Confronting Sasquatch

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THE FOREST
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--Patty
The fire was roaring at this point. Patty was never quite sure how much wood to put on, so obviously she put too much, and added way too much gas. Her pyro days were behind her, but she did like to see it combust when she tossed the matches from afar.

The motorcycle was parked, and Patty wasn't sleeping this time. There was no tent, there was no beer and her eyes were on the darkness, back to the fire. Her fists were wrapped, eyes on the dark and watching the flickering orange glow slink into the inky blackness.

The Louisville slugger was clutched in her hands, and she kept muttering to herself: admonitions, words of courage. She was always a loud-mouth, and now that motor-mouth was running again if only so she wouldn't jump at every snap of twig and rustle of brush. The gasoline fumes and burning oily rag wafted the potent scent of petrol through the trees in thick, black plumes.

"I'm not fuckin' crazy. You're out there. Show yourself. C'mon. You're not crazy, Pat. You're not crazy."

--Syaka
A grave voice responded to her monologue. "You're not crazy. But you're starting to act like you are."
She could hear it, deep within the woods. Not too far, but not close enough for it to be seen. Leaves rustled, and bushes flickered as they moved- A warning, like a knock on the door.

Syaka had been following her since she'd seen her walk out of that Pizzeria. As destiny would have it, the man who'd brought her to the city had also taken another wayward soul. She couldn't say she felt particularly *bad* for the anxiety she caused Patty, but she certainly felt responsible. Time had taught her how one unhinged human can spark a storm in even the most relaxed of cities. She'd broken the masquerade, and now the onus was on her to deal with the consequences.

Stepping out of the darkness, she walked with her hands held outstretched, not unlike how a cop would ask you to if they wanted to put you under arrest. "I'm here, and I'm very real."

--Patty
The sudden voice startled her, no matter how much she'd prepared herself. She freezes and the bat clatteres against the ground, forcing her to snatch it back up in an instant, eyes straining in the darkness.

Patty was shivering now, uncontrollably. She screwed up her face, eyes narrowed as the shadow appeared before her and she is confronted with the source of her fears. Every little voice inside her told her she was fucked. Somehow, she remained where she was with the slugger clenched tight.

What do you say to the thing that haunts you? Her first words are shaky, a hiss, "...I dreamed about you." She felt like that was a little odd to leave hanging, so she added, "...I mean.. your face. I saw your face. In my dreams. I can't stop dreaming of you. I'm not crazy... I'm not crazy!"

She threw down the bat and screamed at the top of her lungs, "I'm not fucking crazy! I know what I saw!"

--Syaka
Syaka raised her chin. "You saw me when I woke from torpor." Her words were short, limited only to what needed to be said. When walking on eggshells, it was best to take as few steps as needed.
Even then, she couldn't stifle a single chuckle. "Ha. Dreaming about me. That's the nicest thing no one has ever said to me."

She kept walking towards her slowly, unafraid of the bat in her hands. "You know I exist. What are you going to do about it now, woman? Are you going to go on haunted by the memory?"

--Patty
"Yeah, dreamin' like a fuckin' nightmare.. all night, every night. I spend all night trying to cut that shit off your arms, out of your face.. and I'm sawing... and I'm cutting.." She clenched her firsts, the bat tossed aside in a fit of anger, "Then it gets me.. and I see that shit coming out of my face.. and I cut it, and I keep screaming.. and screaming.. and I can't keep up. And you just fuckin' laugh... as fuckin' quills are poppin' outta my face."

Patty folds her hands over her mouth, stifling the need to scream. Swallowing hard, she looks at the thing before her. "...I'm.. I'm gonna.." She looks at the bat, then her. "I dunno.. I wanna beat the shit out of you and drag your ass back, hold you up and say, 'Fuck you! I was right! It was real!' Nobody'd believe me, though. Nobody'd care. I haven't told nobody yet, so why start now?"

Even as she said it'd do no good, Patty leans down and picks up the bat, "...I didn't really think you'd show up. I have no fuckin' idea what to do next..." Her breath catches in her throat, and eyes are locked on the thing in front of her. There was such hatred, such loathing. It didn't seem Syaka was it's target.

--Syaka
"We can talk." That's what kind mortals do, right? Talk it out. Have a heart to heart, fell good conversation. For what it was worth, she seemed to be getting better just by ranting at her. Listening was easy.

She sat down, mirroring the pose she'd held the last time she joined Patty by the fire. "I'll tell you everything, and you can tell me everything. We're both alike in that way. Nobody gives a fuck to what we say, so we have nothing to lose."

Her scars were beginning to heal, though they were still as mangled as ever. Her fingertips actually looked recognizeable by now, no longer resembling some half-hacked meat.

--Patty
No, that didn't suit her. That didn't suit her at all. She would grab Syaka by her flannel shirt, lifting her to her feet. She was no slouch, unless she pushed her off she had little trouble lifting her. It didn't matter that she was towering over her, or that she set off something inside Patty that broke her, but she couldn't talk her way out of this. Something just wasn't right. It was probably Patty herself. This scared her, more than the thing in front of her scared her.

Releasing her grip, Patty squared off, making sure the tape was tight around her wrist. Looks like the boxing tape still came in handy. "No you don't we ain't talkin' about nothin'. I'm gonna beat your ass.." She sniffed, "I'm gonna beat your ass 'til you don't scare me anymore. You got me? Now put 'em up. C'mon, square up." She put her fists, slapping herself in the face a bit, "...nothin' personal, I just.. I just gotta do this, alright? Go ahead..."

And there she was, picking a fight with the thing that scared her the most. It wasn't Syaka, of course, but she was the start of it. Despite this, she couldn't bring herself to throw the first punch. If she threw down, then all bets were off. Still, Patty picked fights when called for, and Syaka had done nothing personally to harm her.

"....C'mon, you first. Come at me. I promise I won't beat you too hard. Just try a shot.."

--Syaka
She let the girl pull her up, though she seemed uninterested in picking a fight. "You can punch me. I must warn you though, it won't hurt me. I didn't bring that hot blade on me as a hobby, us vampires are more resilient than regular people."
Regular people, huh? Bold of her to still consider herself human.
She was comically short compared to her, even if she wasn't some ungodly beast her proposition would still be ridiculous.

"C'mon. I'll be your little punching bag."
Patty had no idea what she was really asking for. And that too, was for the best.

--Patty
Patty snarled, "No! No, I'm not gonna just kick your ass like some asshole, that ain't cool. That ain't cool at all..." She blinks awkwardly, looking down as she mutters to herself, "I mean, it's not cool to be sittin' out in the middle of the forest with a baseball bat talking to yourself for hours looking for some crazy chick with porcupine arms, I mean.." She shook her head, "What the fuck ever, just come on!" She shoved Syaka, teeth bared, "Fuckin' fight me! Right here, right now!"

She groped for some sort of provocation, "Fight me you fuckin'... amazon.. bitch! Come on! Fucking... uh... C'mon!" She kicked dirt feebly at her, "C'mon! You fuckin' P- no wait, you're not Polish.. wha's a shitty thing to call an Indian lady.. uh.." For a moment she was dumbfounded, trying to figure out how to say something racially insensitive. "..fuckin' whatever! C'MON!"

--Syaka
Growing irritated, she rolled her eyes as she shoved her away. "Quit it. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, and if those quills fucked you up, then I guarantee you knowing what I can do won't help you either." Sasquatch had a high opinion of themselves, it seemed.

"You're dealing with some shit deeper than what I can give you."

Sighing, she looked back and forth, raising her muscular arms to a fighting pose. Humoring her might be the best thing she could offer to her.

"Come on."

--Patty
"Oh is that it? You think you're fuckin' better than me, Red Sonya?" She perked up like a little bandy rooster, slapping her chest and sniffing, "Well come on then, you great lump a shit! You don't scare me!" She spits on the ground, then shouts into the darkness, "You don't fuckin' scare me!"

Even after all that, with all the bravado she can muster, she can't bring herself to beat on somebody who's just defending herself. Instead of a punch, Patty throws an open-hand slap in a desperate attempt to get her to punch first, "C'MON! You got nothin! NOOOTHING!"

--Patty
The form was good, but the slap was feeble as all Hell. Either she was a moron, a weakling or she couldn't throw a punch. Or all three.

--Syaka
The slap echoed in the woods, and the Ahrimane's face remained frozen with her hand. Her eyes turned slowly, thick eyebrows knitting into a serious frown. She'd never been as patient as she wanted to be, even for a sympathetic soul.
She bared her fangs, flaring her nostrils as she growled as a warning. "For the last time. *You don't know what you're asking for, girl."
She was drawing waters from a shallow pond, and it was way too easy to hit rock bottom with Syaka's patience.

--Patty
The fangs, the snarling, that was it. She broke, and it wasn't a clean one. Her eyes went wide, locked in a terrified and comical grimace before tearms began to stream down her face. Her breath became choked, and she couldn't breathe. There was that heart-in-her-throat feeling. It was true. She wasn't insane, she was just cracked.

Patty tried to scream, but it came out like a gasping, hacking laugh before finally just lost all sense, and charged. It was a full-on football tackle, going for Syaka's middle and trying to get them out from under her.

--Syaka
The vampire was knocked off balance, landing down on the forest floor with the deranged woman atop of her. She didn't hide her fangs, instead rolling over to try and pin the annoying little miscreant down on the ground. Her growling was a constant noise in the background, her lip trembling as she struggled to keep her rising anger in check.

"That was stupid." She said in a low tone- Dangerous. "You're too emotional. Too headstrong."

--Patty
Patty screamed, squirming and struggling a moment before she let her head fall, and the sobs came. The stress of the ordeal hadn't started with the fight, it had begun days ago and built to a nauseating height on the drive here. All that emotion came up in her through ugly, gasping tears.

She didn't fight anymore. She didn't push, she didn't feel frightened. She felt exhausted, spent. It had been a long few years, and these days had been the longest by far. Her eyes were on the snarling thing above her, it's fangs bared,  her* mousy hair covered in pine needles* and dirt. Those hazel orbs just kept staring up at her, and even after she was able to compose herself, she couldn't speak. She could only look upward expectantly, unsure of what she even wanted.

--Syaka
Syaka sighed deeply, hanging her head above the crying girl. How did she end up here? Why her? Comfronting humanity was something she craved, yet dreaded once it happened. It was a little *too* real for her to deal.
Her lips parted to speak, but no words came out. She only shook her head in frustration, looking back into her hazel eyes.

"You're so fucking tired."

She'd seen that look before. In the mirror, in the people in Pine Ridge, in the glazed eyes of her packmates. Impotent anger, exhaustion from life itself. Sometimes all you could do was let yourself cry.

--Patty
Patty made to contradict her, but she really had no defense to that. She was spent, and this was just the end of a long road. She sniffed a long, drawn out sniff and blinked until her vision had cleared.

"Alright, I'm fuckin' done. Get off me. This ain't a women in prison movie." She would shove Syaka off, but not in a forceful way, just moving her aside so she could sit up and stare at the fire. With all that anger and fear, all that struggle she's actually at ease for a moment. The hiss and pop of the wood hold her attention, and she finally said in a reluctant tone, "...I'm... sorry about bein' a total bitch and slappin' you like that. That was really uncool of me."

Wiping her nose on her arm, she looks over at Syaka and smirks, "I can still take you though. Just so you know, don't think you got me or nothin'"

--Syaka
Syaka pulled herself up by her elbows, reclining against them in front of the fire. She was kind of a bitch, but at least she was a *personable* bitch. She retracted her fangs, dropping the animal act now that she'd given her a reason to chill out a little.

"Seen that look all my life. It's fine. You need to lash out when you're hurt. It's what I did before I ended up as..." She stared at the lines drawn by the knife, following the trails of broken flesh along her arm. "...This."

"You might have had a chance throwing me down back then. I was kind of like you."

--Patty
A geninuine smile at that, "Damn straight. Nobody's gonna tell me nothin', even if I'm about to fuck up royal. Been a fuck up all my life, no point in changing course now." She shrugs, laughing a bit before looking over at Syaka, leaning over and dusting the dirt off her back.

"...I kinda wish I understood what the Hell all that meant. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I feel like nobody would figure that out. It's... not something you see every day." She reached out timidly, trying not to hurt Syaka as she runs a finger down her arm. "..Shit looks like it hurts."

--Syaka
"I'd be keeping you here all night if I told you everything." She flinched at her touch, watching her trail a line over the hideous scars. "I was cursed a long time ago. It made me grow the quills and fur you saw." It was as simple of an explanation as she could manage without going on about blood and the V word.

"A woman changed my curse, making it less painful. But I still have to live with the scars of what it'd done to me before. I can't eat, or walk in the sun."

--Patty
"So the answer is yeah, it hurts, then." Her finger stops half-way down her arm, and she looks up to Syaka with earnestness in her eyes, "That sucks. I'm sorry that shit happened to you."

She didn't seem repulsed, at least not like she had been. Instead she seemed more concerned than anything else, "Dunno what makes people think it's alright to do that kinda crap." She glanced at her bike, then back to Syaka, "Least there's always a place to run. It's a big world, life's too goddamn short for people who make you feel like garbage."

The stare into the dark seemed to be conjuring some unhappy memory before she shakes her head, smiling. "Well.. if nothin' else.. we're still young, dumb and full of... uh, nevermind. That doesn't work for us." She gives a perfunctory smile, then looks up toward the sky.

"It's nice out here. If I didn't want to freeze tonight, I'd sleep under the stars again. Can't see 'em from the city. Either of 'em."

--Syaka
Those were words she hadn't heard in a very long time. "Thanks."

"I've ran all my life. Where to, I don't know. But it's never failed me in all these years." She turned her head to the sky, softening her expression as she watched the firmament. Good memories were hard to come by, but the stars never dissapointed her. No matter where she went they remained still, ever waiting. It was the one thing the curse hadn't taken away from her.

"The forests are better than the city. Animals can be vicious, but they'll never betray you. Nature is fair. Generous. People are not."

--Patty
She tried not too be too harsh, but she couldn't help but refute that. "Dude.. nature fuckin' sucks. I'm tired of freezing on the ground, and diggin' through garbage to get something to eat. I'd rather be with a bunch of two-faced motherfuckers who've got hamburgers... I mean, if nothing else, you can always knock some sense into 'em." Her eyes are still on the sky, and even she couldn't help but feel at ease watching the embers float into the stars.

"I guess I don't gotta tell you, you don't gotta worry about me blabbing. Even if somebody listened to me and didn't think I was nutso, I don't see the need for it." She shrugs, "What sense would it make? I don't care if you don't."

She reached out to put an arm around Syaka, but hesitated, then just wrapped her arms around her knees in the meantime. "...You gonna need a ride back into town?"

--Syaka
She laughed, sideglancing at her. "It sucks if you don't know what to look in it. Lost art."

Blame it on gut feeling, but she knew she'd come to that conclusion. It was what she'd do if she was in her place. When nobody is listening, you learn to save your breath with silence. Her ass was safe from any attention drawn by the masquerade for now.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she placed a hand on Patty's shoulder. She wasn't as hesitant, but that was easy when she was the one with all the creepy cryptid powers. She turned her gaze back to the stars, sliding her hand to wrap her arm over her back. "It's better than walking."

--Patty
Her eyes lit up, and she rests her fuzzy head on Syaka's shoulder, still looking toward the fire. "Yeah... just gimme a minute. I like it out here." With Syaka making the effort, Patty felt comfortable wrapping her own arm around her.

"Y'know, if you don't like being around lyin' assholes, you should let me do the talkin' for you. I love to talk, biggest chatterbox in the world. Sometimes I'll say some stupid shit, or maybe I'll just start blabbin' on and show off how little I actually know. Doesn't bother me none. I'll do the talkin'. You do the... growlin', I guess."

She leaves her head upon the tall woman's shoulder as long as she'd allow, finally standing after a long time, "Alright my ass is freezin', and my face is a marshmallow. It's time to go home." Strolling over to the bike, she snatched up the bat along the way and shoved it on the rear compartment, leaving it hanging out halfway. Throwing her leg over, Patty called out, "Come on, let's go back to civilization."

--Syaka
Syaka remained very still, like someone afraid of scaring off a bird on their shoulder. "We have time." She muttered, taking in the ambience of the raw wilderness. It'd been a long time since she'd been able to share a campfire with someone that wasn't an Ahrimane, and if the tales were right, she'd have to start getting used to trusting people outside the Cats.

"I don't like talking. Words make things more complicated than they need to be. You blab along, and I'll be the muscle to make things work." She huffed. "Just standing around does the trick for me sometimes." Her looks were out there, but they had their advantages. Growlin' got her places.

She almost asked, *Where is home?* but she caught her tongue before wasting any breath. It didn't really matter. Standing up, she followed her over to the bike, taking a seat behind her and fumbling to get a grip on. Holding onto the rear plate wasn't going to do her much good, so she settled by splitting the work between her two options: One hand gripping the seat, the other holding onto Patty.

"Alright."

--Patty
"Dude, I'm not wearing my 'If You Can Read This The Bitch Fell Off' t-shirt. If you're gonna get on my bike, I ride like a bat outta hell. Put your arms around my middle, and hold tight. I won't break, and got no tits to get in the way anyways." She steps on the kickstart and it grumbles and complains before growling to life. You could see Patty inhale that exhaust, and her eyes flutter a bit. "Fuck yeah.. I love this shit. Let's KICK THIS PIG! WOOOOOOOO!"

The bike kicked up half the dirt in the campground, reminding her before she left. "Oh shit!" She yelled over the roar of the engine, "Almost forgot!" She spun the bike around and began kicking a copious amount of sand into the fire, already starting to burn down it sputtered and finally gave out. The noise reverberated throughout the forest before she lets out a gleeful cackle, "Only I can prevent forest fires, baby! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The bike nearly flipped on the first attempt for a wheelie, but with that she sped down the road way too fast for this time of night, bolting like a flash of light down the highway toward town.

--Syaka
"*Fine*, if you *insist.*" Can't blame a monster for trying to be too polite, can you? Maybe if you're wild enough to ask them to ride. She moved her hands onto her waist, holding on tight and pressing her chin to her shoulder. It was the first row seat to listen to her yell, but she wasn't complaining. Spirit was rare enough in this cold, cynical city.

She grit her teeth as she drove on, keeping her balance only by holding on for dear (un)life. She was grinning, but it took a mighty amount of willpower to not join in with a growl and a howl.