Post by Tiger on Aug 14, 2014 21:05:32 GMT -5
Times That Bind
This is that crossover story I've brought up once or twice in Skype-chat ^^ It's a crossover between my characters from Mafia II, Mafia III, and Medieval (Mick, Cheryl, and Leif - and of course Meta and Pratchett because what story would be complete without them?). This takes place after Mafia III, which means there will be spoilers from the three games here, particularly with my characters' arcs and relationships and the general endings of the games, though I will try to go easy on spoilers for other people's characters. So if you don't want to know that Leif was the baker or that Mick used his massive wealth to buy a rocketship to go to the moon out of proper context, get thee to Memory Lane (or, er, click the links back there) and start reading those roleplays!
This is that crossover story I've brought up once or twice in Skype-chat ^^ It's a crossover between my characters from Mafia II, Mafia III, and Medieval (Mick, Cheryl, and Leif - and of course Meta and Pratchett because what story would be complete without them?). This takes place after Mafia III, which means there will be spoilers from the three games here, particularly with my characters' arcs and relationships and the general endings of the games, though I will try to go easy on spoilers for other people's characters. So if you don't want to know that Leif was the baker or that Mick used his massive wealth to buy a rocketship to go to the moon out of proper context, get thee to Memory Lane (or, er, click the links back there) and start reading those roleplays!
Part 1
“Dwoofindo!” The street filled with the thunder of falling scaffolding; the black-clad figure skid to a halt as beams of wood and buckets of mortar tumbled across their path. With a glance back at their pursuer, the thief braced themselves and scrambled among the debris. Nimble though they were, they couldn’t help but stumble over the shifting wood pieces.
Leif ignored the burn in his lungs and ran faster. This much running was not in his job description. A simple Stupify ought to have stopped the thief cold, but no – they must have been wearing a protective spell, or at least protective clothing. The latter would explain why the thief was so bundled in black cloth that Leif hadn’t seen so much as the thief's eyes.
The thief made it over the broken beams just as Leif reached the bottom of the broken scaffolding. Leif cursed and started clambering over it himself. He wasn’t as agile as the thief and not nearly as willing to be stabbed through with nails, so by the time he dropped down onto the other side, the thief was nowhere to be seen.
Panting, Leif started forward anyway, counting with trepidation the many alleyways and streets the thief could have taken. How in ‘Woo’s name does Xavier do this? Unfortunately, the House’s vigilante had been heading in the other direction when Leif had last seen him, in hot pursuit of the second thief. Of the two, Xavier’s target was more important – he or she had taken a wand. Leif’s mark had a book - unfortunately, Jade books were quite a bit more dangerous than those owned by other Houses, so Leif couldn’t exactly give up on the chase.
“Woomos.” The light that appeared at the end of Leif’s wand brightened the cobblestones and the destroyed scaffolding. Little droplets of blood gleamed like tiny scarlet coins in the glow. Haste makes waste. Leif hurried off again, following the trail of blood droplets down an alleyway. Of course it was an alleyway.
Leif flicked his wand and the light went out; the sound of his boots pounding against the cobblestone and his heavy breathing were going to be giveaways enough without shining a light in the thief’s face as well. He rounded a corner and a spell shot past his ear, so close he could hear it sizzle and his protective spell buzzed unnecessarily. A warning of the punch coming toward his face would have been more useful.
Leif staggered back, wand already raised. “Protego!” He heard a muffled cry of pain – female, he thought distractedly - as the thief hit a translucent green shield instead of the fleshy mage. Leif’s face felt icy where he’d been struck - was there a spell on the gloves? Why an ice spell?
Didn’t matter, he needed to catch her - Leif dispelled the shield and reached for the thief’s wrist...only for her to grab Leif’s arm in a bitterly frigid grip and try to fling him aside. Luckily Leif was at least a little heavier than he looked, and he managed to dig his heels in, as well as clench his fingers into the bizarrely cold fabric. He pulled one way, the thief the other, and some of the fabric ripped.
The skin under the fabric - something was wrong about it.
The thief bolted. A small, faintly-glowing spot on her arm came in and out of view as the thief’s arms pumped to get her out of Leif’s range. The fabric piece in Leif’s hand was already warming to match the temperature outside.
Leif raised his wand, aiming for the end of the alley and assembling a familiar set of runes in his mind. A translucent, gray-green shield fell like water from the top of a gap between two buildings. It hit the ground just before the thief could make it through; she skid to a stop and whirled around to face Leif.
“Surrender now, and I won’t have to hurt you,” Leif ordered as he approached, wand still raised. The patch of skin on the thief’s arm actually reminded Leif of the shield he’d just cast - slightly luminescent...and slightly translucent. But that must be a mirage of some kind - surely he couldn’t see the black fabric that lay on the opposite side of the arm.
The thief backed up a step, crouched almost like an animal. The Jade book was tucked protectively under her arm. ”Just hand it over,” Leif encouraged. “That thing is dangerous - we just want it back.”
The thief…made a growling noise, accompanied by a puff of vapor. ...Okay, that was...unexpected. Leif slowed to a halt.
Fidgeting, the thief looked around, Leif presumed for an escape. To be safe, Leif tilted his wand over his shoulder and cast another shield behind him. “There’s nowhere to run. Just give up, save us both the tro- drop it!”
The thief lunged, clutching whatever she’d taken from her pocket in her free hand. She was fast - inhumanly fast - Leif tried to throw a shield between himself and the thief but barely had time to assemble the runes in his head before she struck him hard with an icy shoulder to the chest. Leif hit the shield he’d just cast and bounced off it; he just barely managed to get a hand to the ground in time to stop his face from smashing to the cobblestones. Pain pulsed down Leif’s spine but he lifted his head and half-raised his wand, ready for the thief’s next attack -
Except, she wasn’t attacking. The thief slammed whatever was in her hand - some large, purple rock? - against the wall of the alleyway, where it burst apart into a large, purple opening. A portal? The thief charged into it - Leif hauled himself to his feet and started after her. She can’t get away with that book!
He seized the thief’s collar just as her hand passed into the tunnel - and suddenly Leif’s vision went black and he had a sense of flying very, very fast in an unknown direction - the cobblestones vanished, the warm air vanished, the sounds of the Kythian night vanished, his grip on the thief vanished -
And suddenly it was freezing cold - the sky was a blanket of gray and the ground was covered in thick piles of white, cold fluff - snow? Was this snow? Was - was he in Bern? But it wasn’t wintertime - Kirin had told him snow only came in the winter -
The thief whirled around and suddenly, the snow didn’t feel like the biggest threat. Leif braced himself but the ground was wet and slippery and he couldn’t hold his footing when the ghost tackled him into the snow. The cold was enough to make Leif lose his breath. Still he raised his wand and managed “Protego!” A shield domed over him; the thief struck it barely inches from Leif’s face. With another snarl, the thief pressed her hands to the shield - and her hands started phasing right through it.
How - the enchanted clothes? Leif pointed his wand at one of the entering hands. “Dwoofindo!” The fabric tore away, revealing a translucent, slightly glowing palm. Leif shot a stinging hex at it - he could worry about the fact that the hands were definitely see-through later.
The thief didn’t react. At all. In fact, the hex passed right through her hand, hit Leif’s shield, and dissipated harmlessly.
Leif tried to back up, but the deceptively fluffy snow piled into a thick wall at his back. Kirin had told him snow melted almost like candle wax, but also like rain in that it disappeared somewhere – maybe Leif could use fire, but starting a fire under a shield didn’t seem like the best idea. But he had to do something before -
There was a screeching noise and a loud slam; the thief looked up in surprise and hissed as a spurt of water rammed into her. The translucent skin showing where Leif had torn the thief's sleeve flared bright red and...squirmed.
This was also when Leif realized the thief was hovering.
Leif recognized an opening when he saw one. He took down the shield and cast a wide, sharp “Dwoofindo!” that slashed off some more of the protective black cloth. The water that had gathered atop Leif’s shield dropped down onto him, and suddenly, Leif’s silver feather pendant started glowing.
There was light coming from the thief, too - the semi-transparent and slightly-glowing thief, cringing from the pendant and the water. Another blast of the water struck it in midair, and with a cry of rage - more human than animal this time – the thief retreated. Leif saw it swoop down briefly to pick up the book - the book!
Leif lurched to his feet with the intent to cast a spell at the ghost, but quite suddenly, the combination of running through the city, traveling through the bizarre portal, and the absolutely frigid winds robbed him of any strength. He collapsed, just barely staying conscious long enough to get his wand out of the way so he wouldn’t crush it.