Litmus Test [Tierney]

[Gretchen (DELETED 9344)]

Gretchen all but glared at the uniformed men in the booth across from her. They sat comfortably around a table without a seeming care in the world, their shirt unbuttoned and undershirts untucked. A glance under their table revealed unclipped holsters resting on the upholstery. If it weren’t in her best interest to stay off their radar, she might have given them something worth talking about.

******* pigs.

As if on cue, one of the men glanced in her direction, meeting her gaze.
That was her sign to leave; God help them if they got any funny ideas about stopping her.

Slipping dextrously through the growing crowd — an indication that the workday was over and happy hour’d begun, Gretchen made for the door with just enough time to get to the rendezvous point on schedule. What awaited her, she’d find out on arrival. That is, if whoever she’d made plans with to meet actually showed up.

It’d been a half-baked plan from the get-go, born from boredom and snark, but not one the paladin regretted making. It wasn’t as if she’d be elsewhere at this hour, doing something else. There were two options, she’d wagered, either vampire or human. The first would serve as foreplay to a night of unadulterated violence against the so-called Lionelli; the latter… well, could be interesting.

Approaching the meeting point with minutes to spare, Gretchen pushed her hood down to reveal the two braids she said she’d be wearing. It was unlikely they’d miss each other, but knowing what to look for specifically was helpful. Nearing her go-to spot on the chemical plant’s western wall, she kept her eyes peeled for red hair and black jeans. All the while, she fingered the knives in either pocket, ready for anything.

[Tierney]

wearing

The meeting had been arranged and set. Tierney didn't know what she was getting herself into, but the sorceress wasn't too concerned as she pulled the door shut of her family's apothecary. Pieces of lavendar and cinnamon still hung to her shirt even after she ran her hand down it. It took her only a few moments to twist the lock and pull on her heavier jacket, setting out for Newborough as she double checked for her ruger behind the sweatshirt tied around her hips. Although it was nippy out, the red head didn't mind the cool weather - from her family's coastside shop, it wasn't too long of a walk. Her light eyes studied each face, taking note of the ones whom didn't exhale a cloud of condensation.

It would be these faces that Tierney would remember when scrolling through the police database, releasing evidence and writing their names down for the Order later on in the evening. She took a few moments to collect her Savage, the rifle strong and sturdy - named after her family, something that she'd always prided herself on as she had learned to load and unload, to clean her firearm. Earlier in the day, she'd hidden it in a warehouse - down low where it wouldn't be noticed by the soldiers and the homeless unless they knew where to look. Once she was settled and done, the ginger continued on.

There wasn't a name that had gone with the strangers email - she'd considered hacking it to find information, but there where was the fun in that? Her hand went to the ruger that she'd stashed away on her person, the handgun gripped easily as she walked. There were only two ways that it could go, but she would prefer to be prepared as she looked for the descriptors that had been given to her through the 'penpal' introduction on her phone.

"You looking for Wildfire?" She said to the individual waiting in her meeting place. The petite sorceress waiting with an uplifted brow.

[Gretchen (DELETED 9344)]

Gretchen cast a glance towards the approaching redhead and bit back a scoff. For a city that harboured so much diversity, Harper Rock was remarkably small. Retrieving her hands from her pockets, leaving the knife and ring dagger as they were, she jutted her chin out and spoke:

“Yeah, though Arthur’s kid’s the last I’d’ve expected.”

Her lips seldom contained her thoughts, especially those she believed to be true.

Arthur Savage was one of the few men for whom the paladin didn’t feel a deep-seated hatred. He was a reliable furnisher of the many things she required in her day-to-day ritual. Wishbone had become somewhat of a fixture in her life since moving to the city. It was the only reason why she’d committed the name to memory, remembered the face, and been sufficiently invested to have picked up on his mention of a daughter: a redhead she’d seen once or twice at the apothecary, but never interacted with.

“You’re a Savage, right? I’m Gretchen.”



A hunter of many names, the identity she claimed wasn’t as much a lie as it was a vacuous truth of little consequence to any one other than those long dead. It’d been years since she’d offered her real name; it was too precious to share. What’s in name, the quote went, and Gretchen believed. For it mattered little what name she went by; the names changed but the rage remained.

[Tierney]

"Shouldn't be, there's a long line of us." She stated.

Her father had traced his roots to the extinction event, as he called it. Where the war between vampires and hunters had taken place in Harper Rock hundreds of years before. She'd listened to the stories of their family members long enough as a child that her forehead was often connected to her desk. Her cousins, on the other hand, had hung onto the words that her father and grandfather spoke as if they were the words of God.

There was an unspoken minor bit of annoyance at the thought of her father being known.

In Tierney's opinion, he was a few marbles short. He'd encouraged her to allow her beloved animal to die, encouraged her to train until the skin on her knuckles were raw. He'd never been a caring father, but at least Tierney knew what was out there. At least she knew how to fight.

"Tierney Savage, yeah."

Gretchen. She tucked it away mentally, the ginger lifting her hands to push her own hood down. "He doesn't quite like the internet trolling, or hobbies I've taken to. Aside from hunting." Her blue eyes drifted to the wooded areas, listening and considering their surroundings. "Are you up for causing a fair amount of chaos, this evening?"

[Gretchen (DELETED 9344)]

A long-line of potion-making Weasleys. How charming.

As Tierney removed her hood, Gretchen wondered how practical that red mane could be when hunting. The thought of all the ash likely caged in by those curls had her spine rolling in on itself. The gagging was masked by a cough.

Her own hair was kept in tight braids, the oils used to keep it healthy an added barrier of protection against the fallout. For months now the paladin been considering the chop for the sake of practicality, but her attachment to her locks made the decision harder than it should be.

“Always,” she replied, hands sinking back into her pockets.

Gretchen curled her fingers around the concealed blade and dagger. Although she was a capable marksman, guns were a logistical nightmare. Not to mention, expensive. Unless she was sinking into Harper Rock’s rotten bowels, she seldom relied on bullets. Bullets ran out, but a blade? The worst that could happen was dropping it, and she had no doubts as to the efficiency of her backup. The strength she’d gained from the initiation and the training that’d led up to it rendered a near-fatal right hook.

“You’d think their numbers would’ve thinned out after Longslade…” she commented, referring to the Lionelli. The chemical plant was renowned for being their territory. Gretchen wondered just what was under it for it to be so heavily defended, for so long.

[Tierney]

Once her hood was completely lowered, Tierney removed a scrunchie kept around her wrist at all times and pulled her thick hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. It was a pain in the *** most of the time, really, but she wouldn't dare cut it. At least, she wouldn't until she found a reason she couldn't argue against when she did. As of now, short of shaving her head, Tierney knew that any length of her hair would be deemed a nuisance in some way or another.

A nod of her head was given in the direction of the chemical plant as she felt the power running through her veins. Every day, she was a little bit stronger. This was what Tierney repeated to herself when she found herself healing bruises, some worse than others. Bones could be broken, flesh could be split, but her skin hardly scarred from the chi pulsing through her form paired with the healing herbs that she placed over the injuries.

Sawyer called her a witch. Her mother called her a healer.

Truthfully, Tierney just felt that she was straight up lucky.

She turned to face the large building, considering Gretchen's statement and then silently regarded the emails that she'd been hacking through for months. "Doubtful. They remind me of the hydra legend. Cut off one head, two more grows back. It's one reason I find their aversion to sunlight so amusing. They burn." And she could do some decent damage with heat pulsing from her body.

[Gretchen (DELETED 9344)]

If only it was as simple as ’they burn’, Gretchen thought to herself. They turned to ash and from ash they rose, like corrupt echoes of a phoenix. Not immediately however, which in and of itself was a small mercy given how virulent they were. The world would be a far darker, uglier place if they gained any more abilities. It was evident, by the onslaught on Longslade, that that’s what they wanted. They weren’t looking for a cure. No, they indulged in their supposed superiority, craved for more. It made her stomach churn. It made her all the more eager to crunch them beneath her boot’s heel, a feat difficult to accomplish whenever they pulverised.

A few of them [vampires] didn’t turn to ash. Gretchen had learned of the differences amongst them, though she paid the knowledge little heed. Save for the facts she retained to keep an advantage in a fight, she cared little to understand them. They were all, as far as she was concerned, abnormalities that required eradication.

One day, there’d be a second coming.

“Do you know what happened at Longslade?” Yes, she’d read the news, but she didn’t believe a lick of it. The population believed itself in the know, but it wasn’t. And if there was one thorn in her side she’d finally like removed, it was her lack of knowledge as to what really happened. It was the only reason she had any inclination to socialise. There was little she hated more than sharing, but every exchange required a sacrifice in order to gain. And so, she offered in hopes of getting something in return. After all, she couldn’t be only hunter who frequented the Savages’ establishment. “I was there, but I got bored of babysitting and went looking for a fight I didn’t win.”

Full disclosure wasn’t her cup of tea, but there was nothing keeping her from burying her secret in the chemical plant. As opposed to the vermin, Tierney wouldn’t raise from the dead. Reining in her bloodlust, Gretchen kicked open the heavy metal door. There were plenty of targets inside worth saving her bad blood for.