TIMING: Recent.
LOCATION: The woods
PARTIES: @chasseurdeloup & @nicsalazar
SUMMARY: Kaden and Nicole deal with a snake that's impossible to kill by normal means.
CONTENT WARNING: alcoholism tw, gun use tw.
Nicole could hear Leah’s voice reprimanding her — rightfully so— for not checking the forecast before deciding to go out. Wicked’s Rest had a never-ending supply of crazy scenarios and supernatural beings to surprise her with, yet somehow, a potential storm had never crossed her mind. She had been too busy throwing items in her bag for other, more peculiar enemies to spare a minute to consider the weather.
There was an umbrella at the bottom of her backpack, Nicole recalled, navigating as quickly and safely as possible despite the mud already sticking to her boots. Her car wasn’t too far from where she was when hell broke loose. So yes, she had something to fight the storm with, though by now, soaking through her clothes, it felt like using a bandaid for a bullet wound. She’d be fast and on her way home in no time and all would be forgotten.
Nicole was glad there was no one in the vicinity, because when she caught a glimpse of glowing eyes amid the trees, she almost climbed her way up one from the fright. Almost. Her brain had some sort of miscommunication because her limbs did not move accordingly and instead of finding herself in the air, she slipped, diving face-first onto the forest floor.
Fortunately, other than a bruised ego, Nicole managed to get up with nothing but dirty clothes. When her gaze landed back on the site where she’d spotted those eyes, it was empty. She frowned. Did she just imagine a wild creature or was it on the move?
She knew it didn’t matter in the end, because she was supposed to be on her way back to her car, not chasing strange wildlife. So, Nicole spun around to continue her path just in time for a silhouette to flash before her eyes. “Jesus fucking—” she huffed, closing her eyes in relief when she spotted a man. A hiker, most likely. No glowing eyes to account for. “You almost…” she shook her head, waving her hand dismissively though pressing it against her chest a beat later. “Did you see it? There was a—” she gestured a ball, a head really, but she hadn’t spent enough time staring at it to know what its body looked like. “Saw some glowing eyes. Right there—” her thumb pointed behind her.
There were already plenty of reasons not to be out in the woods attempting to hunt. The first of which was his wounds from the last full moon that were still healing. The second was the rain pouring down on him. The windbreaker and hood wasn’t going to be enough to keep him from getting soaked, though it was doing its best at the moment.
Kaden was about to turn back and head home, just accept that he wasn’t going to do anything helpful today, when he saw someone else appear on the trail ahead of him. She seemed to be short of breath, a little wide-eyed. Putain, guess he wasn’t heading back just yet. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” He walked closer, hands raised in a sort of surrender.
His brows knit together before one raised at her statement. “Did I see what?” He leaned around her, trying to spot what she might be referring to, but he couldn’t see anything. Yet. He knew better than to trust these woods. “Glowing eyes?” That certainly didn’t narrow it down, too many fucking monsters fit that description. His hand went to his belt and pulled out one of the knives hitched there as he crept towards the direction she came from.
Something rustled in the bushes nearby and if he wasn’t seeing things, he was pretty sure the motion of whatever was there was a slither. Putain, if these were more baguettes he fucking swore to hell and back.
“It’s fine,” Nicole waved him off, blowing another shaky breath. Not the first time she had run into someone like that. Not the last time it’d happen either. She was just thankful this one didn’t come at her threatening her life.
Nicole nodded curtly when he asked for confirmation, uncertainty beginning to creep inside her. Maybe she’d imagine said glowing eyes. Maybe it had been some sort of… lighting effect? Abnormal…gas emanating from the forest floor? She may never know. What she did know was that she didn’t want to stay under the fucking rain to figure it out. If it had been sunnier, and if she had been dryer, then yes, her curiosity would’ve won. Not this time.
So she motioned for them to leave the woods, but he had to go and pull a knife from his belt, slowly approaching in the direction she had pointed towards. Nicole raised her eyebrows at that, wondering if she should look for the hatchet inside her backpack. Strength in numbers, just in case. She liked his confidence as he decided to investigate, she supposed. However, that sort of attitude usually led to terrible situations. ‘Fuck around and find out’ and all that. He was definitely fucking around. And she wasn’t leaving… because?
Well, what if he got hurt?
“I heard that,” Nicole warned as the bushes rustled again, heartbeat picking up as the threat became more real. She followed his line of sight, downwards, and caught a glimpse of the creature responsible for the noise. Oh. A snake? Well, she didn’t particularly like reptiles but— wait, with a scorpion tail? “Ah, no. Fuck that. Is that one of the deadly ones? The tail is weird” Do we have to kill it? Is what she wished she had asked instead.
Kaden jumped back as a snake shot out from the bush. “Putain.” It was bigger than he expected. But it wasn’t black and white nor was it a piece of bread so that was some kind of strange relief. His brows creased together when he noticed the tail on the serpent: it looked like a scorpion.
Clearly, he’d cursed too soon. It was a fucking monster. It looked like a beithir, but a little different. Before he could say or do anything, the snake slithered towards the woman and went to lash out at her. Kaden rushed over and grabbed her arms to pull her away, the stinger slamming down into the ground right where her foot had been. “Sorry, just wanted to make sure it didn’t–”
The ranger looked around and the snake was gone already. Putain de merde. “I’ve seen these fu– uh, snakes before. They’re fast. Can be deadly. Uh, maybe. Unless they’re not the kind I think they are.” And it was possible considering that tail wasn’t the barbed variant he was used to seeing. The rest was similar, though. “You should get away. I’m animal control, I’ll handle this.” If he could. That fucker was fast and he wasn’t sure he had the right weapons to deal with a supernatural snake in the rain.
The monster was deceptively agile for such a large snake. Though it was becoming increasingly obvious it wasn’t just a snake. But Nicole would have to worry about indexing the creature in her list of Wicked Rest’s unique fauna later on when they weren’t about to be eaten by it. She had turned to look at the man, who appeared to be putting things together a lot faster than she was, when she felt the quick movement of the creature. Heard it slither fast toward her.
She was being pulled back in a split second, watching the heavy creature strike the ground instead of whatever part of her leg it might have latched onto if he hadn’t reacted so fast. “Appreciate it,” she breathed out, dismissing his apology. Maybe she would’ve had the reflexes to move away on time, but she was thankful she didn’t have to test them.
Her eyes were narrowed, listening to him explain the situation. She’d gathered most of it, except the deadly part. However, that didn’t surprise her. Because, why wouldn’t there be deadly snake-looking monsters in Wicked’s Rest? She was with him, until he suggested she got away. Nicole stared at him like he had grown two heads. “Uh, No. No fucking way. What if it bites you?” Most of all, she really wished people stopped asking her to leave them behind. “I can stay behind, I'm not…” if he was Animal Control, she wasn’t gonna try and overstep. He must’ve had training, but she could assist if needed. “Got anything else on you besides that knife?” her lips pointed at his hands. “I’m carrying a hatchet” she offered, eyes darting around when she heard the slithering once again.
Of course, she wasn’t going to leave. Kaden sighed and accepted the fact he was going to have to look after her in the meantime. It was never his favorite when he had to protect civilians while hunting a monster but it wasn’t unfamiliar. “If it bites me, that’ll be my problem, not yours.” He knew that probably wasn’t the best way to frame things but it was worth a try. And unsurprisingly didn’t convince her to walk away.
“A hatchet?” he repeated. Alright, that was better than nothing. And she looked athletic enough and wasn’t outwardly panicking or freaking out to the point where she was flailing or screaming or anything like that. Maybe this wouldn’t be too terrible if she stuck around. “Hold onto that,” he told her as he reached for his pistol. He didn’t like grabbing it as his first defense but it seemed like the practical solution at this point. “You know how to throw that?” he asked.
He held the gun at eye level, scanning the bushes around them for any signs of the beast. He heard it before he saw it, rustling leaves from behind them and he spun around in front of her, placing himself between it and the woman. He took aim and fired at the scales as they shimmered, catching the light.
Strange. He was pretty sure they hit, but it sounded like the bullets bounced off metal, or something similar. Kaden was about to check that it was loaded properly when the snake-like monster slithered out from the foliage once again. The ranger didn’t wast time and shot at it again. He knew he didn’t miss. In fact, this time, he saw the bullet clink off the creature’s scales.
“Putain,” he muttered in awe. The stinger lashed out at him and Kaden stumbled awy. Even so it, it managed to clip the side of his calf, tearing through his jeans. It didn’t graze his skin. Yet. Fuck. Bullets didn’t work. He had a feeling the blade wasn’t going to do much better. But if it was a beithir, this should have been the perfect weather to injure it.
Unless… It occurred to him that this might be one of the rarer variants of the beast. It wasn’t a bolla, he knew that. Did that make this a fraus? Must be. Fuck, what injured a fraus? He tried to remember the pages of the hunter journals he read day in and day out for years. Fraus. Scorpion stinger. He remembered the word false. That was the word he’d associated with it. False. Lies. Okay, but what about them?
Lies. Right. It was made from lies. A lie come to life. And the truth hurt it. “Hey! I got it. I think.” He was backing away from the fraus arms out to try and shield her if it tried to lash out again. “Start telling this thing truths. Quick!” That would work, right? He fucking hoped so.
Nicole watched him draw his pistol, her grip on the hatchet tightening in response. “Better at hacking than throwing, but I can try”. How hard could it be? Her hand-eye coordination was nothing to write home about, but it was decent. Serviceable. She’d throw it if it came down to it. It seemed, however, that the man wanted to try with his gun first. Smart move, as they didn’t have many options at this point.
The gun didn’t work for shit. Just what they needed, a bulletproof snake. Nicole saw it with her own eyes, no matter how many times he fired and hit his target, the snake received no damage. “What the fuck?” she hissed at the same time he grumbled something that sounded close to ‘puta’. She didn’t need translation to understand what he was saying. She felt exactly the same.
The monster finally managed to get some of its body onto the man, who almost tumbled to the ground, pants torn in the process. Shit, probably bitten. Her heart thundered against her ears and Nicole did the only thing she could think of: She threw the hatchet at it. But it turned out, one thing was aiming, and another was landing a hit. It was a lot harder than she thought. The weapon clattered against a trunk, the handle weakly bumping against the reptile as it bounced on the ground. Well, fuck. That was pretty fucking stupid. She inched closer to her companion, intent on checking for potential injuries, but she didn’t get too far ahead and was instead shielded away from the creature.
Nicole knew the stakes were high, understood he was under an incredible amount of stress, but at no point she could’ve predicted the words that came out of his mouth. He wanted— Did the bite make him insane? “No? The fuck does that mean?” She looked at him as if he had completely lost it. Not only was his solution ridiculous, but he was also putting her in the spot, everything she knew about herself slipping from her mind with one simple prompt. What was a truth anyway? Would any do? Was she seriously considering this? It all sounded a little too simple, too uncomplicated when it came to dealing with a Wicked’s Rest’s exclusive. What in the Pinocchio type bullshit was this? She brushed the wet hair off her face, suddenly aware that the rain was still pouring. Her hands grasped at the air, mouth opening a few times without words making it out. “I’m…I’m 5’7?” Nothing happened. Or— what was he expecting to happen, anyway? The snake slithered towards them, and if she hadn’t had such quick reflexes it would’ve sank its fangs on her. But she stepped aside, and in the process, her balance was gone. She slipped on the ground. Again. Fuck.
Putain, looked like the hatchet wasn’t doing them a whole lot of good, either. “It means what I said,” Kaden shot back at her. He really hoped it worked. He really needed this to work. Because he wasn’t convinced any of the weapons he had on hand were going to work. She spoke, and he was sure he was going to see the reptile-like monster writing in pain any second now.
Only it didn’t and lunged toward them instead. He jumped one way and she went the other, avoiding the serpent’s fangs. She fell back and slid to the ground, but the fraus appeared to be just as strong and agile as it had this entire time.
It hadn’t worked. Why didn’t it work? “Uh, try again?” he said as he dodged away from her. “Hey!” he shouted at the snake, firing a bullet onto the ground inches away from the fraus’s body. “Over here you piece of shit!” He hoped it would catch the beast’s attention long enough for her to get up. Thankfully for her, it worked.
Unfortunately for him, it worked. “Merde,” he grumbled as the serpent turned to face him. He darted to the left, and the stinger followed, lashing out at him again. Kaden jumped up and threw himself to the ground to try and get out of the way. His entire side skidded against the mud, the rocks, and rough dirt scratching his forearm and face. Fuck, they had to figure out how to hurt this thing. The truth was supposed to be the thing, he knew he had that bit right. So then why wasn’t it working? There had to be something more to it. Some way to make the truth painful.
Putain de merde. The truth would hurt it but only if the truth also hurt to say. The truth itself had to be painful to inflict pain. He hated the supernatural. Fuck this. Why couldn’t it just be taken down with a goddamn knife like everything else? Shit, the fraus was hissing and inching toward him, clearly ready to strike. He had to say something and he had to say it fast. “I, uh… I still love my sister,” he tried. The monster shriveled in pain. Only a little but that had harmed it more than the bullets had. “Painful truth! Has to be painful truth!” he yelled back at her.
Try again. Nicole stifled a sarcastic comment that would have come to the surface if she hadn't been so busy trying to use her brain. To think. Why didn’t her truth work? Was she… shorter? How would the snake fucking know? Maybe it wasn’t a truth as much as an objective fact. Again— what was truth, really? Just feelings. Vibes, Leah would say. She didn’t like that word. She hadn't even begun to process that this guy had suddenly figured out how to handle the monster, which meant— what did that mean? Was he like her, aware of the supernatural? Of course. He’d been carrying weapons and all. Why else would he need them?
The weapon he was carrying proved useless once again, but at least served as a distraction. He kept shooting at it trying to get its attention, and while very honorable of him, it also kept Nicole incredibly on edge. It hadn’t stopped raining, everything was too slippery. He was one misstep on the mud from— Yeah. She grimaced as he tumbled trying to dodge another thrashing, almost feeling the pain of his landing in her own body. Gingerly, she crawled over to his side, retrieving the discarded hatchet in the process. It would do nothing if the snake chose to go at them again, but… at least it was something. Emotional support. Especially as the creature slithered closer to Kaden again. Fuck that shit.
She clutched at his shoulder, determined to help him stand up before the beast could get the best of them, but his voice stopped her. The shrivel almost sent her back to the ground. That thing was hurting, but how? And— what did he say again? About his… “Painful?” Nicole whispered flatly, eyes filled with questions as she glanced at him. Why wouldn’t he love his sister? The monster twisted in agony, but it could only last a moment. “I’m—” They didn’t have all the time in the world for her to dig into her soul and find the most painful truth she could think of. She had to say the first thing on her mind. Or, rather, someone would have to rip the truth right out of her throat because words weren’t working and they never had. How was she supposed to do all of this with a stranger right next to her?
Truth… truth, she thought — her chest aching as she realized what she was going to say— felt a whole fucking lot like secrets. “I—” Everything was in slow motion yet sped up somehow, “I’ve… I think about drinking— every day”. She didn't need to look at it; she could hear it, both hissing and writhing on the floor. Nicole’s gaze shifted to the opposite side, truth pounding with more venom than whatever that creature could sink in her. She wondered how many more of those truths they’d need for the snake to die. She wondered if she’d rather take its fangs instead. Briefly, at least. Until her attention returned to the monster and Nicole noticed how painful the truths were to the creature. Of fucking course. She’d deal with the mess later, this was working. If she couldn’t think of truths, she could think of secrets. A slew of them. “I’m…I’m a balam” she tried once the silence fell on them again. This time, she knew it’d work. That one seemingly small truth had tormented her for too long not to leave a mark on the monster too.
Kaden wanted to shrink away and shrivel up as much as the snake had at his own words. At least it was working. He wasn’t sure if there was a whole lot of comfort in that. He fumbled back up to his feet with her help, a chill running down his spine as her hand touched his shoulder. He was glad she was avoiding anything remotely close to eye contact. Especially as she spoke her own truth. It hurt to hear it, even though he didn’t know her, even though he didn’t know why she felt that need to drink whatever it was that plagued her away. The fraus felt it, too. Only it wasn’t dead. It was very clearly hurt, but it was still trying to slither towards them, to lash out one last time.
Kaden was getting ready to try and contribute something more when her next truth nearly threw him back down to the ground. Balam. She was balam. The reaction to her touch and the alert coursing through his body made more sense now. He’d felt it, he knew some sort of shifter or beast was nearby, but in the heat of the moment, he’d ignored it. That or he was so out of tune by now after living with Alex and hanging around Gael and Alan. Putain, he was going soft. He didn’t know if that was a problem or not but it still felt disgraceful all the same.
Still, it didn’t matter if he had recognized what she was before then or not. It didn’t change what she was. And it didn’t change the words that lingered at the tip of his tongue. His eyes locked on her for a moment, wondering if he would need to defend himself a few seconds from now, and then drifted back to the snake. It hissed and tried to lunge towards them. All hopes that he wouldn’t have to say what he was going to say next vanished. There was no way that this wouldn’t be a killing blow. There was no getting out of speaking the one truth he knew would hurt the most to say right then.
“I’m a ranger.”
The fraus hissed and screeched, writhing in one last bout of agony before it stopped moving, the rain still beating down on them and its corpse. As much as Kaden wanted to pretend that maybe the rain had drowned out his words, he knew that wasn’t the case. And he didn’t know what to do now.
With the final blow, the creature screeched and twisted until it was dead on the forest ground. Nicole, however, hadn’t looked at it once. A ranger. Her hand slowly slid off the man’s shoulder, stepping carefully as she retreated away from him. She watched him, eyes wide in fear, waiting for him to make a move. To pull another knife, or a different gun and get rid of her. It never came. Droplets fell down her face, the only sign that time kept unequivocally passing. Because Nicole had frozen in place, his words echoing still. Not even if she had been an expert in concealing expressions, she could’ve hidden her pain.
She remembered the knife that tore through her shoulder blade at fifteen. The one that almost sliced her throat at twenty-seven. Where would his blade go? The chest? Her stomach? Had he sensed her before? Had he been following her, then? Was the snake a simple hiccup in his original plan to hurt her? He was going to lunge at her now that they killed the snake, right?
Her first attempt at speaking resulted in nothing but a shaky breath, throat hijacked by emotion. She raised her hatchet, instead: A warning. She could never strike first, but she would defend herself, if it came down to it. She would do what needed to be done to survive. Always had. He had the weapons, the strength, and the hunter knowledge while all she had was her unfaltering, intrinsic desire to persist. She fucking liked her odds. “Swear I won’t fucking miss this time”. There they were. Words, trembling with fear but aloud. She didn’t plan on following through with her threat. But sometimes, she looked intimidating enough that people wouldn’t suspect her a coward. She only needed to buy herself some time. Or maybe even — hopefully— allow him to clear the air between them. “I’ll— I’ll— I go my way. You… go yours”. He was wounded after all. Maybe not bitten, but shaken. Maybe he didn’t want to engage in a fight. Maybe. If she were to pray, she’d pray for this man to be a lot more like Andy than her previous hunter experiences. Andy. She was a sliver of hope. She’d shown her not every hunter was the same. Some renounced their calling. Some had no desire to hurt the innocent. Some instead, helped shifters fight horrible serpent creatures.
Her heart pounded violently in her throat, and Nicole felt the weight of her words before she even spoke them. “Thank you for…” she swallowed, eyes flickering to the monster, then down to her boots. She had to make sure her steps were careful on the mud because she couldn’t allow herself to slip during her escape.
Kaden held his shaking hands up above his head. His words dropped like a bomb, just like he’d expected they would. Putain. Guilt sunk in, down into his bones, right down to the marrow. This wasn’t the first time someone looked at him with fear in their eyes and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. How the fuck had he brushed it all away in the past? How did he manage it back then?
Of course she held up her weapon at him. He didn’t blame her. And some part of him wondered if he was making a mistake not reaching for his own. What would she do now that she knew what he was? Now that she had the upper hand? A moment to even the theoretical odds, take one more hunter from the world and leave her with one less threat to her safety.
Kaden couldn’t tell if he was hearing his own heart pounding in his ear or hers or if it was just the overwhelming sound of the rain crashing all around them. “Okay,” he said, voice shaking. “I don’t–” Putain, it was stupid to say he didn’t want to hurt her, right? Why should she believe him? He knew more hunters than she did and he knew damn well how much they lied; how much he’d lied. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He said it anyway. Might as well, right? Might as well give it a shot. It’s not like he had a whole lot of experience on how this shit was supposed to go now that he wasn’t trying to kill her. No one ever taught him the choreography to this particular song and dance. Hell, he wasn’t sure there was any to follow in the first place.
Nicole wasn’t sure if many ruthless hunters would’ve put their trembling hands above their heads in response to her threat. The man had seen her fail at throwing the hatchet, he knew her words were easily disputed by her actions, so— what was she supposed to make of his reaction? A rouse? An attempt at lowering her defenses, surely. Why would a hunter be anything but deceptive? She took another step back, and waited, blinking away the tears that had pooled in her eyes. Or the rain. Nicole wasn’t sure what was what anymore.
Her fear receded, looking at the man in front of her attempting to speak, a sight too painfully familiar to her. And though she remained highly aware of the situation they were in, confusion flooded her mind. He wasn’t going to hurt her. Did Nicole— hear him right? Her frown deepened, mouth agape as her facial expression reflected the current state of her mind. “Okay…” she heard herself speak, but it sounded like a question. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to jump her with a new weapon he had concealed somewhere on his body. She wasn’t tempted to run anymore, if that was something she was capable of. His words were infused with some sort of freezing spell. However, the pause allowed for logic to knock on the door.
Why would he attack? Why now? He had the gun loaded before, could’ve spared a few bullets for her. Now it was empty, all his ammo used on the snake. He could’ve let the creature do his job too, yet he insisted on shielding her from its fangs. Her mind drifted to Andy again. She had to believe there were others like her. He had acted so similarly to how her friend would have in this scenario. She could— maybe she didn’t have to make up her mind on whether all hunters were good or bad, but— truce? That was attainable, wasn’t it? If he didn’t have any intentions of hurting her, she had no plans to retaliate. “Alright,” she rasped, awkwardly. Her skin crawled, uncomfortable with the uncertainty. But slowly, she lowered the hatchet. What the fuck happened now?
“We should— Might be— better get the fuck out of here, then,” Nicole pointed out, because what ensured there were no more trauma snakes around? As soon as the words left her lips, she realized how it sounded. Like an invitation, like they should go down the same path, now that it didn’t look like there would be a confrontation. Shit. It was still better for the two of them if they parted ways. She didn’t want to deal with any potential change of heart. “Have to get back to my car,” she explained, gesturing to her left. It didn’t escape Nicole, how similar this was to that awkward goodbye moment between coworkers. What if he was heading in the same direction? “Ah— Careful out there,” she offered a nod of acknowledgment. She’d already thanked him, he didn’t need more. Especially if he turned out to be a proper hunter. Then she’d look fucking stupid. Thankfully, the rain still poured, making the silence a lot more manageable. Nicole didn’t have any words left, and likely wouldn’t until she’d fully processed what had transpired. And then— she wasn’t sure she was brave enough to deal with the consequences of confronting those truths. Particularly—
She jolted, chasing that thought away. Not the time. Her eyes met the man’s one last time, too stumped to say anything else. He looked it too. So for both their sakes, Nicole stepped aside, following the path toward her car, careful to never give her back to him. Just in case.
today one of the techs called the front desk to ask us to do something and my coworker who he had just finished getting mad at for something else didn't know how to do what he was asking for so i hear my coworker go 'you want a What' and then he goes 'luca what's your extension he wants you'
