Only Getting Started

[Seth Marx]

Now that Seth had Rune, they were almost ready to start on their actual job. He just had to find John White--Hood. He'd already gotten the chance to read through some of the guy's files. From what Seth saw, they were going to get along just fine. Then they could kill themselves a god.

Fridjof was quick to chime in once he reactivated the glasses. Seth had to hand it to the kid, he kept all the other boys in check while Seth was gone. "The truck is out front."
Even with the silly accent, he'd be damned if he hadn't found his second in command. Besides Rune of course, but she had a special rank. Kind of a cross between mascot and attack dog.

A brand new white Ford Expansion pulled in right as they reached the building's main doors. He'd already given the driver points for choosing American. Now if only they could start driving real trucks.

Seth realized he was only over complicating things by bringing the kids along but, by the same token, if they weren't able to drive him to a building without stepping on their own toes he didn't expect much in an actual hunt. He held down the button on the side of his frames once they reached the car. "Thanks for keepin' 'em from running off a cliff while I was gone, Fridge."
He opened Rune's door for her before he hopped in the passenger seat. Seth still couldn't believe they wanted to go in as a group.

Fridge chimed in a final time. "I do my best. See you at headquarters."
Why couldn't they all be that competent? He was pretty sure it'd save him a few heart attacks down the line.

Everybody was in the truck, so it was time to get back to HQ. "Heard that, Mauri? Let's get going."
He turned back to Rune after it was clear they were heading the right direction. "Alright Runey, I'm willin' to bet you want to know why I'm here."
When he noticed her expression, he raised an eyebrow. "And judgin' by that look on your face if I don't let you ask soon you're gonna hurt yourself."


<small>((Tried not to mode you too much but ya said start a new thread. :L ))</small>

[Rune]

Rune couldn't squirm any more than if she'd had to pee and was sixty miles from the next truck stop.

She climbed in the truck without even giving it a second look over. If Uncle Seth was gettin' in, Rune was too. She'd follow him into a spaceship in a heartbeat. A dumb old van was no big deal. Spaceships would be awesome. They'd totally spruce up Mars. Or Neptune. Neptune was a planet, right? Yeah, she'd totally had too many Fizzes.

Fridge's name made her snicker. The guy was scrawny and kind of goofy looking, but Rune winked when they made eye contact. "Heya Fridge, I'm Rune." She figured he knew that. He had the look of the kind of guy that took care of biz from the van, which meant he probably knew all about Rune right on down to her bra size. Which would be helpful info cause Rune didn't even know that herself, unless you count size small sports bras. Its not like she'd ever gone to a fancy department store for a fittin'. That'd be weird.

Uncle Seth turned back to her. "Alright Runey, I'm willin' to bet you want to know why I'm here."
Rune's face blanked out like she'd not at all given the question any thought, but uncle Seth saw through the act. "And judgin' by that look on your face if I don't let you ask soon you're gonna hurt yourself."


"More like I'm gonna hurt you if you dont get 'round to tellin' me what the chickin'shit is goin on!" She crossed her arms and pressed her fists up under her biceps to bulge them out nice and round. Rune won last time she'd wrestled. Then again it wasn't much to brag about. He was older than dirt.

[Seth Marx]

"More like I'm gonna hurt you if you dont get 'round to tellin' me what the chickin'shit is goin on!"


He had to laugh at that one. Ever since she managed to choke him out one time, she thought she was some kind of amazon warrior woman. "That's my girl."
Not that he'd ever tell her he let her win. The muscle flexing was so adorable it was hard not to tap her on the nose. 'Course, Seth didn't feel like getting his finger bitten off.

"Well, for starters,"
he jerked a thumb at the driver. "That's Mauri. Fridge is back at the headquarters."
The kid'd spent a good half hour trying to explain that his name didn't even have a 'j' sound in it. Too bad, he was Fridge.

"I'm here to make sure kids like Mauri here don't shoot themselves in the foot."
He could practically hear the kid's teeth grinding in the seat next to him. It was great. Wasn't his fault he was apparently too "valuable" to not be teaching the next generation of hunters. "But more'n that, old Reggie wants me to kill him a God."
He let that sink in for a second. "Yep, they're real."


They'd all heard the stories about Atharim dragging Sickness patients from hospitals, but nobody had ever found somebody who could actually use the powers the records said they had. Until now, at least. Seth had a feeling they were only getting started.

((<small><small>BAM DROPPED THE NAME OF THE THREAD!

Also, you get to be pink until you pick a color! Or you could pick pink.</small></small>))

[Rune]

Rune leaned forward. "Sorry Mauri!"
She hollared before settling back in her seat. She kicked her bag out of the way and stomped her feet around. There was stuff stuck up in the tred that she'd rather not think about. Probably gonna have to scrape them out with a knife later.

"I'm here to make sure kids like Mauri here don't shoot themselves in the foot. But more'n that, old Reggie wants me to kill him a God."


Rune's chest fluttered euphoric. "No freakin' way!"
She said. Immediately, plans turned in her mind, like a hamster running faster and faster on its wheel. The disturbing part of all that barely registered. For Rune, the gods were monsters out of Atharim bedtime stories. If the Regus said they were real, Rune was inclined to believe him, but if Uncle Seth said they were real, Rune was ready to lock and load and get to work!

"Let's go! Where do we start? How do you hunt a god anyway?"



((i got it! the color is teal.))

[Seth Marx]

She was more than excited to get going. He'd missed that while she was gone. Sure, he was a lot less likely to be disemboweled by a dreyken coven without her charging straight on in, but that got boring quick. Now that he thought about it, it was amazing they'd both survived as long as they did.

"Well, first things first. We've got to find a friend of yours. Fella calls himself Hood."
He could've done that without her, but he preferred to know something about the man before reeling him in. "From what I hear you and him cleaned out a den of roogies. Damn near got yourselves killed down there,"
he chuckled, "but not bad. There's a reason I didn't name you Prudence."
Well, aside from it being an ugly name.

"So, what's he like?"


<small><small>((Damnit! That's the color of my new guy I'm working on. :|))
</small></small>


Edited by Seth Marx, Jan 4 2014, 01:01 AM.

[Rune]

Hood?! Rune's eyes widened to saucers. She musta heard wrong. Yeah, that was it. Uncle Seth said food. Or Fridge. Or--ah buggar who was she kiddin'? He said Hood clear as day.

Rune rubbed her hair back from where it fell around her ears. The shaved side was good and short, but the longer side was flipped all kinds of wrong ways and all her good hair glue hadn't lasted the overnight hunt on the docks.

"Well,"
Rune shrugged out of her jacket. There were bruises on her arms, and more disappeared under her tank top. She modeled them proudly for her uncle. "Well we didn't get on too good at first." She shrugged, lips twisted in a frown.

"But before you go tryin' to kill him!"
she interrupted, "you gotta know I attacked him first."
Uncle Seth probably wanted the reason why. Rune shrugged. "He smelled emptier than wefuke. He walked and talked and drank and ate, but theres ghosts out there more human than he is. Turns out he's some kind of spook and like seriously wound tight. My bad."


She kicked her bag with her heel. "I keep a Kalku blessed stake around. Duh, right? And well all I wanted to do was make sure he wasnt possessed. But he didn't take that too good either."
Rune's pink brows (fading pink) narrowed down bitterly. She'd never go out on a hunt with people that don't got each other's back.

"But it wasn't just us. There was another furia 'round too. Aria. She and I didnt get along too good either."
Mixed about as good as oil and water or two magnets pointed at each other on the wrong end.

"Then this was weird too. Some Atharim named Tehya wanted us to keep one of the roog's alive. And here we had it all tied down and Hood wouldn't let me kill it! He - and Aria- would kill me before letting me kill it! Ain't that messed up!??"
Rune ground her teeth together.

"So we didn't part on the best of terms either. Hopefully he doesn't try to shoot me on sight, cause he'd be handy to have around god hunting. He lives out in a trailer out in Zamoskvore--whatever."
Rune nodded. "He's real good for a civvie. Just don't tell him I said that."
She winked and bit her lower lip a little, thinking back to their rough-housing.


((Yah snooze yah looze old man!))

[Seth Marx]

The look on Rune's face made Seth wonder if he'd be making his first kill in Europe within the next few hours. Her explanation dulled that a bit, but the option was still on the table. He'd be having a nice little talk with Hood when they got the chance. Rune did try to kill him, after all, and Seth was nothing if not reasonable.

Still, Hood's utter lack of scent was unsettling. He'd never heard of a man that empty. He trusted Rune's assessment of every single person they had ever run into. Only thing he'd never asked is what she sensed in him. That'd be weird.

Now, as for taking the roogie... what in the ever loving fuck are they doing here?
In the states, they did their job: hunt and kill. With what Rune told him, Seth worried that their European brethren had become corrupt. The people here had way too much respect for authority.

"I'll figure out whether Hood lives or dies in a bit, Runey. Got any idea why they wanted to keep the roogie?"
There were certain things people weren't meant to mess with.

<small>((Sorry for the absence, I've been busy. )) </small>

[Rune]

Ugh, Rune scowled. She hated it when Uncle Seth called her Runey. At least it was a step up from her full name, but it made her feel like he still thought she was a little kid and not a grown up. At ten she was more a grown up than most actual grownups.

She licked her lips and wished for a bottle of water. Her throat was suddenly starting to feel syrupy from all the energy drinks. Speaking of that, all the adrenaline from the night was starting to wear out also. Or maybe it was the rocking of the car.

She stifled a yawn and instead did a quick armpit check. Yeah. She needed a shower and not just to get the goo off her face too. "Cause they're stupid?"
Then she shrugged. "Got no clue. You can ask them when we get there. Speakin' of that, where are we goin'? And how do you track a god anyway?"
Sure, they hadn't been around since like the dinosaurs, but if anyone was born a god-hunting expert, it was her uncle.

[Seth Marx]

"How do you track a God?"
He grinned. "Same way you track anything else. Figure out what its habits are, and follow what it leaves behind."
The fact that he was hunting an actual human being hadn't quite dawned on him yet. Seth wasn't a child, but to the Atharim gods were something out of a children's story. Sure, he was halfway across the world and saddled with a schoolhouse worth of children, but the basic premise was unchanged.

"He's a typical rich kid. No consequences, no work. Runs around spending his parents' money. Shouldn't be too hard to find him and see if he's actually a god."
Especially with Hood's help; the man had already spent weeks tracking Jaxen. Before long, they'd have him in the bag.

((Okay! I'm back now. Promise.))


Edited by Seth Marx, Jan 31 2014, 06:33 PM.

[Rune]

Rune soaked up the advice like a sponge! She licked her lips and nodded thoughtfully. You track a god by learning its habits. It probably lived somewhere. It probably ate food. It probably talked to other people and pretended it was just like any normal person. Ok. Rune got it. There were other nasties out there that looked and behaved pretty human - roogie's, harpies, choopies - and she was well and good at tracking those suckers. ""These gods ain't nothin' but lil' bitches. They don't stand a chance against us."
Her lips sneered confidently.

"You ready to meet Hoodsie then? But if we got time to stop by and let me shower, that'd be sweet."
She pat the edges of her floppy, albiet rainbow bright hair. "I gotta fix my hair first too."


((Ready to move on?))


Edited by Rune Marx, Feb 1 2014, 03:15 PM.