Ladon/Jin PSL

[justamobster]

The storm off the horizon had already stirred up the ocean. Choppy waves hit the sand with resounding slaps, and the darkened waters roared like some great, angry beast. The wind had reached that stage, beyond steady or gusting, when it swirled about at the flaps of coats and hems of skirts like a confused dog, chasing its tail in directionless currents that twirled through the boardwalk. It caused the few patrons who'd braved the gloomy evening to duck their heads, grab their hats, and flee for cover. That is, other than the four men lurking by the railing, who everyone gave a wide berth when seeking somewhere to hide from the incoming wrath of Mother Nature.

Ladon contemplated this as he leaned on the creaky wood balustrade and toyed with his pocket watch. "Mother Nature" as the humans called her, was apparently a cruel, unpredictable mistress that they had built walls to keep out, and who they blamed for everything they couldn't systematically control. The ocean had been given a misnomer as well, but Ladon hardly paid enough attention to sailors to figure out what it was-- only that, like nature, the ocean was apparently female, and thus capable of tantrums that ripped apart ships, drowned brave men, and wreaked havoc on the shoreline.

He wasn't sure why there was always a female quality attached to dangerous, uncontrollable things. Clearly the humans who dubbed mothers as horrible had never had a father like his.

Odds are, they'd just known women like Camilla Flow.

Ladon had given up on lighting a cigarette the traditional way, the weather had squashed all attempts at keeping his lighter lit for more than a blink of the eye. Instead he waited until a human couple rushed by, the man with his arm around the woman, and then sneaked a zap of electricity to the tip of his cigarette. It did him little good, as the wind with one good huff extinguished the tip before he could even get a puff in.

He rolled his eyes and glanced at the man hanging around him.

"Any sign of 'em?"

The big were known as Domino shook his head. The reason the other patrons on the boardwalk avoided them was mostly because of Domino. This was less because the man could change into a grizzly bear and rip any of them in two, and more because he had a dark complexion that marked him as an outsider. "None yet."

"I got a feeling they aren't showing," Guivres said, before leaning next to him.

Ladon gave the younger dragon a good nudge with one elbow. "Yeah? How'd you know? Don't think I seen your eyes anywhere but the skirts of the dames walkin' by."

Guivres gave him one of his wolfish grins. "Love it when it's breezy, don't you?"

"No." Ladon swatted him upside the head. "Show some respect and stop oglin'."

"Yeah yeah," Guivres muttered.

The tallest of the bunch was Rugby, so it was natural he'd spot something first. He motioned to Ladon, who stepped around Guivres and headed over to see what the were had spotted. "Something up the beach."

Ladon dug a small set of binoculars from his pocket-- dragons had decent eye-sight, but nothing compared to weres like Rugby-- and used them to get a good look where Rugby was pointing. Something was there, all right, but nothing that Ladon had expected.

"That ain't our contact," Ladon said. "That's somethin' burrowin' under the sand."

"Something?" Guivres leaned in, and Ladon let him take the binoculars for a good look. "Maybe it's a gopher?"

"One hell of a gopher." Rugby shook his head, then looked down at Ladon. "Boss?"

"Hold on," Ladon said. "Let's see what it does."

Comments

[justamobster]

"The fuck--" That's all Ladon manages before a crack of thunder booms above, cutting him off and signaling that they are much too close to the storm for it to be safe. Still, he gawks a long moment at the dissolving creature, then even more pointedly at the scythe.

He's torn between confusion and awe, and that instinct that told him to squirrel away a savings account to rival royalty and buy up all the real estate he could with the remains wants him to just go for it. Grab the thing. It's new, it's different, it's powerful. He wants it.

The second whip-snap of thunder and a snake of brilliant lightning that barely proceeds it above their heads holds him back. He glances up at the blackening sky, feeling the electricity in the air. Fulgurmancer or not, a strike of lightning would still fry his scales off. He leans out then and grabs Jin with his good arm. The ocean has soaked both of them, and the blowing sand is sticking to his face and shoulders.

"Come on!" he shouts over the approaching squall, and starts to yank Jin further beneath the boardwalk, angling down the beach away from the crashing waves and beneath the groaning wooden boards which could very well give out above them and trap them in the debris.

Damn cheap, shoddy workmanship. Ladon was going to give Sophie an earful about her lowest-bid tourist trap by the sea-- that is, if he made it out alive.

"We're gonna drown if we don't get back up, yeah? There're stairs further up that lead to the midway."

[supernova1006]

"Yeah..." he only half hears Ladon and lets himself be tugged along, stumbling every time a wave comes up. Darn ocean. Darn rain. Darn Centipedes. He's dizzy from blood loss and from the wet and cold which is now starting to make its way down to his bones. He's distracted as well, busy concentrating on closing his wounds before he bleeds on this newcomer.

The underside of the boardwalk goes by in a dark brown blur, punctuated by the dark gray of the waves, crashing higher each time. Eventually Jin can see the stairs ahead, as rickety as the rest of it but salvation all the same.

Just get there just get to the stairs that's the goal get to the stairs...

A particularly powerful wave slams into them and Jin nearly loses his footing. He grits his teeth and presses on, still gripping his scythe and holding tight to Ladon. He doesn't want to lose either of them right now.

[justamobster]

He's soaked, he's cold, he's miserable, his ribs hurt and he is going to deliver a few smacks upside the head to his men before the night is over. Rugs and Dom have gotten complacent, to say nothing of Guivres. It takes too long for the damn stairs to come into view, and when Ladon finally sees them, he swears a blue streak if only because he doesn't need to save his breath for any more waves that could knock him off his feet. He hurries around to the creaky, wet wood staircase and heads up into the midway.

The rain is starting to come in bursts, pushed across the boardwalk in cold, wet blasts with each gust. Ladon is shaking like a drenched cat and looking just about as sad in his wet clothes. He glances down the boardwalk, but can't pick out Rugby or Domino through the torrential storm.

"Shit!" he yells, and after glancing behind himself to be sure Jin is keeping up, he heads over to one of the buildings beyond the shut-down rides and starts banging on the door. "Cleo? Cleo! You in there?"

[supernova1006]

Step by step, one goal at a time. Get to the stairs, get to the stairs, now...go up the stairs. Get up the stairs get up get up...

It's harder than he wants to admit, but it shows in the way he clings to the railing and stumbles on each step, struggling just to lift his legs high enough. The other man has gone on ahead, but all Jin can focus on is the slick wood beneath his feet, the cold wet metal of the railing and the rusty smell that came with it, and the wind at his back.

It seems like an eternity before he's at the top of the stairs, and by then Ladon is banging on the door of some building. Jin lets out a sigh and sinks to midway floor, wet and still sticky from dropped food and candy. He winds one arm through the railing and just leans on it, clutching on for dear life as he catches his breath. He feels like he could pass out at any second.

Unbidden, the scythe flashes white and separates into the clockwork cats, Tick and Tock.

"We must return to this area as soon as possible," says Tick.

"There is something wrong with the Centipedes," Tock agrees.

"Something very wrong."

"Outside manipulation, perhaps."

"See that you recover quickly, Jin Tian."

Jin can only nod vaguely.

ALMOST A MONTH LATER... derp.

[justamobster]

Ladon doesn't hear the cats talking, not over the howl of the wind and the booming of thunder all around them. Even if he did, he'd explain it away as being a hallucination from the cold and wet and very unpleasant condition he's in.

Just when he thinks the door's never going to open, it does, just a few inches.

"Cleo, lemme in."

"You're soaked," the succubus remarks, and it's only because he's shivering uncontrollably that he doesn't roll his eyes.

"No shit, c'mon. Some other fella got caught out in it too." He waves over his shoulder at Jin, then shoulders his way into the room. Cleo lets him. She could have kept him out with one hand alone if she'd wanted.

"Come on, pal," she shouts. "I'm not keeping this door open forever. The break room's going to flood."

lmao it's all good

[supernova1006]

He's pretty sure that he passes out for a moment. When he comes to, someone is calling for him. There's a woman standing in a doorway, holding the door open for him.

It seems so far away...

"Get up and walk, Jin Tian," Tick growls.

Jin grabs hold of the railing, grits his teeth and hauls himself to his feet. He hauls himself across the rain-slick boardwalk, holding his shoulder.

Get to the door get to the door...

Finally he reaches the door and that's when his energy disappears. He practically falls inside, his cats leaping away to avoid getting caught under him.