A Snowed In Hunt

[Enrique]

There were always strange happenings in the underground tunnels. They had begun to diminish after Nox had cleared them out - apparently with the Ascendancy. How odd that Nox had some sort of relationship with the most powerful man on earth. It had also displaced a lot of people. Most of them were holed up at a church of some sort - led by a self proclaimed “Angel of the Undercity.”

But with the threats being diminished, that meant the rumors of weirdness had more credibility. There were a couple of rumors that grabbed Ricky’s attention. A old woman needing help and who went with her didn’t come back. Another woman who seemed possessed. So it could be multiple things. A harpy was most likely for the first. The second could be a wefuke or a ijiraq. Still both were worth investigating further. He hoped for the harpy. He could kill that without killing a person too.  

So Ricky packed up his pistols and loaded a backpack with extra ammo, rations, and a change of clothing. Carrying a damn near corpse like Nox on his back had made the change of clothing a standard in his go bag now. He also carried several fully charged power packs. He had told Hayden he had been an Eagle Scout. That hadn’t been a lie. He was always ready. On top of that, he was glad he had made friends with Nox. The mapping of the tunnels came in handy. 

Ricky had no magic so he had to use mundane things to see in the darkness he had a light clipped to his coat that allowed him to keep his hands free in case he had to pull out his fire arms. A noise in a side tunnel caught his attention. It could be anything - a person, a creature, a cat, or any thing else. But he was searching for a monster. He moved down the side tunnel to see what was there. Perhaps his quarry was in this direction.

[Sasha]

The snow was getting bad and he was a bit away from the church. He could have found another place, but the tunnels were warm. And it would allow him to keep heading to the church. Though it was not an easy way to sell on his way in the tunnels, especially now they weren't many refugees down here -- they were all in the church now.

But the tunnels were much warmer than outside.

They were dark but it was easy enough to get around. He knew the way. He'd been down here enough times. His eyes were adjusted to the darkness. But it was still hard to see everything, he kicked a bottle and it tinkled down the tunnel floor. He could use the power and have a flame out but why, it killed his dark vision.

A light flickered in front of him, someone was coming. Sasha pushed against and hoped they'd walk on by -- he didn't know who it was -- it wasn't some monster they didn't have lights.

[Enrique]

Ricky moved through the tunnel. He wasn’t really trying to be that stealthy at this point. There was a lot of ground to cover down here and at this point he wasn’t really hunting. The thing that really bothered him though was the silence. It was so quiet down here.

That’s why the sound of a bottle being kicked down the tunnel drew Ricky’s attention. Ricky was used to this type of thing so he didn’t freak out. It could be anything. More than likely - it was some person kicking a bottle or a rat that knocked it around. It could also be something more sinister. Ricky loosened one of his revolvers in its holster but didn’t draw it. He certainly didn’t want to spook some homeless person or an innocent, but he wanted to be ready to draw just in case.

Turning the corner, Ricky saw the first person he had seen down here since he got here. A tall man with long hair. The man blinked a bit, his eyes needing to adjust to the light. Ricky shielded his light a bit to give some respite from the sudden brightness. It wasn’t a gesture he expected from a monster.

”Sorry,” Ricky said to him. ”All good?” he asked. He hadn’t seen another soul since entering, his response might also give Ricky a glimpse into the man’s intentions. They were probe nothing - just traveling or staying warm.

[Sasha]

The light was blinding. "You can see better in the dark without that thing." It was said almost too quietly. Sasha didn't want to alert any of the would be monsters down here. You learned to stay quiet in the tunnels. Though it was a lot safer than it used to be, but where the old nests were others were cropping up. New monsters -- all the old ones were dead thanks to Nox. He now knew the name of the man who'd lead the teach to clean the tunnels. The one who'd spear headed the culling before they could make fodder of them all. No one was grateful for their deaths. But Sasha had seen monsters turn before -- it wasn't pretty.

"I'm good. Why are you down here? You don't look the sort to be finding a warm place to bed down in the storm." Sasha knew what fellow refugees and homelessness looked like. This guy was geared, and clean -- clean most of all was the tell-tale sign. He was a hunter too. He'd draw monsters. Sasha looked down the way he'd come -- could he make it back to the surface. He looked back at the man and sighed. But it was cold and snowy up there, at least down here it was mostly dry. It could be really dry if he wanted to boil off the water. That was a thought... he wondered how long it would take a human's blood to boil off... He shook his head. Not a thought for now. Maybe later.

[Enrique]

Ricky didn’t know what to think of the man in front of him. He seemed a little skittish and a bit too curious. The fact that he was used to the dark in the tunnels meant he had spent time down here. Ricky wondered what his deal was. He turned down the light - leaving it dim as to not blind the stranger.

He hadn’t asked Ricky to go with him or asked for help, this was likely a person instead of some sort of shapeshifter. That didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He spoke quietly. It was another thing that made Ricky think this guy was used to he down here.

”Me?” he said with a light smirk, his volume matching the strange man’s. ”I’m just a collector of rumors.”

It wasn’t a false statement even if it wasn’t a whole truth. Most hunters didnt go around telling people they hunted monsters, at least not straight out. It was rumors that led him here at the very least - as well as Marta’s insistence that he start hunting again. She was becoming quite stubborn in her newfound freedom.

”And you…do you call these tunnels home? You seem to be quite used to them.”