I gotta bad feeling about this

[Finley Coldwell]

It was on one of his hikes up the ridge when Finn saw something out of the ordinary. Not that out-of-the-ordinary things were surprising in Hazleton. It didn't take long for Finn to learn that this place was... magical. It had a lot of old, ancient magic soaked into its soil, growing from its forests and its hills. Finn could feel it, even if he didn't have the power to use it.

But he and Atlas were just taking a walk up the ridge when Finn felt some kind of strange energy coming from one of the cliffs. Atlas must have sensed it too because he raced up the ridge, so fast that he kicked little rocks down the side and managed to get some dust in Finn's eye.

"Ah!" Rubbing at his eye, he cursed under his breath but continued up the ridge to see just what had Atlas so excited.

There was some kind of energy. Blood, but a different kind of blood. It had been left staining the grass and dirt in an area close to one of the cliffsides, one where a lot of people came up to make out or watch stars. Finn had been up here quite a few times himself. But he couldn't remember coming across this strange power. It was unlike anything he knew of.

Atlas barked intensely at the spot and Finn came up, a hand on his hip, the other shielding his gaze from the piercing sun. The rust colored stain definitely indicated somebody had been hurt here. But the energy was strong. Stronger than a human. Something supernatural. Finn crouched down before the bloody spot.

It was kinda gross but... He bit his lower lip and then after a moment, he reached out to touch it with just one fingertip.

"WHOA!"

He fell backward on his ass, literally knocked back from the intensity of the vision. Somebody had died here. The blood belonged to... somebody that died. Or something. Atlas barked again, louder.

Jumping to his feet, Finn grabbed onto Atlas' collar. "I think we'd better get the fuck outta here, boy..."

[Tobias Keene]

This—this was the place where it happened. Toby sensed the magic of a Prince as soon as he came upon the area, but he also sensed death. He had heard from the other fixer—Charles—that something happened here and he came to investigate because this was still his assignment. Sort of. At any rate the elders would want to know what happened out here to the Dream Prince, Brayden Smith, so he had to pry and poke around a bit.

But as soon as he came up the path, he felt the blowback of magic. Even now, after so much time had passed, it was strong. The area reeked of death, too. Toby pressed on, perhaps foolishly, because if Brayden Smith was indeed in danger, the elders needed to know. They were all aware that the Fallen were on his heels but Charles had assured him that the Prince was safe. For now.

So he crept up, almost gagging at such a strong blend of magic, when the sight of a short man (short compared to him, that was) and a dog greeted him as he turned the corner. Toby first froze. Then he froze some more when he realized that this man was... not like other men. He was not a man at all, as a matter of fact—he was something far more dangerous.

"Hello," he tried to say casually, like he was just a lone hiker, as he put up a hand to hide his eyes. "Did you know that your wings are showing?"

It wasn't very well-hidden, as a matter of fact, because there was a crack in his glamor. Also saying that probably didn't make him seem like an innocent lone hiker but heck if he knew how to talk to anyone out here! He had grown up in the fae realm—the best realm!--and in that realm everyone knew that glamors needed to be properly maintained.

Not having it on or having it only partly on was like... wearing a shirt with one nipple showing. Scandalous to say the least!

[Finley Coldwell]

Shit.

Somebody else was coming up the path and Atlas barked, warning them off. It was a good thing that Finn was holding onto his collar or the dog would have charged; he wasn't fond of strangers. Finn ordered him to sit and Atlas did so. At least he was an obedient dog. Slowly, Finn let go of the collar and straightened up, eyeing the kid.

Was the kid fucking with him? As far as Finn knew, he didn't have wings. He knew he wasn't entirely human; he'd learned that shit as he grew up with super powers. Honestly, he didn't know what he was, but he figured maybe some kind of witch was in the family tree somewhere. What he did know was that he didn't have wings.

So he laughed.

"I don't have wings." But the way he was looking at him, the kid seemed to be looking at something behind him, which he didn't care too much for. It made him glance over his shoulder, half expecting to see whatever made this mess come forward. No such thing. But... He looked the kid over more critically now.

"You know who did this?" he asked, pointing to the stain. It was killing the plant-life around it. If the guy saw imaginary wings, he had to see this.

[Tobias Keene]

What a cute cat! Well it was making an aggressive noise but it was still very fluffy and adorable and it listened to the demon, so it couldn't have been all bad. Honestly, Toby was of the opinion that this demon was responsible for the aura of death lingering in these woods. It seemed rather too coincidental for him to be here, when his kind were known to go hand-in-hand with chaos and death.

"Oh, well..." He did have wings and they weren't like the beautiful gossamer wings of the fae. They were intimidating things, although only a part of them showed thanks to his incomplete glamor. Toby couldn't help staring because he had never seen demon wings before. Not even celestial wings, either. He knew tons of fae wings and he liked them well enough, but this was a rare opportunity to study a demon up close! And as long as he didn't make any threatening moves, he thought he could get away unscathed.

Toby looked where the demon directed and frowned. "I'm not sure but... it appears to be corruption. See the way it spreads? The pattern?" So... a fallen was killed here? But the magic wasn't entirely fallen either because he caught strands of a fae Prince and even a bit of celestial magic. Such a strange mixture! Toby glanced around, following the lines of mana that wove through every living thing—even the blood-drenched Earth.

"I think I can contain it, though. I suppose I should before it contaminates the entire ridge..." Toby hesitated to step forward; what if the demon didn't want it contained. He cleared his throat politely. "That is, if... you will permit it." Best not to be rude with one of the most powerful entities out there...

[Finley Coldwell]

"...even I can tell that," he said. That it was some kind of corruption. Some kind of nasty magic. He could practically smell it. Actually, he could kinda smell it and it was like a dead animal. It wasn't from any normal creature, and this guy seemed to know non-normal creatures. Still, what was that crap about the wings?

Maybe he was talking to somebody else. But... he'd been looking right at him when he said it... He could ask about it later. Right now, he was grinning widely.

"You can contain it?" He raised a brow, not because of the containment thing--that was a pretty cool super ability. It was the other part. "Uhh... Why would you have to ask for my permission?"

[Tobias Keene]

What a frightening, blood-curdling smile.

On his human face, it was quite a handsome smile but with his part-way exposed wings and with the dark aura of the fallen angel about him, his grin sent a shiver down Toby's spine. The specialty of the Third House of the Fae—and a Prince of it, too! Though a minor one—was to be able to see past glamors. Right now, that was an ability he rued. He would have preferred to only gaze at the pleasing human shell.

"Oh... for... to be polite!" Haha that was a good explanation wasn't it? Toby couldn't tell. He laughed in a way that maybe made him seem creepy, the same way he found the demon creepy. It was far too forced, and a little too loud. Toby approached cautiously and tread softly in case loud footsteps set this one off.

"I'll just... need a little space," he said as he drew mana from the earth into his wings. He drew from the surrounding trees too, from the wind brushing through his hair, from the rocks dotted about here and there. Every living thing had mana and if he collected a tiny bit from a lot of places, he wouldn't do much harm—better than draining all the life force from one single entity!

As a fixer, this was Toby's sole job in life. He had a lot of practice pushing back corruption; as a lesser Prince, he could also banish it. And so he did, weaving mana back into the dead earth and resuscitating the plantlife that the corruption had blackened. It wasn't particularly difficult when this corruption had been sitting out for so long; its source seemed to be quite far away, which made his job much easier.

[Finley Coldwell]

"Yeah... okay..." Finn gave the kid a weird look. Polite? Or did he just want to warn him he knew magic~? What a weirdo. And what was with that laugh? Like half maniacal or something. Finn backed up a few paces, whistling and beckoning for Atlas to follow him. He didn't know how far he had to be, but part of him was starting to think he should just leave this kid to do his thing on his own.

Finn crossed his arms and watched the kid do his magic thing.

"My mum's a witch," he said. "A healer. Witches seem to run in the family, so you don't have to be weird about your magic in front of me."

His magic was different than his mum's though. Always had been. His mum healed minor wounds and she cast her spells with ingredients, enchanting her balms and ointments to enhance their abilities. Her relationship with Finn had always been different than it had been with his sister, though. Finn figured it was them being girls, being healing witches, that kind of thing. His mum didn't know what to do with a boy, especially one with such... volatile magic.

They weren't close, him and all of his family. They were like this kid. Scared of him. Sometimes, it really bothered him but most of the time, he let it roll off his back. Not much he could do about it, could he? He was born this way and if they couldn't accept it... then he had to go. And so he did.

"Never seen somebody heal the land, though. What kinda corruption you figure it is?"

[Tobias Keene]

"A witch?" Oh no—no no. Noooo this one was not merely a witch. Perhaps half—perhaps. But that other part of him was so dominant that Toby couldn't even detect the healer. That stood to reason because demons were far more powerful than witches, so their magic tended to be overpowering.

"I don't usually heal land." Toby straightened, having finally swept away all of the corruption. "But if a Fallen died here, then its corruption is too dangerous to leave alone, in case someone comes along and touches it. Good thing you didn't, or you'd be... melted by now!"

Well, he wouldn't be totally melted. Demon blood offered a lot of protection against darker forms of magic so even if he did touch the area, he'd probably only feel a tickle or a tingle or just melt a tiny little bit. But if Toby touched it—hoo boy! He'd be in a lot of trouble! He could heal himself but it would be so painful!

Also—it was definitely Fallen. He got a better sense of that as he banished it. Toby looked around absently and peeked at the bushes. "Do you think the body is still here? I'm seeing a trail of some kind going that way." He pointed deeper into the woods. "It's not easy to kill a Fallen though, you know? Er... sorry what's your human name? They said I could be Toby. I'm not sure how I feel about that though. Toby... It doesn't sound very noble, does it? Toby?"

[Finley Coldwell]

"Uh, welllll..."

Finn lifted his finger and turned it, looking it over. He had only touched it with a single finger but it knocked him on his arse when he did! Now that he looked at it, there was a tinge of disgusting blackness to his skin that most definitely hadn't been there before.

So he touched it and... it didn't melt him. Finn looked the kid over skeptically. But before he could say anything, the kid was still going on, about a body, about a trail... Finn turned to look where he was pointing, then started heading that way.

"My name's Finn the Human," he said humorously, thinking of the cartoon character. "And if you don't like Toby, then change it. Who cares what 'they' said, whoever 'they' is." He half turned as he walked, pointing his finger at Toby but with the pad of his blackened finger facing up. "Check this out, will you? I touched that shit and I didn't melt but it turned my finger black. What's it mean?"

[Tobias Keene]

Toby laughed. "Finn the Human?!" Like... Atilla the Hun? That type of name? He shook his head and caught up quite easily—by use of his longer legs. When he did, he lightly swatted Finn's shoulder in a playful manner. "That's not your actual name, humans don't name themselves that way!" Even he knew that! But—gasp—he touched a demon without permission! Toby fell back again at a respectable distance, so as not to further offend.

Ooh but it looked like he did touch the affected area! Toby caught up and took his hand to steady it, so that he could have a closer look. His pace slowed as he cradled Finn's finger in one of his hands. The other passed over it, probing the extent of the corruption. Luckily it hadn't gone far and Finn's natural resistance was more than enough to keep it from aggressively burning his hand to ashes.

"Good thing you have demon blood in you, Finn the Human!" He exclaimed, chipper as anything, despite the gruesome quest they had set out on. Toby drew mana again to try and remove the corruption. A finger tip was manageable, although he encountered resistance due to the opposing nature of their magic. "This is much easier with Fae," he sighed when the corruption receded—a little. "I don't think they ever covered purifying somebody like you... But I think I can still do it."

[Finley Coldwell]

"And that's Atlas the Dog." He nodded toward Atlas.

He cracked a half grin. Of course his name wasn't actually Finn the Human. And at least the kid was treating him like a person now, giving him a playful smack and jesting with him. That whole staring at him like he had a monster sitting on his shoulders business was bothersome.

And then just as he was thinking that, Toby fell back, like he didn't mean to go around smacking him. Finn just shook his head to himself. Weirdo. Up ahead, Atlas led the way, tail up in the air like a banner, ears erect and alert.

Then Toby drew close again to look at Finn's black finger. It didn't really hurt but it looked pretty creepy, he had to admit. Like a... curse. Or corruption. He stopped walking to let Toby get a better look and then he seemed to be doing something. Casting a spell that made the darkness begin to disappear.

"Demon blood? Is that what they call it?" he asked, still thinking it was witch blood. What, did witches make a pact with the devil for their power? The way old horror stories claimed? Kinda cool, honestly, but...

"So you're fae, right?" he asked, since Toby brought it up. "Not a witch? And what do you mean you think you can do it? You're doing it! Look!"

Although he did feel a strange resistance, a tingling feeling in his finger, like it had fallen asleep. It didn't seem to care much for Toby's magic but as much as it wanted to resist, Toby's power seemed to be enough to push it back. Lucky it had only been the fingertip... He didn't like what it might have meant if he ended up spreading that shit.

[Tobias Keene]

Well now calling a cat Atlas the Dog was just funny! Toby grinned despite himself. This was an elaborate joke, wasn't it? Yes, yes he got it now. Finn was a demon, but he called himself 'The Human.' And Atlas was a cat but he called him 'The Dog." Or she? Was Atlas a girl name or a boy name? Toby couldn't tell; he didn't want to look weird searching for genitalia so he dropped the thought for later.

"Yes. Demons have demon blood," he replied absently while working hard on the small concentration of corruption. It took a lot of energy because Finn's natural magic didn't want to work with him; it kept pushing him out and it wouldn't let his magic wrap fully around the finger. Good thing Toby was a fixer, otherwise he would have stood no chance against even a half-demon!

Briefly glancing up, he nodded—yes, he was a fairy. Fae. They had odd names for him out here and they seemed to think he should be little and sparkly and fly with his wings while carrying a wand. Absurd! Nobody flew with their wings! But he thought he did sparkle when he did magic, even if that was nothing more than an optical illusion. Mana being collected and all—the particles glimmered. It was very pretty. Toby didn't care if everyone else thought it was a nuisance, he liked it.

"Normally I can do it faster, but... as long as it's working! Don't tell anybody though. Fixers like me aren't really supposed to help outsiders like Fallen and Demons. It's the war and all, but... you seem like a nice person." He glanced up again and winked in a meaningful way. He thought. Somebody did that to him out here; it looked quite serious and secretive to him. The other person was grinning but the wink looked serious, so it struck Toby as being very odd and out of place at the place called 'The Bar.'

[Finley Coldwell]

Okay. Demons had... demon blood. All right. Finn honestly didn't know what to do with that information but Toby started off by saying weird things from the start. So he didn't really think much of it now. And he didn't know why he was grinning like that over the name Atlas. Did he think it was a dumb name for a dog? Or was it the 'the Dog' joke? Heh, well, it was kinda amusing, he guessed.

So a fae, then. Huh. Although he was firmly entrenched in the community of the supernatural, most of Finn's friends were more like... vampires and incubi. Creatures of the night. He figured he wasn't like his mum; a good witch. He was more like a warlock. A bad witch. Not evil, really. Just... not good, for sure. Troublesome. Troublemaker. He heard that one a lot.

"What war?" he asked, because he wasn't aware of any war. Again, although he was in the community, they apparently were in much different circles. Sure, the vampires had it in for humans, there was a love/hate thing going on there. But as far as he knew, they weren't, like, at full on war with anybody.

Finn turned his head slightly at the wink. Oho, what now?

"Are you hitting on me, Toby the Fae?" he asked, in his most posh, hoity-toity accent.

[Tobias Keene]

"The war," Toby said very unhelpfully, because there was no information to be gleaned from the way he said it. But he was focusing on the last bit of corruption, so he was distracted. Just one... more... push! And the darkness faded away, leaving Finn's finger the way it was before. Pinkish, not black. Corruption really was nasty.

When he looked up, Finn was looking at him funny. Sizing him up? Was that the saying? His voice had gone funny too, but Toby recognized that as putting on an accent. Toby sized Finn back up, smiling mildly. He didn't actually know what it meant to 'hit on someone.' It sounded violent. But Finn didn't appear offended by it, so either he liked to be violently struck or it meant something else.

To be safe, Toby nodded. "Yes." Humans out here really despised the word 'no' so he used it as little as possible, because he didn't want anyone to get angry and make trouble for him. No meant denial; yes meant acquiescence. Generally if the other person wasn't angry, he went with yes.

"I am... hitting you. On." That didn't sound right but Toby smiled again and strode off further into the woods to follow the trail, eager to leave his awkward blunder behind.

[Finley Coldwell]

WHAT war? Finn didn't bother asking. It didn't seem that important. If it was, then Toby wouldn't be helping him, and apparently they were on different sides of said war. SHRUG. Finn liked trouble but he wouldn't say he was warlike or anything like that. Yeah, maybe when he was drunk, he picked fights on occasion but he was more the teasing shithead that dodged and fought dirty more so than the guy who just straight up decked people.

And he never signed up for any war so whatever Toby was on about, was all in his head. Maybe he was a little touched in the head. He seemed weird like that. Like his head was in another world. For example, his yes sounded weird when he admitted to hitting on him. And even weirder was the way he said it back to him in an odd order. And then smiled, like it was all natural.

For a few seconds, Finn watched him stride off after the trail--and Atlas--and then he looked down at his finger. All better. He flexed it. Nothing different. Just a finger, like it always was before he went and touched that blood.

Putting his hand down, he half jogged a few paces to catch up to Toby. Atlas was still way ahead of them, sniffing excitedly, tail still way up, ears still alert.

"You're not very good at this, are you?"