James sat next to his new friend for what seemed like hours, observing as the fight evolved to extreme proportions. The amount of electricity that was being channeled into the hollow’s attacks was enough that James could feel the electromagnetic forces. It wasn't a particularly strong feeling at this distance, but if he stayed long enough it probably would have begun to make him feel physically ill. Strong electromagnetic fields plus one human brain equals discomfort, as he had learned during his time in Aspin. He began to notice a change in the air. It felt heavier, more charged, and full of… something. James wasn't quite sure about it until he noticed the thick dark clouds gathering over the fight. Was this a result of the electricity? Almost as if on cue, a bolt of lightening, quickly followed by thunder flashed between the clouds. It wouldn't have surprised him, but this was still a fairly uncommon occurrence. Clouds themselves weren't hard to find, but this sort of overcast was definitely a rare sight. Still, James knew it was simply a product of the strong electromagnetism and turned his attention back towards the fight. The fight continued for much longer than James had hoped, and it came to a head when the girl with the bike got snatched out of the air by the hollow and beaten to a pulp. James had to look away. From what he could tell, she would have to have been extremely lucky to live through that sort of beating. The other girl had gotten onto her metal… thing and made a break for it. As the hollow seemed to stand victorious, James began to notice something. It looked like the clouds were extending downwards. No, that wasn’t quite right, there was something falling from them. After another moment of observing this change in the weather, he felt a drop of the substance hit his head. Perplexed, he brought a hand up to touch the spot. This was water… falling from the clouds. James realized what was happening, but he almost couldn’t believe it. [color=8dc73f]“Is it… raining?”[/color] he uttered, near speechless. Dark overcast, water falling from the sky, lightning and thunder, there was no other explanation. It was actually raining. It hadn’t rained in decades. James got up from his crouch and stared at the wet spot on his hand as more drops of rain began to hit him. He almost didn’t notice the hollow start to make a panicked retreat towards Russell City. He looked back towards the black creature and observed in awe as the black shell crumbled away, and the girl who had been driving the now completely destroyed truck collapsed on all fours and threw up. “[color=a36209]Oh gods, what is this?[/color]” Ivan muttered, bringing a hand towards his face as the rain began to fall. The man had been fairly quiet over the duration of the fight, almost motionless too as he’d simply been starring in the general direction of the brawl. For him it was hard to do much but pretend to watch, as he had been restricted to looking for empty patches in the clouds of thrown up debris. Though the moment the rain began to fall, the filth caked bundle of rags came to life and he looked about in a perplexed manner which eventually brought him to stand. “[color=a36209]Gods, I’m melting![/color]” he screamed in panic, a shaky arm held up in front of him as the sudden rainstorm grew more intense. What clean rain fell on him began to run through his clothing, dribbling off his form in brown drops of foul smelling dirt. The rain began soaking Ivan’s outer layer of clothing as it continued to fall, and all those years of neglecting to bathe began to catch up with the still panicking man. Fearfully he began patting himself down, grasping at various places on his body which to an extent slowly began to calm him down. “[color=a36209]Oh,[/color]” was all he muttered, clutching his wrist and shaking it back and forth like he was confirming it was still there. The water still ran off Ivan in filth saturated drips but his outer layer of caked on dirt was gone and in a few places the liquid dripped off almost clean. “[color=a36209]Oh, it’s just water,[/color]” Ivan then laughed, looking back towards where James sat. Though he looked directly at him, Ivan had to squint and lean closer to be sure he was there- the mud he was now seeing somewhat perplexing in how it appeared. “[color=a36209]I- I’m sorry,[/color]” he then murmured, his voice sounding a little shaken from having believed the rain was dangerous. ____________________________ Vladimira clung to the metal bar as tightly as she could as it hurtled along, taking her away from the fight. >[i]So you’re running, is that it? Just like you ran from everything else?[/i]< She ignored Pandora, pushed her away into a corner of her mind and threw up mental concrete walls. The feeling utter powerlessness had scared her, she was used to being able to almost disarm entire groups of bandits and kill them with their own weapons, usually a spike to the throat, but Aeshma had been all but unfazed, cutting through steel darts that would’ve shredded a man and almost burning her alive. She kept her eyes focused forward and didn’t look back or slow down, not when she distantly heard what sounded like a bone crushing impact, not when she heard what sounded like electrified punches, not for anything… except… A drop of water hit her in the face and brought her back to reality. She lost her grip on the bar of metal and went tumbling, sliding painfully along the sand and rocks. Disoriented she sat up, What was…? Water falling from the sky? Rain? Pandora commented idly, >[i]Yes, rain, brought on by the monster you just ran away from in a blind panic. Y’know, Aeshma, the murderous psycho who’s probably killed that other person. The other person whose name you don’t even know, I might add.[/i]< Vladimira hung her head, simply sitting in the rain for a moment. Standing suddenly, she grabbed the bar of metal and turned around, walking briskly in the direction she’d come. She’d kill Aeshma if she had to, somehow, but she also needed to see if the other woman was okay. >[i]Oh, glad to see you’ve grown a spine.[/i]< Gripping the metal bar, she accelerated it in the direction of where the fight had been. _____________________________________________ James shut his mouth and tilted his head back down once he had his fill of the liquid that descended from the heavens. As wonderful as this, for all intents and purposes, miracle of nature was, he knew there were other things that needed his attention. There was a remnant of an unexplainable battle ahead of him, and he wanted to investigate. [color=8dc73f]“Right. I don’t know about you, Ivan, but I want to find out what just happened,”[/color] he said, gesturing towards what was left of the truck. “[color=a36209]Right, right,[/color]” Ivan quickly agreed, having been just staring at his hand in confused wonderment. Investigation had been the reason he’d stayed after all, that and the novelty of finding another immortal- for now the amusement over this had past though, and he became much more curious in learning more about what had happened. What he could infer was that things had settled down but he could no longer properly tell if anyone was still around; either they’d gone quiet or left. James slung his AK onto his back and was about to start towards the remains of the fight, but then another question had popped into his mind. [color=8dc73f]“Ivan, the way you’ve been acting… I don’t want to offend but… are you blind?”[/color] he asked as sincerely as possible. James could tell Ivan had some way of seeing, but something about how he was acting hinted that it was in some way other than his eyes. The question caught Ivan momentarily off guard, and his pace slowed while his eyes continued to follow James- or at least where he could assume James was from his footprints. “[color=a36209]Kind of,[/color]” was the only response he was willing to give at the moment, Ivan having a question of his own he felt was more important. “[color=a36209]You said you were ‘good company’. I’m assuming this means you’re immortal but does that mean you’re a mind reader?[/color]” Ivan asked, wanting to know what the real answer was since ‘mind reading’ seemed a bit over the top. James couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. [color=8dc73f]“In a manner of speaking. I can pick up on things most people never would, and when I look at someone I can gauge certain things about them pretty easily. You don’t have any pupils, and while that in and of itself doesn’t mean anything for an immortal, the way your attention didn’t seem to be focused on things you were ‘seeing’ exactly was something of a tell,”[/color] James replied. He picked up the pace, knowing that Ivan was, in fact, following him. [color=8dc73f]“So, how can you see, then?”[/color] James asked. [color=8dc73f]“You have to have some way of seeing, right?”[/color] Upon the mention of what his eyes looked like, Ivan brought a hand to his face out of fear he’d somehow lost his hood. When he learned that wasn’t the case however his gloved hand slowly dragged down his chest until it was at his side again. “[color=a36209]I can uh- I can see the dust. Dust, dirt, mud. It’s why I panicked when the water came from nowhere, I could see my hand getting cleaner,[/color]” Ivan explained, a slight smile cracking underneath the bag on his head. People had guessed he was blind before, or at least assumed he must have needed glasses, but it felt odd for him explaining things the way they were. “[color=a36209]I remember I could see once, back in my youth- but that was too long ago. I to this day don’t really understand it much but it makes little difference when you spend your life surrounded by desert,[/color]” he then continued, stumbling slightly as the two reached the top of a shallow ridge. Below, Ivan could see the truck he’d heard crash as it’s tires were easy to see, everything else wasn’t as distinguishable however and it left him forced to guess about a lot of what was down there. “[color=a36209]Is there someone there?[/color]” he asked, eyeing a humanoid outline framed by what looked like dirty clothing. “[color=a36209]A dead someone?[/color]” he then asked himself, stepping forward to slide down the muddy ridge towards the battleground. Though his interest at first was solely on the body he saw, Ivan’s attention became drawn to the dozens of invisible scratches and scars all over the ground. Leaning down near one Ivan placed his hand on the nearly swamped ground and through both force and some manipulation of the mud, he pulled forth a jagged and muddied piece of glass. “The hell- that thing cooked the sand,” he announced, proud of his finding as he examined the ghostly shape he held. James couldn’t stop staring at the body. He could tell for certain, even from several hundred meters back, that she was no longer alive, but being this close was very different. It felt foreboding, and although he wasn’t unaccustomed to death, he had… [color=8dc73f]“Shit.”[/color] He looked away. Something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn’t good for him. He shifted his focus towards the trail the other girl had left behind. He could still see her running towards Russell City, but she was way too far to catch up to. He would pursue her later. For now, he went to examine the chunks of black armor that had crumbled away. He walked over to one, picking it up and examining it carefully. It wasn’t an artificial armor, it was more like what you see on a bug. It was almost like an exoskeleton, but it clearly wasn’t connected to her biologically. At least, not completely. This was something bordering on the metaphysical; to hold up so well during that fight, yet simply come crumbling apart as soon as it started raining. It wasn’t even the rain itself; the armor showed no signs of chemical deterioration. It simply started chipping and shearing off. The only connection to it’s disintegration that James could think of was that the beast… woman… whatever, had began running off shortly after the rain began to fall. James noticed something approaching; no, someone, the woman from before. He looked up and, with the air now being much clearer, noticed with a fair amount of surprise that she had most of her clothes torn off. He almost physically took a step back as she drew closer. Vladimira sped along the muddy ground, slowing down as she neared the scene of the fight. She didn’t see Aeshma’s form anywhere, or that of the other woman. She did see what looked like two people -regular humans-, and her eyes narrowed, where had they come from? A second afterwards and she became uncomfortably conscious of her lack of clothing and slowed to an abrupt halt, watching them with apprehension. She normally would’ve dragged her clothing to herself, but neither her shirt nor her cloak had anything for her to pull on from this distance, and with their charred condition she wasn’t sure they’d survive regardless. Scowling, she started walking forward, metal bar reshaping itself around her fist “Who are you?! The fuck do you want?!” James was… almost startled at the woman’s abrupt introduction, and her lack of clothing threw him off to the point of discombobulation. [color=8dc73f]“Ummm… I- we… saw the fight. I wasn’t really sure…”[/color] James became all too aware of the woman’s nakedness and turned himself around. [color=8dc73f]“Let’s just say we were curious. I don’t know about Ivan, but I’ve certainly never seen an immortal turn into a hollow, and then back again.”[/color] He grew suspicious as he remembered how her fists had seemed to turn into the armor he saw earlier. Hell, for that matter, they still were. He inched his hand towards his CZ. [color=8dc73f]“Furthermore, that black stuff; why did it grow on your hands?”[/color] he asked, strongly but earnestly. Meanwhile Ivan had only turned his head, still holding the smooth spike of glass in his hand as he watched a barely visible outline of a person approach. Whoever it was was confronting James at the moment, and he seemed to be handling it, though Ivan continued to watch just in case. Vladimira stopped as he responded. So they weren’t bandits or something, or at least, probably weren’t bandits. “Простите…” she muttered, edging her way over to her clothing, or what was left of it at least. “As for the ‘Immortal turning into a hollow’ part, I’m honestly not sure what that was, but it wasn’t a Hollow. It’s… I don’t know what happened. The black stuff either, I don’t know.” She grabbed her shirt, sighing as it crumbled into ash. Rummaging around in her rucksack she dragged out another shirt and hastily tugged it on, the plates of metal on her chest that’d likely saved her life more than once in the past few minutes… “Temper’s been ruined, гавно...” She sighed, folding the metal in her hands and stuffing it into the rucksack with everything else. At least her weapons seemed to be fine. And that rifle she remembered pulling off the truck, which was all well and good, but… She stood and looked around before her gaze alighted on Evelina’s body, and her face darkened. “So she’s dead.” “[color=a36209]I haven’t checked yet, but I think so,[/color]” Ivan replied, his voice a little choked since he had to speak up to be heard clearly. [color=8dc73f]“She is. I can tell,”[/color] James interjected, more forcefully than intended. He let out a sigh before adding, [color=8dc73f]“I’m sorry, if you knew her.”[/color] “I didn’t.” She grumbled darkly, walking slowly over to Evelina’s body, “But somebody probably does.” James took his hand from his holster, knowing this woman probably wasn’t a threat, and also partially out of guilt of incriminating her, even if unintentionally. He tried thinking of something to say, but it was hard to come up with something that wouldn’t sound like a blatant misdirection away from the woman’s body. It would be insensitive to bring anything else up at the time. “[color=a36209]I’ve buried people before; it wouldn’t take too long. If she was out here on her own one can expect to die,[/color]” Ivan suggested, having transitioned into that same sitting position as before: legs crossed and hands folded neatly in his lap. “[color=a36209]If she has anything valuable we can sell it. Not like she needs it,[/color]” he then continued, his vision lost for a moment as he tried to follow the splash of the newcomer's footprints as she approached the corpse. Vladimira shook her head, “No, she knew someone, not sure who, but I’ve got this feeling in my gut that just burying her, whoever she is, in a shallow grave in a bunch of sand wouldn’t be right.” She shrugged, “I’m going to take her back to Russell, hard enough to lose someone, even worse if there’s no body.” She turned, walking back towards Ivan and James, “However,” she paused for a moment, eyeing the two, “who you are and why you happened to be watching that… encounter, I’d like to know.” Ivan’s head rocked to one side slightly, muttering a short, “[color=a36209]Fair question,[/color]” as he glanced towards James for a moment. Afterwards he turned back to the woman and nodded, uncrossing his legs to allow himself to stand. “[color=a36209]I personally just happened to be walking by. I heard the commotion and once I recognized it had something to do with a hollow I was going to try stepping in to help. Then the situation escalated and I decided it would be smart to not interfere and be on my way. I bumped into this young man, and he managed to pique my curiosity which resulted in me wanting to investigate things with him. Simple really,[/color]” Ivan leisurely explained, finished standing up and now having to look down towards where he believed the stranger’s face was. James folded his arms and shifted his gaze towards Russell City. [color=8dc73f]“I was on my way there to look for a job. Saw the commotion from some miles away and came running. I thought you and… her, were about to rob the other woman…”[/color] he trailed off, gazing intently towards the city in the distance. [color=8dc73f]“She made for Russell City. I’m going to track her down once I get there. My job security just became secondary, I think I should know what this black armor shit means for us,”[/color] he said, unfolding his arms. At the mention of an ‘us’ Ivan’s head turned briefly towards James, but whatever he was thinking was dismissed quickly by an amused snort and he returned his attention to Vladimira. Vladimira nodded, “Probably not a bad idea. Keep an eye out though, to put it mildly, shit’s going down over there. So I’d keep your guard up.” She turned back around, siphoning metal off what remained of the truck and forming it into a sled of sorts, wiping sweat from her forehead as she did so. She walked over and grabbed Evelina’s body, propping it onto the makeshift sled/stretcher to the best of her abilities, and securing her with several bands of steel. “Well, now that’s done.” She muttered, walking back to the truck to investigate the sizeable rifle she remembered pulling off of it. And what a sizeable rifle indeed. “How… is this… intact.” She muttered. She walked slightly closer, eyes wide. “A PTRS-41. How is this even…” She trailed off, “Okay, I’ve got to take this with me.” As the… immense rifle came out, James couldn’t help but be impressed. Not by how effortlessly she seemed to pull it out, not by it’s size compared to her, but by the rifle itself. [color=8dc73f]“That’s… Russian,”[/color] he managed to croak. 14.5x114mm anti-materiel rifle, used during both of the Great Wars several centuries ago. [color=8dc73f]“Damn.”[/color] James was practically starstruck. He wasn’t partial to big guns, but this… this was a thing of beauty. He managed to shake himself from his stupor long enough to remember there were things to be done. [color=8dc73f]“Right. Well, since you’re heading to Russell City, can you make room on that sled of yours? Ivan can move sand to move faster, but I’ve got my legs and that’s pretty much it.”[/color] Vladimira shook her head to clear it. She could drool later. “I could, don’t know how much more is left in that truck though, or how much I’ve got ‘till I pass out. How much do you weigh? I’ve still got to carry this,” she gestured at her newest acquisition, “And my own stuff.” “[color=a36209]Are we all traveling together now, is that it?[/color]” Ivan asked, his question meant to be rhetorical as he continued speaking after a short pause. “[color=a36209]I think it might be worth mentioning then that I’m pretty sure there was a bike somewhere around here. I heard it still running when the truck crashed,[/color]” he continued to explain in an amused tone, looking around in an attempt to find the vehicle but missed it as his head swiveled back and forth. [color=8dc73f]“Bike?”[/color] James asked. He was right though, James could hear an engine idling. He followed the sound, spotting the bike a few meters away, tipped over from the chaos of the fight. [color=8dc73f]“Hmmm, right then,”[/color] he said, walking over to it to inspect it. The handlebars seemed to have been bent slightly, but that was the only visible damage he could see. [color=8dc73f]“It still works. Ivan, you want a lift?”[/color] James asked, pulling it back upright. “[color=a36209]I don’t like engines,[/color]” Ivan replied quite quickly, the slightest hint of hostility in his words. “[color=a36209]I mean, it’s a bike too- I don’t want to weigh it down since I’m soaking wet. I’ll be fine,[/color]” he then continued, correcting himself and sounding apologetic in tone. “So, it seems like we’re all set then.” Vladimira observed. “Give me a moment and I guess we’ll head for Russell?” [color=8dc73f]“Sounds like a plan to me,”[/color] James replied. Ivan chuckled slightly, his expression of joy cut short by a rasped sounding cough. “[color=a36209]Anywhere dry sounds nice, honestly. I’ll follow the two of you,[/color]” he explained, clearing his throat afterwards. Vladimira shrugged, walking over to her rucksack and gear and rummaging around, pulling out a wad of plastic bags. “Knew I’d have a use for these some day.” she muttered as she crammed her cold, wet, and burnt clothing into some of the bags before stuffing them back into the rucksack. She grabbed her gun belt and rifle, slipping the belt on and the strap of the rifle over her shoulder. “Now how to secure this… magnificent find.” She grumbled, shrugging eventually and placing the rifle on the makeshift sled/stretcher as well, pulling a piece of metal or two over it to hold it in place. “Think we’re set, I suppose?” She said to the other two. James had pulled the bike alongside the others and nodded towards the woman. [color=8dc73f]“Wait, I don’t think we ever got your name, nor you ours.”[/color] “Well, you go first if that’s the case.” Vladimira replied, stepping behind her makeshift transport. James scoffed, somewhat amused by her apprehension. [color=8dc73f]“James,”[/color] he said, simply. “Vladimira, Vladimira Kovalik.” She said simply, shrugging, “And you, big guy?” “[color=a36209]Ivan,[/color]” he replied, sounding a lot more cheerful all of a sudden. [hider=Translations & Pronunciations] Простите…Prastíte… Sorry… Гавно... gavno... shit [/hider]