[PRP] In Another Castle (Nasir & Preacher)

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yep. But one ya got tha dam, how d'ya fix it without ********' tha whole town n' surroundin' s**t?" Preacher grabbed a nacho, two, and shoved them into her mouth.

She stared at the plate, chewing thoughtfully. Then she swallowed. "This is ********' good."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"That's the complicated part," Nasir sighed in agreement, fixing drinks and sliding one over to Preacher. Her praise of the nachos had him beaming. "Help yourself. I'll have some too obviously but go for it."

He was plucking one up himself, popping it into his mouth and chewing quietly. It was chased with a drink. "I guess draining it would be a bad idea and ... you can't really evacuate the entire town, you know?" Nasir was seriously thinking about this alright.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher slowed down from eating, reminding herself that it was a shitty ******** thing to do and she knew better. She jiggled her leg, thinking.

"Tha only thing t'do is make it all a reset. Back to that beginnin'. But how tha ******** d'ya do that? Then you've got tha same problem ya had before, that ya made a dam for... Wait... why did any o' this start?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"'Cause I asked if your sigils were like the thing people helped make again, I think." Nasir wasn't too sure. "... and also because, um, I know Sonny? Well- I knew Sunny and they're the thing that the Sigil was made for, right? Kind of?"

The details were a little lost to him but- Part of him genuinely wanted to know if there was some way to-

"I guess I am curious because I want to help but don't know much."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Nah. Nah, I mean... in the beginnin', when big daddy Renard saw that tha world was bad, whatall did he do to it exactly? Like how'd we end up here, at this point, y'know?" She wrinkled her nose.

"I can only pile on mini sigils n' s**t. I dunno how ta dismantle things, n' killin' people for it ain't civilized." She shoved another chip in her mouth.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Oh, I don't know." Nasir blinked. "You might want to talk to Chief Mercer? He probably knows. Both of those things, knowing him."

There was a pause before he started to snicker a little bit. Mostly because he was now thinking about Renard as a Big Daddy. Yes, he only knew the man from a distance but- Still, the visual was there and was not going anywhere.

"Sorry," he said, "just made me think of a video game. I really don't know much about sigils and stuff, though I'd like to, you know? It'd probably help."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeh, 'e's m'boss." She blinked when he snickered, then shrugged. It was not a reference she got.

"I mean I can explain whyall certain symbols work n' s**t ta do stuff, but it's hard. It's all mainly 'cause it feels right when I'm tryna make somethin'." Chip meet mouth. "Maybe I can show ya how I do one? I ain't know if everyone can 'cause why wouldn't they just be bustin' 'em out like glowsticks at a rave." She shrugged.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"I wouldn't mind ... it'd help to learn something." Nasir was eager to learn things if it meant he'd be less confused. Of all people, he felt like he was on the outskirts of this and not in the know of what was going on at all.

"It may be just be something to special to you, you know? The way you explain it kind makes me think of that book series. His Dark Materials? The girl just knew the meanings of symbols on this device simply by looking at them- all the possible meanings the longer she looked."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Sure - I got one on me, actually." Preacher pulled out a sheet of paper. "Now I think theyall fade right off inna while, 'cause I'm pretty much like tha WD40/duct tape level o' s**t. I ain't grand. But -" She put it flat on the table.

"N' I love Lyra. Weird books, though like dint they end up offin' god n' s**t or somethin'?" There were talking bears, too, and little cool familiars.

Preacher stabbed her finger at the symbols, tracing over each one as she spoke. "So this'un is m'intent - that tha paper ain't break. Wholeness, protection." She poked at an odd sort of squiggle. "This one is 'bout how tha power needs ta come from tha paper itself. Like concentrated paper when someone is tearin' at it. N' then un is resistance, too. It's like 'dun break, paper, just 'cause some b***h tells ya too.'" She shrugged.

"Then ya bleed on it n' ya think 'bout what ya want it ta do. Ya can try tearin' it if ya want."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Uh, they did but only because God was all ... frail and old and unable to live outside of the thing they let him out of." Nasir shook his head, trying to not put too much thought into that at all. It was still weird to think about but it was certainly a good thing that he was not one who subscribed to any particular religion or faith. "I mean the daemons make me think of Trouble just a little bit, to be honest with you ..."

Then he fell quiet as he watched and listened to Preacher before he looked up at her. "Wait, so you had to use your blood to make this all work?" Which had him stopping from attempting to tear anything because - blood? What?

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeah!" she said, sounding somehow almost... proud about it. "Sigils is all blood magics, y'know. Blood carries ya self o' self, is an intimate bit o' yerself, carries yer magic n' yer intent onto whatever ya doing. S'why everyone up in tha sigil had ta bleed on it - y'know when we were makin' tha big ol' new one." Blood for the making, blood for the breaking. Her fingers tapped on the paper, small smears of discoloration marking specifically where she's bled on it. Not much, of course - her small magics didn't require much. Which was great because she'd rather not bleed out.

"Oh, I ain't got any blood-communicable disease if that's whatall's got ya worried." She shrugged. "What's a Trouble?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"No, no ... that's not why. It's more that- well, like you said. Blood is intimate? If magic requires that, that makes it more ..." Nasir's nose wrinkled in thought. "I guess intimate is still best the word." Still he was picking up the piece of paper and tried to make a small tear.

Nothing happened.

He tried a bigger one and still there was nothing.

"That's pretty awesome!" he exclaimed before he offered it back. "Oh, um ... I'm a warg? Trouble is my familiar. He's a flying squirrel."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I kin do other stuff, too - long as I can make tha symbols work, it'll work. It ain't perfect, but it's..." She shrugged. "-somethin'." Preacher took the paper back and shoved it into her pocket. It was kind of cool to carry magic around.

"What's uh warg? Didya jus' pick out an animal at random?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Definitely something," Nasir agreed with a smile. Then he was shaking his head a little. "I didn't pick Trouble out, he picked me, I think. I mean ... the bond just spontaneous formed, which I think is rare? Think it's more common that people train to make a warg bond with an animal they pick out."

He was fiddling with a hairclip, not sure how to really phrase things but working out. "A warg is just someone who has a bond with an animal like I do. I can ride along with Trouble and see through his eyes and ears." Nasir's eyes closed a moment, swaying just slightly, before they cracked back open. "Trouble's just outside, I could bring him in if you want to see him?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"'Course I wanna see 'im! I can do tha whole turnin' inta animal biz, but ain't no Disney princess animal-charmin'." It sounded kind of cool. "Ride along sounds neat - like 'e's a cop car."

azuredreams