16929/The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt
Date of Scene:	15 January 2024
Location:	Vermont
Synopsis:	o/` Birds do it, bees do it. Why the hell cant we do it. LETS DO IT, LETS DROWN LA-RA o/`
Cast of Characters:	Ruaridh, Lara Croft

---

Ruaridh has posed:
Within a few days of being dispatched by WAND, Laura Croft had secured and area by the river with spirit snare; a circle of cold iron spikes linked by chains, stabbed into the ground and concealed at least partially by the snow. It was evening when the perimeter alarm quietly snitched to her cellphone via the Hughesnet uplink, something was in the snare.

At night it was hard to see until relatively close; at first it seemed there was nothing there but a palpable presence could be felt.

It lurched at her, crashing into the invisible barrier of the snare, snarling, then reared back onto its hind legs and showed her the bottom of its hoofs and bellowed into the cold night air the way horses do; a sound of anger and challenge that fell tonally down a set of stairs.

It was a majestic black horse, a bit too large to be natural. Its short hair smoothed wet to skin. Spiny fins on the trailing edges of legs and mane. Terrible red eyes. It paced, snorted, and seemed to eventually to sooth. The stallion measured her with a long gaze.

"Long way from home, Albion Lass." he rumbled, the deep tones of his voice rolling from the barrel of his chest.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara had driven up to Maine in her Jeep. She'd listened to audio books all about this supposed creature she was being dispatched to investigate. She'd heard of such magical cryptids before, but was still quite skeptical about most of them, especially this one. Having consulted with a few of her WAND colleagues, though, Lara had a game plan to try and summon it.

She'd spent the bulk of the day in the small nearby town, getting herself a hotel room, a bite to eat, and finally the supplies she needed to head out to the site. Once there, she'd setup a little test for the creature, and began to wait...

By the time it appeared, she'd been nearly frozen inside her Jeep, but when she saw movement, she was quick to exit her vehicle. Dressed in her dark winter attire, the British noble woman approached the 'trap' laid for the beast, and her eyes went wide at what she found herself looking at. What could you even say to this? What could you possibly say.

She paced, she watched it as it thrashed and angrily pushed at the barriers. It was at least contained, right?

Lara breathed, her breath coming out in puffy white steam clouds from between her pink lips. "Hello." She greeted it, only to get a actual voiced response. her eyes went down to her phone in a gloved hand, and she read some information about it, but none of it felt relevent in the moment.

Her eyes bounced back up to it. "I'm Lara. Croft. I'm not an enemy. I was sent here to investigate sightings of... something unusual. Something... very much likely you." She tries to explain, as she rocks back and forth on her leather boots, several feet away from it and its pen.

Ruaridh has posed:
The equine form paced slowly, its massive body changing direction without its terrible eyes leaving her. It snorted quietly, plumes of steam erupting from its cavernous nostrils like dragon smoke in the cold night air.

"Some times I sleep, for to find a new age of man, or to be forgotten." it paused and then snorted air again in a labored breath. "In Caledonia they know me name." it explained, its voice still low and carrying well, intonations puncturing the air and drying any other source of sound as they do, "I am Ruaridh, Lara Croft. Fr'aid you've me at disadvantage, what are your intentions?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's figure was partially silhouetted by the halo effect from her Jeep's headlights behind her, leaving her front side bathed in darker shadow, though who knows how well his glowing eyes can perceive her anyway.

At what the voice from the red eyed equine says to her, Lara continues to gently rock back and forth on the snowy ground outside of the magical pen she'd erected to contain him. She hadn't actually expected this to work. She'd thought she'd just doze off beside the river, and get woken up by a local Police officer tapping on her window at some point in the night...

But here she was, face to face with him, and he asking her a question of her intent?

She exhaled heavily, and shook her head. "My intent is to discover the validity of the sightings reports." She says, glancing away from him toward the city a handful of miles away. She looked back to him then. "Clearly they were valid concerns."

She takes one step toward it, but pauses again. "My intent now, is to ask you what your intent is. Where did you come from? Where are you looking to go? Many in this area... they won't understand what you are, they will become a nuisance for you, should you stay here for long." She says, somehow keeping her voice calm considering the situation. But, she's been through a lot in her young life.

Ruaridh has posed:
Slowly it lifted its head, its neck was impossibly long, red eyes rising above her; catching the headlights and washing out to a strangled orange. How was it so tall without rising up from the ground, was it a trick of the light? Was it something about the way in which it could be perceived that transcended physical dimension? Then it settled, looking toward the water and when it did, she could finally see that one of the spikes from the snare had pierced the massive muscularity of its high quarter, which it had been carefully concealing from her view until now.

Only then could she realize that for the past several moments she had been staring at man, tall and handsome, naked with dark hair on his head and body; nursing a blood dried wound from a perforated thigh. "If you'd see me go, then all I need is passage the few steps to the river." and glancing at her, "If you'd take me for you own, then I'd ask you to help pull it free."

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara realized that the horse had shifted in to the form of a man, she slipped her phone in to her pocket. Her eyes took note of an injury sustained to his side, and a wince fell across her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you harm." She tells him, her eyes going back up to his own. "I... admittedly didn't believe that this would even work." She states, before she steps closer again, but hesitates once more. "I have a first aid kit." She says softly then, glancing back over her shoulder toward the source of the bright headlights. "I can go grab it, and ... well, do something about that wound. Hopefully it isn't as dreadful as it looks..." She feels a pang of guilt fill her inside, before her hands are rubbed together, the gloves worn upon them helping fend off the winter chill at least some.

"If I open the pen, you can return to the water... but what then?" She asks. "I'm afraid I have no intention of... taking you for my own. I wouldn't even know what to do with you." She says, letting out a subtle laugh then, laced with nervous energy.

Ruaridh has posed:
Ruaridh kept his body slightly turned away, perhaps modesty, offering the wound for her inspection. "I'm sure you'd think of something." he said, seeming assured.

Little glimpses of crimson persisted behind his eyes, a reminder of what she could be sure she saw. He swept his gaze across her.

"No love lost. They told you twas -some- -thing- in the woods, not someone." he said in graceful distinction.

"Woulda done the same thing myself, Lara Croft". He folded his arms across his chest and waiting to see if she'd noticed that he'd avoided one of her questions.

Lara Croft has posed:
This was the definition of a conundrum. She really hadn't anticipated actually catching him, and now that she had, she wasn't sure what to do with him. She could call in for SHIELD aid, get a Quinjet out here loaded up with an extraction team, but what would be the cost of that? She didn't have any reason to believe this man had actually harmed anyone, anyway. She'd just been sent out here to look, and someone had told her of a possible containment method... that had actually worked.

Lara exhales a soft laugh at what he responds with. She nodded her head once, keeping her eyes up on his, though she has to glance at the wound now and then too. "I... have confirmation that you're here. That you are a real ... thing. I have no reason to detain you any further, however." She says, as she approaches now, heading to her left and to the side of the iron spikes that closely face the river. She stops beside them, one hand reaching out to rest on one, as she is once more in front of the man. "If I release you, will you be alright? If the injury is bad, I can ... I don't know, take you to the local hospital?" She offers, her British voice calm and sincere. She doesn't stop herself though, and with a leap of faith she unhooks the chain to let it fall between two of the spiked metal lances, then takes a step back from the opened 'gate' she'd given to him.

Ruaridh has posed:
There was nothing like timidity in him, so when she opened the circle, he was there before her and passing through its boundaries and by her slowly.

It happened as it had before, where the shift in persona seemed like it occurred in her mind rather than his body; because it was the heavy flank of the horse passing her, the smell of the sea on its skin, her skin able to detect is wetness. Its hoofs struck the ground hard and slow, connecting to her by vibration through the ground which shook beneath them. Then it was a few feet away, about to enter the river when it glanced back with diabolical red eyes atop its long black snout, snorting into the air its plumes of moisture in the cold. It waited there for a moment, impossibly long. The spike was gone or it was an elemental effect of the imprisonment, an icon of the magic contained in, from which he had been freed by her courtesy.

"Fancy a ride?"

Lara Croft has posed:
Where what was once a naked man with a harsh looking injury, soon morphed in to a giant black stallion of a horse walking right past her. It caused Lara to stammer-step backward another pair of steps. She knew horses well. She owned several back in London, at her family estate, but this was no normal horse. Not even close.

She watched it walk past her, watched it pause to look at the river, her own eyes drifting back to check for the injury only to see it gone. that alone was curious, but how do you really stack it up against the whole package of this evening? She didn't know where to even go with that thought process, and instead when she heard his vocalized question, her eyes went back to look toward his long face, the color of his snout gleaming under the light from her Jeep's headlamps. His question finally registered in her mind after a few moments, and she exhaled a weary sounding laugh. She considers it, her eyes darting away as she looked to her Jeep, inner turmoil over the question running rampant inside her mind as she suddenly smiled, and looked back to him.

"If I had a golden doubloon for every time a magical horse asked me if I'd like to go on a ride..." She says back to him, before shaking her head. "I'll admit, I'm curious. But my hesitation is rooted in the fact that I'm still not even sure what exactly you are, or what your intentions around here might be..." She states, voicing some of her rational concerns toward the offer, but it also wasn't a 'no'.

Ruaridh has posed:
When it looked away, it almost disappeared; black skin in a dark wood at night, the terrible eyes concealed, but it nickered softly all the same.

"There is no bravery without fear the rest is fiffle and foolishness." said he, turning his massive head around once more to level his gaze at her.

"Whats it then, Lass? Meet your fate, or spend your days wondering?"

Lara Croft has posed:
The question garnered another exhale of steamed breath in a light laugh, as Lara considered it for a moment. She plucked her phone from her jacket, and swiped her thumb across the screen. The headlights of her Jeep turned off, and the doors clicked locked, with a double beep from its alarm.

"Fine." she quietly says in response. "But, if you can bring me back here afterward, that would be much appreciated. The last thing I need is to have to walk back to town from some ungodly distance."

Could she trust this thing? Of course not. But there was more to this mystery than meets the eye, and she wanted to know what more it was.

What followed, was Lara tentatively stepping toward him, and moving to climb up upon him. He was big, but she was experienced in this, though generally saddles were involved.

Ruaridh has posed:
There was only to grip its body with her thighs, and when she did its skin grabbed her in turn like a glue trap. There was only to snarl her fingers in its mane and when she did its tendril like hair curled around her fingers and wrists!

But they were already moving!

And the black water was creeping up her ankles and calves, to the caps of her knees through light brown jeans.

Its bulk surged between her thighs, its powerful neck lurched and drew her into a low sloop across its body.

Beneath the water was blackness, the sensation of speed competing with the numbing cold. She couldn't breath, screaming would bring certain death. When it was too much, and her lungs jerked at her lips the river bed pushed them free of the river where she could gulp air and see the light of the night sky; each star twenty times brighter from the dilation of her pupils. The galaxy above, un-poisoned by the lights of civilization, piercing her eyes with the light born millions of years ago.

Lara Croft has posed:
It didn't take long for Lara to realize that this was probably a pretty big mistake. She learned it when she realized she was somehow stuck to the back of this strange creature, and the tendrils of its mane were clutching on to her hands, binding her even further to it. She'd started to voice her concerns to his large ears, but they seemed to be quite deaf now, as the beast simply pulled her toward the water's edge.

Panic set in, and Lara called out, but they were alone out here, and soon she found herself being submerged in to the water. Bubbles burst from her mouth, her breath escaping her as she cried out beneath the bone chilling surface. All was lost, all was foresaken now.

But then they emerged again, and she could see the stars like never she'd seen them before. She cursed, she shivered, and she breathed heavily for fresh oxygen. "Where are we?" She asked him, amazed that she wasn't already frozen solid from that experience just then. "Where have we gone?" She asked, as she looked right, then left, trying to move herself off of him, but still unable to free herself from the strange magic of this rather enigmatic creature she'd come across tonight!

Ruaridh has posed:
"Where so ever we're supposed to be." he answered as she slid off to the ground beside him. "I'll take you back to your..." but he wasn't even sure what she'd arrived in, and didn't care enough to be wrong about it. "I wanted to drown you, like the others..." it said in an almost wistful way, "...but I can't anymore, and I don't know why." it too was looking into the sky, perhaps for answers. "..and now, I'm not even sure I wanted to drown you, but I wanted to do something to you." and then those terrible red eyes. "So tell me Lara Croft, what have done to you, so I may know what I have become."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara was quick to dismount the horse as soon as she felt herself able to. She dropped back down on to her booted feet, her hands moving up to sweep across her wet hair. She shook with chill, but not as much as she should be. It was warmer here? She wasn't sure. She hears what the creature voices, and her eyes gaze up to what he was looking at, before falling once more down to his long face again. "I'm glad that you didn't." She quietly states in response to him, as she steps forward once more, but moves around to his side, to view his face better. "I don't know who you are, or what you've done. I can't say I can help you either, but I can say I can try to. I know a lot of really capable people, back in the city that I came from. It is possible that some of them can help you figure out ... I don't even know. Figure out yourself?" She laughs lightly, grimly, darkly. She should not have taken him up on the ride offer, as clearly this creature has a history of bad things behind it. For all she knows, she's about to be the next in a long history of death and dismay.

But she's not, not yet. "Look. I should get back to where we were... You've certainly intrigued me, but..." She looked away for a moment, her form shivering lightly within her wet clothing. "I am at a loss on how to help you, beyond offering you knowledge on where you might find those who can help better." She stated in a soft tone, her eyes once more upon his glowing own.

Ruaridh has posed:
The Each-uisge laughed harshly in chorus with her, his arms where folded across his chest in comfort and his skin bare skin was untroubled by the cold. His bare feet padded in the snow as he past her by, "Come, your chariot is chattering without your ass to warm it." and seemed willing to peaceably lead her back along the river to the beginning.

Had he shifted again?

"You speak so many words sometimes." he chided her, looking back over his shoulder at her with a wry smile. "Can't you do more with less?" was his way of saying 'You confuse me.'

They'd arrive beside her jeep before long, he stood enough in shadow such that his nakedness would not impose terribly on the conversation. "Next time, maybe I'll find you?" it was his nature to be threatening, so it sounded threatening, but somehow that was affect rather then effect.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara did fall silent when the nude man appeared again. The way he shifted was unusual. It was dreamlike, rather than grotesque as she'd seen in other shifting creatures, more like a moment of deja-vu...

Lara just shook her head, though, and walked along with him. She was silent, not pestering for any further information, and when they ended up at her Jeep, she had it unlocked, and already heating up inside with the engine rumbling. She stood beside the driver's side door, her hair still damp, and her form visibly shivering inside her clothing, but she was no stranger to cold places, nor to being wet for that matter.

"Be careful." She tells him, finally speaking again. "Try to avoid people at all costs. Many are not as accepting as I am..." She tells him then before she pops the door to her vehicle open, the warm air flooding out over her to sooth her a bit.

"I reside in New York. A city quite a ways south of here. If you du find me, it will likely be there." She tells him, before she steps in to her vehicle. Mere moments later, she's pulled out to the road, and headed back to her hotel to warm the Hell up in a hot as Hell shower.