lady stoneheart, open, preferably for the older character

Haldis is a creature of darkness for all that it resembles a creature of heaven. Gifted with extraordinary strength, speed and very sharp claws and teeth, Haldis waits on ledges of older buildings, temples and churches and in cemeteries waiting silently for a chance to grab its prey. So far this creature has killed five people in various locations, all of its victims being found with snapped necks with two very lucky people managing to escape this creature that doesn't care for bright lights or large amounts of falling water with only shattered limbs. However in the summer months where rain is uncommon and in areas where floodlights are in rare supply, there will be many more who will not be so lucky...

set up & information

setting --- late at night on the border of the warehouse district; a local museum is getting ready to receive a shipment of rare pieces of art and statues from different parts of the world

needed --- this is a random encounter, so no awakening will occur. i would say anywhere between 2 - 4 characters should be involved. already awakened individuals are welcome.

notes --- to avoid confusion, there will be a posting order for all monster attacks, so please try to keep that unless there's a note by the monster account to skip someone. the monster will "attack" as soon as i feel the right amount of people (or even those needed for the thread) have already posted.

remember --- once the monster jumps in with the attack, the minimum word count drops to 100. at that point we'll start up the rolls (if you haven't already granted permission in regards to how monster attacks work, please do so here.), and you'll learn how the monster attack will affect your characters. anyone can be grabbed/injured by the monster, so be prepared for that just in case your character is the one grabbed/injured.

questions --- if you have any about monster attacks in general, then ask the miaface! account. if it's about this particular monster attack, please pm this account. thanks!

Pax still hadn't decided whether or not being a cat was good, or if it was bad. On the one hand, it meant he didn't have to work this week. On the other hand, Pax wasn't sure he would have a job when he got back to work. As a cat, he wasn't sure how to handle a telephone, and he wasn't even sure that when he thought he was talking, that it was in human speech or cat speech. It made sense to him, but that could also be because he was a cat, and of course cat speech made sense to a cat. He could try talking to a human, but thus far that seemed a bit far-fetched. He had eaten lunch with Tony that one time, but he had lucked out that Tony was some kind of hidden cat lover -- the man had fed him, which was a rather big bonus when Pax didn't have any thumbs to do anything. Heck, he didn't even officially have fingers! Being a cat was hard...

And yet, even while stuck in this furry orange body, Pax was still going about the same routine he had been going through the last few weeks. He slept outside his apartment building (because no one had let him in as of yet, although Mrs. Oh on the top floor always brought him down some milk and tuna on her way for a walk); after that he lurked around the police department, hoping to catch site of Terry (who did not happen to be a cat lover yet) or Tony (whom he always missed when he was trying to chase after Terry); and then after that he would wander around, steal food when he could, and simply wallow in his misery. Being a cat was hard. One had to beg for food like a dog, and then half the time it was already half eaten. What did Pax want with pieces of chicken someone had eaten all the best parts off of? He wanted the whole damn chicken! But at least part of the chicken was better than no chicken at all. He was lucky to be getting anything at all. There were quite a few cats on the street, and Pax hadn't exactly made friends with any of them yet.

Tonight Pax had decided to wander a little further around town than usual. Technically he was supposed to be on duty with another officer down at the docks, but since he was a cat, and hadn't shown up at work the last few days, Pax assumed someone else had ended up with that task tonight. He was actually quite depressed about that fact. If someone else was walking his beat, what would that mean when he got back to work? And what if he never got back to work? What if he ended up a cat for the rest of his life? Pax didn't want to think about what that would mean. He was starting to miss everything he had taken for granted in his life -- even Charlotte! Ugh, this just couldn't be good for him. He needed to be human again, and fast!

If it were possible for a cat to sigh, then that was exactly what Pax did. He didn't know what to do with himself as a cat. Wandering the city was only good for so long -- at night it was downright creepy, and even Pax was questioning why he had come to tonight's job when he couldn't even come in human form. He wasn't going to be any good -- not unless he got a hold of someone he knew, or someone that might adopt him as a pet. A nice little girl would be best, probably -- and Pax doubted there would be any of those running around the docks at this time of night. Still, perhaps some older person had a daughter and would take Pax home to be loved and fed, and cleaned... Of course, at the docks at this time of night, Pax was probably only going to find criminals. How many criminals were going to be kind hearted enough to actually adopt him as a pet? Pax didn't even want to think about how evil a criminal's daughter would be.

Maybe it would be best if Pax went back to sleep outside his apartment building. He'd hate to keep Mrs. Oh waiting when morning came again.

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words; 744 | notes; thread 002/004 in cat-form

♥!

It wasn't his usual beat, not by a long shot, but it seemed that not only the public was starting to get worried about these monsters appearing all over the place. Tony himself wasn't the most stout of heart, and he'd seen two of the buggers in the flesh, so to speak. But he still didn't precisely understand why he was now wandering through the warehouse district late at night when it was Oshima's usual assignment. Apparently none of the other guys had seen him around since the attack at the retirement place, but some of the other had said he was just afraid to do this one. Not that Tony could really blame him.

The warehouse district was pretty creepy at night, but it was just buildings, and maybe the occasional teenager spraying graffiti around. Not that much to worry about. Besides, every cop in the area would laugh their asses off if they knew Tony didn't want to set foot near that old folk’s home again. He had a reason though. He'd seen that freaky yarn thing actually attacking somebody. And that sparky thing in the mall that day. Granted that one had gotten away, which really didn't sit well with Tony, but it all led to the same conclusion. Tony Yamamoto had a legitimate excuse to not want to return to the old folk’s home. Simple as that.

Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, Tony paused to give his feet a little rest. He’d been walking around here for hours now and all he’d managed to find was one squatter, whom he’d promptly sent on their way, and a couple of stray cats. He shook his head as he remembered actually taking a close look at the cats. Ever since he’d had lunch with that one at the Crown Parlor, and yes he was no longer deluding himself into thinking it had been anything but, he’d kept a wary eye out for that same cat but to no avail. He kind of hoped someone had picked it up and decided to adopt it. Or that its owner had finally found it. Either worked, so long as he didn’t have to worry if it was stranded out there somewhere. Cursing himself, again, like he’d done at the Parlor for this odd amount of concern over a cat, Tony started walking again. Maybe Jeremy had a point and it was time for him to start looking for a girlfriend again. At this rate, and with this alarming amount of worry for a fur ball, Tony was likely to start turning into a crazy cat person. At least he hadn’t taken it home with him. Then he’d have to deal with a cat and a pissed of iguana.

’Need to get a life Tony,’ he thought, rounding yet another corner. It seemed quiet tonight. Perhaps those monster sightings, and attacks because really, what else could they be, had scared some of the criminals into staying home tonight too. If that was the case, at least the place wouldn’t get tagged every night by some rebellious teenagers. That was a plus in his book, but Tony wasn’t quite happy with the method. One thing was for certain though. Tomorrow night he was not doing this walk again. Oshima could suck it up and do his job. How were they supposed to protect the public after all if their officers suddenly decided it was too scary to be out and about like they should be? He didn’t want to be too hard on the guy, Pax was nice enough and he genuinely wanted to be a cop, but this flaking out thing needed to be dealt with. Tony was not playing ‘walk around in the dark to cover someone else’s shift’ every damn night.

There was stuff he needed to do too. Like sleep.

--- words: 650 ---

&

Being a yakuza boss did not have regular hours or specific office areas, so it wasn't an unusual night for Takashi to be in a generic office building late at night near the warehouse district. It held one of his clients who was involved in his black market deals, and thus far apparently business had been going well. His client had briefly mentioned, after the new shipment had been discussed, that the nearby museum was bringing in a new shipment of art. As it was a business meeting, Takashi's first thought was that stolen art or copying priceless works was far too time consuming and tedious to make any money and it also was strongly policed. A useless train of thought for a possible business interest. However, a thought quickly trailed behind it thinking that he should take Susan to the exhibit. As an obviously intelligent woman, she might enjoy it.

This wouldn't have unnerved anyone else, but it did him. As Takashi walked into the balmy summer air, he wondered when he had become a man who could think of a woman during work of all times. Not to mention that he'd considered (and was, if he was being honest, still considering) taking someone out to an event that he personally did not find interesting. He collected art, but he did it less out of any interest in it so much as he believed that was what a man of his status and prestige should do.

His thoughts were only annoyed further when he found out his driver had been delayed in traffic--he'd had the nerve to go get something to eat for himself while on the job--and so Takashi was stuck waiting in the street until his car arrived. To say that he was irritated was an understatement. Takashi, glaring at everything in general, began planning the exact words he would use to fire his useless driver as his lone bodyguard stood behind him. He usually had more, but it was a usual run at an unusual hour so his assistant only sent one man with him as a guard.

Takashi was very acutely aware that this was not the best place to only have one bodyguard. It was in the warehouse district in the dead hours of the night, and any one of his enemies could have paid off his driver to keep him away while he was attacked. He held down his fear by letting his irritation hide it behind a haze of red anger.

post order & rolls

1. paxton --- you rolled a one -- physical injury! oh dear, despite being more agile as a cat, harm is going to befall you. but have no fear, you will only sustain a few scratches and something applying pressure to the end of your tail, be it a foot or part of the monster, causing it to swell painfully. recover swiftly and perhaps con a cat lover to pamper you until the swelling in your tail goes down.

2. anthony --- you rolled a one -- physical injury. oh my, despite being a solid member of the police force and a hero in previous attacks, haldis is not as easy to subdue as suspects have been in the past. once you break your knuckles/hand and lower arm on haldis' stone flesh you may not be fully capable of being the hero you have been in the past. rest up and heal swiftly - you will probably be called to protect and serve again very soon.

3. takashi --- you rolled a two -- temporary gain of powers!. as you have not yet found your star or awakened your dormant powers, the unknown has decided you will need to step in and stop this minion of chaos. sensing your current ties to those who have power over water, you are temporarily granted water manipulation. find a hose and watch what you can do with a stream of water. one hopes your bodyguard can keep their mouth shut after they see you destroy this creature of stone.

Movement; the creature sensed it. It had originally chosen this place because it was quiet and it seemed that there were others living here that were like it. However the others of stone did not move as Haldis did nor did they defend themselves when the soft, pink things came to call. Like now, their bodies making those sounds that bounced off of surfaces and made the creature's stone skin vibrate. Not to mention their small points of light; it didn't hurt but it was definitely annoying. More annoying of course was the attempts at manhandling - if Haldis was going to move it was going to move under its own power, thanks all the same. It didn't need any help. Watching the soft creatures pick up and move other Stones and softer, unmoving objects, Haldis stirred to life, turning its neck. As the rest of its limbs awoke, a quartet of soft creatures surrounded it and prepared to lift. With a groan and a crack, Haldis raised its arms an snatched one of the soft creatures, using it to bat away the rest. Once the circle had been broken, Haldis flung the one it carried into a nearby wall, startling a loud noise out of one of the watchers. Immediately several soft creatures ran out of the building making loud noises. Angered at having been disturbed, the angel of stone glided after them in order to silence them.

As Pax padded along around the docks he realized he wasn't the only one there. He couldn't see the other people just yet, but he could hear them. Apparently as a cat he had good hearing -- that was kind of a bonus. It almost made up for being a cat -- but not by much. After all, he was still short, unable to return home, and super-hearing didn't really rock without super-eyesight. Pax really hoped that he would get that, too. What was the point of being able to hear really well if he couldn't see anything?

A shout made Pax jump, but the direction from which it had come was unmistakable. Curious, Pax dashed in the general direction, unsure of what he would come across. He hoped it wasn't something scary -- but as a cat, he probably wouldn't be asked to help out, which means things would be so much better. If it was scary, or dangerous, Pax could run the other way and not be made to feel bad about it later. He and his conscience seemed to be in agreement when it came to things like that -- it was other people that generally made him feel bad, or regret things. But how many people knew he was a cat?

Pax skidded to a halt as he came upon the scene, his eyes widening in horror. He had thought the string monster was bad, but this... Forgetting for a moment that he was still a cat, and still in cat form, Pax screeched aloud, "Look out behind you!" At the very least that would alert the humans to the fact that something very scary, and very monsterlike, was coming after them. But that didn't seem to be the end of his heroics. Pax found himself jumping forward, teeth bared, as the humans tried to figure out where the voice had come from.

He was starting to think that as a cat, he was more suicidal than normal. Why hadn't he run? Why was he trying to jump into the middle of the fray again? This was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place! God, he couldn't wait to be human again. And he really couldn't wait for someone else to draw arms or something -- a cat couldn't do everything when it came to a monster. Especially one that seemed to be made of stone. He definitely wasn't going to try biting it to find out -- but he could at least hiss at it until someone grew some brains around here.

At least that was the plan before someone stepped on his tail, sending him screeching in a yowl of fury. This was what he got for being so low to the ground. He was going to be lucky to get away without being trampled to death... or worse.

---

words; 479 | notes; <3

♥!

It was just basically the same round of the area, making sure certain buildings hadn’t been broken into, or there weren’t people squatting in some of them. Nothing to spectacular, but Tony was still lamenting why he had to be the one doing it. It was supposed to be Pax’s shift after all. The sounds of some kind of commotion caught Tony’s attention as he was mid-mental-rant, and he frowned. That didn’t sound like kids. Picking up his pace until he was running, it didn’t take Tony long to locate the source. The workers scrambling their way out of one of the buildings was like a neon sign.

Had one of the gangs decided to cause trouble tonight? That theory was blown right out the water when a statue came gliding out behind the terrified workers. A stone statue that was moving and attacking the people. This had to be another one of those monsters. And here Tony thought he’d being doing alright to have avoided some of the ones he’d heard about recently. Oh well, looked like his luck had run out. And he was a cop. Protecting people was the job. Figuring his small baton wouldn’t be much use against a solid, stone statue, he instead grabbed one of the planks of wood stacked near the outside of the warehouse.

With all his strength, he swung at the creature, hoping to, at the very least, knock it over. But that didn’t quite work out. The plank snapped clean through and the sudden jarring of it masked the sound of Tony’s hand breaking with the force. He did feel it though and immediately he stumbled back, cradling his hand. At best, his had was probably broken. At worst, and he was suspecting it was since he couldn’t really move his wrist and arm either, he’d broken it further up as well. Bugger.

He couldn’t be a reliable shot left handed, and there were still people around. He couldn’t risk accidentally hitting one of them. So, with little choice but to jump back into it, Tony gritted his teeth and threw whatever he could find at the thing. Nothing seemed to make a dent though and it didn’t even seem to notice the projectiles. This was not going well. From where he was, Tony also spotted a cat amongst the middle of the fray. And, if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, it was the bloody cat from the parlor. 'Gods be damned,' he thought. He couldn't bloody well leave it to get crushed or trampled to death.

Wincing, he shifted as quick as he could through the scattering people and snagged the feline in his good hand, hurling it with him out of the crowd and around one of the corners. At least that was some form of cover.

--- words: 473 ---

&

One had to be extra careful at the docks at this time of night, if only because of the police. Too much noise, too much attention, and the cops would come snooping around. Takashi hadn't come this far in his criminal career just to get caught and sent to prison -- there was too much to lose if that happened.

So it made sense that the moment he heard a noise coming from a warehouse further down he would feel obliged to investigate. He motioned for his bodyguard to pull his weapon just in case, and they silently made their way toward the commotion. He was hardly prepared for the scene that greeted him.

Takashi read the paper on a daily basis, occasionally going as far as to read multiple papers in order not to miss a single detail. He knew about the youma attacks going around the city. Monsters from the dark or the night, as some papers spun the story. He had only been half convinced of their existence. After all, as a child he had been told stories about youma and such to make him behave by his mother. All children had heard such tales. But to see them in real life... it was like something out of the movies.

For several moments he stood there in shock, unsure what to do. He could see an officer in the mix, but none others seemed to have popped out of the woodwork. Takashi wasn't sure what that meant. Others could well be on their way, or this one could just be on his own tonight. It hardly mattered -- the art was what mattered.

Muttering an oath under his breath, Takashi turned to his bodyguard and jerked his head at the monster. "Attack it!" he ordered. The man seemed to blink in surprise, probably not expecting such an order, but he was well trained enough not to balk at the order. With a short nod the man went ahead to try and attack the monster. Takashi wasn't sure how well it work -- he could already see a few crates broken, which probably meant the artwork was destroyed. Angered by this, Takashi began to move forward as well, intent on unleashing his temper on the foul creature bring trouble to his part of the city.

He wasn't really thinking clearly, which was a reason why he found himself stumbling over a water hose left behind from earlier in the day. Annoyed further by this, Takashi reached down to grab the hose, yanking at it as though to remove it from his path. An idea came to him as the hose yielded a little to his pull. It was still attached to a water faucet. Without pausing to consider what he was about to do, Takashi moved over to turn the faucet on, directing the hose toward the creature and the group of men it was attacking. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen, but his anger seemed to fuel his actions... and in a strange way it seemed to fuel the water. The angrier he got, the more water that came out, jetting far beyond its initial reach, much of the water going straight to the monster despite the monster not being in line with the hose...

But such things weren't on Takashi's mind at that moment, which was probably for the best. It was one thing to see a monster, but to believe himself capable of directing water in any specific direction... even a madman wouldn't believe it.

Pain. That was all Pax could think about at that precise moment. There was pain shooting up and down him because of the idiot that had stepped on his tail. It hurt oh so much that he couldn't be sure if he was actually sobbing, or howling cat howls as a result. He wasn't even sure what was going on around him, or how likely he was to be stepped on again -- that blasted tail, a thing he had never had before, hurt. It was terrible to think that despite really being a human, he could feel the pain in something he shouldn't have. Then again, Pax really shouldn't have all the fur currently covering him, or four paws instead of arms and legs, and he shouldn't have a mashed nose! He was supposed to be human, and this wasn't supposed to be happening to him. He didn't want to be a cat! He didn't even want to get used to being a cat! He wanted to be human again, but Pax didn't know how he would ever be able to do that. Or even if he would be able to do that.

As the pain began to recede, Pax found himself able to think again. Escape became the foremost thought on his mind. It made the most sense, after all. What else could he do? Someone had already stepped on his tail and injured him, and what was he going to do against something big and scary... and stone? Now that he was able to get a closer glimpse of the new monster, Pax had to admit it was a very scary sight indeed. Stone! Cats couldn't fight off stones. Cats fought off... rats, and stuff like that. Pax didn't even want to attempt something like that, but he figured that would be much easier than going head to head against a stone creature. His chances of winning were extremely slim.

But before Pax could move to get away, he found himself moving upward into the air. His eyes widened, and he flailed a little before he realized what exactly was happening. Tony was saving him! Pax felt himself sag in relief. He wasn't going to be crushed to death by a stone creature -- he was going to be taken away to safely, and maybe if he was lucky, given some more milk to drink.

---

words; 398 | notes; <3

♥!

At first the attempts of the humans to chase Haldis away were laughable. While one lucky shot caused the creature to drop a victim, the second attempt by one of the bigger humans resulted in intensive pain. For the human. Turning it's neck slowly and with a grinding sound, Haldis prepared to advance on the now injured human - easier prey than the rest, despite the objects he was throwing - when a strange impact hit it. Looking down, Haldis observed a small hole in its side and with the same gravelly sound, turned its neck to see another human pointing a strange object at it. Gliding towards the new human - it would come back for the injured one - Haldis reached out its arms preparing to strike.

However something else struck it first. In shock, the rock like creature realized it was being hit with a stream of water that was approaching at a high high pressure. And no matter how the creature turned, the water followed. Not helping matters was the fact that the stream of liquid was hitting hardest at the strange hole in its side and at the joints. Finally the stones that made up Haldis' body could take it no more and the water finally had its way. Having no vocal cords, there was no scream or denial of death. Instead the creature was torn apart with the pounding of small rocks the only sound. Even after the water lessened its pressure, the ruins had been too far scattered to let the creature reform again.