Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping by a tree.

[controlledvariable]

Who: Steph Brown, Bruce Banner, a monster
What: Fraggle Rock
Where: The Spatters
When: Backdated to not long after Bruce's arrival. Like a month ago. Go me.
Notes: MJ and I are serious RPers
Warnings: Violence, ruining your childhood, others will be added if they come up

Sometimes, the Spatters feels more like home than the rest of Baedal. It's something Steph tries not to dwell on too much, but it does mean that during her patrols, she's inclined to swing by the darker part of the city. The lack of militia presence here helps. Normally she's just dealing with smaller scale crime; gang type violence, a mugging or two, things like that.

Tonight is different. She can feel it as soon as she crosses the invisible line from Ketch Heath into the Spatters, something is wrong. There's no one in the streets, not even the type that prey in the dark, the few places that are open after nightfall are closed, some houses even have windows boarded up. It's then she notices the fog. Normally it curls around the edge of the Spatters, occasionally drifting in a block or two. Tonight, it's at least half way in, dispersed over the low, crumbling buildings. Steph moves in closer, keeping as high up as she can, and the further she goes, the thicker the fog gets.

Every instinct she has is screaming at her to turn around. To run. The fog always does this, itching at the back of her mind, sending shivers of fear down her spine. She knows, right now, she should probably listen to that instinct but then there's a sound in the fog. It's not quite a roar, but it doesn't sound friendly, either. Before Steph can move towards the sound, a strong wind gusts up from behind her, blowing the fog back into the forest and exposing the streets and buildings of the Spatters.

It also exposes the creature responsible for the sound she heard. It's standing at about twelve feet tall, fairly humanoid in shape, and moving through the streets with jerky movement. From the distance she's at and in the darkness, it's hard to tell much more, but the thing seems to be covered in fur, matted and dark. It looks red, almost, and she hopes that's it's natural colour, rather than stained red from blood. It's too big for her to fight straight on, but not so big as to be impossible fight (it's definitely not Godzilla stomping through a city), so Steph takes a deep breath before starting towards the creature. On the rooftops, low as they are in this part of Baedal, she stands a better chance of not being seen by it's wide, white eyes and hopes to circle around behind it before catching it's attention; it's impossible to determine from a distance whether it's sentient or not, so the plan right now is to try to lead it back towards the fog.

Comments

[gammarays]

Keeping his early exploration to the edges of the city seemed like a great idea. Bruce thinks he's handling everything well, all things (interdimensional kidnapping, gods more horror story than Point Break, a neighbor who appears to be a very literal spider-man) considered, and he thinks he's going to be all right, but unnecessary risks aren't really his bag.

With everything else he's accounting for, though, he forgot to account for the possibility that the edges of the city might move.

Rookie mistake, apparently. After the first roar, a couple of people pass by at fast clips, heading into the city, carrying what might be everything they own. They don't say anything to him, but one does stop for a moment, like she's waiting for him to join her. He shakes his head and keeps his back to the wall. He can feel the panic and creeping uneasiness trying to push him off the edge he's always balanced on, but giving in - running - has never ended well for him. He'd rather walk away, convince himself he's fine by moving like he is. The connection between brain and body is a funny thing.

The second roar is closer, and he can't help it: he looks briefly around the building he's pressed against, blinks once, takes a few seconds to process what he is pretty sure he just saw. Looks again, longer. That sure is... something.