I'm Here for the Boos!

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OOC: Tags to @ByAnyOtherName !

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Connlaoth-a kingdom known for it's wealth, industry and trade, and despite the known war going on among it's own people (which Connlaoth was no stranger to anyway, as duchies often fought one another over petty ordeals, or so was registered in some of it's history)- but this war was somehow different, and though Connlaoth fought it's own people, it, for once in it's history, united it's duchies for the cause.


And because of the war efforts, it helped boost the economy as demands were at an all time high for certain minerals, crops and supplies. The West family had many connections with this Northern country, and Lord West had been working on a bid proposal for some time with a prominent family that had once lived in the capital, but since moved to Matron's Hallow to the south. It made business dealings much easier, as Matron's Hallow was far less restrictive in it's new laws and curfews as compared to the capital, and so that was where the West family now headed.

Clint, their only son, was restless as he stared out from the carriage window at the windy world around him. It was autumn time and this area was far colder than his home in Serendipity, and the leaves were already changing, some trees already completely devoid of their leaves, as he just watched the country side in unusual silence.

He knew better than to be happy coming here. Connlaoth was the home to his one most unsavory of cousins, whom he loathed more than anyone else in the world. Though his family mentioned he sent regrets he could not meet with them on this visit, Clint was still unhappy about it- until it was announced there would be a party, in which the family had been invited to attend.

This was enough to perk up his spirits as Clint dawned his usual dimpled smile as he joined his family for an evening's celebration. Since his parents were busy, and it seemed no Connlaothian girls were willing to flirt, he went about finding his own means of entertainment, and by doing so- he found himself giddy and drunk. An older gentlemen who was outside when Clint came out for a breath of fresh air, watched the young lad and shook his head. And somehow the two ended up conversing and Clint ended up with a cigarette, which he tried to look as cool as he could while he puffed on it.

The man's wife had recently passed, and he was reflecting on her memory. She was, but to her, it seemed to early for her to have passed, not even being forty five years of age.

"Love can be a wonderful thing," he lamented. "But it can also be hard to find. I saw you in there trying to gain the attention of some ladies. Perhaps you ought to change your technique?"

Clint waved it off.
"Naw, these Connlaothian women ain't for me. They're pretty, sure, but you should see the ones back in Serendipity."

And that's when the man smiled.
"That I have. My wife had been from there."

As their conversation came to a close, Clint found himself wondering through the gardens. Any groups of ladies he found here were quick to turn away from the drunken boy as he continued to stumble around and found himself lost int he garden maze. It wasn't until he made it to the outter most hedging that he found himself saying,
"Fuck this!" ANd charged through the hedges fist first, and came to a surprising halt when he noticed something at the top of a hill.


A grave yard.
With a smirk, he tossed his dying cigarette aside and began to climb the muddy hillside, and as he crested the hill, a massive iron gate welcomed him- and the long, stretching shadows of tombs.

"Holy shit!" Now this was the sort of fun he was seeking! And without thinking much about it, he moved to climb onto the gate, but the second he made it to the top of it, he noticed a woman walking just over the hill side nearby- and having believed he was alone, it gave him a start as he let out a swear and found himself slipping off the edge of the gate-
though he didn't crash into the ground below, rather- the collar of his shirt got hooked on the top spikes of the fence and there he dangled, finding himself becoming strangled by his own clothes.

[ByAnyOtherName]

OOC: Sorry, the location went straight over my head.  :-\ I've fixed it now.  ;)

The air was chilly, an unwelcome portent of the winter to come, and Daieri was regretting not packing better for the weather. Still, she would've been fine if she'd found somewhere to stay the night - it was just that, well, she was plagued by a small, rotten sparrow that refused to leave. She was, in short, beginning to wish that she'd sought out some hidden mage enclave. Clearly, her magic wasn't about to go away just because she wanted it to, and it was dawning on her that people might not be so pleased about that. Wasn't magic what the war was about? Oh, this had been such a bad idea. Matron's Hallow had seemed a good place to go because it was a place of peace, but did peace even extend to magic?

She'd been travelling for almost three months, and it showed in the state of her green breeches and tunic, as they were battered and, despite her best efforts, rather grubby. She was never going to get that blackberry stain out. It hadn't seemed to matter much what she looked like when she was travelling alone - and in hindsight, wasn't that a bad idea? Maybe her magic had warded the wild animals away. It was supposed to be a wretched thing, and although it felt lovely, she was beginning to think that might be right. If everyone said so, then it had to be, right? Her parents had never minded though... She was jolted out of her increasingly irrelevant thoughts as she collided with a stranger, releasing a muffled squeak and falling at his feet. The well-dressed man, his nose hooked and his eyes sneering, simply scowled at her and moved on, leaving her sat on the street, blushing furiously.

As she stood up again, she dusted herself off, and made to step on the undead sparrow as it pecked at her shoes, trying to be surreptitious as she checked to see if anyone was watching. She got a few strange looks. The sparrow, as condescending of her ability as everything else, evaded her clumsy attack. Attempting to look confident, even though she was hopelessly lost, Daieri stepped off along a narrow lane, hoping that it was indeed a tree she could see ahead. Trees, she could deal with. Although they didn't tend to grow very tall on the open ground where she grew up (it was too windy), she'd become a bit more used to them as she travelled, and here in Matron's Hallow they commonly reached great heights.

A simple shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, and her pack dragged at her, despite containing very little. To make it easier to travel, she'd wound her typical plait round her head, and she'd stopped to clean up a couple of hours ago. Somehow, she still looked less than radiant.

The tall iron fence, topped with sharp points, seemed intimidating, and she could see gravestones beyond. A graveyard? Oh, good, somewhere quiet, where there were unlikely to be people. No-one would mind if she stopped a bit here. Daieri cringed as she pushed the ornate gate open (thankfully, it wasn't locked), as a shrill whine pierced her ears. She hunched a little at the idea that everyone would hear and judge her, but was distracted by the sight of a bench beneath the tall yew ahead of her. It was up a small hill, and her calves ached just thinking about yet more walking, but, an actual bench would be lovely. The sparrow hopped along behind her, no longer capable of flight, then squawked silently in alarm as a bony hand closed around it. Typically, Daieri failed to notice, distracted as she was by wondering if yew berries were poisonous.

As she walked, she became aware of a strange noise, almost like someone choking, and for a second she froze, mind full of horror stories of the walking dead. It sounded more like someone with breathing difficulties, but- oh. How had he managed that? She quailed at the thought of walking back down the hill, but in reality she wasn't that tired - just fed up of walking. A chuckle bubbled at the back of her throat at the sight of the young noble hanging by his own collar, but she ran up to help him anyway.

"Are you okay?" She queried sincerely, somehow failing to realise that he couldn't answer. Grabbing at his shirt, she attempted to push the man up and off the spike, smiling cheerfully up at him.

There was a squelching sound behind her.

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Once Clint was free of the pike, he stumbled forward with a yelp, landing clean into the girl and taking her to the ground with him. They both landed hard, and the boy ooofed when he landed. But by the time he finally caught his breath, he was rubbing at his reddened throat and wheezing a bit. Tears were in his eyes from his 'near death' experience before he choked out a, "T-Thanks." And went on to wheeze and cough some more as he tried to catch his breath and recollect himself. He'd never almost been hanged before. It kind of hurt!

[ByAnyOtherName]

Daieri squeaked as the boy actually shifted off the spike, her feet slipping out from under her as he stumbled and sent them both to the muddy ground. There went her last attempts at being presentable. Her own breath whooshed out of her as she heard a similar forced exhalation from her new acquaintance, and she lay slightly stunned for a second, before wondering at her luck in not landing on the sparrow. It seemed constantly underfoot when she didn't want it to be, and, well, not when she tried to get at it. It was almost like it - oh, he really didn't sound good. She flushed bright red at her rudeness in being so cheerful when he had been actually choking. It wasn't entirely her fault that she wasn't observant.

"Happy I could help." The words were directed more at the ground than at the boy. "Um, I- uh, do you need - any, help, is there anything I could do to help? You seem kind of wheezier than most people our age." Though perhaps lacking in any sophistication or charm, it would be impossible to doubt how earnestly friendly she looked as she finally made something vaguely resembling eye contact.

A strange almost buzzing feeling flickered in her head for a moment, corresponding, though she didn't know it, to half a human body, gender indiscernible due to decay, gaining enough strength to drag itself from its burial place once and for all. The bony hand that clutched at the sparrow lifted with it as it struggled into the air, some strange magic keeping it aloft where normally it would've crawled in a more feasible manner. Daieri was beginning to remember that graveyards and other places that dealt with death gave her a headache. Still, the boy was bound to help her out. Once he finished getting over the whole nearly dying thing. Maybe she could've been a little faster?

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Clint gave a shake of his head, still rubbing at is throat when he finally managed to catch his breath. But his throat still felt croaky.

"Naw, I oughta be okay," he said, and only then did his green eyes raise to inspect this girl. And he couldn't help but grin at what he saw. No doubt she was about his age, that much was obvious, but that's not what concerned him, nor the mud that coated her. She was pretty hot, with long hair and lovely lips and eyes, and he made no attempt to hide that he was checking her out.

"What brings you out here anyway? You want to do some explorin', too?"

[ByAnyOtherName]

"Exploring? Oh, well, I've been travelling a lot and just wanted to rest really, y'know how walking becomes really dull after a while? Luckily I've not had any trouble, but that's probably because I've got this weird bird following me, though I can't see it anywhere, did you land on it? I'm so happy you're okay, you really creeped me out when I heard you choking, since we are in a graveyard, and I was thinking maybe you know where we are? I'm pretty lost but exploring isn't an absolute no or anything, because it could be fun, and did you just hear something?"

Daieri frowned a little, not really bothered enough to frown a lot, then scrambled clumsily to her feet, blushing again as she brushed at the mud on her ineffectually, before offering the boy a hand up.

"Oh! I'm Daieri Lightly. I like your eyes, green's nice." Somehow she felt a bit scatter-brained; it was probably her headache. Of course, that just made it even better that she'd met someone nice!

She beamed at him. "Pleased to meet you."

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Clint's head was spinning. The woman's conversation was all over the place, but after a while he blinked and found himself asking, with a slight tilt of his head and raise of his brows, "Bird?" He looked around but didn't know what she was going on about, then peered over at her, then all around them. Did he know he was in a graveyard? Or rather, which graveyard, perhaps she meant, but that he did not know, considering he wasn't from around here, as he gave a shake of his head and flashed her a toothy grin when he accepted her hand.


"Yer eyes are pretty too," he told her, rising off the ground now as he used his other free hand to slick back his blonde hair. "Blue, like the day time sky." And he was positively beaming at his compliment to her, then went on with a proper bow, like his parents had taught, "The name's Clint West, though you can just call me Clint."

His grin could not leave his lips, and was so broad it cut a series of dimples into his cheeks.

"And trust me when I say it..." he went on, eyes oogling her from head to toe as he reached out for her hand and lightly kissed the top of it. "The pleasure of us meeting is all mine."

Taking a step back now, he then considered back to her one question and went on to say,
"So you ain't familiar with this place?" He looked around, and adjusted his jacket, whihc was still a bit askew from his near choking experience. "Hell, the best I can do to tell ya is we're in the outskirts of Matron's Hallow. I ain't from around here myself, I'm from Serendipity, but from what I can see, this place needs to lighten up! Each town I've gone through has some sort of a curfew, and I was lucky to be able to get out on my own today without no one catching me. But I reckon I've got some time to spare for myself, so I wouldn't mind taking a look around this place with ya if you want. Maybe we can even find that bird of yours!" And his smile somehow managed to grow.

"What sort do ya got anyway?"
And that's when he felt something on his leg as he let out a howl-

"Gods damn! Somethin' just bit me!"

OOC: I'll let you decide what bit him. Might be funny if it was the bird XD pecking his leg lol

[ByAnyOtherName]

To him, the landscape below crackled with lines and points of energy that oozed through the dull grey of the rest of the world. The bony hand and partial wrist joint that flailed and cracked annoyingly as he flew, and yet refused to unclench its fingers, was one of these lights, but it didn't deserve to be. Fancy a few pieces of bone being afraid of heights. It was bad enough that he had been separated from the mistress, to have to carry this lout around was dreadful. At least the more amenable conditions here let him fly. The world spun around him as he swooped in circles over the ornate headstones set in earth, before heading towards the fence, a vague sense leading him on. There was a strange creature with the mistress.

Boldly, he dived to the ground (possibly further than he'd meant to, fine control was difficult with no feathers), and pecked fiercely at one of the thing's limbs, attempting to direct the skeletal hand into battle also, but the pathetic thing had scuttled off to cower behind the mistress.
-
"Bird." Daieri echoed dismally as she simultaneously attempted to help the boy up and shake his hand. The morose look was swept off her face by yet another flush, her face going pink with flattery and her hands rising to mess with her plait as he complimented her. The bow made up her mind that he was really quite dashing. Not to mention that his grin was really contagious, as she found herself smiling brightly back at him. If it was possible, she became even more charmed when he kissed her hand, but her short attention span was beginning to run out in terms of social niceties. Her eyes widened and she fixed him with an attentive stare as he spoke about their location, if only in general terms. Anything that would make her feel less lost. If she was honest, she was quite good at making do in the wilds, but she didn't like feeling so adrift.

Wait, where was Serendipity again? It was – a country. Yes. Nearby. Maybe. How did they feel about mages there?

"Looking around would be great! I mean, if neither of us really know where we are – and how does that work if you're meant to be somewhere, oh I really hope I don't make you late, but I really need some idea of where I am, and maybe finding my bird is a bad idea..."

Clint's cry of pain made her jump and her eyes widen impossibly, before she almost fell over trying to move forwards to help and backwards to escape at the same time. Then she saw the trouble.

"Bird!"

Now she really was mortified.

"I'm really sorry, that's my bird, he's never done this before, and I swear he was like this when I got him, I didn't severely neglect to feed him or anything, and- and- sorry!"

Bird, predictably enough, ignored her entirely.

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"Gods damn! Fuckin' little shit! He's still pecking me!" And as the boy danced about, he swore some more. "The bird's damn fast!" He commented, after trying to kick the thing away from him and nearly losing his footing as he did so.

"Come on, bird, scat!" But it was only upon further observation of the thing did he suddenly leap off his feet and stumble away.
"Kia-fuckin' christ! What the hell sorta bird is that!?"
He made a face. "He looks like fuckin' road kill! I can see his fuckin' bones!"


OOC: I apologize for Clint's language >_>
Despite being a noble, he speaks terribly on purpose in order to rebel :T

[ByAnyOtherName]

OOC:  ;) It's a good thing you pointed that out, I have a feeling Dai would notice much more than me.

Daieri felt herself begin to blush at Clint's foul language, then fiercely suppressed it, motivated by a resolution she'd made years ago when everyone had made a thing out of making her blush. With this new attempt at controlling her emotions, came a little bit more focused thought. She couldn't quite blame him for being annoyed, but really, how could he not know better than to be so rude? His mother had to be despairing of him. It wasn't like her bird was that bad... She did hope he wouldn't get an infection!

"Bird, I said stop it! Come here and harass me again. And you!" She pointed at Clint with a scowl that was meant to be ferocious, but only really made it to petulant. "Stop being so rude!"

She took a careful, fortifying breath, once more turning her mind from the distractions of 'what's that sound behind me?' and 'I really can't remember what they think of magic in Serendipity, I hope he isn't scared or angry or-', before replying to the next bit. "He isn't roadkill. He's just a perfectly normal dead bird. You're just gonna have to get over it." The blunt words hardly seemed to belong to her, but she was betrayed by how quickly she spoke, the way her eyes flicked around all over the place instead of looking straight at him, and her fingers were well and truly tangled in her plait. She flashed Clint a nervous smile. "Sorry?"

Her smile twitched a little, then she muttered rapidly: "I may or may not be some kind of necromancer?"

-

Bird reluctantly retreated to re-unite with the hand, taking a scrap of trouser leg with him and glaring with beady eye-sockets. At least he could feel reinforcements on the move.

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It took Clint a moment, standing there slack jawed, as he looked at the girl before blinking and coming back to his senses.
"Dead... bird?" he said, pointing to it, then to her. "Wait... are you saying.." he went on, raking back his blonde hair and moving closer to her side. "Are you saying you're responsible for making this thing? Like... raising it ...from the dead?"

[ByAnyOtherName]

OOC: Sorry? I know I haven't replied for ages (and my replies might be a bit sporadic from now on) but I've been unexpectedly busy recently.

Daieri was still smiling fixedly, but a part of her relaxed a little as Clint moved a little closer. That meant everything was okay, right? Her personality started to reassert herself as her brain cautiously came back online.

"Um, possibly? I don't really know, you know what I mean? It's like, when there's a tune stuck in your head and people start looking at you and then you realise you're humming and it's really awkward? I feel kind of buzzy in graveyards and stuff but the bird is different, he's always there and I don't even know where he came from but he's definitely not under my control, so I may have raised him accidentally, is that better or worse than if I meant it?"

A second later she got to processing his words a little more.

"Oh no! I didn't make him, or raise him from the dead, or her, who really knows? He's still completely dead."

The last bit was said with a certainty that Daieri was quite unfamiliar with coming from her; she had the strangest feeling it might be a little necromantic. Oh well. Her face had returned to its typical state of animation and she smiled hopefully at the dashing young man, undoubtedly accepting and perfectly willing to help her out.

"You don-"

The world swayed as her breath seemed suddenly to disappear, the buzzing in her head suddenly focusing in sharp points. Oh, she hadn't expected that kind of wind here. She blinked a little. Opened her mouth. Closed it again. Then she looked at Clint, a little bemused.

[visualspice]

Ooc: No worries! I'm busy myself and often times when I do get the chance, I am posting on my cellphone.

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Clint continued to stare at her before barking a laugh.
"So that old dead bird is following you like some.sort of lost puppy?" Laughing again, he gave a shake of his head. "And though you're some sort of dead raiser, you ain't sure if you woke him?" Clint's eyes shined with mirth. "Maybe that bird's just attracted to pretty girls?" And he gave her the oh so most suavest of grins.

[ByAnyOtherName]

"Do you think?"

While her cheeks were slightly stained with pink, Daieri couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"I certainly hope so! Not exactly complimentary to have dead things stalking you, but I've always thought it'd be nice to have a puppy, don't you think? Do you have a puppy? I don't really know what I am though..."

She frowned slightly, focusing on the buzzing inside her skull. It failed to resolve itself into anything useful, but the dizzy feeling returned. Oh well, she was accepted (and maybe even pretty!), so who cared about maybe-necromancy? It wasn't like there was anything to raise around here, she was sure, so what danger could there be? She was glad he had laughed, it was nice when people laughed, and didn't you just want to laugh with him?

"Do you know anything about death magic? What about other magic? Can you do magic? Is magic really evil? What's Serendipity like? What do you think I should do now? I came here 'cause it's meant to be peaceful, but I can't remember what I meant to do next, do you think I should go to the church? Maybe they could stop the magic! But I like magic? Isn't magic evil?"

She flung her arms out and began to spin as she spoke, brow slightly furrowed in thought, accelerating before stopping in front of Clint as she addressed him with her final question.

"What do you think?"

***

Naturally, her focus, and the previous accidental flare in her magic, had done rather more than she had assumed, partially due to the fact that she was in a graveyard. The bird was charged enough that her magic was visible on it like a heavy purple smog, and the hand seemed strangely elongated, the bones oddly pointed. Beyond this was, of course, the unmistakeable sound of bones creaking, and the stench of rotting flesh. If one were to have stood on the top of the hill, by the bench, one might have seen a dozen figures, and yet more turned graves. Daieri wanted nothing to do with them. She had no control over them. They were rather at a loss, to be honest. Unfortunately, (from a certain perspective) the bird wasn't, and he was insistent on the need to protect their Mistress.

It was the simplest thing in the world to collect the hand and set off to gather the troops.

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Over whelmed was an understatement! Though at such an age, Clint was not deterred by such minute details. She was pretty, after all! And if one thing he hoped to pride himself on... It was fancying himself up and charming the ladies. So she was a bit quirky- but it would make for a good story, right?

'Hey! You got quite the wife there, Lord West. Where did you find her?'
and of course he would answer the question with the most outlandish rendition of the tale, which naturally would end in applause from his audience, and many exclaiming, 'Oh! To think true love could be found in a grave yard!'
and even some quirky replies might be made such as...
'Perhaps I'll find my next husband there, too!'


But of course, his little day-dreaming bubbled was popped when the strange girl asked her one question yet again, and Clint had to smirk. And just as he was drawing in a breath to reply to the enthusiastic one, he was suddenly making a face and taking a step back.

"Sweet shittin' Kia! what the hell is that smell!?" he exclaimed, and pinched his nose as his entire face wrinkled at such an unpleasantry.

[ByAnyOtherName]

"Dead things!" Daieri showed her previously latent ability to chirp, standing quite possibly awkwardly close. Not that the whole wrinkled face thing was very attractive.

"It's a graveyard, what did you expect? Plus I'm a, well, maybe, possibly, necromancer." She whispered the last bit. "So I'm sure there are a lot of reasons why it would smell of dead stuff! Does it bother you?" Her eyes widened with horror. What if she smelled? No-one had pointed it out before, but-! Oh no! She'd have to wear perfume, and everyone would mock her constantly! No, no, she was sure it was just the graveyard. Or maybe Bird. It was okay.

"Stop swearing!" She fixed him with one of her adorable glares, complete with slight pout, then turned slightly to look around.

"Do you- do you believe in- in, ghosts and- and, zombies and things? I have a really bad feeling..."

Was it just her, or was there a strange, creepy purple tint to the world around her? Not to mention, she couldn't see Bird anywhere, and it was almost like... No, surely she was just hearing something from outside the graveyard. Right?

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The girl might be cute, but Clint never did once like anyone telling him what to do- it reminded him too much of his mother's nagging, so that attractive face would remain as he gave the girl a soured expression.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with how I talk!" he bristled, and puffed out his chest. "Maybe you're just crazy! Talking about dead and dead things and ghosts or some shit like that. Look, I came out here for an adventure, not to be pulled into some girl's crazy delusions. You might be cute, but maybe you should go back home. It ain't safe for you here. And I'm sure any other man with common sense might have whipped you by now just for making up such a fucking ludicrous story. For all I know, you're just some illusionary mage trying to trick me for my soul or something!"

And with that, he turned away and stormed off across the graveyard, heading towards the metal gate. He wasn't about to attempt to climb back over, and storming off was always more dramatic-

But he wouldn't get too far as he stepped over a freshly dug grave, and a juicy, decaying hand snapped out, and grabbed him by his ankle-

and the boy dropped face first into the dirt.


Turning quickly to reach for whatever it was that held onto him, the boy gave a cry of horror as a second arm sprung out from the dirt, holding onto his wrist with fever as the dead man's head broke out from his grave, and Clint didn't even have the breath to scream nor swear as he stared, mouth gaping, at the bugs crawling in and out of the zombie's decaying and foul flesh.