genessia | [ action | OPEN ] let's join forces, we've got our guns and horses

Where: Any city!
Who: Open!
WHAT: ~~Grandma got run over by a reindeer--~~ er, I mean. Jethro's a big ugly undead war-horse and his rider's current anxiety is spilling over into him. Cue Jethro spooking at everything and possibly coming || close to bowling someone over. As horse do!

Alleyana could march for hours on end in all her armor, with her massive heavy shield on her back and her mace thumping against her leg from her hip. Hours and hours. But even with the pace she could keep up, what took hours and hours on foot would go a heck of a lot faster while mounted.

And, well, Jethro deserved better than to be left behind all the time. He was a war-horse, not an ornament.

Thus, Alley could be encountered in any of the cities while astride the bog mummy. She left room for pedestrians and was in general a polite rider, ignoring any shocked sounds at the sight of her mount.

...And then Jethro's ear-stumps flicked back flat against his head, and that was all the warning Alley had before the huge zombie was lunging forward at someone, teeth clacking.

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And at first blush, that poor animal would be lunging at what was clearly a human man. A bit on the tall side, appearing somewhat washed out and dull looking, but otherwise nothing worth spooking at.

And by all appearances, it'd going to look like Jethro just stomped this man into paste, because in the blink of an eye, he seemed to swiftly sink under the animal with barely a flicker of surprise.

Of course, such was not the case, if one caught sight of the horned figure hiding within the shadow of the dead horse now, brilliant candle like eyes glowing sharply inside of that.

Oh good yes great this was the heart attack Alley needed today, thank you ever so much you giant piece of bloody jerky--

The Inquisitor's immediate reaction was to haul back on Jethro's reins while leaning back hard, of course, and whoever it was should have been spared actual contact with the bog mummy, but...

Well.

"Maker's balls, where'd they go?"

Still under here, so it was! Unwilling to come back out of hiding so quickly, still rather unsure of what the fuck had just goddamn happened or indeed, what kind of beast he was currently hiding in the shadow of.

It was a fascinating thing, frankly, and he wasn't really in any rush to pop out and startle Jethro again.

Or leave.

So he'll remain beneath the horse, thanks.

Jethro pulled hard at the reins in Alley's hands, snorting and prancing in place in clear agitation. For her part, the Inquisitor didn't give the undead war-horse any slack, still looking around and trying to figure out what the hell had just happened--

Eyes.

There were eyes where there ought not to be eyes.

"Are you what we almost ran over?"

Look, addressing a pair of eyes glowing in a shadow... it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd done.

Yeah normally shadows didn't have eyes.

Of which brightened as she addressed him. Oh. Well. May as well answer.

"Yes." Nice and deep, Elias making absolutely zero effort to... you know... not be a fucking shadow.

"I may have spooked your mount."

"It hasn't taken much to spook him today," and Alley was trying to not think of the reason, thank you.

"Are you going to come back out? I've got him." Jethro wouldn't be leaping forward while she had a good grip on those reins. Undead or not; where a horse's head went, so went the rest of it.

"I see."

The shadows swirl a bit, apparently thinking, before they coalesce and congeal, reforming a few feet away from the undead animal.

All nine feet of him, bone face and all, still peering at the bog unicorn in interest.

"Did you reanimate this?"

Jethro tosses his head as much as the reins allow and prances in place, managing only to drift a little to one side. Alley transfers the reins to just one fist so that she can lean forward and smack the zombie's leathery neck with the open palm of her free hand.

"Woah there, settle down gruesome."

SNORT, PRANCE, is Jethro's response.

"I didn't, no. I'm not sure anyone did so much as he's possessed by a spirit. Best theory any of us has, that."

He made no effort to move away from the spooked beast, head cocked as the creature pranced and snorted.

"It's interesting that despite being dead and reanimated, he still possesses instincts and self preservation as any living being might. You'd imagine being dead would have rid him of that."

"Nah, silly guy even tries to graze the grass."

Despite, you know, no lips or tongue. Or functional digestive system. Or ability to even open his mouth more than about an inch, thanks to the sword rammed through his face.

Horse gotta horse!

"You have this effect on animals a lot?"

"It depends upon the animal. I am usually ignored."

... Usually. But then, he'd accidentally surprised the poor creature. Most of the animals in the forest knew he was coming a mile away, and were aware when he was actually looking for food.

Not the case here, he'd admitted he'd come up rather quickly.

"Here," Alley fumbled with a belt-pouch with her left hand -- the only one with fingers precise enough to do this -- and produced a sugar cube. She held it out toward Elias. "Give him this, maybe he'll calm down."

She'd learned from how quickly Cassian had charmed the big undead beast.

It was worth a shot, right?

A sugar cube? Well yes, he knew horses liked that, of course but-

Well he took it anyway, toying with it for a moment, before indeed holding it out to the nervous animal, curious as to if the beast would even accept it.

Alley patted the side of Jethro's neck some more while Elias was thinking about it, and only finally relaxed somewhat again when the bog mummy... after thinking about it for a second... chomped the cube out of Elias' hand.

And chomp chomp chomped on it, sending a small stream of sugar to the sidewalk with each crunch. No lips!

"He still likes the thought, I think. He's Jethro, and I'm Alley."

He half expected the beast to refuse and start bucking and shying again.

The reaction was both a surprise, and quite pleasant, the mage withdrawing his hand as the dead horse happily ground it's cube into dust.

Well, it was almost cute.

"A very interesting creature." Back to Alley, however. "My name is Elias. Do you usually bring your ride along this path?"

If so, he'd have to learn how to better signal himself later. Didn't need this happening again.

"Sometimes? I usually just walk, but..."

She'd needed familiar company, and Jethro was it.

"I do not want to scare him again, should we cross here." Oh well.

"I'll have to keep a better eye out for him. ... It isn't as if he's difficult to miss." With a pointed look at the sword through the creatures face.

"Oh, well, that's nice of you. He's usually a little more steady than this."

Aaaaaand after having given it thought and still not quite being sure how to broach the topic diplomatically... "If you don't mind, what are you?"

It's okay, this is another question he's used to. One he's gotten good at giving multiple answers for, all of which are some shade of true:

"A mage."

Today, we're being a wiseass.

"...Kind of a given, since you just shape-shifted," Alleyana raised one scar-crossed eyebrow, folding her hands on the horn of Jethro's saddle while the zombie crunched away at his treat. "If you don't want to answer, I get it, I'm sure you get that question a lot."

Because LOOK AT HIM.

"Jethro didn't hurt you when he lunged, did he?" And a convenient topic change, just like that.

He could answer that he doesn't know what he is and he doesn't mean to be rude... But that would be admitting he doesn't know what he is, so eschewing the first half:

"It is not my intention to be rude." Good.

"No. He didn't touch me. I'm far too quick for even living beasts."

"It's not mine either, I just couldn't think of a better way to ask," Alley admitted, patting Jethro's neck again. "Good. His reflexes are faster than mine."

[ action | OPEN ] let's join forces, we've got our guns and horses

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