Location: Theris’s office
Interactions: @Dragonydas Theris

The door to a stairwell opened and a fox emerged, white and gold with a ring of red around her shoulders and the tip of her tail, red tipped her ears and marked her paws. Her five tails thrashed behind her as she led, by chain, a chain gang of gremlins. They all sang a dirge in unison as they rhythmically clanked their chains. Yumeiko allowed this. Some gremlins had even joined in, seeing a fun group activity and not realizing the open clamps without locks that they willingly attached them to would actually not open again until she opened them. With a deific power, the shackles informed them of the terms: keep singing, keep up, and you’ll be a-okay. So the chain gang grew.

The singing and clanking of chains slowly made its way into Theris’s office, where the fox would then sit, the leather end of the chain gang chain in her mouth. The golden gaze would settle on Theris as her tails whipped behind her. The chain gang would go quiet all at once.

Her voice projected from her body, though her mouth was busy with the leathher grip in her mouth, tell me of these Accords.

~~~~~


Location: Mantleville Streets
Interactions: Velvet @Lemons, Rebecca @Massasauga

The human form of Remote Yumeiko caught the strange little device and looked it over, turning it this way or that. She could hear some kind of noise coming from it. She considered taking a bite or licking it, but fortunately for everyone, a voice sounded from the other side, first. She looked at the object, surprised, before holding it out in her hand for Velvet, “your rock is talking. Does it eat, too?”

”Let’s see, we’ll take… futo maki, nigi hamachi, agedashi dofu, aah, toooo.. tonkatsu teishoku.” Remote Yumeiko nodded, smiling and watching as Velvet would, surely, speak into the phone. Before long, she’d turn to Rebecca, “thanks for coming out with us. It’s really nice to find such friendly neighbors.”

”Ten minute walk, was it?” She turned her attention to the city around them, the streets themselves catching her eye, “are all the roads this wide..?” The city construction was so much different than what she was used to.

_{Evening
Streets of Mantleville
Interacting with: @Massasauga Rebecca @CitrusArms Yumeiko no Yumi-chan}

---

"Your rock is talking. Does it eat, too?"

"Um. No, Yumi...can I call you Yumi-chan? It's, uh, a phone."

Oh god, she didn't know what a phone was, did she? Thank god she heard someone speaking through it and got a clue what it was, or else it could've gotten REALLY awkward. Velvet had just gotten a new phone, she wasn't keen on it getting broken somehow. She parroted the order into the receiver, chuckled at the bemused person on the other side--undoubtedly checking the dictionary on their phone because they were probably a kid with a summer job who didn't know what agedashi dofu or tonkatsu teishoku were--and finally hung the thing up.

"Modern communication device. Uses technology to talk to people anywhere in the world. Trust me, it surprised me at first too when I woke up."

It was almost enough for her to forget Wolverine Girl making fun of her name? She shot her a look halfway between humor and hurt. "Coventry is just the place I was born, peasants didn't get last names back then. Changed my name to Velvet from what it originally was after a hundred and change years 'cause I was getting real edgy, oh boy. And now I'm just used to it."

Ah, but by that time Yumi-chan had moved on to something else. This version of her wasn't quite as intelligent as Yumeiko Yumeiko, was it...? Still, again, Velvet could empathize. "Yeah. The streets today are mostly for cars and people only walk on the sidewalks, because," she jutted out a thumb at a car as it zipped past, "any normal person gets hit by one and it's lights out."

They walked on a few more feet before Velvet realized she could finally get an answer for something she'd been wondering. "Hey, Yumi-chan. How old are you--or, uh, is Yumeiko, since I think you're technically different? Miyuki, too, how old is she? I'm a bit of a crotchety old lady myself, so I like knowing where I sit, y'know?"

Rebecca Holloway
Streets of Mantleville

Yumi made conversation with Velvet, talking about her phone like she didn't know what it was. Which, to be fair, she probably didn't. That fact still didn't keep her from raising an eyebrow at her in confusion. But then she talked to her, thanking her for coming out.

"Well, it's not like I don't care. I hate it when people fuck with my food. It's one of the surefire ways to get on my bad side. So yeah, I don't like to see it happen to other people either. I shot people who fucked with my food. Killed most of 'em."

Rebecca took a second to reflect on her time in Cambodia and Laos, blasting VC and NVA who were brazen enough to interrupt her one good meal during her missions. She looked back to the two, her facial expression was still as a mannequin which showed that she wasn't kidding. But the bloodsucker spoke up too, talking about how she changed her name and admitted it was because she wanted to be edgy. It made her laugh, but not at her.

"Well at least you're honest." Rebecca said back before looking to her. "So what was your name before you changed it, then? Or did you forget."

Location: Mantleville Streets
Interactions: Velvet @Lemons, Rebecca @Massasauga

“Whoooaaa, that's a phone?” This revelation caused Yumi-chan to observe the phone in greater detail - even as she listed off foods - noting how the one surface emitted light and changed appearance easily, like a TV. When Velvet was done on the phone, Yumi-chan remembered that she’d been asked a question. “‘-chan’ is fine by me!”

“You killed them?” She considered it for a beat. This person, who was being so kind? “Must have been trying times.” Akame was a peaceful goddess. Bloodshed wasn’t really something she supported, though to take life was sometimes necessary. That is why food is so important. The joke was a welcome distraction, as was the little info dump on Velvet. Coventry was where she was born, huh? Velvet Coventry. “I see what you mean about a strip club. Or a stage name.” She looked at Velvet for a moment, then shook her head, “don’t do it. You’d ruin your small, cute image. Be a plushie queen, instead, that’d totally work for you.” She nodded, matter-of-factly.

When Velvet explained about cars, the duplicate nodded softly and spoke softer, “yeah. Poor little critters..” She was passingly familiar with those deadly things. She’d encountered enough roadkill on the way here. The look she’d offered the car as it passed was more like a glare.

The question about her age was a welcome one, “My age?” She’d perked up immediately. “Ah, Master. Er..” she looked around briefly, “maybe I should be more careful how I refer to her in public. Eh heh.” Yumi-chan cleared her throat, “a-anyway, ah, age. Yumeiko is.. Mm, four-hundred-n-something? We grow a new tail about every hundred years, right? Yumeiko has five, and Miyuki has nine.”

Yumi-chan then gave the vampire an adoring hug, “you’re pretty cute, for a crockety old lady~”

---

Location: Building 1, Cafeteria
Interactions: @Morgannis, @Lugubrious

---

Chaos ensued.

Between the screaming gremlins and running people, Iris's senses were feeling a bit overwhelmed at that particular moment in time. Then there was a loud clatter of dishes and a darkness seemed to sweep out from the cafeteria that had the wolf's hackles rising at attention. Iris froze there on her hunches, icy blue color swirling within her chocolate brown irises. However, it seem that as soon as the dark magic began, it sizzle out. A blink or two later and the blue was removed from Iris's eyes as she locked her gaze on the door of the cafeteria. There was a loud commotion coming their way and she practically jumped back as a large ogre and some type of clown thing went barreling pass, chasing after a gremlin. Iris watched them go for a moment before turning her eyes on the cafeteria door once more, a quiet snarl leaving her lips pulled back.

“I think,” she said almost quietly, “We should find another place to seek gremlins. This one has my wolf on too much edge. If I stay here for too long, it might not be me hunting. Maybe go to a different building all together.” She gave her shoulders a stiff roll before turning to face her two companions with an apologetic smile. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and she could feel the wolf practically rolling just under her skin. A cold bead of sweat was slowly gathering along her brow and she reached up to wipe it away with a quick swipe of her hand.“I know it's a bit of a pain. If yall don't want to stick with me cause of the inconvenience, that's fine. I just- I can't stay here.” She took one more look at the cafeteria door before she began a very determined, and not so slow, stroll away from the cafeteria and towards the second building. She wanted to get away from that dark magic but she knew that if she broke out in even a jog, she would be running in wolf form in only a moment. So, taking deep and controlled breaths, she sped walked her way as far from the cafeteria as her long legs would take her.

She wasn't sure if her companions were following her. Hell, she wasn't even completely sure if she was going in the right direction. All she knew was to get away from that area as far and fast as she could. When she finally slowed her pace to look around, she found herself in the last hallway before the exit door to the courtyard. She paused a moment and pushed both hands through her hair as she took a second to settle herself once more. She was away from the cafeteria. She had made some pretty decent distance between there and where she was so why was her heart still racing? Why did she feel so sick in her stomach? Why was every muscle in her body tense and ready to flee?

She braced herself against the wall of the hall, sliding along it before she came to settle on her hunches once more. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to still her shaking form, leaning her head against the wall. Only then did she remember she had companions that she had essentially left behind at the cafeteria in her blind flee from that dark magic. Her head popped back up and she gazed down the hall to see if either of the two had followed her.

_{Evening
Streets of Mantleville
Interacting with: @Massasauga Rebecca @CitrusArms Yumeiko no Yumi-chan}

---

What was my name before, huh? She remembered what it was, of course, there was no way she could ever forget. She'd even styled it as a middle name at some point. Still, she hadn't actually thought about it much recently, and her voice dropped a bit lower as she looked up at the sky, which was fading to twilight enough that the dim light no longer stung. "Alviva," she said. "My name was Alviva. Changed it when I started the whole queen of the night schtick because I wanted something opulent. Because I hadn't really seen what wealth looked like, I just went with what sounded fancy. But like I said, now I'm attached to it."

...Then she was violently wrenched back into the present by Yumi talking about her small, cute image and telling her that it'd work for her being a plushie queen. She sucked in a long, slow breath, letting a fang prick her lip to keep herself calm. She didn't mean it to be offensive. She is shorter than you. She's too genuine. She's trying to be nice. Do not yell at her. Don't. Not only would it accomplish nothing but a transient moment of catharsis, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it'd make Yumi-chan feel awful, she was too sweet and open not to. Which would then make her feel awful too, because it kinda sucked to make someone unhappy. Not to mention that she had no idea how Yumi-chan was linked to Yumeiko, who she honestly kinda wanted to be chill with at this point. Terrifying wellspring of divine power and relationship with somebody that hated her guts notwithstanding.

Ah. Yumi-chan was talking about ages, and Velvet was zoning out. She phased back into reality in time to hear Yumi-chan mention that Yumeiko was a few hundred years below Velvet, and that Miyuki was...Velvet raised an eyebrow in surprise. Being on the low end of her eighth century, she didn't often meet people older than her, and suddenly Miyuki's behavior (and power) made a lot more sense. Another two or three hundred years and she'd probably get unforgivingly pissed off at people for disrespecting her too. For a moment she reflected on what it might mean to be that old. Hell, she was kind of cheating already, she'd been asleep for over a century. What would she be like? How would she act? How would she change?

...A line of thinking that was instantly cut off as Yumi-chan reached out and wrapped her in a tight embrace. She stood poleaxed for a second, eyes blown wide open as she registered what was going on. She couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged her of their own volition, especially knowing what she was, and the feeling was totally alien. Still. After a moment passed, her eyes slid closed, and she slowly, carefully hugged back.

She was so wrapped up in the moment that she didn't even whisper about how strange it was for Yumi-chan to put her neck that close to a vampire.

After a bit of time passed, she disentangled herself and released Yumi-chan with a light laugh. "Thanks, I needed that. It's been...a long day." A pause as they continued walking. "I'm around seven hundred. Born in 1316, so I'll be 709 come October seventh. Gettin' a little long in the tooth, you might say," she chuckled.

Rebecca Holloway
Streets of Mantleville

"Fewer times more trying than war, Yumi." Rebecca replied, her hand idly finding the zippo lighter in her pocket as she tried not to remember too much about her past.

That didn't stop those memories from still lurking below the surface. How many times she went to kill for her country on orders, and found out that there were worse things crawling in the jungles of Southeast Asia than the Viet Cong and NVA. She fought a shiver traveling up her spine and sighed.

Thankfully they had arrived at their destination. Rebecca mentally went over the list of food that their kitsune goddess so graciously gave them and headed inside. She came back out a half-hour later with two big bags and a lighter wallet. She didn't complain. She had offered. This was the whole idea.

"I think Alviva is better than Velvet." She said to the vampiress. "Anyway, let's get this back to our waiting goddess before she turns the building into a pile of ash."

Location: Mantleville Streets
Interactions: Velvet @Lemons, Rebecca @Massasauga

Showing her neck to a vampire? Yes. Was her neck full of blood? .. No. Yumi-chan definitely did not smell like blood. As far as bodies went, hers was rather flimsy as a disguise. It would fool a human who relied mostly on quick visual examinations, but a close look would reveal small flaws. No veins, for instance. Her external geometry was all there, but she was just a bunch of magic power, underneath the fleshy appearance. Perhaps, if Yumeiko had given more attention to her copy on creation, it would have been more elaborate, but her focus had been elsewhere.

War? “It’s been a long time since the warring period. I only remember a little of it, but it seemed like some of those guys had fun? M.. maybe that’s a little different.” She’d never considered how much guns changed the face of war. Never had to. She just remembered the way warriors and samurai would engage in what could be described as ritual combat.

“I remember there was one battle, in particular. The two sides of the clash each had a lot of older warriors who couldn’t see at night, so when dusk came and they were having a hard time seeing each other, they called a ceasefire. I don’t know who the woman who went out on the boat was, but she held up a white fan and issued a challenge to hit the target with a bow. Well, someone did, and both sides cheered.” She looked to Rebecca as she finished her story, and got the feeling it had missed the mark, “not like that, huh?”

Anyway! “Ah, y-yeah, Alviva’s a pretty name! Why don’t you go back to it? Lots of documents to change? _{Here, I can carry one of those..}” Yumi-chan held out her hand to take a bag from the soldier woman who gave her a funny feeling to look in her eyes. So she didn't.

---

Location: Building 2, Front door
Interactions: None

---

Iris found herself alone in the hallway, her previous companions having stayed behind. She sighed lightly to herself as she gazed down at her hands. She clenched and unclenched them, her hackles slowly lowering as she brought her body back to a calm state. She took in some deep breaths through her nose before slowly letting them out through her mouth. She continued like this for a short while until her heart rate dropped to a more normal level. When she was finally calmer and the adrenaline slowly dissipated, only then did she realize just how hungry she was. However, she wouldn't- no, couldn't go back to that place where she felt the dark magic. She only got a glimpse of it and it caused her wolf to practically rip out of her skin. She couldn't afford to go that way, else she'll have a repeat of the previous day.

She sighed as she ran her now still hands over her face. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, trying to recall a place where she could get food. She can try another restaurant but she felt like maybe it was best to just go to her room.

Wait! Didn't Max do deliveries just earlier. Her head popped up with the realization that she had food in her fridge. She grinned as she patted her knees before popping up onto her feet. She'll go to her room and eat there. In her safe place, she knew she wouldn't have to worry about some random magic causing her to lose control. She took one last look around the halls, checking to make sure that her previous companions weren't walking towards her. She didn't want to seem rude by just leaving them again. After a moment with no one coming down the hall, she nodded and began her trek back to her building.

Upon opening the entrance and stepping out into the chilly night air, Iris took a moment to appreciate the feel of the cold air on her skin. Slowly the door slipped out of her grasp and closed behind her. Her eyes carefully moved to the moon in the sky. It was still partially full from the other night but it wasn't enough to invoke the beast, even if gazing at its almost full light caused her wolf to shift uncomfortably under her skin. Deciding to move on before her wolf decided that the state of the moon was close enough, she began her walk towards her building. Thankfully, she didn't have to go far. However, as she reached down to pull the front door open, she found it locked.

Confusion crossed her face as she pulled a few more times before peering through the windows to see a gremlin pointing and laughing at her through the glass. She snarled before giving the door a dangerous pull. It rattled violently in its doorframe before she let it go. “Stupid troublemakers. You better run, you piece of shit!” She called through the glass, the gremlin making faces and laughing once more before it ran off. She slammed her hand against the glass, feeling it vibrate violently under her blow, but it remained unmarred.

She sighed deeply as she turned from the front door and sat down. She rested her back against the door and grumbled to herself. She probably could break the door but she already broke enough as of late. So instead of ripping the door off its hinges, she just banged the back of her head against it. Again and again, she hit her head on the door, each hit growing progressively more aggressive. A snarl left her lips as she scrambled to her feet once more. ”Open the door, you bastard!” She wasn't sure if the gremlin could even hear her, having disappeared around the corner awhile ago.

She grabbed the handle in both hands and rattled it violently in its frame once again. Her frustration grew with each new rattle and she let out a growl before driving her fist into the brick next to the door. She had to get inside and out of this stupid moon's influence but unless Max or Theria came to unlock the door, she would have to wait for someone inside to come help her.

---

Location: Building 2, Room 104 (Eildh's) --> Front door --> Room 105 (Iris's)
Interactions: Iris Madril @BunniesOfDoom

---

Lilith was literally shaken awake from her hammock in Eildh's apartment, and promptly set out to investigate as the banging grew louder, from anyone watching the centaur's stream, it was just another funny background event as she practically fell from her hammck and stumbled out the door trying to get her bearings. She thought she'd heard shouting as she closed the apratment-door and started for the stairs, hearing a gremlin running away and giggling as she completely ignored the steps and curled around to the ground-floor cieling and headed for the reception-hall door, re-orienting herself on the floor as she passed the threshold and saw the cause for the bad foundational vibrations. A very peeved-off werewolf trying to forcibly gain entry to the complex.

"You're back early, Ms Madril." Lilith stated as she opened the door. She'd meant to ask if it was something she'd want to talk about, but she'd known Iris just long enough not to pry into any of her bad-moods lest she make things worse. Usually it was for the best to make sure she had the opprotunity to properly relax after their ordeal.

Without asking, she decided it was best to follow her to their apartment. For one, in case she felt like 'venting' her frustration, it may as well have been with the one resident in building two with some manner of combat-training even if it were a lifetime ago; she'd seen glimpses of her appartment and it'd be a nice change of pace to just hang around until she'd overstayed her welcome.

---

Location: Building 2, Front door → Her room
Interactions: Lilith @Foster

---

Iris's assault on the door continued until she finally heard the familiar sounds of claws on the tile floor. She had thought that maybe it was the gremlin coming to unlock the door or taunt her some more but she sighed a huge sigh of relief when she saw that it was Lilith that was making her way towards her location. Iris released the door, thankful to finally be getting out of the pull of the moon. When the front door was finally open, Iris practically sprinted to the building. She slid past the large spider woman and came to settle on the other side of the door, well out of reach of any moonlight that might be flooding through the newly opened entrance.

“Yeah. Gremlins are causing mayhem all throughout the apartment complex. They fried the fridge in the cafeteria. So I was just heading to my room to get something to eat. Stupid buggers locked this door right before I got to it.” She groaned as she ran her hands along her face. Today could not be getting any worse! Hell the whole week couldn't be possibly getting any worse. First she broke her phone, thanks to the stupid wolf. Then she attacked a resident, thanks to the Stupid wolf. Then she had to run away from the cafeteria and forgo hunting the gremlins in an attempt to even get a chance to get a new phone. Thanks to the STUPID WOLF! The wolf was more of a problem than normal and she was growing more and more resentful of it as the week went on.

She began to walk back to her bedroom, taking a peek at Lilith who seemed to have invited herself along. She only shook her head lightly as she made her way back to her door. If Lilith was going to invite herself along, Iris was going to make use of her. She wasn't the therapist that she had just left standing in the cafeteria hallway, but maybe she could relate- to a degree.

“I've been a werewolf for- what? Ten, eleven years now and I still can't seem to keep the damn thing under control!” She ripped her door open before stepping inside, the roaring frustration lightening just a hint as she stepped through the threshold and into her safe space. She took a deep breath, calming herself once more before stepping further into the apartment and heading towards the kitchen.

“Would you like something to eat? Drink? I got a lot of drink flavors.” She pulled open her fridge, found the butcher paper wrapped meat inside and sent a thankful prayer to Max for bringing her food in. She grabbed a pack of thinly sliced steaks in one hand and grabbed a soda from the shelf with the other. She set the food on the island before opening the pack of steaks and grabbing a slim one from within the pile. She popped part of the steak into her mouth, clenching it between teeth as she cracked open her soda can.

She ripped a piece of the steak off and began chewing as she wrapped the paper back up and sent the food back into the fridge. She then made her way out of the kitchen and plopped down on her couch, stretching her legs out to rest her feet on the coffee table just across the way. “How you been Lilith? Hopefully life is going smoother for you than for me.”

_{Evening
Streets of Mantleville
Interacting with: @Massasauga Rebecca @CitrusArms Yumeiko no Yumi-chan}

---

"It's less about having the documents to change and more just...what I'm used to, y'know?"

Velvet blew a breath out, spat out some hair, let out a soft laugh. "I mean, if you think about it, my name was only Alviva for what, a hundred years, two hundred? It's been a long time since I've gone by that name. Not that I mind it, really, it's just been a while."

She cast her eyes up to the darkening skies as the trio began their walk back to the condo, Japanese food in tow. "I mean, there's only one document that I even have, and that's the fake ID that the condos gave me when I said I was getting a job. Well, and the employment documents and all." It had been so long since anybody had commented on the name Alviva. It was kinda neat. Shit, it's not like it would hurt anything to just fuck around, right?

Hopping forwards a bit, she playfully bumped into Yumi-chan (careful not to let the bag fall, oh my god, Miyuki would murder her and wait for her to reform before murdering her again), a fangy grin on her face and eyes twinkling with mischief. "But like, whatever, right? Not like I need to actually change my name on any documents, really. So sure, might as well, let's see what happens! You know what they say, out with the old, in with the...uh...older!"

---

_{Evening
Streets of Mantleville
Interacting with: @Massasauga Rebecca @CitrusArms Yumeiko no Yumi-chan}

---

"Hmm, war," Alviva mused to herself. "I dunno, once you watch strategy like at Agincourt or the Hundred Years War, it all feels kinda borin,' you know? Though being mostly immortal does tend to change your opinions on these things."

A pause.

"Was that insensitive? I feel like that was insensitive."

Rebecca Holloway
Streets of Mantleville

They didn't know. It wasn't their fault. There was no way that they could've known. They were from different times. Different eras. Before the true brutality of war came to fruition. The old warfare was still bloody and nasty, but there was nothing like watching someone be burned alive by white phosphorus or napalm, or seeing someone disappear after a bomb struck them, or cutting men down in swaths with gunfire from a machine gun.

What's more, she was in a unit that was entirely secret. Their missions, let alone their entire existence, had only just started coming to light recently. The secret war they conducted in Laos and Cambodia, even more secret was the initiative she underwent which resulted in her newest living partner she played host to. Those images flashed through her mind as she walked on down the sidewalk, lost in another time. Her eyes stared straight ahead, looking out at something far past the horizon.

They continued on like that. Silently, for a good while, before Rebecca spoke up. Without looking at either of them, she said,

"My unit had an over 100% casualty rate. We were outnumbered a thousand to one during our missions. I've been shot more times than I care to count. One time I had to call in an airstrike and was too close to the white phosphorous rocket. It exploded too close and I caught it in my side. You know what white phosphorous is? It's like a piece of wax that catches fire when exposed to air and burns as long as it has a chemical reaction going. The only way to get it off is to cut it out along with whatever else it's stuck to, as the intense heat can melt most whatever it touches. I took my knife and cut it out of my side so I could keep going. Gave myself a nasty scar. Laos. 1968. I wasn't even a team leader then. Just an RTO trying to vector in air to keep the NVA off us..."

---

Location: Building 2, Iris's room
Interactions: Iris "@BunniesOfDoom

---

Lilith followed Iris's lead, and her story as she took a soda for herself without really paying much attention to what flavor it was. She'd never really spent much time with Iris, as she'd tended to keep to herself an awful lot, but she seemed to be a gernous hostess.

She watched as the werewolf tore into the raw steak and casually sprawl out on the couch as she heard the invitation to relax a bit and tell her about their day to probably distract them from their own problems long enough for them to go away. After a quick glance around the room, she'd decided there wasn't any seats built for her so she just sat on the floor and the foot of the couch beside Iris and let her legs sprawl across the floor and mostly underneath the coffee-table.

"Frustratingly tedious, sadly." She sighed, "as you know, there are gremlins in this building too. They're staying clear of the clinic to the best of my knowledge, basically since causing a death or complicating any grievous injuries would be a breach of their accords. But the computer network and wiring has been fair-game. Mostly I've been trying to keep busy by keeping Eildh company and fixing any faults in the wiring... one of the gremlins apparently broke into the spare ethernet and laid a trail up to the roof and through the pool at building three before cutting the actual internet... Even though I knew it was a prank, I was compelled to follow that 500 meter line to the end. After that I went back to Eildh's to rest and dry-off and maybe get some praise for my work... Then I felt you shaking the building again and so I let you in and you know the rest."

She paused, almost hesitating, although eye-contact regarding a drider is kinda meaningless when they have all-round vision, she made a point to make an effort to give Iris some face-time rather than seemingly staring off into the void and watching Iris's facial-reactions from the security-feeds. "Being in building two is a like living in a cage. Sure, we can use the bracelets to venture outside for a few hours, but that's hardly any time to just be myself. I spent a year at the academy learning to be an adventurer, eight years if you account the the multi-dimensional time-dilation." Then she smiled not-so-innocently at Iris, "What do you say we remind the gremlins that we aren't locked in here with them, they're locked in here with us? Perhaps we'll even find the one that tried to lock you outside."

---

Location: Building 2, Her Room
Interactions: Lilith @Foster

---

Iris let out a huff of annoyance when Lilith told her about how the gremlins were causing chaos in their building. She was sick of these gremlins already. They had ruined everything about that day. It was supposed to be a fun day of hunting and it was spiraling into a day of anxiety and stress. She was content to just let them be. Other members of the condo were sure to be still hunting them down and turning them in. The stress wasn’t worth the chance for a new phone.

Iris took a big swig of her drink, tucking her other arm behind her head as she closed her eyes. She could feel the wolf under her skin, itching to get out. It rolled along her nerves and sent a shiver down her spine. She needed to maybe call it a day, even though she wasn’t all that tired. Just give up on that day and go to bed. In the morning, the game would be over and the buildings could go back to the way they were. That seemed like the most reasonable plan.

Iris understood Lilith’s pain about being stuck in building two. Though the werewolf could easily go outside without worry that others would notice her, these buildings were still her cage, though not in a physical sense. Iris didn’t trust herself outside the complex with the human population. Her anger and meager patience kept her locked solely behind those walls. She couldn’t imagine herself interacting with the humans again. She refused to allow herself to turn into the monster that still haunted her dreams more than ten years after the incident.

When Lilith recommended them go hunting the gremlins like the monsters they were, Iris just stared at her in disbelief. “Have you lost your mind? I know you heard of what happened to Velvet!” She chugged the rest of her drink before standing and heading into the kitchen. “You want me to wolf out just so we can go and make the gremlins regret messing with building two?!” She hurled her empty can into the trash can, the force of it causing the can to rock violently. The problem wasn’t that Iris couldn’t do it. She could. She had enough protein in her body now that she could switch to wolf and back without any kind of consequences. The problem was that she wanted to. Oh god- did she want to.

She moved to the counter, looking back at Lilith with an intense gaze. Her grip on the counter was so tight, her knuckles were white and she could feel the song of the hunt calling to her, pleading with her. Just let go. It sang in her ears. Come and run. Come and hunt with me. She groaned loudly as she dragged her hands down her face before she clasped them over her ears and shook her head. “It’s such a bad idea.” She pulled on her ears, knowing that covering them wasn’t going to stop the song. It came from within, from her wolf half. It boiled her blood and quivered her body.

But those damn gremlins were causing so much trouble. She could help bring this damn game to an end. But what if the wolf got too consumed? What if they got all the gremlins but that wasn’t enough. She groaned again, banging her head down on the counter as she dragged her fingers through her hair. Her nerves prickled and her body screamed at her to let go. The wolf thrashed at its containment.

Without moving her head from the counter, she reached out to open a drawer. She pulled out a revolver before setting it loudly on the counter next to her. She looked up at Lilith, blue specks dotting her brown orbs. “Fine. Fine. But you need to take this. If things get out of hand, shoot me. Silver bullets. Take my legs. If that doesn’t work go for my lungs. If I’m still going,” she put a finger between her eyes as she stared at Lilith. “Don’t miss,” she hissed before pointing back to the gun. “The wolf is a different beast with the hunt. Don’t miss.”

Iris was pretty sure that the wolf already had its fun the day before and the moon wasn’t full anymore, despite how close it seemed. She hoped that things wouldn’t get out of hand but Lilith had said she was trained as an adventurer for years. She could handle the beast if it started to cause trouble. So with a groan and a deep sigh, Iris began to unthread her boots. She wasn’t going to let the wolf ruin perfectly good clothing. “I mean it, Lilith.” She said as she threw her boots to the side. “Don’t let me get out of hand. I’m trusting you.” She locked eyes on the spider woman, the blue almost completely engulfing the brown now. “God, this is a mistake. I just know it.”

She walked into her bedroom and stripped out of her clothes before finally releasing the chains on the wolf. The shift rolled over her, changing her once more into the large black canine. After a few moments, the wolf came trotting out of the bedroom, crystal blue eyes locking on Lilith before a predatory grin formed on its muzzle. “A hunt you say! Let’s fucking go.”

---

Location: Mantleville Streets
Interactions: Velvet @Lemons, Rebecca @Massasauga

The copy gave a giggle as she was bumped, her long, blond hair swaying behind her. She considered what she’d just found out, humming softly before she would speak, “such a barely-used name hardly feels old, at all. If you consider time used as a name’s age, Alviva is newer.”

As the conversation turned to war, and Alviva offered her piece, Yumi looked at her with a shaving of concern, “maybe?” The warring period had not stayed so cavalier, but it had been an interesting period of warfare. Warfare became more.. effective, toward the end that era.

The horror of Rebeccas’s story was not lost on the copy Yumi. She was listening deliberately, being sure to retain this for Yumeiko. “That’s horrible. A flaming wax, that melts anything it touches.. war truly has changed.” It had only become more horrible. Was the battlefield not a place of honor and valor, anymore? Instead, it had become a place of horror and death..? There had always been death, but not like that. She reached out, tenderly placing a hand on Rebeccas’s shoulder.

“Let’s get back, already. Would you like a drink, Rebecca? We have a stash of sake.”

---

Location: Building 2
Interactions: Iris @BunniesOfDoom

---

Lilith rolled her eyes and took the revolver, checking the cylinder with considerably more familiarity than a person who'd just been handed some random revolver should have been able to. She ensured it had six shots at her disposal before closing the cylinder and setting it to half-cock. She then quickly strung out a silken lanyard that rested across her chest to the butt of the gun while Iris was in the other room getting undressed.

She had not heard what happened to Velvet, but she figured the blood-sucker sorta earned whatever they'd gotten. "Actually I figured you'd want to do this for yourself, and if you want someone like me to chaperone for you, that's fine." She explained as she finished her soda.

When Iris emerged, asking about the hunt Lilith huffed a reminder as she moved in front of the door, "It's only catch-and-release. But that just means they'll become better prey for next year we do this, deal?" Iris was still a rather large canine, slightly taller than herself. If Iris stood a bit shorter she'd have been tempted to give her headpats. But then she had an idea, crawling over, she reared up on her hind legs to get eye-level with the werewolf, and gave them a hug, "Thanks for agreeing to come along!" She exclaimed, "I'm gonna go get my bullwhip!"

In about the same amount of time it took for it to register what had happened, Lilith was already out the door, again using it to transition to walking the ceiling, was on the second floor in her room, and then back. The rustling of any unsecured papers could be heard as she zoomed past. Also one of the hallway paintings acquired a slight tilt, which she somehow found the time to adjust on her return-trip. She only then dropped back down to the floor. "We should probably start at the ground-floor and work our way up, that way they cannot escape." She suggested "That way we can claim all the gremlins in the building for ourselves, we'll win for sure!"

She then pointed at her sniffer, "If you can point me in the general direction of where they're gathered, I could watch for any gremlins trying to flee." She smiled to herself, gremlins were tiny creatures, it wouldn't take much venom to paralyze them for a few minutes, and tie them up for when it wore-off. Although she did want to keep enough in reserve in case Iris went a little wild, she would rather not have to shoot her friend in the head.

---

Location: Building 2, Her Room
Interactions: Lilith @Foster

---

The wolf’s ears dropped back when the spider woman said that their little hunt was only catch and release. ”I- that’s- I can totally just catch and release! It’s not- that hard!” She wolf huffed indignantly as she pouted. However, when Lilith stepped up to wrap her legs around Iris in a tight hug, the wolf softened and smiled just slightly. “Hey, yo, no need to go getting all sentimental on me!” The wolf watched her hurry off, an eyebrow quirked up in surprise. Did she say bullwhip? She wasn’t going to use that thing on Iris, was she?

Slowly the wolf trotted out into the hallway, the pads of its feet producing no sound as it went. It’s ears perked this way and that, listening intently to the sounds of the building. They were hunting gremlins. Those are nasty little, stinky fellows that liked to mess with things they shouldn’t be getting their hands on. When she heard the sound of claws clicking along tiles, she peered up to the ceiling and saw Lilith making her way back towards the werewolf.

The wolf sat down in the middle of the hall, watching as the woman drew closer and closer. As she instructed the canine on how they should start their hunt, the wolf’s tail began to swish excitedly on the ground. A wolfish grin crossed her face as she stretched out, her front paws reaching out wide in front of her, her sharp claws making clicking sounds on the tile. “It shouldn’t take too long to get their scent.” She straightened once again, standing on all four paws as she rose her head into the air and took a deep inhale.

A flurry of scents flooded her senses. Lilith, Eilidh, Max, and a few other residents that lived on that floor. Thankfully, most the monsters in this building were more on the recluse side so she didn’t have to worry about too many different scents to sort through. And just behind the smells of her friends lingered the scent of those gremlin bastards.

Her eyes snapped closed as she took another long inhale of breath. Oh yeah. That was definitely the gremlin scent. Locking onto it, she dropped her head to the ground and inhaled again. There it was! Just beside her feet and along the wall. Hackles rose slightly as she took off down the hall, following the scent as it streamed through the building. She found another one that had joined the current one she was tracking, and a few feet down the way, another joined the line. She may have found a whole horde of them or possibly their little secret hiding spot.

She came to a closet, a small hole drilled through the bottom of the frame. She stuck her nose into the hole and took a deep inhale. Sure enough, the room stank of gremlins. Her ears perked forward as she listened, hearing things rustling around in there. Blue eyes flashed as she peered back at Lilith, a broad predatory grin on her face.

Got some.

---

Location: Building 2, ground floor
Interactions: Iris @BunniesOfDoom

---

Lilith smirked when she saw Iris's reaction to her mentioning bringing a bullwhip to their game. she saw it even as she had her back to them, having eyes on back of her head had its advantages. Still, she waved a leg in acknowledgement as she disappeared up the stairs. Sometimes it was best to let Iris's wolf-mind run-wild with what a drider could do to her with a bullwhip than to actually use it.

She returned to watch Iris enact her plan, taking careful note on her behavior in case it shifted to something more feral as she followed them to a subtly modified broom-closet. As Iris flashed a candidly wolfish grin, Lilith crouched low in preparation to move, bullwhip out and ready, but seemingly facing the wrong direction. Still, she nodded; she had implicitly promised this was a hunt mostly for Iris's benefit, and that her presence was mostly for other-Iris's peace-of-mind and to collect and secure Iris's 'kills'.

Behind the door were four very surprised gremlins playing poker, which to be fair was a fair sight better than the alternative of simply finding the little-gremlins' room. One was petrified on the spot, the others bolted. Here Lilith managed to snag one by lunging at them and sinking her fangs into one of their legs, paralyzing them just enough so that they could only hop on one leg until they fell-over and had to drag themselves around, another was knocked senseless by the loud concussive crack of a bullwhip, essentially flashbanging them as she gave chase to the fourth one as it scrambled around a corner down the hall for the locked doors leading outside.

---

Letting one 'go' hoping it leads to the others. Also, why do I suddenly hear doom-music?
-May need to add more gawblins for Iris to 'slay'/

---

Location: Building 2, Hallways
Interactions: Lilith @Foster

---

The wolf bit at the gremlins as they scrambled past her. She lunged in, catching the one frozen in place between her jaws. Her ears flicked about excitedly as she followed the others out of the closet. They were yelling profanities as they ran, one even turning to flick Iris off but was quickly knocked senseless by Lilith’s bullwhip. The crack of the whip caused Iris’s ears to flatten back against her head and she gave her head a quick shake, the gremlin in her mouth going for a short ride while she did so. God, that whip was loud.

After a moment to settle herself once more, Iris gave chase to the giant spider lady. Her eyes caught sight of the gremlin trying to crawl his way out of trouble. When he spotted Iris, he froze but the wolf was told that they weren’t to kill the gremlins, though if she killed the one locked in her jaws, it sure would make this game far more effective. Nonetheless, she kept running with the grumbling creature locked in her jaws.

A large grin was on the wolf’s face as she barreled through the halls, her breath coming in joyous pants. She was enjoying the hunt. So when it came to a sudden end because the gremlin found itself trapped in the lobby of the building, struggling to open the front door, Iris lowered her body. She gave the gremlin in her mouth a vicious shake before spitting it out on the ground at Lillith’s feet. The small creature groaned, its brain well and truly dizzy from such a violent shaking.

The wolf bared its fangs at the little gremlin that was now scrambling against the wall, trying to find anything to get out of the trap it led itself in. A low growl escaped the canine as it stepped closer before pouncing on the small creature. Fangs snapped down on the creature and the wolf gave the thing a quick shake. The gremlin covered its mouth, making a retching sound before laying limp in the wolf’s jaws, grumbling the whole time.