[color=lightgreen][center][h3][i][b]Day 2: 00:51:20 Outside of Koley Railyard, Koley, Libor Province, Republic of Polavia [/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color] [img]https://ro.dbcargo.com/resource/image/13289262/8:3/1920/720/ebbd2d59c140c237e14471bd30838d90/DF6B65BFB376B5EA6D3DD33ECDF909EA/Stage-DBC-Academy.jpg[/img] The lion paced along rail track. All the thoughts in his head. Clara. Seeing her wasn't a priority, but....Lyra was. His daughter. Getting shot in the neck, he thought about that a lot. But he was lucky enough to have nine lives. Well, as a lion, he was basically just a cat with slightly more than claws, he had teeth. He could rip, tear, pierce, take whoever he wanted. Not that it was exactly working well for him, but, he had saved Rowan. That was enough for now. [img]https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2KHKB9N/a-recreation-of-a-typical-wood-rail-car-part-of-the-many-trains-that-brought-prisoners-to-the-camp-at-the-museum-for-the-victims-of-political-repres-2KHKB9N.jpg[/img] Oksana helped Rowan out as she half-elegantly broomed her way into the door, holding her up as she struggled, burnt out, down on her mana, down on her luck, and about to drop. The Polavian rested her down, peeling out a tonic and grabbing her own first aid kit, the modified batch having a bunch of needles in it, as Rowan stabbed in a cocktail of sugar and liquid-dissolved blueberry-like mana into her vein, using a more typical cotton bud and wipe to patch her bleeding mouth and nose. It would save Silas beating the shit out of her, at least, not having to keep swinging like there was no tomorrow. Speaking of.... As Felix was peeled in, he roared as if by reaction, as hurt as Rowan was in his lion form, this somehow still being better than his other form, which was near death. He appreciated Borys scooping him up, but had little way of showing it, as he slumped across the floor, panting heavily, the sort of groan that sounded like a knell. Rowan got some attention first, of course. But when Silas started swinging at Felix, he yelled, not an angry roar, but like he'd got his foot caught in a trap. A diffuse, broad, yell. He hadn't interacted with his magic yet. And he shifted. Felix switched to his human form, blood pouring out of his lower neck, a weird schlurp sealing up the wound. The next punch sending him back as the big cat reappeared, the lion's roar back albeit the cuts and couple of bullets he'd taken vanishing. Before the next punch got his human form again, his gear staying with him through some absolute, critical bullshit, his wound on his neck seemingly sealed. Before the final punch hit, and the lion returned. That lion of Felix seemed healed, back to life, as he groaned, peeling a paw back onto floor to stand, not quite as majestic as ever, the coil spring pulling back in... And the zoomies were there. He immedately went to Rowan, giving her a sniff, as he lept across before Silas got up from sitting on the floor in his tired state, giving him a solid, massive, lick on his neck and back, basically towering over him and wrapping his front legs over his shoulders, like a hug. It was like velcro, and the blood and gore was all but gone. It was like a cat showing love, as he shifted away. Felix couldn't shift back. Maybe his other self was healing? Felix couldn't make sense of it, but he had a feeling his other self would appreciate some rest right now, as he looked around at the others. Non verbal. "Okay.....we choosing being a cat? Or we coming back? I am so done with this. Convenient. Sure. But I can't even look into your future. Only that you got us here, and now, we can't even talk to you!" Oksana simply retorted as if she was angry at thin air rather than just Felix, checking over Rowan once more, who was passed out asleep, sitting herself down, checking her pulse, looking across to Borys, as he approached her. [quote]With the lion safely aboard, Borys turned to Oksana, lightly tapping the rangefinder she’d given him with his finger. “Do you want this back? Because if not, I’ll gladly keep it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fucking weird, but really useful.”[/quote] Oksana put her hand out and took the rangefinder back. "That's what everyone says. I appreciate it, but I'd like to hang onto it for now." She added, watching as Silas looked around the empties of the train, and in what was a Christmas miracle in Spring, found one crate that was full. [quote]He slugs his way over and cracks a crate, "hmm don't think they'd miss a bottle huh?" Reaching into his medbag he pulls a wicked looking knife using it to Crack the top, "emm..." and he tips back before offering the bottle around, "might be the only joy we get for awhile." He expound as everyone catches their breath.[/quote] "How did you find the only full one?" Oksana asked, as Felix walked over. She was in the right place to take a swig, feeling a brush against her leg, taking the bottle from Silas before Borys could, brushing a shot down. Felix wanted involvement. "Oh fuck. Really? You nearly fucking died? Now this?" She added, watching the lion shadow her. He wasn't changing back as readily. Felix groaned, as she realised that the lion was asking for booze. And he didn't seem keen on switching back. Gently swiping an unclawed foot against Oksana's foot, brushing his mane on her. Cats couldn't drink, she thought? Yet the lion rolled over at the Polavian's feet. Oksana knew this from her own cat. But fuck the guy, if he wanted this, then he was getting a bad decision. She poured more than a shot measure into his jaw, Felix moaning out and straight up purring. This absolutely fucking wasn't weird. Were lions able to drink alcohol? Could their livers even do it? Her cat couldn't, but a half man, half lion? Like, biologically, where the fuck were they? Did Felix know what was going on? So many questions. So, so many questions. Oksana just came out with them. "Felix, you fucking dipshit, why on earth would a lion want.....fine....did you kill Olygarkov at least? In exchange for....the best thing I'm gonna find this side of catnip? If you shit anywhere, I swear on all the Gods, I'm going to climb in that jaw and rip out your tonsils!" Oksana asked, her vision enough to see the dickhead Polavian from earlier coming into view when she jumped in, but not confirm quite what had gone down. Felix's delightful growl all but confirmed it, literally, licking his lips. "I'm not even going to ask why you can't change back." Oksana asked, then looking to Borys, wondering if he had a method to get him back. Felix was hurt in both forms, clearly, but he was stuck as a lion right now. Oksana was now wondering if the pisshead had any more great ideas. Silas could punch him, maybe, but she didn't want to hassle the medic. He had earned his vodka, and surprisingly, Oksana didn't care enough to ask the shorter Libolian to smack his compatriot, even if she really wanted to herself. Borys was making a great beast-master. But unlike a drunk with his favourite cat, this was a bit more extreme in every scale. [quote]Once Felix had been healed and back in human form, Borys pulled out the package from Oksana’s babushka. “Hungry?” He offered.[/quote] Felix shifted back in, the height difference putting his head too close, nodding with a smile as he took the sandwich and gulped it down, inhaling the pastrami and cheese sandwich, despite the fact he felt half sick. Actually processing the booze now. He slid the ring off his human-now fingers, pushing it back into Borys's hand. The signet ring, with a fragment of tooth in it. Something before the inevitable. "Thanks, I'm burnt out, the injury is going to keep...." It was him cut off by involuntarily shifting back, the wound in his neck still hurting a little bit too much. Borys would have seen it heal, but the lion was clearly the more stable of the two states right now. The vodka bottle was put into his hand as he would have looked, and turned to see Oksana letting Felix flicker back. The ring would have felt weird in Borys's hands. His hearing, night sight, touch would have felt a lot stronger. But it was the last Felix could give for now. Staying put as a lion was now a bit weird it was involuntary, but the lion seemed to actually break a smile, nuzzling close against Borys, the salty crumbs licked up off the floor, as he stood before him, like a cat that was at least seven foot long. A magnificent golden-red mane, a few cuts across his face, and a belly full of the most succulent cuts of Grandma's sandwiches and Polavian commie-fascists. It would be hard to talk to him. But if a lion could talk about now, he was appreciating Borys a lot more for that sandwich, as he gave a big stretch, a massive yawn that revealed the mass of teeth, limbs and jaw that an African Lion possessed, and proceeded to leap up onto a wooden crate, a tiny bit above Borys's eye level, curling up and falling asleep, with a gutteral, loud snore that kicked in within the space of about a minute. Oksana sighed, disappointed, taking the bottle out of Borys's hand before he got too shitfaced, and took a serious swig of the Polavian Standard, wiping her lips, before passing it across to Silas. Words weren't coming out. Nothing was. They all seemed broken, exhausted, burnt out. She took a moment to compose herself. "Your Western movies say this is the bit we all contemplate life. Is it?" Oksana asked Silas, shaking her head, the Druid Witch staggering herself to a bit of floor, and proceeding to dump herself onto the ground, looking to the others, more in general. "The train takes about six hours. The lines are shitty. But with any luck, we can make it to Novy Jork. Worst case, we dump his ass in a zoo." Oksana remarked, as Felix gutturally moaned somewhat quietly in disapproval, the lion in the corner making his opinions heard, despite being very fast on the way to being as cold out as Rowan was. "Or, best case, there's a hotel we just need to get to. Should be easy. We just need to get off the train, find somewhere quiet so someone can grab us some civilian clothing, then get to Pavel's. Get papers. Done. End this fucking nightmare. But if they want Rowan, I wonder what we do for her. The Lieutenant Colonel will keep hunting if he wants something. Polavia will not be safe if so. And I can't think or see the fucking future when I'm this tired.....anyway. We should rest." Oksana commented, yawning herself at the end with her word salad, the fact that the team were partially drunk, on a train, after six of the most intense hours of their recent weeks, hunted by a growing number of paramilitaries and special forces, and now, stuck with a fucking lion that didn't seem to want to change back. She leaned back against the bulkhead, and didn't yet close her eyes, letting others react, talk, say words, before her head drifted back against plywood. [hr] [img]https://hungarytoday.hu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/D_MTZ20200410007.jpg[/img] The train clattered, the forest through the tiny crack in the door always there, shut now, the clinking of a points change or a rough railway sleeper jolting everything. The night continued, as the team licked their wounds, Felix asleep, Oksana fading in and out. They should have kept a patrol. But they were all feeling the affects of adrenaline, burnout, wiping through mana, and most importantly of all, being drunk. Rowan had been passed out a while, and Oksana had slept next to her, head leaning against her collapsed overcoat. And Rowan was likely to be experiencing something very, very weird. Well, just her at first, then Silas, then Borys.... ------=============================///////////////////////////////////////////////////===============--- With this much mana, especially of a chronomancer's kind, Oksana was playing back a memory. A memory, a dream, a nightmare? It seemed to tie Rowan in, as Oksana played it back. Running across that border. Turning and shooting at the wall. As the Polavian looked to her side, seeing Rowan, in her usual garb, looking on. "Ah. Uhhhh.....yeah, my dreams have a habit of this. Really sorry. We might want to get out of this one." Oksana exclaimed. This was a lucid, if not outright perverse dream. Nailing perfect headshots sadly came with the worst of time-dilated effects. And as any dream played out, it was the realisation none of this was quite real, but the faint, centre of eye details were. Rowan, if she looked to her side, the look of Oksana a bit different to what she normally looked like. Younger. Much, much younger. Barely out of being a teenager. "I have really, really powerful dreams. Side-effect of ketamine, kurwa! This one usually comes back lately....." Oksana simply retorted.....as if it was another Tuesday, seeing Borys asleep by a bit of barbed wire, as she pulled a spare grenade and threw at him, pin unpulled, as if to wake him up, gunfire then erupting as a klaxon went off. "We need to keep running! That MG is gonna chew us out!" Oksana yelled back at Rowan, as suddenly, the sound of a machine gun opened up, a full alarm going, and it seemed to almost turn inside out. What looked like a portal opened ahead in a ruined house in No Man's Land, as Oksana dived over the concrete block, and shot back with the SVD she'd managed to tack. It was always that. The machine gun stopped as her bullet found mark, and she looked back at Rowan, Borys and Silas. "Run! I'd head for that exit!" She yelled, as with it, Oksana then sprinted out, across, and out, towards the door, the others phasing through and getting spat out into their own dreams. Or awake. For others, their dreams might have continued. But for Oksana, the portal was hollow. She kept on running. And going. Until it all went grey, and then.... [hr] [color=gold][center][h1][i][b]Act Two: Redirected[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Part Three: Bottoms Up[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [color=lightgreen][center][h3][i][b]Day 2: 05:35:52 Somewhere near Novy Jork Krumov Province, Republic of Polavia [/b][/i][/h3][/center][/color] [img]https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/breathtaking-silhouette-freight-train-traverses-vast-expanse-russian-railway-landscape-bathed-dramatic-hues-fiery-354101856.jpg[/img] Waking up, Oksana was in a cold sweat, as the train clattered along, that dream not being one she'd seen in a while. And while possessing control in a spirit dream, after the intensity of what had just happened, she would rather that didn't happen. Drink, ketamine, seering, exhaustion. The unholy four that could fuck any good witch of the east up. It turns out when you've got this much mana in you, your dreams pull others in. Why Rowan, Silas and Borys? She wasn't sure. She hoped they'd remain asleep, but Rowan, well, she was that close. She wouldn't brush that off. The early dawn was yellow lit with gas lamps, as they passed slowly through a trainyard, the speeding up of the train indicating they were moving faster post-yard. They were closer to the capital, that much was for certain. She rubbed her eyes, seeing lion-Felix snore, bottle of vodka next to him, breaking out in laughter, exhaling hard as she walked across, sitting down and rubbing her hand through his mane and through his top, before looking back to Rowan, setting herself down. She'd likely woken the DSR native up, Oksana putting Rowan's witch hat back on her abdomen, sitting down, sitting by her side, sipping down water from her canteen. "Morning. I apologise you saw that. It's this weird memory that seems to have come up a lot the more I come here." Oksana looked to the side, breathing deeply, running her hand into Rowan's, offering the canteen first, letting the Chemical Witch sip down. She offered some electrolytes in her spare hand. "I escaped Polavia when I was younger. Ran across the border. Shit, sorry. You don't want to hear it. You saw it there. Sort of." Oksana cut herself off, realising, looking across, then back at Felix. She almost, for a half second, showed vulnerability. The Polavian was hard as nails, blunt, but Rowan would feel a third of a lifetime in her hands that had more wear and tear in it than it really should have. Sliding across her rangefinder, Roxie passed it into her hands. "So, they want you dead. Makes two of us. So, if you get into a fight again, this might give you an edge. Should allow you to seer into the future a little. Whatever they want you for sounds serious, if it's chemical weapon related. But we shall work it out. Together." Oksana added, passing it across, the vessel held by Borys earlier now in Rowan's hands. Her brutal, blunt, almost comically sharp Slavic tone held no empathy, but it was to the point. It was something Rowan was likely getting used to by now, Roxie's cold, almost leaf-like hand against Rowan's. "So, did Olygarkov say anything before he died? I don't recognise him. But he looked sleazy before Felix turned him into a pie. So I assume he's one of that fat bastard's cronies." Oksana asked, as in the background, there was a rustling. Felix shifted, rolling off the crate, and yelping, human form suddenly shifting as he fell away. "Ahhhhh! Fucking cunt!" Felix added, clutching his side as he rolled over, Oksana about to run up and check he was okay, as he patted himself down, looking around, standing up in a panic. "Did I do anything stupid last night? Sorry. When I'm hurt, I can't switch as easy. We seem okay though? Plan worked?" Felix spoke matter of factly, as Oksana giggled, shaking her head, almost frisbeeing his hat across to him, as he caught it. "Where are we?" Felix asked, looking to the others, who were now waking up, after their team leader had literally woken up out of bed the wrong way. From Rowan, who was recovering, to Borys, who was probably waking up considering a hair of the dog, to Silas, who was no doubt, burnt out himself, exhausted from what the fuck he had been brought into. "Yeah, noted. It fucking worked. Barely." The Polavian's rasp was barely hiding her disdain, but, in a fucked up kind of way, she was glad he was back to normal, and more importantly, away from the PSA and DSR hunting them down, for now. There was actual optimism. She looked across to Silas, looking around Borys, hand up as if to get attention. "What does he owe you? Like, what are we saying, how many dollars for your services is it he's seriously in debt to you for?"