open } { random dialogue prompt starters

[iluvroadrunner6]

1. Pick one of yours.
2. Pick one of mine or ask me to surprise you.
3. Pick a starter. (You can also ask me to surprise you here too, and I'll RNG it.)
4. Profit.

Comments

[annalist]

Sounds good. We'll need whatever help we can get.

[and if there's anything he's learned from talking to mona it's that not all shapeshifters and creatures are inherently bad.]

[beanchaointe]

[Lydia nods as she continues to drive, the buildings of the town proper falling away to the wooded roadways that lead up to the back, less populated area of the preserve.]

So what are you going to do with her when you find her?

[annalist]

It depends, if she's not actively harming people we'll just take her into the bureau until we can get her back to where she belongs -- if she's hurting people it might be more complicated.

[beanchaointe]

[Yeah, but unfortunately "back to the bureau" isn't really a satisfactory answer when she doesn't really know what the bureau does.]

And if you take her back to the bureau, what will happen there?

[annalist]

We'll keep her in captivity until we can find a way to get her back where she belongs. Mona, one of my coworkers, is really good at taking care of the creatures there. She really knows her stuff.

[beanchaointe]

[Lydia's quiet, trying to struggle with how to phrase this so that she doesn't offend him, but in the end, she can't help but speak her mind:]

That kind of sounds a bit like a zoo.

[annalist]

It sounds worse than it is -- I mean, it was pretty bad at first, I gotta admit, but Mona has really turned things around. She really wants to help them.'

[beanchaointe]

[Lydia exhales slowly, because that's not really exuding a lot of confidence.]

Ever think about just ... letting them live their lives like they're actual people?

[annalist]

Some of them are really dangerous -- not all of them, but some of them. We want to find a way to get them back where they belong, so they can do that. But we can't risk innocent people in the process.

[beanchaointe]

[She presses her lips together, because they're all dangerous, in their own ways. What matters is intent. And in Lydia's experience, "innocent peeople" are getting harder and harder to define.

But she says nothing else as she pulls up to one of the small side parking lots for the preserve, and sees Scott climbing off his motorcycle. He waves to Lydia, and she waves in return. She doesn't know what Nate was expecting when it came to the True Alpha of Beacon Hills, but it probably wasn't a guy wearing a lacrosse coach polo and windbreaker.]

That's Scott.

[annalist]

[maybe not -- but nate is also somewhat quickly learning that he shouldn't jump to a lot of conclusions when it came to other creatures.

after all, he once thought unicorns were magical.

he holds his hand out to scott once the other man has approached them.]

Hey Scott, I'm Nate

[beanchaointe]

[And Scott will shake his hand in turn with a warm smile because that's who Scott is. "Hi, Nate. It's nice to meet you. Lydia said we're looking for some kind of siren?"

Lydia nods as she catches up, currently gathering her long hair away from her face, since they're going to be walking in the woods.]

I think she probably headed towards the nematon.

[annalist]

That's the Beacon in Beacon Hills, right?

[beanchaointe]

Yep.

[Lydia finishes the word with a pop.]

It tends to draw magical creatures in regardless of whether they're good or bad.

[Scott nods as well. "Most of the good ones are just looking for somewhere safe to stay. I have a bit of a reputation that keeps a lot of hunter trouble out. They start families, build packs ... just live their lives."]

And for the ones who are less than altruistic, we have Scott. And the local hellhound.

[annalist]

Hellhound?

I'm guessing that's better than it sounds?

[beanchaointe]

Not actually from Hell, for one, but shows up covered in fire, so I'm sure those who first coined the term thought it did.

[Jordan Parrish is too much of a sweetheart to be considered from hell, but the hound, on the other hand, is a rather relentless creature, so that probably contributed to it too.]

A person dies valiantly by fire and somehow they survive, by sharing the body with the hound. The hound is charged with protecting the nematon and the secret of supernatural creatures along with a bunch of other stuff tied up in various and sundry mythologies.

[annalist]

Probably. Historically, people named a lot of things they couldn't understand through biblical references, especially hell.

[but that's not the point at the moment.]

So as long as the nematon is active, there's a hellhound to protect it?

[beanchaointe]

That's been our experience, anyway. But theoretically there are nematons all over the world, connected by various leylines of supernatural energy, but we don't know how many hellhounds there are out there.

[She shrugs as they start to get close.]

We just know one of them found their way here.

[And as they come over the crest of the hill, Scott holds out an arm protectively to stop them.

"She's here."]

[annalist]

[nate was going to ask more about the nematon and the hellhound but scott's words shifts his attention.]

You can hear her?

[beanchaointe]

[Scott shakes his head. "Smells like salt water."

With that, he takes another couple steps forward and puts himself in the siren's line of sight. "Let me try and talk to her first." Lydia nods, before taking a step back and letting Scott do his thing.]

We're not far if you need us.