I will be your Deadman~

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Characters: Aradia and you!
Setting: Anywhere in the tower
Format: Starting with brackets, but will match
Summary: Aradia discovers her Branch of Sin and is concerned
Warnings: Blood, eventual death

[A few days ago she came across a bright, red crystal while exploring the tower. She had tried to pick it up but it was embedded in the wall. She did however manage to cut herself on the sharp edge. The cut had healed fairly quickly so she thought nothing special of it at the time.

Getting small cuts on her hands and lower arms are pretty normal for an adventurer like Aradia, what isn't normal is the way her blood is acting. It seems thicker than usual, seeping out of the wounds in strands more than streams.

She isn't alarmed immediately, a little blood isn't much cause for concern, but than she notices she has a certain amount of control over her blood. She can stretch the strands out, feeling the tug of it on her veins in a sickly manner. She experimentally waves her arm about, the blood trailing behind it like her old whip.

Well, that can't be good.

She sets of in the direction of the infirmary, bloodwhip still hanging from the palm of her hand as she can't seem to retract it.]

Comments

[true_noir]

There is no sense in which that is hygienic.

[Once again, Chloe seemed to like catching Aradia at the most awkward of times. She was standing at the edge of the corner, looking on at the woman's whip and frowning slightly. Somebody definitely did not think too highly of that particular new appendage, or its source.]

Is this a normal trick for you, or something new and ... special to our little slice of hell?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

No, probably not. I can't seem to get it off me though.

[She wiggles her arm to make her point clear. At least it looks more like a whip now, instead of a thin, string of blood.]

This never happened to me before.

[true_noir]

Then almost certainly one of their games, or one of our fellow guests tormenting us. A few have too much power to spare.

It... looks as if it is coming out of you, Aradia.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

If it was one of their games I think everyone would be affected in some way. [She looks Chloe over.] And you seem fine.

Oh, it is. It's a weird feeling.

[true_noir]

mmm, I am accustomed to some of these sorts of games sometimes not being felt by all, but I will take your word for it.

I imagine, though, you are looking to have it checked out. Can it... do anything?

[hystericull]

[Like a cat following an old string, Gamzee tread behind Aradia not-so-subtly. He was as quiet as could be, but the fact that he was making no effort to conceal himself made it pretty obvious that he had no ill-intentions at the moment. This red string was certainly curious, though. He just wanted to follow it for a while, see where it led.]

[His shoulders were hunched up, and his eyes darted in whichever direction the end of the string seemed to flick. It had a certain warped consistency, reminding him of a substance he was particularly fond of.]

[If he were to lift his head from staring at the floor, he would be able to follow the string until it undoubtedly led to Aradia's hand. Apparently, discovering the source was not high on his list of priorities, and when he got the end within stomping distance, he brought the sole of his dirty sneaker down sharply to trap it against the floor.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[Well, that's not something she was expecting. As soon as he steps on the end of the whip her arm gets pulled back, bringing her off balance and causing her to fall backwards. She lets out a small yelp as the back of her head thuds against the floor.]

Ow! Who's... [She looks up to see a familiar face.] Gamzee?

[hystericull]

[He bends at the waist, staring down at her with a grin full of crooked, yellow teeth. Careful to avoid the spit dripping from them.]

Heyyyyy, motherfucker. Ain't got all up in the knowings of what the fact that you be gettin' the fuck down in this joint, too.

You got my string.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I haven't been here that long.

[She tugs on the whip of blood still trapped under Gamzee's foot.]

Actually, it's mine.

Eh...pyramid floor, why not. If she wouldn't wander here, just let me know and I'll set elsewhere!

[warriorscribe]

*It was surreal, something he...sort of recognized. This was the way Egyptians honored their dead, particularly nobility or the otherwise honored. He'd seen them carving these out in building once. But there was light from some unknown source...

And then he saw a troll girl with...was that blood? Was it a weapon? It looked like a whip, but it also looked like it was coming from her palm.*

What... What happened? Is that normal for trolls?

No, it's fine!

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Hmm? Oh, this? [She lifts her palm to show him that it is indeed coming from her hand.]

No, I don't think it is. It's not something I've seen before at least.

[warriorscribe]

*She seemed so calm about it... Enoch eyed it cautiously.*

...What happened?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She's not all that calm actually, she just doesn't think that freaking out about it will help her any further.]

I don't know, it just happened out of nowhere really.

[notayoungkitten]

[Coming across Aradia like this is complete happenstance, but the old soldier stares at her with a mixture of curiosity and mortification. She's seen plenty in the tower by now, but blood dripping out of someone's hand in what appears to be a weapon is completely new.]

What on Earth has happened to your hand?!

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She really wishes she new the answer to that herself.]

I don't know, I don't remember anything happening to it.

[notayoungkitten]

[She stares at it, worriedly.]

Is it a fresh wound?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

It is. At least, I only got it a couple of minutes ago, I don't know if there was one before.

So sorry this is late...

[hemoeroticism]

Ahah, well, that's interesting. Another one! ✩

[ The voice comes from behind her, from what appears to be a young man with green hair. He takes a few steps towards her, grinning ear to ear. As if compulsively, he claps his hands, and takes a few more steps towards her. ]

I bet you don't know how that happened, do you? I do. And, ah... if you aren't careful, that kind of power is more dangerous to you than it is to anyone else.

No problem!

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She is immediately distrustful of anyone who would approach her knowing what is happening to her at the moment. He doesn't seem to be a Tower administrator though, so perhaps it isn't a Tower orchestrated event after all.]

Another what?

[She ignores his warning about it being dangerous for now, at least until he proves himself trustworthy.]

[hemoeroticism]

[ He grins, and continues his advance. ]

Another Deadman, of course! You think you're the only one whose blood can do that? ✩ My dear Wretched Egg got bored, and decided to make more. It's about time, really.

[ He stops, about four yards away. ]

You know you can pull that back into your body, right?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

There are more? [Somehow she hadn't expected that, not after not seeing anyone else with the same issue.

She doesn't know.]

How?

[taintedwhite]

[No, it can't be good. At all. And when Wretched Egg appears around a corner and stares at her through half-lidded eyes and a devious smile on her lips, Aradia can probably tell it just got even worse.]

Now what kind of bird do we have here~?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[Not instantly, the girl seems mostly harmless to her at first glance. She's small and not especially muscular. But there is undoubtedly something wrong about her.

Growing up as a lowblood has thought Aradia nothing if not how to sense when someone is dangerous.]

I'm not a bird.

[taintedwhite]

[Shiro and Aradia met during a previous 'game'. Wretched Egg remembers that. Aradia doesn't seem to remember her. Funny... But nevermind, Wretched Egg is a lot less easy to forget than Shiro.]

You weren't~ Now you are.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[Aradia's memory of the Ghost Watching game is a little hazy, she doesn't really remember meeting anyone.

Even if Shiro seems like a memorable person.]

I don't feel like a bird.