Sisters Looking to Adopt

Title: Sisters Looking to Adopt
Emitter: Sandra
Characters: Liv, Tim, Hank(some), Sandra, Rioghan
NPCS: - 'The Coven' - Fire, Earth and Wind
Place: Kirby Park - Cove City, MD
Time: Sept 23, 2010 - Evening
Summary: Sandra invites Liv out with her, however she is attacked by three creepy sisters in the park. Luckily Tim is there to help Liv save the day. And Rioghan arrives just in time to play Knight in Shining Armor.

_( Kirby Park )___

A quaint ocean-side park. There are walk ways and benches, some trees on the hill before the sand dunes.

"So, I left a note for Rioghan, slipped under his door saying we were going to the coffee shop then to look at these DVD's you keep talking about, and that he may join us," offers a tall blond young woman to the red-head at her side. "Annnnnnd… I left the same note for Reg." The last is said with some confidence and pride.

Absently Sandra lifts her hand to start twisting at a heavy gold pendant, or some such, hanging from a chain at her neck. "I … I'm well … I need to talk to you about something. You and Reg both … but first, the fun conversation. I haven't had a chance to talk to you," continues Sandra as she walks with Liv through Kirby park. "How is this … job … going?"

Sandra looks up at the sky, and through the light clouds, a few starts twinkle through, followed by the moon. This brings a soft smile to the Atlantean's lips and a distant look in her eyes for a moment. Then Sandra is back focused on where and who she is. "How did your pictures turn out?"

A figure is also in the park. Not walking through. He's idly standing not far from one of the statues. He's just tapping at a small computer. Is Timothy actually *gasp* getting sun? Most likely not, sadly enough. But nevertheless. He's out and about. He doesn't /seem/ to notice Liv and Sandra. But knowing him, he's probably just too focused on his work to say hello, at least yet.

Hank is at a low wall near the edge of the park which is adorned with graffiti and multiple scrapes and scratches from skateboards and rollerblades. Several stoned-out, hair-in-face skaters are looking on, aghast, as the smaller youth has one of them backed up against the wall. "Look, hop-head, when I ask you a question, you rattle your box and you give me an answer."

"Uh…"

"Don't strain yourself thinking up a lie or you'll be carrying your teeth home in your pocket." snaps Hank. "Now spill!"

"Okay, okay, jeez, it was Missy, it was Missy Johannsen."

"Johannsen, huh? If I find out you're feeding me the grift…"

"I'm not, I swear to god!"

Liv tucks her hands into her pockets, swinging one foot to kick up some dirt. "If you want Reg to notice a note, I think you'd have to hammer it to his forehead," she says, albiet with a slight smile. "But … we'll see." She shrugs a shoulder. "Job is going well. I had some really … weird pictures pass through a little ways back. Mine, though - they turned out all right. I don't think I have much of a knack for it. I actually had something else I wanted to ask your opinion on …" She quirks the pierced brow then. "What's on your mind?" Then she pauses, holds up a hand and says - not quite softly enough to be an aside - "Hang on, eavesdropper." That's apparently supposed to be her version of saying hello to Timothy today.

Sandra continues to play with the pendant .. and the more she does the more it does look like a man's ring. "Well … I mean… I know you said to have fun … but you know how I really … can't, my situation. What… what if I discovered someone at the school was in a similar situation and … there were feelings… deeper than just friendship and … well, that … no, you matter more. What is it," starts Sandra as she walks along with Liv.
The young woman doesn't get to finish the sentence, however. With a loud grown, she starts to double over as if punched, only to end up sailing backwards and striking a tree with enough force that there is an audible crack.
Just in front of where Sandra was, a ripple in the air starts to become smokey-wispish and slightly more visible - especially the cheshire-like smile, and the darkly glowing heavy necklace at her throat. For it is a she, her voice gives her away, "Oooh, look, Sisters," she calls in an airy voice, "She still stands…. she's tougher than I thought. She will be an excellent addition."
From within the trees, another figure slips out, looking to be burning with black flames. This figure licks her lips as she watches, "I know Water is my antithesis … but I like her already."
From behind the tree another figure rises from the earth, and silently just smiles.
And yes, all three wear similar necklaces.

Surging forward, Timothy does two things of great import: one, he pulls out his baton from his bag. It snaps out into a weapon with a steel click, and two, he swings it at one of the strange attackers — Earth — and misses, perhaps due to the unwieldiness of the bag he's got over his shoulder. He's not in full hero gear, but this is Timothy: he is NEVER unprepared. Ever. Yes, even then. He probably has a plan for 'nude and captured' for god's sake. (To whit: he has a subcutaneous lockpick in his hand.) He calls to Liv, "Drop a shroud down so they'll find it harder to attack, we're outnumbered!

Glowing red eyes narrow from within Fire's black flame-covered face. She watches Tim, and considers. "You can't attack what you can't see," she hisses. The sound of rushing flames is heard before the ground in front of Liv suddenly erupts in ten-foot high flames, for a length of Thirty feet. She then turns and looks at Timothy and licks her lips. "You don't have a chance against Earth, dear boy. Come, let's play tag…" she tries to taunt.

"I think you'll find that I'm far more capable than you think," Timothy says brightly. "After all, I am Lex Richardson! With this, he leaps towards Earth as if to attack again — but at the last moment darts back, bringing his weapon in to slam into Fire. She staggers back, stunned by the blow, and the fall fades. He nods, even as the baton melts, becoming greatly unusable. He nods again: he expected that. Instead of bitching, he simply slips a hand into the Bag of Doom(tm), looking for Liv.

Earth isn't even phased by Tim's miss, or his bluff in her direction, the stoney looking figure is intent on her task. Just as Sandra groans and starts to push herself away from the tree, Earth's hand clamps down on her shoulder. Sandra starts to spin, water forming and spinning down her wrist. But blue-eyes widen and Sandra gasps in panic and pain. "What…." she starts but never gets to finish as she is literally Paralyzed in place, reaching out to Earth, the water falling away from her arm as she is turned to stone.

Earth reaches out and pats Sandra's cheek. "Don't worry dear Sister. You will be one of us soon enough," says the gravelly voice as she reaches out, wrapping a golden necklace with a large blue gem around Sandra's neck.

"Hey! Don't you hurt my Sister!" whistles Wind as she ignores Liv and moves forward just a little, lashing out with a galestorm of a breath. The hurricane-force winds strike at Tim, and while it doesn't hurt him, it does push the young man back about ten feet, sending him tumbling but rolling up to his feet again.

Then Wind looks over at Earth and frowns. "Shouldn't it have turned to stone, too?"

Earth looks down and frowns, "Blast it, something is blocking it from touching her … ah, another necklace. Give me a moment."

"Sandra!" Liv shouts. "Are you all right?" She jerks backwards, startled by the rush of flames, but she doesn't hesitate when it drops and she has a clear view of her friend. Her form blurs, the long cloak of her costume shrouding her form as the shadows of the trees seem to drip down upon her, lengthening into rivers of nightfall. "No, really? We're outnumbered?" she snarks towards Timothy, her voice pitching cheerleader-pipe for a second. "Math is hard." The darkness expands, rippling over the scene, shrouding Sandra in particular … but full night has descended, making it impossible for anyone but the three teenagers to see.

The shadows at the center warp, bending light eerily - a haze of illusion that blurs Earth's surroundings. The woman, however, entirely ignores this trick of not-light. Liv follows up with something a bit harder to ignore: a swift volley of kohl-black bursts of shadow, each bolt hitting dead on and bruising Earth.
Liv hisses. "Damnit."

Fire watches Liv's change and frowns. That doesn't distract her from her target, however. "No matter how good you /THINK/ you are, you're not better than a woman!" she exclaims, her black-fire hands and feet lashing out in a rapid series of attacks. Tim, however, is able to dodge and weave away from them competently, leaving Fire with an expression of consternation.

As Fire's attack misses him, the young man moving like wind (pun intended) to avoid the attack, he suddenly whirls, and as he does so, sends a jet-black knife straight towards Fire! Eeek! The knife is well-thrown, and Fire suddenly finds herself with a dagger right through the most painful part of her arm. It … really hurts, and she's staggered by the pain, but Timothy threw it in such a way it won't make her bleed out. He's just that good. Whirling, he throws another one — straight towards Earth. It's heading straight towards Earth's eyes, and instinct overrides all else, and Earth takes a step back, leaving herself open for Liv! "If you have to, take her away. I can handle these bozos! Don't let her put the necklace on, I bet it's bad." He calls to Liv.

As she backs up, Earth glares at Tim. She steps to keep Stone Sandra between herself and Timothy, still leaving herself open to Liv. "Wind, our Sister is hurt deeply!" calls out Earth after Fire's scream of pain. She reaches out and grabs the necklace at Sandra's neck, brushing her fingers against the chain and chanting. The necklace shifts, shortens and changes to a choker. The blue gem sparks as the gold seems to turn to stone, as well. And to the observant the stone slowly, ever so slowly starts to darken, from the bottom creeping upwards.

Wind shrieks in frustration. "You bitch! All we want is to help our new sister be born! Sometimes that means forcing them to see the truth. BUT IT IS THE TRUTH!" she screams, the wind around the floating woman growing more fierce before they launch out to where Liv was at one point, dust swirling inside it … but Liv has turned to shadow and the attack does nothing.

"… well, she has a point there," Liv comments from underneath the hood. The wind does seem to disturb her - she steps back sharply, drawing the cloak closer about herself as her form ripples. "No one survives in a truth that is forced on them," she snaps, seeming to lash out instantaneously - but there's rapid calculation and deadly force behind the riot of shadow that pours out between her hands, slamming into Earth without relief and leaving her reeling and clinging to consciousness. A small snort from under the hood as the girl sprints forward, her hands shimmering briefly as she grabs Sandra by the arm. The haziness of her form spreads out to encompass the Atlantean, drawing her in … but the necklace flares more brightly, a tug-of-war between forces before Sandra turns incorporeal. Unfortunately, so does the necklace.

"Get off, you fucking thing," Liv snaps, voice ragged.

Fire pulls the blade from her arm, the mental dripping in her hands, pooling at her feet as she shakes her head, swaying where she stands. "The necklace is in place, Sisters… she'll find us when all is done. We will have our Sister Water, at last." With that, Fire's form wavers, dark-fire heating, rippling the air around her, only to suddenly disappear - the mirage of heat leaving a trail briefly showing the woman's fleeing path.

Wind hisses in anger. She glares outright as Liv, before her form fades to near nothingness, as invisible as the Wind itself before she lifts into the night air, disappearing.

Earth shakes her head, leaning back against the tree as she peers at the pair trying to rescue Sandra - before sinking into the earth like returning to the embrace of a lover.

It takes several heartbeats, but Liv will soon notice the stoney exterior of Sandra's statuesque form is starting to soften.

"Is she all right?" Timothy calls to Liv. He shakes his head, "Did you get that weird necklace off?" He's standing not far from where Sandra was knocked down, looking down … at the earth?

There has been a struggle in the park - the noises could be heard almost all the way to the school starting with a loud crack. As one draws towards the scene of the crime, a tree has been nearly uprooted, a vague human-sized shape mars and splinters one side. Timothy Grayson stands, staring out a loose spot of earth, while Sullivan Prieto stands holding onto what appears to be a frozen, and stone, Sandra - though the shape of both seem to be … fuzzy.

Liv releases Sandra, allowing her to fade back into corporeality - her tactic with the necklace having proved ineffective. She hauls in air, bending down with her hands on her knees. "That is not what I do," she announces this with finality, dispersing the lingering darkness she has summoned. She rises, squinting at the gem. "She'll be fine." She hopes. "We need to get the gem off and shatter it - without touching it. The chain …" Her fingers sort of stretch as if she's going to touch it, and then she yanks her hand back.

Rioghan got the message about where to meet up with Sandra and Liv, but he had a meeting with his advisors that ran longer than he expected. When he'd finally started making his way from campus, he'd heard the sounds of conflict and had picked up the pace. One hand wrapped around his amulet and a single spoken word of Gaelic had called his armor and bow to hand. So it's an armor-wearing archer that comes running onto the scene of the recently ended conflict. "Sandra…"

The bow is slung over his shoulder and he crosses quickly to where Liv has released the Atlantean princess, worry knitting immediately over his features. He looks from Liv to Tim and then down to Sandra. "What happened?"

"Some crazy bitches did something to her. Attacked her. We drove her off, but the necklace is weird. They seemedt o imply it'd make her like them or something." He pauses. "I have an idea then. I pack enough thermate to annihilate the gem on it. Shouldn't need much, even if it's harder than usual. You," he says, pointing to Liv, "Try to make her and only her incorporeal, to block the fire. You give us a boost of fortune, your file suggests that's one of your talents. Hopefully between the three of us, we shatter it before something happens." He pauses. "Good? Good. Let's do it." Tim doesn't take no for an answer.

Slowly the stone melts away from Sandra's form, and flesh is flesh once more. A sharp inhale of breath comes from Sandra as her eyes open wide, not seeing any of the three around her, really. With a panicked whimper, the young woman reaches up to pull at the necklace. There is a sound of sizzling, almost, and a hiss of pain erupts from Sandra. Blue eyes wildly look around, the hints of shadows at the corners of the whites of her eyes. "Get it off …" she begs, she pleads. "Get it off me… get it away!"

"Bitches trying to force her to be one of them," Liv grits off, her voice like acid. "They …" She hauls in a deep breath, tamping down her temper. She's in costume currently, the hood swept off as Sandra comes to. "We're on it," she says, tone a confident rap now. "We've got you. We're getting it off." She narrows her eyes at Timothy, not totally sure of the plan - but fast action has to be the best thing. She places a light hand on Sandra's shoulder. "I'm going to diffuse us, Sandy."

Rioghan doesn't have a whole lot of time to process all of this before Sandra is crying out. He reaches out to brush a hand over the side of her face, pushing a lock of her blonde hair back. There's a concerned wince and a quick, sharp look at Tim. Under other circumstances, he might demand to know why Tim knows anything about his file. Right now, however? He's more concerned about Sandra, and it shows. Apparently, there must actually be something to those rumors about the pair circulating around campus. He looks down at Sandra. "This'll work, you'll be fine," he reassures her in a quietly lilting tone, "Because I promised Mr. Murphey I wouldn't let any harm come to you." And then he's moving back with the soft clinking of armor and nodding to Tim. "Just tell me when you're ready."

Three warm and … well, two warm and caring faces, and one determined one, circle above Sandra, filling her view. Her wild blue eyes flit from Tim, whom she doesn't really know, to her friend Liv, lingering there, before focusing entirely upon Rioghan's face.

As Liv applies pressure, pushing herself and Sandra into the realm of shadows, the necklace fights back. There is a silent, but palpable scream as black claws seem to try and hold onto Sandra's form. Then the explosives are ignited.

There is a moment of flame, thick black smoke in the form of Sandra's face lifts up from the necklace, as if trying to flee.

And then the gem shatters.
The light of the evening catches the shards as they fly outwards like sparks in the darkness, slicing through and shredding the ghostly and tangled visage into nothing more than a nightmare.

The gold chain slumps, falling through Sandra's form to crumple beneath the woman's neck. In a blink, gold that looked pure, tarnishes, before deteriorating into nothing but dust which is blown away but a lucky wind.

Rioghan is ready when Tim ignights the charge and the lucky archer extends a hand, murmuring something under his breath in Gaelic that isn't necessary for his magic to work in this instance. There's concentration and determination on his face and he doesn't look away from Sandra's gaze as the two girls go incorporeal. That will give Sandra a perfect glimpse of Rioghan's eyes when they shimmer, luminscent, with a bit of golden light. The concentrated effort of making SURE that Sandra is safe shows, in that when the gleam fades from his eyes, he sinks back, letting out a weary breath. But it looks like it worked! That's a relief!

As Liv brings Sandra back into phase, there is an angry red marking where the necklace was - not a bruise, not a burn, more akin to an insect bite, all the way around her neck. Sandra swallows, and whimpers faintly, biting back anything further as she holds Rioghan's gaze a moment, before turning to look at Tim. No, there will be no crying in front of a stranger.

As the young man leaves, however, a deep exhale flies from Sandra's lips and she closes her eyes. "I … I could feel that thing … latching onto my soul." Then she looks up again at the two that remain. "Is … is that what evil feels like?"

"Yeah, I think so," Liv says softly, her breath puffing out. She rubs her hands on her knees - the fingers still twitch. She manages something like a wave after Timothy. "Watch yourself." Then her attention is back to Sandra. "There's little more evil I can think of than to use a tool like that. That's some nasty magic." She flicks a look up at Rioghan, but says nothing further. She looks a little grey herself, hair in dishevel.

Rioghan shakes his head, "I don't know Sandra, but let's get you back, aye? I believe we can recall the weather on the outing you planned for tonight." He's tired, but the young man does muster the energy to scoop Sandra up into his arms. Rioghan isn't going to take 'no' for an answer on that. He's carrying her back to campus. As an aside to Liv as he stands up, holding Sandra, he says, "Is he always so charmingly sociable?"

Sandra can't help it, Rioghan is in the right place, at the right time, in definitely the right attire, to bring comfort to the young princess. She clings to the Prince, soaking up the contact, before she sighs.

This will put more fire to the rumors, but Sandra doesn't care.

Nor does she have the energy to care. She tries to follow Rioghan's question to Liv and fails, deciding to just close her eyes and let sleep take her.

"No," Liv says. "Usually, he's worse. You should have seen him the first time we met." Of course, neither was she precisely a charming socialite, but details, details. "If you two are okay, I'll go on ahead," she says, shoving her hands into her … oh, right. Her attire melts, the Vesper cloak-and-hood fading away into her usual street clothes. Now there are pockets.

"If you're heading back to campus," Rioghan says, "We could go together, you know." He looks down at Sandra, frowning at the mark on her neck and naturally wishing he had gotten here just a little bit sooner. When he looks up again, he realizes that Liv has already gone. No sense standing around here any longer than necessary.

And so, knowing full well that gossip circles around campus are going to have a field day with this, Rioghan, in his armored visage, proceeds to carry the sleeping princess back to campus.

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