AN: Moved from SB. Hopefully it gets a better response here. Votes don't have to be detailed...
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User Total Lost Star 18
The High Priestess
AN: Moved from SB. Hopefully it gets a better response here. Votes don't have to be detailed. Vague actions or statements work best. Think of this quest more like a collaborative story than anything else.
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It was a sunny day today, warm and just a hint of humidity. Combined with the way the concrete and asphalt tended to radiate heat, and Rowan was already sweltering, even with her standard jeans and sneakers dress. She was still in a good mood though. A day off, nothing to do but have fun, and later today she was going bar hopping with a few friends. All together it was a very good day.
Which was why she tolerated the strange man stopping her on the street for half a minute.
"Excuse me, Rowan?" The man was middle aged. Hint of grey at his temples, and dressed in a business suit. Rowan was sweating just thinking about it, so the man must have been dying. He didn't show it.
"Yes? Do I know you?" The woman tilted her head and frowned.
"No, but you will." The man chuckled warmly and pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket. "Would you indulge me for a moment?"
The request was rather strange. Rowan raised both her eyebrows and then blinked as the man took that as assent. He knelt down and began to draw a circle. The people walking around them moved around casually, but a few stopped to watch as he drew a chalk circle around the woman.
"What are you doing?" Rowan asked with bemusement.
"It's pretty simple. Stand in that circle, and count to ten. You'll understand once you're done." The man's smile left his face and he took two steps back. The chalk had left dust all over his nice suit already, but he barely noticed.
The woman sighed and rolled her eyes, but started. "One, two, three. Is something supposed to be happening?"
"Not yet." The man fingered the chalk.
"Four, five six." There were more people watching with curiosity now, and Rowan wasn't particularly happy about it. She rushed the last. "Seven, eight, nine, ten. So!" She stopped there suddenly, though not because of something happening to her.
The explosion above her caused her to look up. She had stopped next to a ten story building. Not the largest in the city, but fairly big. This was why it was so terrifying when it started to topple down.
Scared out of her mind, Rowan couldn't do more than duck down and cover her head. There was screaming, and shouting, and more explosions. She thought she was going to die, and started to pray as things fell down around her.
A minute later there was still screaming and alarms going off, but she was fine. Slowly she uncovered her head, and looked around her.
There were pieces of rubble around her, and one piece of steel perilously close to her foot, but nothing had touched her. Around her though, all the people on the street? They weren't there anymore. She could see blood.
The man was down the street now, looking extremely casual as he wrote something on the concrete. The angle wasn't good enough for her to see it though. He looked up as she did, and waved casually, and then walked off and turned the corner out of sight.
Rowan could hear screaming.
[X] Someone's screaming. Find the source.
Right, Rowan thought. She wasn't hurt. Other people were obviously. They needed help.
It took an agonizing minute before she could move herself. Then it was a rush towards where she could hear screaming. There was a lot of it. Several of the larger buildings had dropped and people had been underneath them.
Rowan's stomach felt like it wanted to crawl into her throat, and she felt ill. This wasn't supposed to happen.
The first screaming person she could find was under metal. Blood coated his entire body that she could see. Glass had fallen down and shredded half his body.
"Oh god, oh god." Rowan got down on her knees in a crunch of glass and hesitated. What could she do? Stop the bleeding? She was a college student majoring in art!
The man's scream started to trail out. He couldn't see anything really, but she could see blood pooling out. He was bleeding out now.
Another man ran past her and stopped at the man. He grabbed at her shoulder. "He's going to die. We need help elsewhere." His voice was calm.
"But, but!!" Rowan reached out.
"You'll just shred yourself. Triage!" The man barked and paused. "Get out of the glass too. We can't have you bleeding out as well. Come on, I saw someone buried and I need help to lift it."
The man on the ground started to trail off with quieter moans.
Rowan let herself be pulled up, and the man looked down at her. He paused mid look, and then looked down at the ground. "Did you hurt yourself on the glass?"
"Why would I...?" Rowan trailed off and looked at the place she had been kneeling. Then stepped back. She had literally crushed several shards of very sharp glass as she had knelt down.
"Fuck it." The man muttered. "Listen, I'm an EMT. I know first aid. Help me find people."
"Yeah..." Rowan looked down at the dying man, and then stopped.
The man said something to her and pulled on her arm again, but she didn't hear it. She could hear a heartbeat slowing down. The man bleeding out she knew.
She wondered. Was his life meant to end here? Was he meant to die?
It was a cruel decision. Triage right? Try to save the ones that could live, and leave the ones that would die. It was brutal and simple. She didn't like it.
The heartbeat slowed down more.
She was a five foot, few inches girl. She didn't exercise. She didn't really even run. She was cute, but not stunning. She was someone who would date some, drink some, and maybe have a few kids if she felt like it. Nothing important. Why had she lived then. Why was this man dying? Why had everyone else died.
One more beat. Somehow she knew it. Then the man would be out of blood. His brain would degrade from loss of oxygen. He would die.
This wasn't how he should end. That was Rowan's decision.
Dimly she was aware that she had been dragged a few feet away from the dying man. The other one, the EMT had run off when she had become unresponsive. She didn't blame him.
There in the fire and ruins of some explosive attack, she made a strange decision. She couldn't tell you how or why she did it, but she made it.
The dying man's heartbeat started up again. Faster, stronger. He twitched and gasped, and then flopped in the glass.
The blood flowed back into his body in a strange smooth and unnatural motion. The shattered glass around him did so as well. His body healed and changed. Then turned semi-transparent.
The man flopped over onto his stomach, and then looked at one of his hands.
"What the fuck?" He said after a moment, and slapped his cheek. It sounded like what would happen if you tapped two thick bottles together.
"You're alive?" Rowan gasped out.
"Apparently? Fucking what the fuck?" The man got to his feet and spread out his arms. "I'm a glass man?" He paused and cupped his hand. Glass into his hand and he formed a ball. After a moment he dropped it. "What the fucking hell?!"
Rowan was wondering that some herself.
[X] Help more people
In retrospect we were all in a little shock. But she was pretty sincere you know? I was a gang-banger before the shit happened. You got your bros and that's about it. Not much loyalty there. Not much care. So when she said she was glad I was alive, it struck me. Been following her ever since.
Yeah, still working on the fucking swearing. It's my damned trademark now. I even tone it down for the kids. It's all fudge and sugar. They laugh like hell. Best part about the job
Rowan smiled gratefully at the man after a second. It didn't matter. "I'm glad your alive." She breathed out.
The glass man paused and then laughed. "Well, that makes two of us." He looked around. "Who's the bastard I gotta shank for this?"
"I don't know." Rowan shook her head, and then looked around herself. "We have to save more people though. Can you help?"
"Well, I got the whole mutant super powered shit, so sure." The man looked down at the glass sphere at his feet, and then nudged it with a toe. The glass flowed back into his body. "Freaky. Why'd it have to be glass. I'm afraid someone's going to scream and I'll crack."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Rowan finally spotted what she was looking for. "There! That's the emt guy! Follow him!"
"Sounds good!" The glass man took off at a run and Rowan followed. Immediately the differences in their fitness became apparent. The man she had saved practically sprinted towards the other man, and didn't even seem winded by the time she caught up.
"What in the...?" The EMT man paused from his tourniquet, and then shook his head. "Fuck it. This day's already weird. There's a fire going over there!" He pointed at a nearby building. "I'm sure there are survivors there. Bring them out, mind the spines!"
The glass man nodded briskly and ran into the building. After a moment of hesitation, he laughed as he plunged past some fire and then smothered it with a wave of his hand. Glass spread out on the ignited surface and the fire stopped. "This is almost worth fucking dying!" He screamed out as he continued in.
"What can I do?" Rowan asked the man.
"Back with us? Don't go spacing out again." The EMT man muttered. "Hold this. Apply pressure." He instructed. The patient was a woman with what looked to be a severed foot. The place he had instructed to hold was a belt strapped around her leg.
Rowan nodded and did as instructed. "Oh god." She whispered as she finally realized the damages.
The woman in question chuckled grimly as she grimaced. "Yeah, glad I'm an office worker." She joked. "I'll get the nice handicapped parking."
"How can you joke about this?" Rowan asked.
"Better than screaming." A few tears trickled down her face as the woman replied. "I want to."
"Thank you for not doing it. You'll live." The EMT man muttered as he pulled off his shirt and shredded it. "Fuck, what I wouldn't give for my ambulance."
Rowan winced at the statement, and then felt her eyes widen.
"My baby!" The scream was of despair.
Rowan couldn't blame the woman as the glass man moved out of the building. He looked a bit tired as he set down the child's body on the ground gently. His mother trailed behind looked devastated.
"Fuck!" The EMT moved to him immediately. "Fuckity fuck." He bent over the body. "Not breathing. What happened?"
"He hit his head, and the smoke..." The woman wailed.
"Where's the fucking emergency people?!" The EMT man howled out and looked for a pulse. "Fuck! Anyone know CPR, or am I the only one trained."
"No man." The glass man looked awkward.
"Then go look for more. Girl. The tourniquet tight?" The man looked at Rowan, and she nodded in reply. "I'm going to start it. Watch what I'm doing. Where is everyone?! There should be first responders all over!"
The glass man paused and then seemed to focus as he stared down the street. "Looks like there's rubble everywhere."
"Of course there is." The response was bitter, but the EMT didn't stop. He leaned down and started to breath into the boy's mouth. "I can't keep this up forever." He stated quietly. "Watch it. Say if there's issues and you can't follow. Find the other survivors."
The woman wailed as she watched and clutched her hands. Rowan grimaced to herself and followed along. After a moment, she got an idea of the rhythm, and started up.
Down the street, the Glass man had seemed to figure out a few things, and had absorbed the windows and shattered glass wherever he could. He then used the materials to provide additional support, and in one case a slide for people to get down. Already he was getting control of his power.
Rowan breathed into the boy's lungs. She was already getting tired.
The screaming and wailing was getting to her. Her head was pounding. She could see smoke and fire still. Could she do it again? Did she want to?
That strange feeling built, and she could feel the heartbeats of the people around her. The strong EMT, the wailing mother. The dying child. The woman with her foot cut off.
More people were trickling in, and she could hear their heartbeats to. Her hair fell over her eyes and she brushed it back.
"Think the funnies thing about this is you still look great." The woman with the tourniquet around her foot joked grimly. "Move over, you're getting tired."
"My baby's dying!" The woman wailed.
"Shut up please." One of the new survivors stated quietly. Something bloody was in his hand.
[X] Ask the mother if she'd be willing to let us try to save her baby by changing it as we did the glass man.
[X] Try to control the changes, try for something that won't make the baby too dangerous for the mother to raise and take care of.
One breath, two breaths. Step back, check the airway. Mindless repetition. CPR was breathing. Just that.
The child was maybe four or five. A baby still really. The woman's cries were understandable even if one or two of the other survivors were glaring at her. She wasn't the only one crying, but she was the loudest.
Rowan watched as the woman with the lost foot continued. Breath, and breath.
The EMT was working on other people. She glanced at him. He did look back once or twice, but it was with a grim and sad expression. People were dying, and this child would too.
What would he grow into? Rowan focused on the child. What should he be? She could feel his heartbeat now that she was focusing. The other's bled out.
"I can save him." She stated simply.
The woman didn't even hesitate. "Please, please, please." She lunged at Rowan and grabbed at her.
Rowan reached out a delicate hand. She didn't need to touch him. She just needed to change him a bit. People watched, and then the child coughed out multicolored smoke and started to cry.
"My baby!" The woman shoved aside the other woman doing the CPR, and clutched pulled her child to her breast. "Don't worry, mommy will keep you safe."
The shoved woman cried out in pain, and Rowan was at her side in an instant. Tears fell down her face, and she whimpered as she clutched at her wounded leg.
"Oh god, sorry." Rowan looked at the tourniquet. It looked still in place. The bloody stump made her wince.
"I'll live I think." The wounded woman gasped out and shuddered. "Oh god it hurts."
"Come on, you were doing so well." Rowan cooed out and held the wounded woman. She glanced at the woman with the child, and saw her already starting to run away. She winced at the action. There were gathered up for a reason. There was nasty rubble everywhere, but she couldn't see a way to stop the fleeing woman.
"Adrenaline's a hell of a drug apparently." The wounded woman grit out, and then went limp. "Least the kid's ok?" Tears continued to fall, and the woman looked like she was on the verge of passing out.
"Yeah, the mom's a bitch though." Rowan muttered.
"What did you do?" One of the men from the other gathered survivors asked.
"I don't know?" Rowan replied back tentatively.
"She's the one that made the glass man!" Another survivor stated.
"Do me next!" Another man shouted.
"No, my daughter's injured! She fixes them too!" Another shout and people started get agitated.
"Stay safe ok?" Rowan asked the other woman quietly and set her down. She was already starting to pass out. Hopefully not from bloodloss.
The girl got to her feet quietly and faced down the forming people. She looked around. The EMT was still working on other people. The Glass Man was off in the distance, she could see him trying to clear out the rubble with glass somehow. It was actually working, but slowly. Then there were more survivors in front of her.
She was terrified, but something told her that cringing wouldn't help.
A man grabbed her arm. "Me first." He stated seriously, and squeezed.
Rowan blinked up at him. She couldn't hear the heartbeats yet. Somehow she knew that it was required to do what she did. She needed to recover? Was there a condition?
"Let her go!" Another man growled out and grabbed her other arm, and started to pull.
Rowan watched him clinically as a strange calm seemed to come over her. That should hurt right? She was moving with him, she could feel the pressure, but it was strange.
"My daughter's got a piece of steel through her torso!" Another man shouted out and Rowan felt herself enveloped by people.
She was jostled and pushed. Then someone threw a punch, and a bottle flew through the air. Rowan watched as it arched and then fell down onto a man nearby her. Whatever was inside splashed out, and the man cried out in pain. Blood dripped down his face.
Rowan started to feel herself cry just a bit, but strangely, she wasn't getting hurt. She should be, she could tell that. One man's elbow slammed into her stomach, and another woman tried to claw at her. It all washed off her.
Even her clothing wasn't getting ruffled.
"What the FUCK!?" A voice made a few people still, and the EMT man came into view. "We got people fucking dying and you're attacking this poor woman?! What the hell are you thinking?!"
"She can heal!" One of the mob members shouted back.
"Then let her fucking heal! Don't mob her you fucking idiots!" The man yelled back.
"She's not doing it though! She was hiding until the kid was about to die! She needs to be forced!" Another reply from the mob, and some general agreement.
The EMT rubbed at his face. Rowan could see the soot and weariness on his face even from where she was. "Girl, what's your name?" He asked quietly.
"...Rowan." She stated quietly after a moment. The mob's mutters died down to hear her, but she could feel the bated anger.
"And can you heal?" The man continued.
"Sort of?" Rowan was jostled again, but she ignored it. The man was scary, but she was feeling so detached right now that it just didn't effect her. "That glass man. I think I made him."
"Can you do it again then?" Why was he being so reasonable Rowan wanted to scream.
Her mid flickered some, and she focused. No heartbeats. Did someone have to be dying? No. She somehow knew that instinctively. What was the core reason?
Rowan ignored the people around her and focused. The muttering and yelling started to build up again.
Ah. The reason felt alien, but right. She needed to change their fate completely. That was the condition for doing something. Everyone here was going to live. Even the woman who had passed out.
"I can do it." Rowan's statement had everyone quiet and she looked around.
"Can you do everyone?" The EMT continued with that damned reason.
"No." Rowan shook her head immediately. "Once, twice more." That was the truth. The child hadn't taken much, now that she was focusing. That strange detachment and clarity was starting to fade, but she knew that much.
"Then triage." The EMT glared at the mob as it started to jostle again. "Don't you fucking start or I'll call the glass man back, and he'll be fucking pissed that his savior's being attacked."
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Name: Rowan Holly
Status: Weakening and unhurt.
Items: Dressed in casual attire, a purse, cellphone, wallet, and makeup.
Thoughts: Why me?
[] Change someone?
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It was a sunny day today, warm and just a hint of humidity. Combined with the way the concrete and asphalt tended to radiate heat, and Rowan was already sweltering, even with her standard jeans and sneakers dress. She was still in a good mood though. A day off, nothing to do but have fun, and later today she was going bar hopping with a few friends. All together it was a very good day.
Which was why she tolerated the strange man stopping her on the street for half a minute.
"Excuse me, Rowan?" The man was middle aged. Hint of grey at his temples, and dressed in a business suit. Rowan was sweating just thinking about it, so the man must have been dying. He didn't show it.
"Yes? Do I know you?" The woman tilted her head and frowned.
"No, but you will." The man chuckled warmly and pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket. "Would you indulge me for a moment?"
The request was rather strange. Rowan raised both her eyebrows and then blinked as the man took that as assent. He knelt down and began to draw a circle. The people walking around them moved around casually, but a few stopped to watch as he drew a chalk circle around the woman.
"What are you doing?" Rowan asked with bemusement.
"It's pretty simple. Stand in that circle, and count to ten. You'll understand once you're done." The man's smile left his face and he took two steps back. The chalk had left dust all over his nice suit already, but he barely noticed.
The woman sighed and rolled her eyes, but started. "One, two, three. Is something supposed to be happening?"
"Not yet." The man fingered the chalk.
"Four, five six." There were more people watching with curiosity now, and Rowan wasn't particularly happy about it. She rushed the last. "Seven, eight, nine, ten. So!" She stopped there suddenly, though not because of something happening to her.
The explosion above her caused her to look up. She had stopped next to a ten story building. Not the largest in the city, but fairly big. This was why it was so terrifying when it started to topple down.
Scared out of her mind, Rowan couldn't do more than duck down and cover her head. There was screaming, and shouting, and more explosions. She thought she was going to die, and started to pray as things fell down around her.
A minute later there was still screaming and alarms going off, but she was fine. Slowly she uncovered her head, and looked around her.
There were pieces of rubble around her, and one piece of steel perilously close to her foot, but nothing had touched her. Around her though, all the people on the street? They weren't there anymore. She could see blood.
The man was down the street now, looking extremely casual as he wrote something on the concrete. The angle wasn't good enough for her to see it though. He looked up as she did, and waved casually, and then walked off and turned the corner out of sight.
Rowan could hear screaming.
[X] Someone's screaming. Find the source.
Right, Rowan thought. She wasn't hurt. Other people were obviously. They needed help.
It took an agonizing minute before she could move herself. Then it was a rush towards where she could hear screaming. There was a lot of it. Several of the larger buildings had dropped and people had been underneath them.
Rowan's stomach felt like it wanted to crawl into her throat, and she felt ill. This wasn't supposed to happen.
The first screaming person she could find was under metal. Blood coated his entire body that she could see. Glass had fallen down and shredded half his body.
"Oh god, oh god." Rowan got down on her knees in a crunch of glass and hesitated. What could she do? Stop the bleeding? She was a college student majoring in art!
The man's scream started to trail out. He couldn't see anything really, but she could see blood pooling out. He was bleeding out now.
Another man ran past her and stopped at the man. He grabbed at her shoulder. "He's going to die. We need help elsewhere." His voice was calm.
"But, but!!" Rowan reached out.
"You'll just shred yourself. Triage!" The man barked and paused. "Get out of the glass too. We can't have you bleeding out as well. Come on, I saw someone buried and I need help to lift it."
The man on the ground started to trail off with quieter moans.
Rowan let herself be pulled up, and the man looked down at her. He paused mid look, and then looked down at the ground. "Did you hurt yourself on the glass?"
"Why would I...?" Rowan trailed off and looked at the place she had been kneeling. Then stepped back. She had literally crushed several shards of very sharp glass as she had knelt down.
"Fuck it." The man muttered. "Listen, I'm an EMT. I know first aid. Help me find people."
"Yeah..." Rowan looked down at the dying man, and then stopped.
The man said something to her and pulled on her arm again, but she didn't hear it. She could hear a heartbeat slowing down. The man bleeding out she knew.
She wondered. Was his life meant to end here? Was he meant to die?
It was a cruel decision. Triage right? Try to save the ones that could live, and leave the ones that would die. It was brutal and simple. She didn't like it.
The heartbeat slowed down more.
She was a five foot, few inches girl. She didn't exercise. She didn't really even run. She was cute, but not stunning. She was someone who would date some, drink some, and maybe have a few kids if she felt like it. Nothing important. Why had she lived then. Why was this man dying? Why had everyone else died.
One more beat. Somehow she knew it. Then the man would be out of blood. His brain would degrade from loss of oxygen. He would die.
This wasn't how he should end. That was Rowan's decision.
Dimly she was aware that she had been dragged a few feet away from the dying man. The other one, the EMT had run off when she had become unresponsive. She didn't blame him.
There in the fire and ruins of some explosive attack, she made a strange decision. She couldn't tell you how or why she did it, but she made it.
The dying man's heartbeat started up again. Faster, stronger. He twitched and gasped, and then flopped in the glass.
The blood flowed back into his body in a strange smooth and unnatural motion. The shattered glass around him did so as well. His body healed and changed. Then turned semi-transparent.
The man flopped over onto his stomach, and then looked at one of his hands.
"What the fuck?" He said after a moment, and slapped his cheek. It sounded like what would happen if you tapped two thick bottles together.
"You're alive?" Rowan gasped out.
"Apparently? Fucking what the fuck?" The man got to his feet and spread out his arms. "I'm a glass man?" He paused and cupped his hand. Glass into his hand and he formed a ball. After a moment he dropped it. "What the fucking hell?!"
Rowan was wondering that some herself.
[X] Help more people
In retrospect we were all in a little shock. But she was pretty sincere you know? I was a gang-banger before the shit happened. You got your bros and that's about it. Not much loyalty there. Not much care. So when she said she was glad I was alive, it struck me. Been following her ever since.
Yeah, still working on the fucking swearing. It's my damned trademark now. I even tone it down for the kids. It's all fudge and sugar. They laugh like hell. Best part about the job
Rowan smiled gratefully at the man after a second. It didn't matter. "I'm glad your alive." She breathed out.
The glass man paused and then laughed. "Well, that makes two of us." He looked around. "Who's the bastard I gotta shank for this?"
"I don't know." Rowan shook her head, and then looked around herself. "We have to save more people though. Can you help?"
"Well, I got the whole mutant super powered shit, so sure." The man looked down at the glass sphere at his feet, and then nudged it with a toe. The glass flowed back into his body. "Freaky. Why'd it have to be glass. I'm afraid someone's going to scream and I'll crack."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Rowan finally spotted what she was looking for. "There! That's the emt guy! Follow him!"
"Sounds good!" The glass man took off at a run and Rowan followed. Immediately the differences in their fitness became apparent. The man she had saved practically sprinted towards the other man, and didn't even seem winded by the time she caught up.
"What in the...?" The EMT man paused from his tourniquet, and then shook his head. "Fuck it. This day's already weird. There's a fire going over there!" He pointed at a nearby building. "I'm sure there are survivors there. Bring them out, mind the spines!"
The glass man nodded briskly and ran into the building. After a moment of hesitation, he laughed as he plunged past some fire and then smothered it with a wave of his hand. Glass spread out on the ignited surface and the fire stopped. "This is almost worth fucking dying!" He screamed out as he continued in.
"What can I do?" Rowan asked the man.
"Back with us? Don't go spacing out again." The EMT man muttered. "Hold this. Apply pressure." He instructed. The patient was a woman with what looked to be a severed foot. The place he had instructed to hold was a belt strapped around her leg.
Rowan nodded and did as instructed. "Oh god." She whispered as she finally realized the damages.
The woman in question chuckled grimly as she grimaced. "Yeah, glad I'm an office worker." She joked. "I'll get the nice handicapped parking."
"How can you joke about this?" Rowan asked.
"Better than screaming." A few tears trickled down her face as the woman replied. "I want to."
"Thank you for not doing it. You'll live." The EMT man muttered as he pulled off his shirt and shredded it. "Fuck, what I wouldn't give for my ambulance."
Rowan winced at the statement, and then felt her eyes widen.
"My baby!" The scream was of despair.
Rowan couldn't blame the woman as the glass man moved out of the building. He looked a bit tired as he set down the child's body on the ground gently. His mother trailed behind looked devastated.
"Fuck!" The EMT moved to him immediately. "Fuckity fuck." He bent over the body. "Not breathing. What happened?"
"He hit his head, and the smoke..." The woman wailed.
"Where's the fucking emergency people?!" The EMT man howled out and looked for a pulse. "Fuck! Anyone know CPR, or am I the only one trained."
"No man." The glass man looked awkward.
"Then go look for more. Girl. The tourniquet tight?" The man looked at Rowan, and she nodded in reply. "I'm going to start it. Watch what I'm doing. Where is everyone?! There should be first responders all over!"
The glass man paused and then seemed to focus as he stared down the street. "Looks like there's rubble everywhere."
"Of course there is." The response was bitter, but the EMT didn't stop. He leaned down and started to breath into the boy's mouth. "I can't keep this up forever." He stated quietly. "Watch it. Say if there's issues and you can't follow. Find the other survivors."
The woman wailed as she watched and clutched her hands. Rowan grimaced to herself and followed along. After a moment, she got an idea of the rhythm, and started up.
Down the street, the Glass man had seemed to figure out a few things, and had absorbed the windows and shattered glass wherever he could. He then used the materials to provide additional support, and in one case a slide for people to get down. Already he was getting control of his power.
Rowan breathed into the boy's lungs. She was already getting tired.
The screaming and wailing was getting to her. Her head was pounding. She could see smoke and fire still. Could she do it again? Did she want to?
That strange feeling built, and she could feel the heartbeats of the people around her. The strong EMT, the wailing mother. The dying child. The woman with her foot cut off.
More people were trickling in, and she could hear their heartbeats to. Her hair fell over her eyes and she brushed it back.
"Think the funnies thing about this is you still look great." The woman with the tourniquet around her foot joked grimly. "Move over, you're getting tired."
"My baby's dying!" The woman wailed.
"Shut up please." One of the new survivors stated quietly. Something bloody was in his hand.
[X] Ask the mother if she'd be willing to let us try to save her baby by changing it as we did the glass man.
[X] Try to control the changes, try for something that won't make the baby too dangerous for the mother to raise and take care of.
One breath, two breaths. Step back, check the airway. Mindless repetition. CPR was breathing. Just that.
The child was maybe four or five. A baby still really. The woman's cries were understandable even if one or two of the other survivors were glaring at her. She wasn't the only one crying, but she was the loudest.
Rowan watched as the woman with the lost foot continued. Breath, and breath.
The EMT was working on other people. She glanced at him. He did look back once or twice, but it was with a grim and sad expression. People were dying, and this child would too.
What would he grow into? Rowan focused on the child. What should he be? She could feel his heartbeat now that she was focusing. The other's bled out.
"I can save him." She stated simply.
The woman didn't even hesitate. "Please, please, please." She lunged at Rowan and grabbed at her.
Rowan reached out a delicate hand. She didn't need to touch him. She just needed to change him a bit. People watched, and then the child coughed out multicolored smoke and started to cry.
"My baby!" The woman shoved aside the other woman doing the CPR, and clutched pulled her child to her breast. "Don't worry, mommy will keep you safe."
The shoved woman cried out in pain, and Rowan was at her side in an instant. Tears fell down her face, and she whimpered as she clutched at her wounded leg.
"Oh god, sorry." Rowan looked at the tourniquet. It looked still in place. The bloody stump made her wince.
"I'll live I think." The wounded woman gasped out and shuddered. "Oh god it hurts."
"Come on, you were doing so well." Rowan cooed out and held the wounded woman. She glanced at the woman with the child, and saw her already starting to run away. She winced at the action. There were gathered up for a reason. There was nasty rubble everywhere, but she couldn't see a way to stop the fleeing woman.
"Adrenaline's a hell of a drug apparently." The wounded woman grit out, and then went limp. "Least the kid's ok?" Tears continued to fall, and the woman looked like she was on the verge of passing out.
"Yeah, the mom's a bitch though." Rowan muttered.
"What did you do?" One of the men from the other gathered survivors asked.
"I don't know?" Rowan replied back tentatively.
"She's the one that made the glass man!" Another survivor stated.
"Do me next!" Another man shouted.
"No, my daughter's injured! She fixes them too!" Another shout and people started get agitated.
"Stay safe ok?" Rowan asked the other woman quietly and set her down. She was already starting to pass out. Hopefully not from bloodloss.
The girl got to her feet quietly and faced down the forming people. She looked around. The EMT was still working on other people. The Glass Man was off in the distance, she could see him trying to clear out the rubble with glass somehow. It was actually working, but slowly. Then there were more survivors in front of her.
She was terrified, but something told her that cringing wouldn't help.
A man grabbed her arm. "Me first." He stated seriously, and squeezed.
Rowan blinked up at him. She couldn't hear the heartbeats yet. Somehow she knew that it was required to do what she did. She needed to recover? Was there a condition?
"Let her go!" Another man growled out and grabbed her other arm, and started to pull.
Rowan watched him clinically as a strange calm seemed to come over her. That should hurt right? She was moving with him, she could feel the pressure, but it was strange.
"My daughter's got a piece of steel through her torso!" Another man shouted out and Rowan felt herself enveloped by people.
She was jostled and pushed. Then someone threw a punch, and a bottle flew through the air. Rowan watched as it arched and then fell down onto a man nearby her. Whatever was inside splashed out, and the man cried out in pain. Blood dripped down his face.
Rowan started to feel herself cry just a bit, but strangely, she wasn't getting hurt. She should be, she could tell that. One man's elbow slammed into her stomach, and another woman tried to claw at her. It all washed off her.
Even her clothing wasn't getting ruffled.
"What the FUCK!?" A voice made a few people still, and the EMT man came into view. "We got people fucking dying and you're attacking this poor woman?! What the hell are you thinking?!"
"She can heal!" One of the mob members shouted back.
"Then let her fucking heal! Don't mob her you fucking idiots!" The man yelled back.
"She's not doing it though! She was hiding until the kid was about to die! She needs to be forced!" Another reply from the mob, and some general agreement.
The EMT rubbed at his face. Rowan could see the soot and weariness on his face even from where she was. "Girl, what's your name?" He asked quietly.
"...Rowan." She stated quietly after a moment. The mob's mutters died down to hear her, but she could feel the bated anger.
"And can you heal?" The man continued.
"Sort of?" Rowan was jostled again, but she ignored it. The man was scary, but she was feeling so detached right now that it just didn't effect her. "That glass man. I think I made him."
"Can you do it again then?" Why was he being so reasonable Rowan wanted to scream.
Her mid flickered some, and she focused. No heartbeats. Did someone have to be dying? No. She somehow knew that instinctively. What was the core reason?
Rowan ignored the people around her and focused. The muttering and yelling started to build up again.
Ah. The reason felt alien, but right. She needed to change their fate completely. That was the condition for doing something. Everyone here was going to live. Even the woman who had passed out.
"I can do it." Rowan's statement had everyone quiet and she looked around.
"Can you do everyone?" The EMT continued with that damned reason.
"No." Rowan shook her head immediately. "Once, twice more." That was the truth. The child hadn't taken much, now that she was focusing. That strange detachment and clarity was starting to fade, but she knew that much.
"Then triage." The EMT glared at the mob as it started to jostle again. "Don't you fucking start or I'll call the glass man back, and he'll be fucking pissed that his savior's being attacked."
-----
Name: Rowan Holly
Status: Weakening and unhurt.
Items: Dressed in casual attire, a purse, cellphone, wallet, and makeup.
Thoughts: Why me?
[] Change someone?
Rowan was born in the year 1990. She met a strange man at 2010. Then the explosions started. The explosions killed and injured many. Running through the city, she found a man dying from falling glass.
She saved him, and turned him into a strange glass man, capable of making forming glass out of apparently thin air. After which the two started to search the city for survivors, and assisted several people in emergency aid.
Unfortunately in her quest to save people, Rowan's power was discovered when she prevented a child from dying. The survivors around her then attempted to force the woman into assisting others. At this time one of Rowan's most potent powers was displayed, though no one quite noticed it at the time.
As the first hero, Rowan has several powers. Her first, and most notable is that of power gifting. There are specific conditions the subject must be in, and she cannot empower many at a time, but she is capable of gifting some potent powers. Her second, and arguably as potent is something nicknamed 'Inviolate'. She cannot be harmed by any means. Her clothing cannot be damaged even. This would become incredibly important later. Her third power is actually the least powerful. Before she gained her power she was considered moderately attractive. After her power, she has become stunningly beautiful.
It is for this reason the first Heroine, Rowan, has the name Damsel. Despite the claims of sexism and other, less charitable statements, it's the one that stuck.
Once Rowan was able to define her powers, she immediately empowered several individuals and attempted to confront the man who referred to himself as Calamity. While the man died in the confrontation, no one believes that this was anything more than a deliberate action.
At the very least, Rowan was able to arrange for the city to be evacuated thanks to her empowerment of Blackball.
She saved him, and turned him into a strange glass man, capable of making forming glass out of apparently thin air. After which the two started to search the city for survivors, and assisted several people in emergency aid.
Unfortunately in her quest to save people, Rowan's power was discovered when she prevented a child from dying. The survivors around her then attempted to force the woman into assisting others. At this time one of Rowan's most potent powers was displayed, though no one quite noticed it at the time.
As the first hero, Rowan has several powers. Her first, and most notable is that of power gifting. There are specific conditions the subject must be in, and she cannot empower many at a time, but she is capable of gifting some potent powers. Her second, and arguably as potent is something nicknamed 'Inviolate'. She cannot be harmed by any means. Her clothing cannot be damaged even. This would become incredibly important later. Her third power is actually the least powerful. Before she gained her power she was considered moderately attractive. After her power, she has become stunningly beautiful.
It is for this reason the first Heroine, Rowan, has the name Damsel. Despite the claims of sexism and other, less charitable statements, it's the one that stuck.
Once Rowan was able to define her powers, she immediately empowered several individuals and attempted to confront the man who referred to himself as Calamity. While the man died in the confrontation, no one believes that this was anything more than a deliberate action.
At the very least, Rowan was able to arrange for the city to be evacuated thanks to her empowerment of Blackball.
The world at 2010 was a modern day world analogous to our own. Everything seemed normal and simple. Then a major city suffered what appeared at the time to be multiple detonations in various areas as a terrorist attack. These detonations turned the city into a deathtrap.
Following these detonations, a call was placed into an emergency phone about halfway across the continent. This call was a man who did not give his name, but accurately predicted the next few actions.
Then stated over the phone that a nuclear submarine was going to launch a missile at the city within the hour.
This man would be referred to as The Calamity. He is believed to have deliberately manipulated the rise of the Age of Heroes. The reasons behind his actions are still unknown. His only known power is precognition, which he leveraged ruthlessly for a significant amount of time before his reveal. The only consolation the world has about him is that he died once the nuclear missile hit the city. Most people consider it a cold comfort to know that one of the greatest monsters the world has ever known is dead.
Fortunately Calamity was denied his greatest victory by the Heroine Damsel and her allies. The nuclear missiles aimed at the city were delayed just long enough to evacuate the city by Blackball, and the death toll was far less than it could have been. The city was still irradiated and uninhabitable.
Ultimately Calamity's purpose seems to have been causing the most disorder and chaos he could. Deathtolls were high from his rampage, but they were mitigated greatly by Damsel and her heroes. Which might have been the intention all along.
Following these detonations, a call was placed into an emergency phone about halfway across the continent. This call was a man who did not give his name, but accurately predicted the next few actions.
Then stated over the phone that a nuclear submarine was going to launch a missile at the city within the hour.
This man would be referred to as The Calamity. He is believed to have deliberately manipulated the rise of the Age of Heroes. The reasons behind his actions are still unknown. His only known power is precognition, which he leveraged ruthlessly for a significant amount of time before his reveal. The only consolation the world has about him is that he died once the nuclear missile hit the city. Most people consider it a cold comfort to know that one of the greatest monsters the world has ever known is dead.
Fortunately Calamity was denied his greatest victory by the Heroine Damsel and her allies. The nuclear missiles aimed at the city were delayed just long enough to evacuate the city by Blackball, and the death toll was far less than it could have been. The city was still irradiated and uninhabitable.
Ultimately Calamity's purpose seems to have been causing the most disorder and chaos he could. Deathtolls were high from his rampage, but they were mitigated greatly by Damsel and her heroes. Which might have been the intention all along.
The Heroine Damsel - Damsel is considered one of the most important heroes in the world. The first heroine, Damsel is capable of gifting powers. These powers are varied in their power and intensity. They can also remove all physical and mental injuries upon gifting. Damsel is also completely and totally invulnerable.
The Hero Colorful - Colorful is a man made of glass. Considered to be one of the first heroes, he is capable of shaping glass out his body in any form he desires. While on the surface this seems like a rather useless ability, glass has several rather useful properties, and also far stronger than what conventional wisdom would apply to. Colorful is further able to absorb glass from the environment to further amplify his abilities. Colorful can also reform himself from injury, and is also immune to heat, asphyxiation, and can reform his body from extensive injuries. This places him at a fairly high tier power wise.
The Hero Blackball - One of the first heroes. Blackball was a registered nurse and first responder. After being empowered by Damsel he became Blackball, so named for the black spheres he creates. The visible effect is noted be quite striking. He make a gesture and a ball appears a few feet away. Properly defined though, his power far different than what is visually shown. His spheres stop time completely and utterly. Anything inside these spheres is untouchable and invulnerable, and completely frozen in time. This time stop is so complete that people placed inside it do not even note the effect aside from a brief 'blink'. There are two things that prevent this power from being the ultimate threat. First, it's a power meant to preserve, not kill. It cannot be lethal. Period. It can be destructive to terrain, but not to living things (The effect will either extend to involve them outside his input, or exclude people). Secondly Blackball can only have one ball in place. Though the size of this 'ball' can be quite large. As an addendum, Blackball is not affected by his power. He can move into his time-stopped area at will. Though he can't interact with the frozen items.
The Hero Crumble - One of the first heroes. Crumble is a divorced parent of one. His power is considered one of the most horrifying if you take it to it's full conclusion. He touches something and it turns into an inert substance. This substance is very much like sand, but is in fact the original substance separated by an unidentifiable secondary substance. The effect just looks like he turns things into sand. Crumble can undo the initial effect, but if the initial substance has shifted this can result in a messy result. Despite the obvious implications, Crumble's name comes from his method for non-lethal take-down. He crumbles the ground beneath people's feet, and they drop into what amounts to quicksand.
The Hero Colorful - Colorful is a man made of glass. Considered to be one of the first heroes, he is capable of shaping glass out his body in any form he desires. While on the surface this seems like a rather useless ability, glass has several rather useful properties, and also far stronger than what conventional wisdom would apply to. Colorful is further able to absorb glass from the environment to further amplify his abilities. Colorful can also reform himself from injury, and is also immune to heat, asphyxiation, and can reform his body from extensive injuries. This places him at a fairly high tier power wise.
The Hero Blackball - One of the first heroes. Blackball was a registered nurse and first responder. After being empowered by Damsel he became Blackball, so named for the black spheres he creates. The visible effect is noted be quite striking. He make a gesture and a ball appears a few feet away. Properly defined though, his power far different than what is visually shown. His spheres stop time completely and utterly. Anything inside these spheres is untouchable and invulnerable, and completely frozen in time. This time stop is so complete that people placed inside it do not even note the effect aside from a brief 'blink'. There are two things that prevent this power from being the ultimate threat. First, it's a power meant to preserve, not kill. It cannot be lethal. Period. It can be destructive to terrain, but not to living things (The effect will either extend to involve them outside his input, or exclude people). Secondly Blackball can only have one ball in place. Though the size of this 'ball' can be quite large. As an addendum, Blackball is not affected by his power. He can move into his time-stopped area at will. Though he can't interact with the frozen items.
The Hero Crumble - One of the first heroes. Crumble is a divorced parent of one. His power is considered one of the most horrifying if you take it to it's full conclusion. He touches something and it turns into an inert substance. This substance is very much like sand, but is in fact the original substance separated by an unidentifiable secondary substance. The effect just looks like he turns things into sand. Crumble can undo the initial effect, but if the initial substance has shifted this can result in a messy result. Despite the obvious implications, Crumble's name comes from his method for non-lethal take-down. He crumbles the ground beneath people's feet, and they drop into what amounts to quicksand.
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Your Hero:
Hot-wheels - A former cancer survivor saved by Damsel. Real name Jason Young
Power - Wheeled vehicles are enhanced under your command. While inside them you can double their speed. Inertia and momentum are maintained, but you or passengers are not effected. Furthermore, the vehicles and passengers are far more durable than normal so long as they're under your command.
Applicable Skills - High School Student. Mechanic. Car Driver, casual user. Bicycle, casual user. Roller skates, casual user. Motorcycles, casual user.
Hot-wheels - A former cancer survivor saved by Damsel. Real name Jason Young
Power - Wheeled vehicles are enhanced under your command. While inside them you can double their speed. Inertia and momentum are maintained, but you or passengers are not effected. Furthermore, the vehicles and passengers are far more durable than normal so long as they're under your command.
Applicable Skills - High School Student. Mechanic. Car Driver, casual user. Bicycle, casual user. Roller skates, casual user. Motorcycles, casual user.
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You can hit the EMT guy with it if you want. There's no limit here, just keep in mind that the power needs to alter the person quite a bit apparently.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Stated restriction was to 'completely change their Fate.' If it'd work it needed to change his Fate; for example, kill him when it's not his time IF that's within her powers.
[x] "So, I think I can change some Fates. Seems I can heal the dying. <looking at the mob> Perhaps I can end the living?"
(basically, the mob reaction pissed me off, human as it is)
WanderingEye
smol skeleton
[x] "So, I think I can change some Fates. Seems I can heal the dying, but since I can only do it twice, maybe some of you would like to <looking at the mob> add more ?"
Can't really think something intimidating yet also conveys our desire to help people.
Can't really think something intimidating yet also conveys our desire to help people.
Threats in this situation would likely just make the mob snap and go crazy.
[x] offer a change to the EMT while mentioning that you need to do a big change for him if it were to happen.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Possible/likely. On the other hand, Rowan is suffering shock at the moment. Usually that doesn't lend itself to the best reasoned-out reaction.
SB thread had a grand total of maybe 6-10 viewers. If it gets a spike in traffic I'll merge them, but I'm likely just going to let the SB one go quiet and take this one. Provided of course this thread stays relatively active. There's a decent chance that this is going to be a flop quest wise based on what I'm seeing in interest. Fortunately SV is so far proving to be at least a little bit more responsive.
Lazurman
This is fine.
- Location
- Classified
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's only been up for what, three days? Give it time. If you've got lots of followers like I'd assume you do, you could try advertising it over in your fic.
Correct.
- Location
- Philippines
@Lost Star
does gifting give random powers if not can we give the EMT healing power
does gifting give random powers if not can we give the EMT healing power
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