isleofavalon | 3 / open / i just wanna be a flower

🧙 WHO: Kate Galloway and OPEN
⚔️️ WHAT: Kinetic & Blood magic practice, parkour through the city, questing (A Polite Pyro, Incubabes)
🕒 WHEN: Throughout May!
🗺️ WHERE: All over the place tbh.
⚠️ WARNINGS: fire, murder, blood, probably depressing topics relating to the doppelganger event and amnesia forest

— magic practice.

( Kate can't just stay in, even though she could practice her magic pretty safely in her new place. seeing the same four walls for hours on end is just another form of torture to her mind and the weather is getting better (though it isn't hard to be better than April's rains, ridiculous even by April shower standards), so why waste it indoors making pieces of furniture float when she could head outside.

which is why, throughout the month of May, she's seen at grassy patches of the city practicing magic until her body aches with the stamina drain. it's a good, familiar feeling, one which lets her focus on nothing but itself and the work she's doing. no thoughts, head empty, in the best meaning of the phrase. )

i. blood magic
( there are days she sticks to a knife and her skin, slitting open enough flesh to pull out droplets of blood and gather them into a shape. a ball, a thread, nothing bigger than a fingertip, but it's solid enough. a vast improvement over the disaster of when she tried to use it against the library slimes. but still, that problem persists:

even as she controls her own blood, her senses fly wide open to the blood flowing all around her. people who walk by, animals curled up in the bushes and trees, her familiar — a woman with white skin and dark hair curtained around her, persistently trying to get bloodstains out of the clothes in her hands — and...

someone coming this way? )

What do you want?

( she doesn't bother to turn around from where she sits cross legged, her gaze flicking warily between her blood hovering above her fingertip and her familiar, who watches this all with baleful eyes, as if she'd rather not see Kate spilling blood this casually, even for magic practice. )

ii. kinetic magic
( on the easier, lighter days, Kate can be found... well, floating. hovering a couple inches off the ground and grunting as she tries to take a step and fails, tripping back down to the ground. dammit. that's not working. she flexes her hands, curling them into fists and stretching her fingers out again and again before she begins to stretch, pulling a leg up behind her and exhaling loudly.

the rest of kinetic magic has come pretty easily, has been practiced and practiced in all parts of her daily life. it's just this damn hovering and teleporting that seems to slip through her fingers.

okay.

once more.

she settles herself back into a full standing position and tries to picture floating. hovering off the ground, light and weightless

and promptly shoots several feet into the air with an undignified yelp. )

— parkour.

( the days may be reserved for quests, or magic practice, or skulking around the city wondering what to do with the rest of her free time (maybe that militia, defence force, whatever they want to call it, wasn't such a bad idea after all, pay or no pay), but the mornings have one true purpose:

exercise.

unfortunately, the fog that leaks through the city in the earliest hours means she isn't going to be doing anything until the worst has subsided, so instead of a brisk, pre-breakfast circuit of the rooftops near her new abode, Kate finds herself waiting until it's closer to lunchtime to get those actions in.

but when she starts... oh, it's a blessing. a relief. there's nothing in her ears but the whistling of the wind and the rushing of her own blood, her feet quick and light as she picks up speed and pop vaults higher, onto the rooftops themselves.

who needs finicky flying when you can do this? she all but skips between buildings, grabbing the ledge of the next and hauling herself up to the highest point she can find and exhaling as she slows to a stop, stretching her arms over her head and rocking her weight from side to side. it'd be a long drop from here, and she can see the people walking below, picks out a body or two that looks familiar as she sits down and lets her legs dangle over the edge, the movement knocking some debris loose from the roof.

sorry about that, anyone down below. except she's not. it's much easier to get around like this if you try, you know? )

— pyromania.

i. research
( the dark web pays good money, in Kate's experience, and really, all that matters is she's funded and kept busy. this particular quest is so direct and to the point that she almost laughs about it. no bullshitting, just... light shit on fire.

easy enough, right?

well, she's pretty sure that light shit on fire wouldn't be a quest if the person who posted it could just burn a candle or light a bonfire, so... no, not really. it'll have to be something big, but the question is... what?

which is why her quest to find a flammable target starts in the most boring of places: the library. Kate can be found with a pile of city maps and directories on hand, scanning each for layouts and details with the focus and scrutiny of someone planning a mission. it needs to be big, destructive but not murderous, abandoned would be best...

she's so engrossed in her work that she might not notice she's taking up all of a six person table to herself. )

ii. target acquired
( it's her doppelganger she has to... well, thank would be overly generous. blame for this particular choice. an empty building with a basement, one that sends a shiver down her spine despite its non-descript appearance. she's not even sure if this particular building was ever used, not outside of...

well.

the biggest reminder of that event will be gone soon enough, so it doesn't bear thinking about any more.

she pulls the hood of her cloak closer around herself, thankful for the mask obscuring her face and the worst of the tension in her jaw as she stares down this thing. there's a bottle of accelerant in her other hand, hidden by her chosen cloak (basic, plain black, purchased from a cheap market. she'll toss it as soon as she can) and matches in the bag on her thigh.

nobody comes down this alleyway, it seems. it's just as dead as it was that day her doppelganger dragged her here, hanging the life of an acquaintance over her head. and that makes it easy for Kate to slip into the building, into the basement, and soak all the wooden furniture in alcohol before she tosses lit matches onto each of them in turn.

the heat is immediate, intense, and almost mesmerising as it eats up the memories of this place, but sanity wins out just in time, just as the room begins to fill with smoke. Kate darts out with all the speed kinetic magic can give her, the door left ajar with smoke billowing out. )

— incubabes.

( two murders, huh?

where to start. Kate checks the posting once more for information, sat on a bench a few hundred yards from the castle. close enough to see, far enough to just look like someone who went for a walk in this direction and decided to take a break. ideally, one would put some days between these two deaths, more if possible, to keep them from seeming connected, but that kind of time might be a luxury. which means she'll have to do this quickly.

god, it would be easier if she had a partner for this one. (and, perhaps, if her mind would stop reminding her that Marc would lose his shit if he knew. he isn't here, and ultimately, what difference is there between this and war? they're all done for someone's personal gain in the end.)

she taps her foot and sighs. she's here, so she may as well case the joint. see just how she can sneak in and hope it doesn't involve wigs and fancy dresses. so she steps away, wandering down one of the side paths with the kind of purpose that would make someone believe she's heading towards the houses in that direction, but loops around as soon as she steps off the beaten track and weaves her way through the trees towards the back of the building.

only to find she isn't alone. )

— wildcard.

( hit me with anything else! quest-wise, I am also interested in Party Rock Anthem, but if you want to hash out anything specific, get in touch at exits / exits#8071. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Akira steps inside the library with a completely different goal—he's here to borrow a few animal photo albums. It's not like pictures are hard to come by when they have AOL, but the photographs in books are usually more detailed. And from what Akira has learned from his past experiences with transforming into an animal, focusing on details really helps him to get it right.

Needlessly to say, seeing Kate occupying a whole table that is thoroughly covered with maps makes him curious. Akira stands behind her and tries to peek at whatever map or book she's examining at the moment. ]

Looking for treasure?

[ If only... ]

( she's just engrossed enough — idly rolling a pen between her fingers — that Akira's presence doesn't register until just before he speaks, blinking herself out of the maze of lines and keys before she turns around. )

Looking for waste.

( that's a bit more accurate. she's looking for something that doesn't matter. a building no one uses, something no one will miss, where it's unlikely to cause injury or panic. she's not completely stupid — this quest might be simple in mechanics, but she's seen enough fires set in places where they shouldn't be (usually accidents, incidental damage never intended to happen) to know there's more to it. more to think about than just will it burn. )

What brought you here?

( aside from books, obviously. )

Low resolution memes.

[ Quite literally. Trying to mimic animals based on those was an ugly disaster. Memeworthy material, perhaps. Luckily for Akira, it wasn't documented. ]

You're really fired up about it. Trying to make the poster come out and show themselves or looking for quick cash?

Edited 2021-05-19 16:58 (UTC)

( that comment gets a raised brow. low resolution memes? libraries really do have everything. )

Money is money. ( a shrug. she doesn't personally get it, but hey. it's very doable. ) You want in?

Hard pass. But I can at least tag along just in case things go south.

[ He knows better than using water magic in the library. ]

At least you're picking old buildings no one lives in.

[ The same cannot be said about other people running around and setting fires to get cash. ]

( she would say it's unlikely, but given the fact that it's Avalon... better safe than sorry. )

Alright. ( Akira's been good company, both during quests and outside of them, and his power would be particularly useful here. she'll have to rework the forming plans to compensate for the extra body, but that's not the worst task in the world. )

You got somethin' to hide your identity?

( she doesn't comment on her choice of buildings, or the choices other people are making. that choice is their business, not hers. she'd rather work on the practical parts of this, get it done quick as possible, and get cash.

at least she thinks she's figured out the right building for the job. )

Cat ears. [ Is he for real. ] I can think of something more appropriate, though.

[ Like a mask. To be fair, he could also try to use animal magic, yet it's way too unreliable as it is now. ]

So...you set the building, take a picture and I put the fire out? Or is there anything else?

[ Although there might not be a lot of people running around, Akira leans in closer and lowers his voice a bit. The quest seems pretty simple, but he never knows if Kate doesn't have something else up her sleeve. ]

... Animal magic?

( you know. that could work, really. probably more effective than the cloak she's going to have to rely on. sure, there's teleportation, but she's still not getting any real distance out of that ability yet. and she's not even tried it while carrying a whole load of accelerant. )

Think it has to be a video.

( maybe both. eh. that bit can be worked out later, and if the client gets pissy that she didn't show it to the end, she can say she was in danger of being caught, so shut the fuck up. )

...Right. ( she taps a location on the south west of the map. ) Usually quiet here.

( and the registry she has open next to it seems to suggest that any leases lapsed on one of the buildings months ago. )

Yeah. And I might know a place where you could get a pair for yourself.

[ Why would he know that? Or, rather, knowing it's Akira of all people, why wouldn't he know that? ]

Not a long one, I hope. Or you can make a 10 hours loop video just for them.

[ And get a lot of cash if they're paying per minute. ]

Do you think we can lure them out somehow?

[ Small chances, considering that all they require is a video sent to them, but maybe there's a way. ]

( yeah, the fact that he knows that doesn't seem that surprising to her. but she shakes her head. she has enough to hide herself, and she'd look ridiculous with cat ears. )

Weren't that specific. ( maybe her client isn't that fussy? but Akira's last suggestion is what gets the raised brow. )

And do what?

( well, she's pretty sure she knows where this kind of train of thought would lead, but this bitch ratted a client out to the cops is the kind of gossip she doesn't need. the dark web pays well, man. )

If they're clever enough to request other people do it, they won't come running.

( most likely. )

3 / open / i just wanna be a flower

pyromania — research

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