Campaign
<Go now, we'll catch up when we can. I'll track the two of you. We'll be fine.>
follow River at our own pace, tracking where Ike and River went once he goes out of sight.
Follow along with Irine and keep my eyes out for anything that might look out of the ordinary. Well, even though this isn't an ordinary situation.
River looks at Irene and then at Zechariah for a second before dashing away, occasionally slowing down and putting his nose closer to the ground before continuing his run. Soon he's out of sight, although the sound of his paws hitting the ground can still be heard for a while longer. The two of you try to follow as quickly as you can without overexerting yourselves.
You make your way through the toppled buildings and the burnt debris covering the streets, following River's tracks and Irene's nose. You keep going for a few minutes without incident. You don't come upon anything, living or dead. And then you hear a mental shout.
<COMM WIRES OFF! NOW!>Any attempts to reach him after that command result in nothing but silence. Zechariah removes the wire from around your necks and puts them between the clothes he is holding. With that, they keep running. A few minutes later, you spot River. He is standing in the middle of an intersection with all four legs bent, his tail and ears low, snarling, growling. A few more steps reveal what he is looking at.
"Oh, good. Lizard and Jesus. Can you do something about our angry friend here? He's gone crazy, keeps trying to attack me with his black magic voodoo."
Harry BaldmanBeing under the complete and total control of someone else, body and mind, is certainly a new experience. You can feel your body moving and it feels like you're moving it. And yet you know you made no conscious decision. Your mind keeps thinking back, you keep remembering your past. Especially your recent past. And this makes you a strange mix of happy and angry. But it feels involuntary. And whatever you do, you just can't bring yourself to do something. This is must be how people suffering from things like paranoia alien limb syndrome feel like... or maybe how your hosts feel when you take control of them.
You are walking. You don't remember when you started walking. But you are walking. Still the same city. New area. Haven't seen it before. Feels strange and familiar at the same time. It is sad to see so many houses destroyed. So many people gone. So many lives destroyed.
You feel cold. Very cold. You can see what little water is in the air condensing every time you breathe out, accompanied by a couple of ash particles. You look down. Your arms look white. Unhealthily white. This makes you upset. Does it make you upset? Or does it make the thing in your head upset?
You start moving faster. You are moving away from the centre of the city. Towards the east. Towards the wall. Your target is beyond the wall. In the tents. You know it.
But something else is here. You don't know how but you know it. Something that does not run away. Something that is coming towards you. One that feels like three.
You turn around to face it. For a moment you are surprised. That is a big dog. You don't remember seeing any of those around. Then you remember. The smell. Another target. You would prefer the other first. But the order doesn't matter.
<Hey.>You look at it.
<Ike?>That is your name. You should keep it talking. Talking makes it easier.
"Yes?"<Are you feeling well?>"Yes. Just out for a stroll. What brings you here?"This thing fights back. Stronger than you were.
<What is wrong? What are you doing?>"Me?" you say as you raise your hands to point to your chest.
"Nothing. What are you doing?"Its eyes darken for a moment. You feel uneasy.
You know what those eyes mean. It knows what you are now. But you also know what it is.
<Let go of him.>"No. I never cared the bodies of half-breeds. But I have to admit, I do like this. Both mind and body. It will help me do what I must."<It was not a request.>It lowers its stance, showing you its teeth.
This thing will be hard. You think about running, but you aren't sure. Maybe if you keep it talking for a while longer.
"'It was not a request.'" you repeat mockingly and wave your hands.
"I know what you are. You seem pretty harmless. You don't want to screw up like you did all those times before."It takes a step back. Looks more scared now. Good. It is working.
<If you know what I am, if you can see my mind, then you know I can kill you.>"You are indeed correct sir. But if that is truly the case, then why haven't you done so already? Perhaps because you know what I could do to this body?"More. Another two, coming to you.
<I can revive him again.>"But will I let you?"<I do not care about him. But I will kill you if you get in my way.>More silence. Time to be bold. You take a step toward it. Nothing.
"If that was true, you would had attacked."<What do you want? His body will not last long with you. You can not stay here forever.>"I was given this life for one purpose. Revenge. Punishment for those who deserve it. You did this. I know now. I will kill everyone you brought with you. I will save you for last. So that I can feel the pain of your failure. Remind you of everything you do not want to be reminded of. Then I will be happy."He knows now. You do not care. You are right.
<I will not let you do that. Even if I have to kill him.>He growls. He may attack.
But the others are here. The others will be easy targets. Just have to exploit them. Separate them.
Yes, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. You don't want to die.
"Oh, good. Lizard and Jesus. Can you do something about our angry friend here? He's gone crazy, keeps trying to attack me with his black magic voodoo."You smile. You feel like you're trying too much too sound like you. Which seems kind of funny if you consider that you are you. At least part of you.
((Took some liberties to keep things moving so that Ike (and the rest of the team) doesn't have to spend even more time with nothing to do.
Trying to make someone sound like they are imitating someone else is hard.
I considered hiding this, but then I thought it would offer nothing, since you'd already know something was wrong. I'd have to feed HB the possessor's intentions through PMs and have him act them out and I think that would get tedious for him.))