and I took one shot

[hotspurred]

Who: Kate Galloway (dedikated) & Henry Percy (hotspurred)
What: Investigating a certain dangerous pocket of the city...
Where: The Silent Hill Zone.
When: Half an hour after this exchange.
Warnings: Violence and SH-typical horror, I guess?


It must leave one sore, Henry reflected, as he came to halt in front of Sorrow's temple a few minutes early, to have such substantial evidence of one's mistake marring the city.

Not everyone on the Guard was happy to work with Kate. In truth, he wondered at the reception that this venture would receive once his comrades learned of it. As far as he was concerned, she had earned a pardon. That was a divisive opinion and, optimistic when it suited him to be, Henry hoped that their efforts today would lend his stance credence. It was an undeniable risk to set foot into the lingering portion of Silent Hill, but if there was a chance that Kate could dispel its defiling fog and by that the evil that lurked within, then the peril they were about to face was of trifling consideration.

The Guard had been formed to defend the residents of the city. This was a battle worth fighting. Victory here would be potent.

Fully armed and armoured, with a lantern hanging from his sword belt, and one of Kate's healing trinkets -- that tacky friendship bracelet -- worn under his right gauntlet, Henry was as prepared as he possibly could be.

He waited for Kate to show up with a small measure of impatience, eager to begin.

Comments

Silent Hill is not ready for the north tbh.

[dedikated]

She walks the last part of the journey, rather than run. Rather than jump from roof to roof. An effort to conserve her power, to make sure she has enough stamina to hit harder and move quicker in the waking nightmare she created.

(Henry's musings are not wrong, but this is not the first time she's had her failures broadcasted in her face. So, Kate is capable of doing damage control, even if she doesn't name it, recognise it as such. She's been doing it since she texted Henry saying she owed the guard an explanation.)

She steels herself as she enters the realm of Sorrow's temple - guarding her heart from her emotions is not her strong point, even if she doesn't broadcast them all that openly. Breathe.

"Hey," she nods her greeting, raises a hand as her bag of weapons clinks heavy against her thigh. It's mostly blades now, all of them unfamiliar weights and shapes that Kate dislikes - they're not hers, none of her blades have been hers since day one here - but they're weapons. They're things she can throw and move with, the things that suit her style best. "Ready?"

[hotspurred]

Henry nods a return greeting, before his gaze flicks to her bag. It's not the most efficient way of carrying weapons, but that's her choice.

"Let us go," he affirms decisively, ready to get straight to their task.

Not that he moves first. He intends to let her lead, keeping close so that he may take the front when combat arises.

After a moment, his brow furrows slightly. There is, perhaps, one more preparation to make -- an opportunity that he wishes to seize. How effective it shall prove remains a mystery.

"Could you imbrue... something on your front with a measure of your power?"

[dedikated]

It's worked for her so far. She can compensate for the weight with ease, knows where things are without looking and likes the added anchor to reality that it gives. Sure, she hasn't needed it, technically, in years - she hasn't used the smoke bombs she used to since she left The Agency - but it's.

A constant.

She's fine with taking point, seems to slide into it easily (when you're underground and unable to see, wary of lighting fire because it could attract attention, the ability to see in front of your face with the light provided by glowing power is important. So she always took point) and drops her hand towards her bag. Alongside the weapons, there's one blade designed specifically to see if there are any remnants of Sharon's power around. She'd attempted to find a way to detect her own, but it would detect her enchantments every time.

It's highly unlikely her power would be hanging around anyway. That's not how it works.

Kate's almost a couple of steps towards the zone when she hears the question, looking back with a blink. "Ah? What d'ya have in mind?"

[hotspurred]

The ease at which Kate takes the lead is a good sign, as far as Henry is concerned. Experience is invaluable.

"When I am from," the qualifier feels strange on his tongue, "The greatest of those blessed by God with unique abilities may... extend their ability to others when they wield it. Your power might well suffice as a hook."

It is worth a test, as far as he is concerned; it's temporary and she does not need to exert any control, meaning there is no binding required -- all that is needed is a compatible divine spark.

[dedikated]

When, where. The entire thing is strange. It isn't just countries they spoke of any more, but decades, centuries, and universes. People spoke of Earths that are nothing like the Earth Kate knows and it's weird. It's not her thing, not really - she's never fallen over herself to learn the mythology of her people like some of her friends (she knows the big things, like the constant disagreements on their origins, or the significance of superhumans who are bestowed with the titles of Phoenix or Vampire, but hardly all of it).

But, speaking of Henry's world, of his... abilities, gets her brow raising. Gets her steps slowing down, makes her tilt her head in thought and run her tongue along her teeth.

Interesting. She may not care for the history of her people in the same way Alicia does, but present Kate with powers and her eyes light up in the way that can only come from feeling useful.

(It's stronger here, the light in her eyes, because powers are so different here, and her own curiosity mingles with the desire to be useful and sparks a much stronger fire.)

As for the suggestion, it should - there is no reason it shouldn't work, anyway. It is, essentially, what her power does. Hooks onto other powers and takes it from there - whether that is simply to see them, or to manipulate them in some way.

"Should be possible," she murmurs in response, taking the first step into the zone that she helped create. Should, because she's still - even now that the healing trinkets have worked, have been going well - a little apprehensive of how her powers work down here, where the rules are different. "Would have to check if I could see your powers. Otherwise it's like a square peg in a round hole." Not going to work right.

[hotspurred]

As the scenery and atmosphere around them changes, so too does Henry's bearing. He shifts into a ready stance and draws his sword from its scabbard; he raises his shield to its combat resting pose, ready to wield; his gaze and demeanour sharpen, keenly alert. It is, essentially, a battlefield, and so he treats it like one. There is to be no mercy ahead.

Unlike what they call zeal, his nemesis shield is completely under his command, so that is viable.

"What I have in mind is sustained. How long do you require?"

[dedikated]

Her hands immediately pull down sunglasses from her head - it seems counterintuitive, and it likely won't do much unless the cave beasts are around, but it makes her feel better.

Much like slipping a knife out of her bag does, too. There's a tension to her body, everything electric, like a wire ready to spark fire across a room - muscles coiled tight and movements quick and too sharp.

(Okay, so this place makes her stomach knot, makes her want to hurry the fuck on out of here. Can anyone blame her? This is not Kate's home, and the suffocating atmosphere, the fog and the promise of battle, makes the caves feel even more like the battlegrounds she was supposed to leave behind.)

"Uh," she glances around the corner of a building. It's quiet. Well, not quiet - the sirens are blaring, but there's nothing here. Yet. "Can vary. More you tell me about it, the quicker it should be."

[hotspurred]

Henry is a knight of the finest calibre. When it comes to battle, he picks up even the smallest of physical details instinctively -- which is why the way she moves make him grimace. Manifesting unease is an exploitable weakness. He hopes that it won't become a problem.

"Dark spectacles...?" he queries, puzzled, keeping his voice low enough not to obstruct the noise coming from around them.

Naturally, he means her sunglasses. His tone infers a longer question: what is their purpose?

As for the matter at hand.

"An impenetrable shield. Physical, magical, both -- the type of assault matters not. All force exerted upon it is at once returned in full. That blow also stuns. There is no limit to what it may withstand. But the price is complete and unyielding focus."

In a small, grossly simplistic way -- they are not truly comparable -- it is opposite in nature to hers: where her power strongly attracts other powers, his violently repels them.

[dedikated]

"Helps me see," she answers, rolling her neck and shoulders as she makes her way through the area, glancing up and down streets. The monsters Sharon created are beyond her sight with these things, but if something from the caves has appeared, has made its home here... she'll at least see those. It's all little habits that come back into play during times like these - the hand at her bag, the quick steps and tension that will, eventually, dissipate.

(The anticipation is always the worst part. Battle is natural, means there's no time to contemplate.)

"Yeah?" That sounds like one hell of a shield. She's met a few superhumans who can create barriers, stop things in their tracks with physical walls as much as power-created, energy-based ones. They're usually not that... unlimited. But then, the trade off... well. That sounds fair. Makes sense. Everything has a trade off. Harder to injure means harder to heal and all of that. "Can see what I can do when we get out of here." That ability... that could be very useful, for a lot of things.

[hotspurred]

Who is he to suggest otherwise? Though it nonetheless seems strange to Henry that darkened glass would help her to in any other situation than bright sunshine bearing down upon them.

He nods at her reply, satisfied. Never mind its wider applications. It would be enough for him to be able to shield Maketh and keep her safe, for once.

But that is enough of that, before it becomes a distraction. He and Kate have a task to accomplish and he is intent on seeing it through.

"How are we proceeding from here?"

Not that it matters if Kate is doing this by instinct rather than plan -- it won't affect his role as back-up -- but he likes to be aware of these things.

[dedikated]

She can agree to this much. Their exploration, and whatever might come of it, should take precedence. After all, the quicker Kate finds out whether or not there's anything which can be done - anything that remains of their abilities...

Well, the quicker they can really concentrate on creating such a thing.

(And Kate can, if nothing else, always approve of people wanting to protect others close to them. Talk to her about your sister from another galaxy, far, far away. Well, one day, perhaps.)

"Left," she decides, for no real reason, but it feels like - looks like, if the curve of the street is any indication - that will take them further in. "Think there's a centre to this place?" She assumes there must be, that some sort of core to this little dimension must exist somewhere within all the ruined buildings and fog.