[hr][hr][center][h1][i][b][color=0072bc]Evelina Lucas[/color] & [color=indianred]James Grady[/color][/b][/i][/h1]
[img]http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Stars.jpg[/img][/center][hr][center][b][color=dimgray]Location:[/color][/b] Ville au Camp -> Dakota Territory, 1884 -> Ville au Camp [/center][hr][hr]

	The past two months with Alexandra has been quite the adventure. It was not often that Evelina opened up or showed any raw emotion. She had only allowed herself that one slip but it was enough. At least for her. She worked hard to maintain a level of professionalism but it was hard, especially now that Drem was gone and she really didn't have anyone to lean on emotionally. She had opened up to Gilbert some but with the new Paradoxes, there really had been no time. Taking a long puff from her pipe, she waited for her newest pupil, James.

        The morning light filtered through the trees over James as he made his way to the barn. It had been a highly interesting few months with Belladonna, putting it mildly, and he was a little sad that her tutelage had come to an end. Interesting things had been learned from her. Things he would not have been exposed to in his previous life. Six months in, and he was almost completely a different person. But he was keeping the hat. It was a point from which he was not willing to budge. James brushed the thoughts aside as he came up to his destination. The Dice made him a little nervous. Supposedly, that's what this training was about, so he was already off to a good start. 

        Before entering the Barn, James rapped his knuckles on the door frame, politely inquiring as to his state of welcome with, [color=indianred]"Miss Evelina?"[/color]

	Turning around Evelina was dressed in her signature dark blue but the [url=https://c8.alamy.com/comp/H6AR95/eva-green-the-salvation-2014-H6AR95.jpg]attire[/url] was slightly different, as was her hair. Not to mention the fact she had a six shooter on her hip over the dress. Not that she could use a gun, she was not to fond of them but apparently it was for something more. [color=0072bc]"Good morning James,"[/color] she said as she stepped out from behind the horse she had been saddling. [color=0072bc]"Your clothing is folded and on a stool in the stall over there."[/color] Her voice was even as she spoke and motioned over to the right before picking up a stetson and placing it on her head.

        James eyed the stetson, and indeed the whole of Evelina's apparel before moving to take a close look at the selection put aside for his use. Of particular interest was the sidearm strapped to the Emendator's side. Was he going to need one, too? How dangerous was this trip going to be? He tried to focus on just the present, confident in the fact that whatever horrors were waiting on him would be a lesson-worthy experience, and he would get to that soon enough. [color=indianred]"Hey there, Miss Dice, Ma'am? You thinkin' I'm gonna need one o'them Peacemakers, too?"[/color] After a moment, he exited the stall and held his arms out, as if to show himself off. [color=indianred]"So, how I look? I was thinkin' on keepin' my hat, but nah. Wanna go for that Full Immersion I done heard about from them LARPin' geeks back in Georgia."[/color]  

	There was a quirk of the brow from Evelina. [color=0072bc]"Have you been trained to use any weapons as of yet?"[/color] she inquired. Not that she was trained to use a gun but James didn't know that. She wasn't one to arm those that didn't know how to use a weapon or did not have a long history of being in the field. People who were armed with no training could be very dangerous indeed when push came to shove. 

	There were times that James missed the skills of his previous existence. Sometimes, the fuzzy bits of yesterlife would get muddled with his present state of being and he would count assets he no longer possessed as his own. It was fleeting, a half second at a time, maybe, and it was getting less as time went by. But just sometimes, it was confusing. Time was, he was a good shot with a pistol. Had a favorite Beretta and everything. He was better with a rifle, though that was not the case anymore. His own embarrassment at his mistake forced him to reevaluate a smidge. [color=indianred]"Uh, that'd be a no, Ma'am, now that you mention. Gun ain't my thang no more. I [i]am[/i] a fair hand with a short blade, thanks to Miss Bella."[/color] He put his hands in his pockets and glanced downward for a second, before looking back up at Evelina, [color=indianred]"An' I ain't got one of them from Mr. Hat yet, like I seen some of the others with. So I'm sorry - please lead the way."[/color] 

	[color=0072bc]"Neither am I but I do not know how you would handle yourself if you had one. Let us get you a weapon though,"[/color] she said as she knelt before a trunk and opened it. She chose a belt with a side arm, emptying the bullets from it and then handing it over. She also found him a nice bowie knife and sheath. [color=0072bc]"That should do,"[/color] she added before making her way towards a portal. [color=0072bc]"I am sure you have heard it before but it bears repeating. Do not intervene and do make sure to blend in,"[/color] she said before stepping through the portal. The sun was low in the sky, setting in the west as she glanced around the area. A tumbleweed rolling by over the dusty ground just outside of the cave they had walked into.

	This Emendator seemed to be in a rush to get to where they were going, in contrast to the two previous ones who had been teaching James. Admittedly, he and Gio never actually went anywhere to begin, and Belladonna's first outing was understandably not something he wanted to jump right into anyway. But he did his best to follow quickly, lest he piss off the lady who raised him from the dead. James walked through the portal even as he secured his weapons - his pistol at least. Being unloaded, it was little more than a prop. The knife, of the other hand, he wanted a closer look at. Briefly scanning his environment, he noted that he was in no immediate danger, and turned his attention to the blade in his hands. He rolled it between his fingers, got a good grasp on the balance and edge, then pressed it firmly into its sheath and placed it on his belt. [color=indianred]"Many thanks, Miss Evelina. That should do f'sure."[/color] He had no idea if a knife would help him in whatever this lady had in store, but he was comforted by the fact that he had it. [color=indianred]"So ah, what we doin' first?"[/color] 

	[color=0072bc]"First thing is first, we need a ride and I do not suspect that McFly will show up with a car anytime soon,"[/color] she said rather matter-of-factly before holding up a finger for James to wait. Stepping back through the portal she came out a moment later leading the horse that she had saddled. [color=0072bc]"I do hope you can hold on,"[/color] she said as she slipped her boot into the stirrup and got into the saddle. Holding a hand out to him she motioned with a jerk of her head. [color=0072bc]"Up we go."[/color]

        The generally optimistic blackneck shrugged and reached out to grasp Evelina's hand. He noted that the pale, slender Emendator was a lot stronger than she looked. It was probably true of all of the Emendators, but he wasn't about to ask into it right then. He was being taught a lesson of uncertain outcome by an immortal. Some things could wait. Inexpertly climbing onto the horse and getting a firm but respectful hold, James indicated that he was good to go with a quick, [color=indianred]"Ready, ma'am."[/color]

	Evelina nodded as she tightened her grip on the reigns before easing the stallion out of the cave and heading west. There was a nervousness about her and one could actually feeling a slight shake in her body as they rode. The sun was setting and out in the distance a town could be seen growing as they started to approach. [color=0072bc]"Some things are a first, even for us Emendators. Keep your wits about you, this isn't going to be like most training sessions."[/color] There was a warning in her voice as she spoke. 

	[color=indianred]"Aight, okay Miss Evelina."[/color] responded James, noting the change in her overall demeanor. His tone was that of reassurance, not only that he had indeed heard her properly, but that he was willing to offer support. [color=indianred]"I ain't knowin' what I can do for ya, but I'm here to help, much as I can."[/color] There was a definite shot of worry that ripped through James, however. Anything that could make one of these Emendators nervous, especially one with some power over death, gave the still-fresh wereboar Paradox nothing short of The Willies. [color=indianred]"Takin' yo lead, Miss Lady."[/color] 

	No words were spoken from the Emendator as they came to town. It looked to be like any other town in the old west. It seemed to just have been dropped out in the middle of nowhere. A single street ran through the town, buildings on each side for about a quarter of a mile and then nothing once again. The tallest building in the town looked to be a salon slash inn. It was the only one with lights burning inside and the sound of people drinking, yelling, and gambling could be heard clearly out on the street as they road past. 

        James fell likewise silent as they approached the western settlement. He had a pretty good idea what to expect from the locals so far as reactions to his presence were concerned, which were a mixed bag given his loose knowledge of the period. Riding bitch on the horse with a white lady taking the reins was probably a good idea, although Evelina on horseback while he walked might be a better one. Time might not be with them, so James kept his ideas to himself. Okay, [i]most[/i] of them. [color=indianred]"It's like I'm inna episode of 'Gunsmoke'!"[/color] he mused quietly, curious as to who the "Miss Kitty" analog was in this slice of reality. Early seasons, naturally. James seemed to remember that Father Time took a ballbat to the lady as the series went on. Still, he kept his eyes and wits about him, as suggested. When someone like The Dice got nervous, you paid good attention. 

	As they reached the edge of town, Evelina pulled back on the reigns and glanced around. Dismounting the horse she tied it off to a post and motioned for James to follow her. One could still hear the salon down the road but there was another sound. A whistling sound in the air. Her hand came to her chest and she swallowed slightly before pushing on. Rounding the edge of the last building and spotting a fire out in field behind it. Three people were sitting there. One was a young woman of Native American decent. Another was a large cowboy who when he turned, James would know the face. It was Gavin, or at least, Gavin for this time period. The last, his image hung in painted oil over the mantel in the library back at the main house. [color=0072bc]"Drem..."[/color] she whispered to herself as her fingers curled into the fabric of her dress. 

	Following Evelina, a glimmer of recognition came over James in that moment. He only recognized Gavin at first, and had to stop himself from calling out to the big Texan. He had gone so far as to take off his hat, intent on waving it about to draw attention. But something was wrong. Gut instinct and The Dice's warnings held his mouth shut, even though he didn't understand why. It wasn't until his Emendator companion spoke the name that James began to understand. [color=indianred]"...wait, he dead. Right?"[/color] he whispered, looking to Evelina. [color=indianred]"I mean, this one of them 'Dr. Who', fixed-moment-in-time thangs, or can we grab the muthafucka and make for the exit?"[/color] He knew it couldn't be that simple. It never was. Hoping against fate, or something similar. Then he noticed the level of anxiety, fingers scrunching up dress fabric. His hand instinctively started to drift toward his knife, but his voice was kind as he asked, [color=indianred]"You okay, Miss Evelina?"[/color] 

	Evelina shook her head. [color=0072bc]"Nothing can stop this..."[/color] she said in a quivering voice. Drem rose sharply and Evelina turned her back, she couldn't watch. Drem yelled for them to run as he drew his guns and started firing into the air. The bullet flew but vanished and blood came out of thin air. The run didn't come soon enough. The woman seemed to be eaten by an unseen force, her body getting bitten in half as she screamed. Gavin rolled onto his back but was lifted into the air by nothing. His head was rolling on the ground before his hat could even fall off. 

	James's eyes widened as the unseen force tore everyone in front of him apart. If he had the presence of mind to do so, he likely would have soiled his undergarments on the spot, but even that bit of stress response wasn't coming. James had seen awful things being done to the human body, by the Living Dead as well as the Living, but they were perpetrated by things that he could see and understand on some level. This was horrifying in a different way, as it was a thing that [i]should not be[/i] and wasn't perceptibly there. Yet something else pulled at the fledgling Wereboar. His own history, or the history he most connected with, at any rate. He was a gentleman (kinda) of the American South, and this was a Lady, if there every was one, who was going through some amazing personal distress. As he understood it, this was her ...what, boyfriend? Lover? Whatever, it was someone important to her. The question as good as smacked him across his face - Were they there for James, or for Evelina? 

	It didn't matter. Eyes still focused on the scene of carnage, he reached out to hold Evelina, whether to hug or just help support her up, he would gauge propriety as he went. [color=indianred]"I gotcha, Miss Evie. I gotcha."[/color] Maybe he was stupid for trying to comfort an Immortal, a true Power in the timelines. The woman who held his life within her dice. [color=indianred]"I'm right here, Ma'am. But maybe we ought get gone now, you think?"[/color] If James made it back out alive, he was going to throw up and collapse, he just knew it.

	Evelina could hear Drem yelling and fighting. She knew she shouldn't have come to witness but there was reason behind what seemed like a poor choice of location. Each person that was losing their afterlife had had a horse. Each of those animals were about to go through what their owners had even though they were speeding off. Towards Evelina and James. Rushing past them and across the street towards the field on the other side of the town, trying to get away from this unseen force that was leaving devastation in its wake. Terrible events triggered abilities. 

	It was instinct; pure protective instinct that James pulled Evelina close into him and placed himself between her and the charging horses. It was probably stupid in hindsight anyway, seeing as a ton and a half of speeding horseflesh would turn James into a weeping lump of salsa on the ground, whereas The Dice could probably shrug it off. Emendator were made of tougher stuff. Old habits still died hard, as the saying went. But there was more than that going on. Somewhere in the back of his brain he felt something, like a new sensation growing into a cardinal sense. It was full, unbridled, palpable fear. [i]Fear[/i]. But it was not his own. Separate from his own feeling of horror at the force which was consuming and laying to waste everything around him, James could hear the sounds of the [i]horses' panic[/i] as they neared and threatened to trample them both. His eyes catching those of the lead horse, James's mind protested as much as his mouth as he reflexively raised his arm and half commanded, half pleaded, [color=indianred]"Whoawhoawhoa[i]WHOA[/i] Nellie! Thataway!"[/color] He swung his arm in a wide arc as if to ward off some unseen flying insect. Then something truly odd happened: [i]They listened[/i].

        Strangely, impossibly, the horses knew what James needed. The last few fractions of seconds before the first one got to him, it snorted loudly and diverted path just enough to avoid colliding with the pair of them; the Emendator and the Paradox. James could feel the wind of their passing as the others followed. Fear mixed with wonder on his face, and he exhaled a shallow, [color=indianred]"...I felt them. I could feel them... We gotta [b]go[/b]."[/color]

	Evelina took a step back and nodded. Turning, she grabbed James' hand and began moving swiftly back towards the horse they rode in on. It wasn't long before she was back in the saddle again and holding her hand out to James. She knew what was coming and it was far worse than he had already seen. Yet, the purpose to coming there had been filled. A high anxiety moment that forced an ability to show itself. There might have been other ways to drive someone forward but she knew the life the man had lived before this one. She knew what Belladonna had taken him to see. The man needed a bigger push and she just gave him one. 

        Trauma did seem to be the opening theme to every one of James's training sessions. Especially his first one with The Watch. [i]That[/i] was a truly horrifying experience. Not so much as personally viewing the death of an Emendator, but still pretty awful. Shaking these thoughts away as best he could, James took Evelina's hand and pulled himself onto the horse. No words were necessary. It was time to leave. The implications of his budding Paradox skill could be figured out when the threat of evisceration was significantly less.

	The horse tore down the road and out of town, once away from the danger of the town behind them the horse slowed to a troy. Evelina still had not said a word but the woman did pick and choose her moments. It wasn't uncommon for her to say nothing for a long period of time and then do an information dump on one or more people. Riding up to the cave, Evelina seemed to finally breath again but a few tears fell from her cheeks before she dismounted after James climbed down. Keeping her back to the man she lead the horse through the portal without saying a word. 

        The sudden manifestation of a power seemed wholly secondary to the event that was just witnessed. Even secondary was generous. James followed the blue garbed Emendator and her horse through the portal, constantly glancing behind them with a foreboding sense of self-preservation. He had seen the death of an Immortal, in and of itself a paradox in the truest sense of the word. Moreover, he had a better idea as to what they were all up against. Even after passing back into Ville au Camp, James remained quiet. Contemplative, even. He coldly regarded the past hour, taking no more action than to look toward Evelina with a knowing, serious expression. No words were good enough. Speech itself was woefully inadequate.