theresalwayshope | 014} i'm almost human, please don't run away / cause wherever you are, i'll be a scream away

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014} i'm almost human, please don't run away / cause wherever you are, i'll be a scream away

[When the video feed clicks on, it shows an image of the dirt with a triskelion scratched into it. A familiar female voice narrates as a stick comes into the shot, pointing to each leg of the trifold spiral.]

Alpha. Beta. Omega. This symbolizes the cycle of the werewolf: at any time, any wolf can rise to one or fall to another.

[The feed shifts quickly, and soon a familiar set of features fills the feed sufficiently to hide the background in an effort to obscure her location. Allison Argent is pretty much the same in appearance, no matter where she's known...but those not from the Mirror Barge may not recognize the bright, earnest light in her features, and may notice the absence of that sliver of ice in her expression, despite the fact that her eyes are narrowed in the feed with steely resolve.]

We all got the same message from the Admiral. He wants these...infiltrators dead. Rack up your kills, and you get a prize.

[She leans in a little more, lip curling in a little sneer.]

He's turned life and death into a game...and the only way to truly win a game like this is not to play.

Anyone that feels the same is welcome to join me. If you want to live, if you don't want to participate in this slaughter? Leave this symbol somewhere. Scratch it in the ground, carve it in a tree, paint it on a rock. Whoever you are, wherever you come from...treat this as a symbol of safe harbor. If you leave this mark, you're promising that you won't kill anyone, and you won't attack anyone unless you have to defend yourself against a threat. I will find you, I will take you somewhere safe...and I swear, I will protect you with my last breath.

[This is the part where Allison feels a small tremor of fear. These infiltrators...she doesn't know who they are, and she doesn't know if they're friend or foe...but if they're innocent, she has to help them. What other choice does she have?

Taking a deep breath, she continues.]

If you don't recognize me, it's okay. Wherever you are, if you leave me this mark I will find you.

[She pauses, her expression shifting...not the hard, arrogant calm some know in Allison Argent, but a curl of her lip and a subtle baring of her teeth that's more feral than anything.]

And if you're out there, killing innocent people for fun and profit? Don't worry.

[Her eyes narrow a little further...then flare to life with a brilliant golden light, her voice deepening and distorting with the first touch of a lupine growl.]

I'll find you, too.

(OOC: This post is good for the entire flood event! Feel free to mark which day you're playing if you want Allison to come and rescue your muse...or if you want to hunt the poor little she-wolf down. :P)

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[Lydia doesn't talk back when Allison snaps at her. She knows her best friend will more than likely remember this later.

She also doesn't step back when she comes closer. She can feel she won't hurt her. She just nods, keeping her voice quiet as she talks.]

I'm from a different Barge. I don't know what your relationship is like with other me, but I know she's a manipulative bitch. [And obviously it's not good at all between them]

You and I are best friends where I'm from.

[Allison's features remain wary. Her nostrils flare as she tests Lydia's scent...

...and she can't breathe.

Her eyes tear instantly, and her features nearly crumble. Wide-eyed, gaping, and dumbstruck, Allison has to cover her mouth with one hand to keep from howling with the sweet agony of it.

Lydia's chemosignals...there's love there, and beyond that...

She smells like pack. The knowledge of it, the emotion of it...it's a scent that Jerry doesn't have yet, a scent she hasn't breathed since she was still back home.

As an Omega, it hurts to be so close and so far away from it...but the growing power in her feels like it's already accepted it, bound itself to this doppleganger of Lydia Martin.

Lowering her hand slowly, Allison composes herself slowly, never taking her eyes off of the girl in front of her.]

Best friends. [There was a world out there free of regret. Where those early days of laughter and shopping that seem so far away now turned into this, into pack.] You...you're my best friend? Really?

[When Allison's expressions shifts completely, so suddenly, Lydia has no idea what to make of it.

Her immediate reaction to her best friend's tears is to take a step closer. She lifts her hand toward her shoulder but stops herself from touching her. Allison is a werewolf, she doesn't know how long she has been one. Even if she doesn't mean to hurt her, she still might do it. And Lydia can't let that happen. She can't let her Allison have that memory.

Instead, she drops her hand, and at the question, her own eyes tear up. She nods, pursing her lips together.]

You're like a sister to me, Allison. We're more than family. [And she knows Allison will understand this, especially as a wolf.] We're pack.

[Pack.

The wolf echoes the word, and Allison's eyes flutter shut with the pleasure it brings: safety, companionship, and yes: power. It's a warmth that suffuses her entire being, and her animal half is so painfully lonely and hollow, she doesn't have the strength to protect herself with suspicion.

Opening her eyes, they're gold again...but they're soft with warmth and an animal sort of affection just before she steps forward and embraces Lydia. She presses her cheek to hers, breathing her in and marking her with Allison's scent at the same time.

Staking her claim.

Mine.

When she draws back, there's a thread, a ghost of crimson in the gold of her wolf's eyes before they go dark again. There's a new resolve and energy in her demeanor as she regards Lydia with a new serenity in her expression.]

Let's get moving. I'm setting up camp I found in a clearing some ways north. It's defensible if we have enough people to keep watch during the night. You can tell me more about where you come from along the way.

[Lydia hugs Allison back without hesitation. Doesn't matter what version of her is there. She is Allison and seeing her, a different version of Allison, from a different world makes her happy. Because Lydia knows that somewhere, her best friend will be alive. She will be safe. Even safer when she has the bite. When she can heal.

As she pulls away, she sees the different spark there. Red?]

Allison? [But her eyes are golden then brown again and Lydia doesn't ask her the question, She shakes her head a little and can't help but smile at the change in her expression.

It's reassuring, but considering everything she probably has to deal with from her mirror self on a daily basis, Lydia is surprised at her words.]

You trust me?

Edited 2014-09-26 04:14 (UTC)

[Allison nods with a smile...awkward, shaky, genuine but clearly a rarely used expression.]

Of course I do. You smell like pack. [It's a moment before Allison realizes that Lydia might not understand...not being a werewolf herself.

Her smile turns sheepish as she starts walking, beckoning for Lydia to follow, taking the lead and showing Lydia her back in another sign of animal trust.]

It's in your chemosignals...Martin doesn't have a pack. She thinks she does, but she's wrong. It's...it's like the difference between a bank vault and a home. She's strong, but disconnected, hollow. You...

[She trails off, shutting her eyes and breathing deep, nostrils flaring as she catches Lydia's scent again.]

The smell of true pack is so strong on you, I actually feel like I could identify each member by name if I concentrated hard enough. My friend Deucalion...back home...he says that happens when a pack bond is strong. Even humans can't help but assimilate the scent, so they can be found no matter where they are.

[Lydia's face softens and she follows Allison, reaching out for her hand as they walk. This version of her best friend, despite where she is, seems so much lighter. So much more trusting and open than her Allison.]

She knows she doesn't have a pack. It scares and terrifies her. She wants a pack. But because of her previous Alpha, she doesn't really trust anyone. [Maybe Allison can actually help the other version of herself into being less of an idiot.]

I can usually feel pack when I'm around them. [Especially Stiles, but she assumes that's the tether.] Might be the scent I'm picking up on.

It is...your nose isn't strong enough to actually smell pheremones, but they still affect you. When a pack bonds, it does change body chemistry in subtle ways. [She smiles, looking down at their joined hands and feeling a rush of warmth, a surge of strength and emotion as she lifts them in demonstration.] It's one of the reasons werewolves are so tactile by nature: scent marking has a lot to do with it.

[She pauses, biting her lower lip with a curious frown. She doesn't doubt Lydia's word, she can't with what she smells, but the way she talks...]

Have you...met Martin? I mean, the way you talk about her...it's like you know her.

[And Allison doesn't want to give herself false hope...but the way it sounds, maybe this isn't something fleeting. This bond, this strength that Lydia's faith and love is giving her...

Allison can't dare to hope that it's something she might be able to find and have for herself...something to hunt as readily as she would any rabbit or deer.]

[Lydia nods at the explanation. It's not different than how it works with animals after all. She can't shake off the name Allison mentioned, though.] You know a lot more than we do in our pack. Did Deucalion tell you all this? [She keeps her voice even. She hates the man both for everything he did, and for everything Aiden told her about him.

At her question, Lydia nods slightly. She tries to think of her mirror self often, because she doesn't want to forget everything she knows about her.]

I was her. Last time the Barges collided, I was her for a few days. I have her memories. [Lydia pauses.] She will probably have mine when this is over.

[The mention of Martin knowing the things this Lydia does...maybe even remembering how close they are...

She'll tell Lydia later, she promises herself, but in that moment she makes a silent vow to save her. If Martin wants a pack, if she remembers what Lydia feels and knows...what she'll share with Allison...

She will bring Lydia into the pack, like she's brought Jerry. She will keep her safe, and make her feel welcome, loved.

Allison can save her, and so she will.

Laying that aside in her mind and in her heart, she focuses instead on thoughts of home. They make her wistful, but they're good thoughts all the same.]

He did tell me that. [Her expression is openly fond, even a little awed as she speaks about him.] Deucalion is a great man. He likes to say that being blind gives him clearer sight, but according to Julia, he's always been a man of vision.

When I was first bitten, most of what I knew about being a wolf came from my training as a hunter. When Deucalion's pack joined mine, he taught me everything else that hunting never would have...things not even Derek and Cora thought to teach me.

[She pauses, nostrils flaring again, then regards Lydia with curious concern when she scents a swell of revulsion and hatred in the air.]

...are you okay? [It doesn't even occur to her that the mention of Deucalion could have upset her...after all, he's such a gentle and wise Alpha. How could anyone hate him?]

[Allison doesn't need to say anything. Lydia can see the hope there and she figures what she must be thinking about. She doesn't think it will be that easy, but maybe knowing how Lydia feels about her best friend will help. Knowing how it feels to be part of an actual pack, knowing what it feels like to belong will help her. And through Allison and Lydia, maybe they can help the boys, too. But she doesn't want to tell Allison all that, because she doesn't want her to be let down and Lydia knows that is a very strong possibility.

But those thoughts leave her as soon as she realizes how Allison is talking about Decalion, with adoration. And... Julia? She knows who that is and she hates her even more.]

Deucalion and Julia-- although she went by Jennifer where I'm from, aren't trustworthy in my world. They tried to kill us, our pack. I know they are different versions, I just don't like the versions of them I'm familiar with.

Who was your pack? Before you met them? [It is a little weird how sharp Allison's instincts seem to be. She can't help but wonder if maybe they are heightened because she is a hunter too, or if there is something else that is different in her life.]

Edited 2014-09-26 19:31 (UTC)

[The idea that Deucalion and Julia are anything but what they are...violent, dangerous, evil...Allison can't fathom it at all, can't reconcile them with the gentle wisdom and calm voice of Deucalion or the beautiful eyes and soft voice of Julia Baccari, still so sweet and vivacious despite the terrible scars that have long since blended into the rest of her, at least for Allison.

Perhaps, if they were lesser people. If Deucalion were cruel or less forgiving, that vision and wisdom could be twisted into something darker. If Julia's strength and sensitive nature were less prominent, allowing her thoughts to turn towards vengeance instead of honing her skills and strengthening her power as an Emissary...

For the first time in a long time, Allison is glad she doesn't come from a world where two such dear people could be so terrible.]

Back home...my pack was mostly humans. Hunters that followed our Code, Omegas hunted by Victoria and Gerard...there are two factions of us now, the Argents. There's the Family...and there's the Pack. Victoria leads the Argent Family, and I lead the Argent Pack...have since I was bitten.

[She pauses, features touched with sorrow.]

Since my mother and my grandfather tried to kill me.

[Mostly humans? She doesn't really know who other than Stiles might be on her pack, but as Allison explains, it starts to make sense. Jennifer is technically human and Lydia assumes Allison means Chris is on her pack, too.]

You're better off without Gerard. [She won't mention Victoria or what happened to her, she doesn't want to hurt Allison.]

Who bit you, Allison? [She asks the question carefully. Her first thought is Derek, considering what happened in her reality. But Allison doesn't seem to have a problem with him.]

[The question makes Allison's expression drop, her features touched with sorrow as they walk...as she remembers things like the day they admitted the truth to each other, that perfect birthday in the woods, hunting together...the dance, and how perfect it was before the rest of her family came...]

Scott. [She draws a shaky sigh, and the wolf whines in the back of her head, a mournful sound she feels bone-deep...grief for the loss of its mate.] Scott bit me. Just after he killed Peter Hale.

[Lydia's eyes widen at the expression on Allison's face. She's not quite sure what to make of it, but she knows she's hurting. So she squeezes her hand.

It'd be more shocking to hear about Scott killing Peter and turning Allison if she hadn't met his mirror self.]

I'm sorry, Allison. Is there anyone else from your pack in the Barge with you?

[Allison squeezes her hand in return, drawing a desperate sort of comfort from the simple touch. It soothes the sting of memory...but not the burn of shame that colors her cheeks as she avoids looking Lydia in the eye.]

I'm an Omega here. [It's a humiliating admission, especially with her nature...what she's supposed to become.

A true Alpha can't possibly be an Omega...and the other wolves on the Barge will do anything to make sure an Omega is all she will ever be.]

Allison, sweetie... [Lydia shakes her head, tugging on her hand as she stops. Stopping is probably dangerous, but she knows Allison will hear if someone is coming. Lydia has established that her senses are really sharp, after all.

And she needs a moment.]

There is nothing wrong with being an Omega. Especially not in the place where you're stuck. You're brave, you're strong. You're not letting them get to you, and you're staying true to yourself. That is more important.

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014} i'm almost human, please don't run away / cause wherever you are, i'll be a scream away

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