Webs and Wings [Inca]

[Valerian]

Valerian ran a finger along the side of his Snakebite glass as he walked, he came around often enough to be familiar with the Bartender and a customer here and there. He had on pretty casual clothing, leather jacket, jeans, sneakers. Wouldn't stick out too much by what he chose to wear, but it was the way he moved that caught attention. Just seemed to call the attention of those looking at him, drawing interest, just seemed to draw them in.

Or for him, to draw on their strings, and pull them in. He sat next to a woman, not immediately next to her, just close enough to get her attention. She seemed upset, and possible lonely. And that was exactly what he needed, he smiled as she looked back at him, "Rough day?" he asked kindly, the words flowed easily, it was not that the words or the action themselves had much more power. But the way in which a Siren, and in this case a Jorogomo, could preform them, did. Projected a sense of security and kindness, an attractiveness to call one in to open up to them.

"Day might be a bit of an understatement." She answered shaking her head, but the pull was set in place. Conversation had commenced.

"Rough life?" He prompted leaning his head to the side and somewhat frowning. The woman chuckled, There's a victory right there. he thought. He was going to keep pressing, try and weave his way slowly, patiently, until the web became too thick to pass through. Until she was prompted through emotion into his hands.

What he was not aware of, was he would not be the only Siren in the room. There was another. When and if they would notice one another, would soon be clear.

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

The woman slipped into the dark, smallish establishment, taking in all to be seen around her. It was second nature, after all, and sharp, dark eagle eyes missed nearly nothing. There were a few new faces, but mostly familiar, she realized, almost dismissively disappointed, with nothing in particular to capture her interest. But that was nothing new. A smile danced upon her lips as she waggled her fingers at the door guy; she’d frequented the place fairly often since arriving at Harper Rock and even picked up the odd bartending shift to earn a few bucks here and there, just like she did at other places in town. Her voice alone drew people in and the owner was pleased that the nights she tended were some of the busiest, but though a permanent job had been offered, Inca never stayed in one place for long enough to entertain accepting it. But something about that particular place was special, frequently giving her the feeling that something, or perhaps someone, might ensnare her fancy and point her in her next direction. It would give the wind a break, for certain.

Perhaps that was why she was back already, even though she didn't usually venture in so soon after a shift, so as not to wear out her welcome.

As she settled in at the bar for a quick drink, though, something prickled at her spine, so fast she could scarcely keep her human form intact. Instead, she whipped around, dark hair flaring behind her in the vague, blink-and-you'd-miss-it shape of wings. She hadn't even had to ask for the whiskey she quickly knocked back, a gasp whistling past her full lips as she scanned the room for newcomers. Her gaze settled on one man in particular, a brow rising in silent assessment. No one had ever sent such a chill over her in such a way, such a knowing way, and yet, he had not approached her. Eyes narrowed, she turned back to her refilled drink, mind racing. She hadn’t met many others like her. Even fewer who could do exactly what she could, and yet, the crawling feeling that twitched her skin didn’t make her think he could, either. Not in such a way...

Suspicions and curiosity aroused, she took a little more time to finish the refill, not close enough to overhear the conversation between him and the other woman, at the far end of the bar. But she couldn’t seem to shake the intense need to know his deal, whether for good or ill, and that just wasn’t Inca’s style. So as soon as the rest of the dark liquid tipped down her throat with it’s so-good burn, she flipped her glass upside down and slapped a few bills on the bar before she quietly stood. A vague salute to the bartender she knew fairly well later, and she was slipping out the door and into the fresh night air to hopefully rid her wanderer’s soul of the strange need to know curling within her.

A flight through the woods would help, surely it would.

[Valerian]

"My names Ryan, or, that's what I'm usually called at least." He said reaching out a hand to the woman he was speaking with and shrugging his shoulder at the additional name comment, it was prompting, in voice, in manner. Almost hesitantly she shook his hand but then smiled back, "Rachel, nice to meet you." She responded, seemed nice. Seemed. "Well what's your real name then?" she asked quizzically cocking her head.

Valerian groaned bobbing his head side to side, "Well....Valerian isn't exactly the most easy to use first name is it?" he answered with a chuckle, "So I just took over Vale and pronounced it like Ryan most of the time. I mean really would you want to call someone Valerian all the time?"

A nervous giggle, felt like another achievement, "Ok ok, fair."

Still needed to prompt the conversation, but all of a sudden, something was wrong, his eyes caught sight of someone. An individual who received a drink without needing to ask. An individual, Intruder. was the automatic thought that went to his head, a spider crawled underneath the table and he had to quickly but casually reach under and stop it. Instincts. It wasn't that she was intruding on the bar, or that this was even his territory. But it was like it was right now and it was just his natural reaction when he realized something...intriguing.

He continued to talk to the woman, trying to prompt her further, this Rachel, as she said was rather held back. She didn't want to carry the conversation. That was fine, he knew how to do that. He could keep her interested enough in him to not go away, he could plant the seeds of interest. And when he came back later, perhaps they would began to grow.

Then her phone buzzed and he had to pause cocking his head and frowning as she pulled it out and looked at him apologetically, "I gotta go sorry, it was a pleasure meeting with you though!" she said before getting ready to hand over the money to the bartender, he put a hand over hers, "Hey I'll get this, just say I'm paying for taking up your time, it was good to meet you too." he said. She smiled and left quickly with just a swift goodbye.

Valerian handed over a cash and sat down for a moment finishing his own drink, hm...that other woman had left while he must have been distracted. Oh well, he'd have wanted to speak with her, but things just hadn't gone that way. In truth he wasn't far behind when he left, the wilderness was where he was headed. Eventually he might head down to the caverns at the edge of the forest, but right now he'd just settle for getting out of here and somewhere he could take on his natural form.

He glanced around making sure he wasn't followed as he took off at a light jog towards the forest. He was in soon enough, thank goodness. It was nice to be able to let oneself lose, he kept walking though, not changing completely yet. But his eyes began to form, those additional ones on his head, an easy sign of a Jorogomo. He ran a tongue along his teeth. That Rachel was a good choice. He just needed to figure out how to get to her next time.

Still, his thoughts ended up back on the "Intruder" who almost ended up getting him to send spiders across the bar towards her. Like him. Not the same, but akin.

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

Wiinuk.

That crawling sensation was back even as she slipped out of her denim jacket, and she halted her shift in its tracks. Willing the feathers on her bare arms quickly away and forcing her appearance back to that of a full human, Inca slowly turned with a sigh. Her plan was temporarily put on hold and, as she stiffened to her full height, she threw the jacket on, just in case, gently tugging her long mane out to spill down her back. There, just a short distance away, stood the man from the bar and she wondered what, if anything, he might have seen. Warning bells were ringing in her head, instincts that she could not will away as easily as the feathers whispering warnings. He felt sort of like her, to be sure, but feeling wasn’t fact, and it wouldn’t do either of them any good if it turned out she was wrong.

But then, the moonlight caught him, just so, and she could swear a pair of beady, shining black eyes had formed on his head, and she sucked in a breath. Her guard dropped, but only just. Perhaps he was a descendant of Asibikaashi. She had heard of them, the women were usually considered helpers to her people. But others thought them to be tricksters who brought mischief and trouble wherever they went. However, in no case were they ever malicious, and so she took a step forward, curiosity written all over her face. Fear didn’t factor in; she could handle herself and had plenty of ways to protect herself. She had sensed others, but had never actually met one, save a very, very old grandmother who could no longer shift into one form or the other. She had gone senile, and was fiercely protected by her family. Her aunt had brought her to visit, once, to see if there was anything she could learn, but it had been a wasted trip.The family was suspicious, and treated her like an interloper.

She drew in another breath, her gaze taking in the entirety of the sight before her. She wondered if he’d seen her yet, or sensed her. A brow rose again, and she took another step closer, unable to help herself. Finally, she stopped, a good-ish distance away, and at last called a quiet greeting. His presence still set off warnings, but she could not tell precisely why.

“Hi.”

[Valerian]

The sensation returned, he realized now more clearly, that somehow this was most definitely not what he was exactly but it was something close. His eyes oriented on the woman as he realized he'd ended up following her and she'd noticed, he noticed some movement, but hadn't been paying enough attention to clearly make it out along her back. But as she turned around and he realized he was quite clearly a Jorogomo to an onlooker who had any clue what they were, there was no jig to be kept up. But there didn't need to be. She wasn't human, that much he knew. And he was pretty sure she wasn't vampire. She had to be like him in some way though.

Truth was, Valerian had never actually met a Harpy. Encantado's yes, they were plentiful. Well, if you knew where to look. And how to look. Jorogomo's weren't too hard either but at least he was one of them. But Harpies? No. Not until now at least. He knew what they were, what they were known for. But he'd not actually met one before.

No reason to hide his eyes at this point, not only had she seen. She'd even taking a little distance closer. Not close enough to fight though, well, she was careful enough. That was fair. He had to chuckle though when she greeted finally. Just a simple Hi. The voice though, that was what was it. It was special and unusual. Jorogomo did things through actions, Harpies were the voice, Encantado's were much more the in between.

"Hi," He responded, the voice wasn't cruel or dishonest, in fact it was surely more honest then when speaking to humans. He placed his hands in his pockets and leaned to the side not wanting to approach because he didn't want to scare her off, "Mind if I ask...what are you? I mean, you're like me. But not...completely like me."

He was unsure if he should actually say what he was, not exactly a word one wanted to throw around to people for plenty of reasons.

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

She couldn’t pull her gaze away if she tried; never mind that he was nice to look at - it was so surreal to witness another who could do what she could, even if it wasn’t in quite the same way. She considered his question for a long beat, sharp gaze taking in what were surely the eyes of a spider. The truth, even though she didn’t know him at all, beyond that instinctive familiarity, came easily to her lips.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure,” she replied, the tone soft and musical and pitch perfect without effort as always. “I am told my people call it animikii. Beyond that, I’ve never met anyone else like... well, like me, except for one and she wasn’t... all there.” She shifted her stance, only slightly, still keeping her tall frame steady and not exactly relaxed as her chin tilted. She couldn’t hide her curiosity if she tried, which was so unlike her, but perhaps spoke to the long-buried desire to know more, something she could not contain if she'd even been aware of it. Answers had never come easily and the one person who might know something was long gone. She had heard her people’s legends of the thunderbird and hints of a family or two somewhere in the North, but never anything specific to herself. And after the encounter with the old woman, she had little desire to chase down tall tales for nothing. Maybe this ... descendant of Asibikaashi or Iktomi... would have some answers for her.

“If I may ask, what, exactly, are you?” She figured turnabout was fair play. If he could ask, so could she, without coming across as rude. She wasn’t about to spill her entire life for this man, nor the sheer amount of turmoil that came with not knowing much about oneself or one's own history, but if he could even begin to share a hint or two about himself, it might be enough to make her next moves.

[Valerian]

She responded, such a wonderful voice. Fascinating, intriguing. Far more then usual for a Siren. So strange, but yes, it had to be the case that she was one of them. But he just didn't quite know what. The thought of a Harpy came to mind just due to the voice but, still, he couldn't be totally sure. It was easy to get lost in if one wasn't paying enough attention. Or, maybe, paying a bit too much. He made sure too pay the right kind of attention to avoid himself getting lost.

"Animikii" she said she was called, definitely not a word he'd heard before, but said she'd not met others like her. Was she not from around here maybe? That would explain it. Or even if she was if she hadn't grown up here, that'd be reason enough. He did wonder though, one of her parents had to be a Siren. But, if she never knew, was she an orphan?

She might not be able to hide her curiosity, but Valerian wasn't even trying to. He wanted to know more now that he'd seen her, and heard her voice. It was far too interesting to just step back from, so why hide it? He wouldn't lose anything by showing it.

“If I may ask, what, exactly, are you?” She figured turnabout was fair play.

A fair question, though maybe not one he was totally desiring to answer. But on the other hand, if she was new to this all, she might not really turn out to be an enemy. If she didn't have any feeling of need to control territory, then maybe having just another friend would be good. And in return for telling her things, she could answer his own questions.

"Well, my name is Valerian. Mostly I just go by Ryan. I'm what people around here call a Jorogomo. A type of Siren, which I think is the similarity we share." He answered with a small friendly smile and breathing in and out in thought, "I guess, we both have a natural form then. This is, well part of mine." he said gesturing to the additional eyes on his head.

"I'd be a little too worried to show you what it all is, especially if you haven't even seen many others like yourself. Don't know if it'd be, you know, startling or not. But, I wouldn't mind seeing what you really are. When you're not looking human I mean." He responded, he hoped she hadn't heard bad tales about the Jorogomo or the Sirens. To be fair they weren't constantly talked about and if she hadn't met some already or found them, he hoped there was good chances they wouldn't be on hostile territory.

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

“A Siren,” she breathed, her voice filled with wonder. She’d always wanted to know if there was a white word for it, but it wasn’t something she could exactly ask, or drop casually into a conversation, without having to explain more than she wanted or go deeper into detail. Before that moment, anyway, and it was such a good feeling, she was having trouble sticking to a polite and casual boundary. Speaking of polite... she shook herself out of her meandering thoughts and flashed a genuine smile.

“Inca,” she said by way of introduction, and nodded at his explanation of what was visible of his true form. She resisted the urge to repeat the strange name he had for himself, the word so foreign to her tongue and yet so interesting. “In my culture, we would probably call you a descendant of the trickster god, or the spider grandmother,” she explained. “But your kind is only legend to my people. I have never met another like you...” She had to suppress a laugh at the idea he or others might frighten her; quite the contrary, actually. Besides, there was more to fear from humans, some of which she had seen and experienced with her own eyes and ears, in her estimation.

“But that means... there are others?” She asked the first question that tumbled out. Not even his casual request to see her true form had shaken her, no matter that she had never shown anyone else before... at least, not on purpose. A half-smile tugged at her lips as she slid the jacket away once more, baring her arms, which she allowed to feather once more, just for a few moments. It seemed only fair, she supposed, since she had seen part of his. “I take the form of a large bird of prey,” she said softly, before draping the denim back over her shoulders and awaiting his response. If there were others, it would be something, for sure. His hesitance didn’t really register for her, either - this was too exciting all on its own. Boundaries be damned, Inca had a strong mind to seek them out - any of them she could find - though it had yet to occur to her that it was a strange thing they seemed to be concentrated there, in that particular city.

[Valerian]

She had definitely not had much formality in the situation, though neither did he. But they met in the woods after a non worded encounter at first was there really any need? They were both curios. They both wanted to learn from something. So why not go out completely. Share what they knew?

Inca, apparently, did introduce herself fortunately, he smiled again, "Pleasure to meet you." he said, there was some honesty there of course. But it was instinctive to be friends with people. Not necessarily Sirens. But the unfamiliarity with her specific kind did upset his normal manners a bit. But oh well. There wasn't anything to do about that.

“In my culture, we would probably call you a descendant of the trickster god, or the spider grandmother,” she explained. “But your kind is only legend to my people. I have never met another like you...” She had to suppress a laugh at the idea he or others might frighten her; quite the contrary, actually. Besides, there was more to fear from humans, some of which she had seen and experienced with her own eyes and ears, in her estimation.

"Heh," came out simply as she mentioned calling his kind descendants of a trickster god or spider grandmother. Well her people were pretty much spot on then he figured, though he did wonder what kind of life she lead where she wasn't a trickster herself. Seemed to be the nature of Sirens, though, he realized, perhaps Harpies were a bit different then the Jorogomo or Encantado's. But they were still Sirens after all.She seemed unconcerned about the possibility that he might frighten her in his natural form. But he would rather play it careful then risk it. After all a man with a spider torso and numerous eyes usually spelled trouble in Harper Rock for a human, or sometimes another Siren, and he didn't know what all she was familiar with.


[qoute="Inca"]“But that means... there are others?” She asked the first question that tumbled out. [/qoute]

He nodded his head and chuckled, taking a few steps closer to explain rather then having to talk from such a distance, but still not truly closing the gap completely, "Certainly, my kind the Jorogomo's, and the Encantado's, are not as hard to find as you might think. If you knew where to look, course, not everyone would." He answered. She didn't seem to know that much about them yet. In his mind, that meant she was in danger, if she was going to search them out. If she was as willing to speak to others as she had him. Someone was going to take grievance with her being in their territory. He didn't mention it yet, as she continued.

Watching as she removed her jacket he cocked his head, fascinated as her arms formed feathers, letting himself smile and his eyes light up with interest. A truly interesting sight indeed. She answered that she took the form of a bird of prey, quite different creatures they were indeed. While he could have some comparisons with the Encantado, a bird was such a different type of creature.

And yet, all of them, were beings of seduction. The same in many ways, but different in many others. "Harpy, that's what you're called around here. If you didn't know." He said, course the idea had been around for awhile he just hadn't mentioned it to her, "I've heard of you, but, I've never actually seen one till now. Known for beautiful voices, even more then normal for a Siren, kind of what tipped me off but that was absolutely the proof right there." he said gesturing to her now concealed arms. He was still smiling somewhat.

But it ended up fading a little bit, "I know you said you really haven't had much experience in this. So, I might warn you the kind of world you're getting into if you pursue it further. Vampires, humans, and Sirens, they don't always get along well with each other. Heck sometimes even us Sirens don't get along with each other." He chuckled but stopped, it was serious. He had to consider his next actions carefully. Valerian was technically more...empathetic then normal for a Jorogomo. But he didn't like to believe it, or show it. But he could always pass this off as just a way of getting information, making an ally. That'd be how he could explain it. Lies were the ways of a Jorogomo, and Valerian lied to everyone including himself.

"You know, I'd be careful who you talk to, not every Siren is going to be as...friendly with another type of Siren, as we're being with each other." He said pointing between them, "I mean, I don't know how you Harpies are. You're the first for me. But everyone else for sure, gotta be careful, especially if they think you're in their territory."

[Inca (DELETED 12467)]

Jorogumo. Encantado.

Harpy.

Her brain tripped up on that for just a moment. Inca hadn’t had much in the way of formal education, and she wasn’t entirely sure the “authorities” knew of her presence in her father’s ancestral home in the first place. Her aged aunt and uncle lived in an extremely rural part of Minnesota and she remembered it had been a BFD when running water was finally installed, just before she turned eight. She could read, though, and write, and had only recently obtained her first smartphone. And while she knew how to use it, and use the internet, never before had she had a word or an idea of what to search for. She’d heard of harpies before, vaguely, but only in terms of European mythology. Never in the context of her people or culture.

She took it all in for a long, quiet beat, adjusting her jacket and pulling her hair free once more. “I didn’t know. Thank you,” she said with a fresh smile, but it faltered as he continued. “Vampires...? So they are real? The stories are true? Are they... enemies?” She hadn’t been in Harper Rock long enough to encounter one, that she knew of, but the whispers and rumors were on everyone’s lips. She had likened it to stories of boogeymen - sometimes it helped to have an easy scapegoat for the ills that came along with city life. Higher murder rates could be attributed to something beyond the control of humans and their shortcomings.

She could scarcely keep up with her whirring thoughts as he continued, though. So used to keeping to herself and only allowing the surface appearance to influence others and draw in what companionship she wished for, she had little idea of how to react to his words. Something about the way he moved was drawing her in closer, too, but she did her best to ignore that, even as she took a few steps toward him. They were being rather friendly, for someone who spoke of their kind with casual caution.

“But I must,” she said, her brow furrowing slightly. “I don’t have any idea where to look, but. I need to know, Ryan. I need to find others. Welcome or not, I know nothing... but I want to. Need to. All my life, I have had to hide my true self from others, stay away from most people. I have sensed this... this connection before, but from so far away I didn’t know what it was until now.” She stopped, before the fervor in her tone turned fanatical, though it was all she could do to hold it in. “Will you help me?” She asked, bold as it was. This was an opportunity like no other and she was near-desperate to explore everything he’d had to say, dangerous or not. "I will understand if you say no, but you seem to know far more than I do. I could use the help."