk. You're whoever you want to be. And you can talk if you want. If you don't remember your name right now, that's okay. It'll come to you," she says, her voice still as calm and soothing as she can make it. "I--I can take you somewhere safe. Warm. Where there's food and you can rest. We have to make it down the path to my car, though. Can you manage that?" Please don't collapse. Please. Amity doesn't think she can carry you.

"I... I don't..." Jacqueline's brain is foggy, everything around her seems to become faded as Amity closes the gap. She doesn't even notice as she greedily gulps down the water. Somehow, however, she manages to remain upright. "I... Help... I need to..."

Suddenly, Jacqueline remembers the hedgegate, and lurching upright, she turns to face it, almost backing into Amity as she goes. "He's coming..." she whispers, terror obvious in the giant woman's voice "He never leaves... Hunt... Undone..."

Swaying slightly, Jacqueline tries to back up further, but staggers, the only thing keeping her standing right now the tiny woman she can't help but lean on.

Amity lets out a faint 'oof' as Jacqueline leans on her. Okay. Don't panic, Amity. Don't. Panic. She tries her best to turn the other woman back around, so she can start stumbling down the path to where her battered car is parked. It's not easy with someone this size leaning on her but she's doing her best, okay???

"I know, I know--It's okay, I can--we can go somewhere safe," she's doing her best not to panic herself. If there /is/ a Gentry hunting this woman they need to clear out before they manage to figure out where she came through the Hedge. And if there isn't, getting this poor girl to the Wayhouse is still the best option. She tries to urge Jacqueline onwards.

"If we can get to my car, I can take you somewhere safe. Can you--can you manage to get to the car? Please, just stay with me..." Her muscles are already screaming at the strain of trying to prop up the larger, heavier woman. She has to try though. Has to do what she can. "Let's go, my dear. I've got you..."

Shetruggling, Jacqueline still manages to keep her feet, if only just. Nearly unconscious, all she can really do is follow Amity's lead. The smaller woman is promising to take her away from this place, to take her somewhere safe. In the back of her mind, a tiny voice screams that she will never be safe, that the Huntsman will follow her to wherever she hides, but she's too tired to listen to it for now.

Now that the adrenaline is fading, the only thing really keeping her awake now is pain. The dull ache from the numerous scratches and that one, brutal bite shining like awful stars in her mind, and it is all she can really do to keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other.

Panting, Amity manages to stumble down the trail to the turnout where her car is parked, all thoughts of picking goblin fruit forgotten as she focuses in on helping this poor soul get somewhere safe and warm. It's all too familiar with the terror and anxiety and fear that follows at every step. At least the poor girl isn't really conscious of what's happening at this point. Might be better for it. At the turnout, she manages to wrench open the door of the backseat.

"Get in and lay down," she urges. "Might be a tight fit but we're not going far--" Her little hatchback isn't all that large but it'll do for now. "Then we'll get out of here."

Still on autopilot, Jacqueline follows Amity's directions without any real thought, nearly falling into the backseat. Too long for the vehicle, the sight of her legs sticking out of the side of the car would be comical, if she wasn't covered in blood.

Finding herself lying down, Jacqueline begins to feel herself drift, the pain in her body fading to a dull ache as unconsciousness looms.

• • • IC Time: Tue Oct 15 14:08:34 2019 ***
    • OOC Time: Tue Oct 15 14:08:34 2019 ***

GAME: Nathania spends 1 Glamour with reason: Hospitality's Hold

-> >> Nathania to Here << <-==========================================

Rolled 4 Successes 
< 1 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 6 6 8 9 10 10 >

=====================-> >> Resolve + Composure + Wyrd No Flags << <-

Amity has to struggle. A lot. She pulls the car up as close to the front door as possible and then tries to rouse Jacqueline enough to get her into the Wayhouse. "C'mon dear, almost there..." She mutters as she struggles to put the taller woman on her feet. It's no use--Amity is too twiggy to manage the taller woman and collapses against the side of the car, panting. She needs help. She turns and hurries up the front steps and bursts through the mudroom into the living room.

"Help! Someone! I need help!" She calls out to the house, hoping desperately that there's someone here today. Usually there are others here, right?

Nathania looks up from her knitting. The urgency has her on edge. "Amity?" she calls, standing, putting her knitting aside and stepping swiftly over. "What's the matter?" she asks, her eyes taking in the disheveled Wizened. They widen. "What's... going on, Amity?" Her voice holds a note of command to it, unusual in the soft rag dolly.

Wide-eyed, Amity stares at Nattie for a moment before she catches up. Right. Someone's here, someone who can help her. Helplessly, she gestures back the way she came, trying to make an explanation come out of her mouth for a moment.

"I--I was going to the Hedge Gate over on the hiking trail? the one on that little overlook by the river? To pick goblin fruit. And this poor girl came charging out of the Hedge, stark naked and cut all over--" She stops herself, tries to calm down a little. "She's just escaped," she finishes lamely. "Said she was being hunted."

"I have her in my car," Amity adds, gesturing again. "She's huge. Can't lift her myself. I think she passed out as soon as she got in the car."

Game: Jacqueline takes 2 Lethal damage.

Nathania winces. "You came... to the right place. Okay. Let me see," Nathania says, that cold tone of dispassionate command in her voice, replacing the usual warmth there. "I can help." The Winter woman's mantle pulses with cold. "I have... a few Spring... tricks up... my sleeve."

"I need to get her inside and warm her up," Amity insists. "Help me carry her?" She's trying to stay calm, but this is new to her. "That's the important thing right now."

"Amity." Nathania stares down the Wizened. "What you need to do... is trust me." She walks to the car and peeks in at Jacqueline. "I'm going to use.. a Contract on her. See if we can't... rouse her and get her.. on her feet." She looks to Amity seriously. "If this doesn't... work, then yes, we will... get someone to help... carry her. I'm not strong... either."

"I do trust you, Nattie," Amity says, leaning against her car with a frown. "I'm just worried for the poor girl. Go on and do what you need to do..."

-> >> Nathania to Here << <-==========================================

Rolled 1 Success 
< 7 9 >

=============================-> >> Resolve + Survival No Flags << <-

GAME: Nathania spends 1 Glamour with reason: Eternal Spring 1/Gift of Warm Breath

Nathania pats Amity reassuringly before opening the door and placing a soft fabricky hand on the girl in the car. "Do you... know her... name?" she asks Amity. Without waiting for an answer, the spell is cast, Glamour flaring. The Glamour flows into the girl in the backseat, and Nathania steps back, breathing out a bit. She waits. "It worked, but she... needs to wake up... first."

Even unconscious, Jacqueline dreams. She dreams they found her, dragged her kicking and screaming back through the Hedge, The Horned Huntsman's laughter ringing in her ears. The beautiful, terrible voice drowning everything else out as they bind her, the fight beaten out of her as he leans in close, "Now scream for me."

With a whimper that turns into a loud, terrified scream, Jacqueline lurches upright, eyes wide as she looks around. She sees two people in front of her, the one from the Hedgegate, Amity? and another.

Amity leans forward, trying to make sure that Jacqueline doesn't smack her head on the car door.

"It's okay. You're safe--you're at the Wayhouse. No one can hurt you hear, I promise."

"I... What happened?" Jacqueline's voice is quiet, dull from unconsciousness as her heart-rate begins to slow. No one's attacked her yet, so this must be a good sign. The Doll-woman is strange. "What... Is a Way...House?

Stepping back, Nathania looks at Jacqueline gravely. Her Wyrd is strong--smothering, motherly, loving--but she doesn't mean harm. "Hi," she says softly. "I'm Nathania. Come inside when... you're ready." Then the question about the Wayhouse is asked and Nat laughs, a tinkling sound surprising from the doll-woman. "I'd rather answer... inside. It's cold out here."

• • • IC Time: Tue Oct 15 16:28:05 2019 ***
    • OOC Time: Tue Oct 15 16:28:05 2019 ***

• • • IC Time: Tue Oct 15 16:31:19 2019 ***
    • OOC Time: Tue Oct 15 16:31:19 2019 ***

Amity reaches out to gently take Jacqueline's arm to try and urge her up and out of the backseat of her car. "Come on, there's a good girl. Let's get you inside where it's warm and we can take a look at you, alright? Nathania is right, it's cold out here..." She's trying to be considerate and gentle, but there's a touch of firmness behind her words. Stay out here and you might catch your death, Jacqueline!

Jacqueline feels somewhat strange, considering that when she fell unconscious, she was exhausted. Now that she's awake again, she feels almost... Refreshed. Still, her body aches from the various cuts she still sports, and as she grows more and more awake, she grows more conscious of both the pain in her left arm, where she was bitten, and the fact that it is, in fact, rather cold.

With Amity's help, Jacqueline levers herself upright, groaning slightly at the renewed pain from her wounds. "Okay..." Is all she can say in response, while her physical exhaustion has vanished, her mind is still reeling, her memories trying to put themselves back together, and she can still hear the echoes of that beautiful, terrible voice in her mind. Thus, overwhelmed, all Jacqueline can seem to bring herself to do is to follow along with Amity and Nathania's instructions

"There.. we go. Come on in." Nat holds open doors for Jacqueline, closing them once the girl is through. "Let's.. get you bandaged up. Amity, do you.... remember.... where the first... aid kit... lives?" She looks at the Wizened.

"I certainly do." With Jacqueline safely inside, amity darts off to the bathroom and returns with the first aid kit in hand. She settles it down next to Nat and then darts off again in search of a blanket or something else to wrap the new arrival in. She wants to make the escapee comfortable as possible in the moment--escaping through the Hedge is a harrowing experience at the best of times.

"This... Wayhouse...? Will he... Hunt... Me here...?" Slowly, as Jacqueline manages to distance herself from her dreams, some awareness begins to return to her, memories beginning to slot themselves back into place. She wasn't sure of much, right now, but that fear in the back of her mind kept blazing, reminding her that the Huntsman would never give up the chase.

There's a knit blanket on the back of the couch. "I can get... it clean," she promises, before looking back to Jacqueline. "No," she says gently, kneeling before Jacqueline. "No. This place... is a place... of Hospitality. There is no... hunting here. Let me... bind your wounds."

-> >> Nathania to Here << <-==========================================

Rolled 1 Success 
< 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 >

====================-> >> Intelligence + Medicine + 1 No Flags << <-

Amity snatches up the nearest blanket and hurriedly drapes it over Jacqueline's shoulders, tucking it around her against the chill even if inside the house it's quite cozy for the moment. Jacqueline gets a comforting little pat on the shoulder and then Amity hurries off again, this time towards the kitchen. Time to fetch something hot to drink!

It's only now, with the blanket draped around her, that Jacqueline realises just how cold she is. Feeling begins to return slowly, with pins and needles spreading through her arms and legs, and she starts to shiver. Not violently, but noticeably.

"So he can't... Get me here?" Jacqueline's voice is growing strong the more she uses it, but still, it's rough, shaky as if she hadn't used her own voice for a long time. Slowly, she begins to relax, warily at first, though her eyes still dart about, as if searching for predators.

"He can come... in here," Nat says carefully, "But he can't... take you." Her eyes on the poor, frightened girl's. "At least... let me patch you up... before you dart off. Give you clothes." And she moves to start putting bandages on Jacqueline. "I'm Nathania, by.... the way. Did I tell... you that yet?"

Jacqueline tenses again as Nathania tells her that the one hunting her can still enter this place, but slowly forces herself to relax. "If I don't... Leave... He can't get me?"

"Clothes... I have not... Had clothes... For a long time. But... are there any that fit?" Jacqueline looks a little doubtful, her slowly forming memories reminding her that before she was taken, she had already had a hard time finding clothes that fit her frankly gigantic frame.

"You did..." Struggling for a moment, as if trying to put something together, Jacqueline concentrates. "I... My name... It won't come... I don't want to be... Elk..."

Amity bustles back in with a tray stacked with a haphazard tea service. Teapot, mismatched mugs, sugar, cream, the works. Thrown over one arm, she has a selection of things--mostly she grabbed the largest sizes (and they have some LARGE sizes) that she could find in hopes that they'd fit somewhat. She sets down the tray and then drapes the clothes onto the couch. Simple things for now: sweatpants and sweatshirts, cozy things to help with feeling more human again. "It may come back in time. Try not to fret over it too much, dear," she says in a reassuring voice.

"You can stay," Nathania says with a gentle nod. "After a while, we'll... have you work. Cleaning the house, or tending the grounds. He cannot step foot... on the grounds without... having to follow Hospitality, dear," she adds reassuringly as she dresses the wounds. "And here, Amity has... brought tea, and clothes. Thank you, Amity," she says with a smile to the girl.

If she were being truthful, Jacqueline could barely believe this was happening. Part of her thought for sure that at any moment, she'd wake up to find this had all been another torturous dream. But if it was a dream, then she could at least try to make it last as long as possible. "Thank you..."

Cautious still, Jacqueline makes a slow move towards the tea, waiting for her wounds to be dealt with before she tries to put on the clothes.

"Happy to help," Amity says with a touch of pleasure in her voice, though subdued. "It's the least I can do. We've all been where you are now, miss." She takes up the tea pot and pours out a steaming mug. "Cream? Sugar? No lemon, though, I'm afraid..." She sounds downright apologetic.

Finishing the bandaging, Nathania leans back, brushing yarny hair out of her face. "Whew," she murmurs. She lets Jacqueline take her tea first, before reaching for some for herself.

"Thank you..." Jacqueline's voice is still rough, still quiet, but extremely sincere. When confronted with the numerous options for the tea, she makes a face. "I can't remember... I think... Sugar...?"

Slowly standing, Jacqueline seems to not really have much of a sense of modestly as she almost casually shucks off the blanket wrapped around her, reaching for a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt which look like they might fit.

Amity adds two sugar and then offers the mug of tea over towards Jacqueline. Once it's taken, she pours out her own cup and adds copious amounts of both cream and sugar. There's a faint air of pride and satisfaction about her as she looks at the towering changeling woman. "There. You're already looking much better."

Nathania fixes her tea, copying Amity without realizing it. She looks away while Jacqueline gets dressed, politely, eyes on her tea. Once she's sure Jacqueline is dressed, she turns back. "You will.. of course need a room. Are stairs a... problem? We have... first floor rooms."

At the first sip of the tea, Jacqueline feels the heat begin to spread back into her body, filtering into her bones. "I feel... Better than I did... Thank you... Amity... Nathania..."

Sitting back down now, the feel of cloth on her skin seems to promise... Something for her, it makes her feel more grounded, more connected to herself, her surroundings. "I think I can do stairs..." Slowly, Jacqueline tries to fight, but ultimately can't suppress a yawn. The fact that she might be safe, at least for now, seems to finally be sinking in, as her body finally begins to let her actually relax, her eyes drifting shut for a moment. Slowly, she slumps back into the couch, looking a little like she's deflating as she lets out a heavy breath. Eyes opening again, she looks to her rescuers, tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you..."

"We have to help each other. We Lost," Amity says in a quiet voice, her gaze fixed into her tea while she considers the shapes of the words as she speaks them. Each one specific, precise. "I couldn't leave you there, not when I know what you might have been dragged back to. I'd have sooner chopped off my own hand..." She raises the cup of tea and sips at it, almost absently. "You needed help and I gave it, that's all."

"Oh, hon, of course," Nat says quietly, moving to sit next to the newly escaped Changeling. "We were... all where you were, once." And she offers a hug after setting her mug aside next to her knitting. She nods at Amity even as she holds her hands out to the nameless one, patient.

Wordlessly, Jacqueline accepts the offer of a hug, curling inwards as choked sobs begin to escape. "Thank you..." Is all she can bring herself to say, over and over again.