The Conductor passed the creature without incident. Of course, they would be a fool to not suspect an attack from strangers -- they'd been in their line of work too long not to. Still, they would be home soon, and they did not expect trouble. But not expecting trouble was a good way to get yourself hurt out here, they reminded themselves. After the incident back at the settlement, they should probably make sure nothing was going to happen. Just to be safe. And so they happened to glance over their shoulder at just the right time, and they saw RE1 preparing to spring into action. They were no stranger to oddness in their line of work, but that wasn't to say nothing surprised them anymore. But of course, RE1 couldn't tell whether they were surprised this time, because they were wearing a mask.

Regardless, they whirled around as RE1 leapt towards them. In a single fluid motion, they dropped the handle of the wagon, appeared to push off of it and sprang backwards, the creature's fangs whipping just past their arm as they nimbly dodged her opening strike. They landed in the dust a few feet away, feet spread wide, and struck a combat stance. They inhaled deeply and sharply, tasting the acrid tinge to the air. Had that been there before this... person... showed up? Perhaps. Regardless, it boded poorly. Not that The Conductor seemed to mind. In lieu of actually fighting, they threw out one hand, palm up, as if silently commanding the creature to stop.

And as they did so, there was the sound of something building up -- a quick, rising whir -- followed by the sound of several miscellaneous horns, playing a single note. It seemed to have burst forth from The Conductor themselves, as if by swinging out their hand as they did they'd thrown a musical chord at their assailant. Of course, a musical sting would make a poor weapon under normal circumstances. But here, now, it may as well have been the sting of some giant insect, infecting the creature with an intense paralytic. Well, no, that's not what it felt like. It wasn't that she [i]couldn't[/i] move, it was that she was being held back -- bound by invisible chains, frozen in place. It was as though she didn't want to move, as though what she wanted to do was being overridden and replaced with a single order that repeated over and over in her subconscious mind as her heart pounded in her ears:

[i]"Stay still."[/i]

The Conductor lowered their head, and their mask seemed to glared intensely at RE1, silently daring them to take another step.

[@VitoftheVoid]