Lily swears, seeing you are affected and the false Tom's smile widens as he realizes your predicament. Moving with lightning speed, he rushes at you and stabs you with his claws, piercing them into your stomach, though fortunately thanks to Lily's efforts it is not a mortal wound. As he attacks you, she goes at him rabidly, burying her other tomahawk into his flesh with a snarl of rage that he should attack her friend.

Shake it off Jo! You can do it!

ooc: Next round, roll another fort! You take 10 damage by the way....

Despite her injury, Josephine couldn't move.


Failure part two

ooc: Hahaha! You poor thing! You always did have the worst luck!

The skinwalker, seeing Lily as the greater threat at the moment, turns and slashes her across the belly. She swears savagely and swings at him but misses, rage filling her glittering green eyes. Jo! Try harder! You are surprised by the desperation in her voice. She is afraid. Lily, the brave ferocious woman you've come to know, has never been afraid that you've seen. It is...jarring.

ooc: Ok, go ahead and roll until you actually beat the DC. Then we'll see how much damage you take overall. If you do manage to beat it this time you can just roll an attack instead. Good luck!

Third time was the charm... Right? Josephine willed herself to...

...Do nothing

and fail again

And then try the fourth time! Or fifth!

"Run!" she shouted, knowing that was what she was best at!

Your inability to move is extremely frustrating and both you and Lily pay the price for it. The skinwalker tears both of you up pretty well, though Lily gets some good shots in too. You can tell she's not at her full ability, the terror in her eyes no doubt has something to do with it. Whether this is an effect of the creature or genuine fear it's hard to say. At last though you're able to move and she starts to follow you at a run though the skinwalker is faster than the both of you.

Get ahead of us! Put some distance between you and then don't stop shooting unless I say! If we can convince it that it's not worth following us maybe we'll survive this thing she pants.

ooc: You poor thing! Hahaha! So go ahead and roll some shots from a distance if you please. Hopefully you have better luck this time...

Once they had any distance, Josephine sold out on an idea she had from what Simon had said. She was terrible at shooting, but...

Spinning around, she grabbed Lily by the arms and looked her deep in the eyes,

"We need you, demon thing or whatever, like right now! If you don't save us, I'm dead, and you're host is dead... Get your ass out here and quit dragging this out, now!"

Ok so Simon might be mad later about that, but Josephine was good at convincing people of things. This was their only chance in her eyes...

It doesn't work like that! she whimpers, looking back in pure fear. I have to be angry! It only works when I'm angry! Quick, do something! Make me angry, anything! as she frantically pleads with you, the skinwalker grabs at her leg, digging its claws into the limb and starting to pull her back. She fights with it nearly in hysterics but you can see her body start to stiffen, as though paralyzed...

"Well... I didn't want to tell you this, but... I slept with Simon! Back when we were alone before this trip! I didn't think you'd ever find out, so I..."

Josephine lied her sweet little ass off, knowing that betrayal by the two closest people in lily's life would certainly piss her off.

She just hoped she wouldn't die for it...

Ooc:I'll respond to this later but in the meantime...ahahahahahahaha!!! This is sooooooooooooooooooo funny!!

Ooc lol right?! I thought you'd get a laugh. My boyfriend was staring at me because I was giggling the whole post

ooc: Yeah, I actually laughed out loud reading it, hahaha!
Also, I know you have a really good bluff so I'm going to have her be pretty convinced...mwahahahahaha!

At first Lily gives you a look of shock and disbelief, clearly thinking you must be lying. Even through the pain of the skinwalker pulling on her she manages to look surprised. Then, as your expression remains unchanged, the full weight of what you said sinks in. She's already expressed jealousy and protectiveness of Simon before, so it's no surprise that she would be upset and as her eyes go smokey gray you know you're in for it now. The skinwalker, oblivious to what is happening, continues to drag her and claw the woman repeatedly. If she were anyone else she may not survive these wounds but as her persona begins to change, it's as if she cannot even feel the thing. Instead she turns around, as if noticing a pest that is no more than annoying her, then she reaches out fast as lightning to grip the thing by the throat. Its eyes bulge in surprise and it struggles wildly with ferocious strength. It might as well be a kitten in her powerful hand. Eyes blazing, she squeezes and you hear bones crack. A wicked little smile purses her full lips as it desperately tries to escape. CRACK! Again she tightens her hold and blood starts to drip out of its eyes, mouth and nose. Then she squeezes still harder until the thing's neck is pulverized in her hand, nothing but a mass of squished flesh as the rest of the body breaks away, leaving a twitching headless corpse as she flings the head away from her and then turns to face you...cold anger emanating from her.

Oh.... shit!

Raising her hands instinctively into the air, Josephine stepped backwards in fear so quickly she promptly tripped and fell, scrambling backwards on her butt,

"Whoa... Whoa Lily... Lily you... You said to say anything to make you mad! That's all I was doing! I would never do that to you! Never! Lily?" she asked meekly, hoping to God she hadn't just signed her own death warrant.

ooc: hahahahahaha! Poor Jo!!

Unfortunately as easy as it was to turn her anger, it is not so easy to stop it. She glares at you, eyes blazing. How do I know you're not lying now? How can I be sure? her voice is a venomous growl. I won't let it happen to me a second time. Not a second time! She's standing over you now, twitching with rage but to her credit she could have killed you instantly and Lily must be fighting for control somehow.

I, uh... Josephine realized Lily was fighting for her, and she bit her lower lip nervously.

Scrambling to her feet, Josephine knew she was an inch away from being ripped asunder yet again, but she threw her arms around lily's neck, and held on as tight as she could,

"Because I'd never leave you, or hurt you Lily, and you know that." she said, squeezing her eyes shut in terror, waiting to be disemboweled.

You feel her stiffen in surprise and for a long terrible moment you can sense the imminent danger you're in as every muscle tenses, ready to literally rip you to shreds. Then, she relaxes and to your overwhelming relief hugs you back tightly, trembling violently. W-what happened? Are you alright? she sags against you, exhausted. Something bad almost happened, didn't it?

Breathing a sigh of relief, she shook her head,

"No, Lily we're fine. nothing terrible happened. The monster is gone." she said, giving Lily another big hug.

Stepping back, she looked Lily over for injuries,

"Are you hurt?"

N-No. I'm fine I think she says as if dazed, looking down at what's left of the skinwalker. Is he really dead? Was it really that easy? Her green eyes widen in bewilderment. I've been terrified of skinwalkers since I was a child and I watched my brother get torn into pieces by one. And now... she trails off, falling silent. At least I didn't run away this time she whispers and you realize she likely had abandoned him.

Lily hasn't realized that Josephine might have been speaking about HER monster being gone, so she levels with her,

"Look I don't know why everyone seems intent on hiding the fact that you have some murderous demon inside of you from you,
but I won't. That side of you is terrifying, but deep down, it's still you! You don't have to be controlled by it... It's part of you." she said, shrugging and holding Lily close.

She looks at you in surprise, though accepts the hug gratefully. D-Demon? Is that what it is?! she gasps. But how can that be? I need to get rid of it! she shakes her head. What if I hurt you? I can't seem to control it!

"But you won't hurt me! you just proved it! You're in control!" Josephine smiled,

"You're so strong, I'm proud of you!"

Proud? Lily gives a half smile, half wince. I don't know if I'd say I was in control just yet. Lucky may be a better word. But...thanks. For everything. If you hadn't done whatever it was you did, that skinwalker would have gutted both of us. She sighs, tiredly, still looking nervous at the corpse in spite of her triumph. We should bury it, get back on that train while we still can. The last thing we need is too many questions. The town will sort itself out I imagine Her face is drawn, lost in thought.

ooc: Go ahead and finish up and let me know your plans for the next week or so of travel.

Jo is going to focus on Lily. Talking to her, helping her out, and rubbing her shoulders.

It takes a bit of doing to get your old Lily back. She's been upset by recent events for various reasons. You learn that as a child her half brother was killed quite terribly by a skinwalker and they've held a special fear for her ever since.

Eventually you make it to New York though by the time you do you're both travel worn, grumpy, tired and wanting a bath. All you can think of though is your mother's message, telling you it was urgent, though of course you've no idea what it really means.

Your train arrives at ten at night and the streets are fairly quiet other than the departing passengers.

I'm coming with you. At least until I know your mother is alright Lily insists.

When you're done collecting your baggage she pays for a hansom cab to the pub, which you find strangely dark. This time of night it should be full of drunken patrons but the sign at the door clearly says closed...

ooc: Roll spot/listen/search please

Josephine basically blindly and dumbly stumbled through the city, tripping constantly and forgetting what she was doing. Once she'd arrived, she ignored her worries and rushed the bar, wanting to see her mother.


on die rolls can I just "take 1" so we can get it over with? in this game, I average a 4 so far, lol