riverviewlogs | (no subject)

who: Derek Hale & Buffy Summers (open to Alcide Herveaux later?)
what: Checking out the fence
when: March 14
where: Around the portal and its surrounding areas
warnings: Language, maybe? TBD

It certainly hasn't been lost on Derek that the Quarantine is suffering some issues with the power. In spite of the fact that they've been assured that the fence's integrity isn't going to be compromised by that, Derek has learned a long time ago not to trust anything without verification. Of course, it's natural for him to turn to his best friend for something like this, because it's no different, really, than their own self-imposed missions to explore the Complex when they'd still been trapped there. The biggest difference is that they probably won't be arrested for doing it if they're caught.

Maybe the rest of the guard is confident that the fences won't be a problem in spite of the power outages, but Derek knows he and Buffy will feel a lot better if they just check for themselves. Besides, even if they find something, that doesn't mean they've been lied to; it just means that maybe those in charge are missing something that might need attention and that's not a bad thing, right? They're not being treasonous by going off on their own to explore their surroundings and make sure that everything is, indeed, safe; they're helping. He's gotten the idea so far that things are incredibly different in the Quarantine. People care about helping other people here. The hierarchies in place aren't there to oppress people on the bottom of the totem pole like they were in the Complex. They're certainly not looking for recognition, here.

He doesn't know how his pack feels about it, but Derek is not all that interested in leaving the Quarantine. There's nothing waiting at home for him except a lot of terrible memories and an incredibly broken family that doesn't feel too inclined to reconnect. The Complex sure as hell isn't anywhere he'd like to go again. Alcide isn't even alive where he comes from, anymore, so that leaves the options, as far as Derek can tell, at finding a way home and being miserable, potentially finding a way back to Buffy's home and being classified, again, as a monster worth hunting by probably the larger part of the hunting and slaying population, if he had to guess, or staying in the Quarantine and making it his new home. So, it would make sense that he's interested in making extra sure that this place is as safe as it possibly can be, since he's aware of the fact that there can be breaches.

"I'm going to check the fences further out, past the portal. You wanna come?" he asks, coming up beside Buffy. It feels much better being in real clothes instead of that God awful ORANGE jumpsuit, but more over, it feels good knowing that he doesn't have to carry around some rinky-dink laser gun to protect himself. He still has it, of course, just in case. But he doesn't need it now that he has the wolf back. He's apt to shift into a half-transition once they get further away from the rest of the guard, quite frankly, just because he can and he feels more in tune with his abilities when he is. "I feel kind of bad, honestly," he admits, "not just trusting that it's going to be fine, but...well. Friend Computer," he goes on, dripping with sarcasm, "was always so sure that everything was peachy, so...I just feel like we have to see for ourselves, you know?" If she doesn't want to come, that's fine, but he has a feeling she'll have his back. She always does.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Derek frowns a little when he hears her story. It doesn't sound too terribly unlike his own pack's origin, although he supposes her thing is more tangible than the fact that Derek just assumed the Alpha pack would ravage the town, and instead of hunkering down like Satomi and her pack, he stupidly decided to stand and fight. The price ended up being entirely too high; he should've known better. He'd known almost all of those Alphas when he'd been younger; they'd worked closely with his mother back when things were simple. "Well, luckily for us, it doesn't seem like the sort of responsibility we'll have to shoulder ever again," he replies sagely.

The way that Buffy reacts when she realizes what he's doing is almost enough to make him laugh. He'd expect that sort of response from Katniss. Somehow, he hadn't expected it from Buffy. She'd seemed like the type of person who would take it in stride. Maybe it's just because he's him and the relationship that they have makes it too weird to be flippant and silly about it, like she has been with others. He can respect that, but it's a thing she's going to have to get used to if they're going to go off on these excursions together. Derek doesn't show the wolf to just anyone, but the fact that Buffy already knows about it gives him the wiggle room to do what he feels he needs to to make a situation shift in his favor. So, with that thumbs up over her shoulder, Derek finishes undressing. "Okay, I'm shifting, so I can't talk anymore. Do not stake the big black wolf if you see me before you find the thing, please and thank you," he says with a little grin before making his smooth transition into full wolf form.

With that, he takes off into the woods, tearing into the brush and continuing to scent the air. Once he finds the scent has gotten incredibly strong and then suddenly started to taper again, Derek turns back around. Now, he's behind it. The closer he gets, the more it smells like a kanima, but what the hell is a kanima doing here? That can't be right...

But, sure enough, when he gets close enough that he can see it through the brush, whatever the thing is, it is in fact covered in dark scales. God dammit... he thinks, because if Buffy goes at that thing and it is a kanima, she won't know to avoid the claws that'll absolutely be able to paralyze her with a single, slimy swipe.

Buffy nods a bit at that. She's not sure the scythe even has that kind of power punch anymore, not after Willow drained it to make all the slayerettes. Of course, it's always felt like it had power; it'd always felt like hers and that hadn't changed after Willow had done her thing.

She totally would have taken it in stride, if it'd been anyone else. As it was, it was like seeing her brother naked (if she had a brother) or Giles naked. It wasn't anything needed in her life. She'll get used to the idea of it and it won't surprise her so much if it happens again. She grins despite the fact he can't see it. "Pinky promise," she tells him, realizing that he won't be able to respond. She starts off toward where Derek had pointed her.

WIthout Derek's sense of smell, she doesn't know what she's walking into, but her spidey-sense is definitely going off the radar. There's something here. She makes quite a lot of noise as she moves toward the danger, but anyone who has tracked anything would be able to tell she was making noise on purpose. The sneak attack is coming from Derek, not her.

She steps into the small clearing where the creature is and wrinkles her nose. There's no surprise on her face and no fear in her body language. In fact, she seems casual and confident. "Tell the truth," she says in a scolding sort of voice, "you wanted to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle, didn't you?"

The lizard creature hisses at Buffy, something dripping from it's teeth and starts to lunge. She dodges and makes use of the move by levering a back kick somewhere near where the creature's kidneys might be. The creature turns, swiping at her, but she manages to stumble back a little, recover and slam a hard right jab into the creature's...nose...plate? She's holding her own, but she's also trying to listen for Derek, trying to catch a glimpse of him through the trees.

If he could, overhearing Buffy's comment to the creature, Derek would laugh. He's not sure what it is about Buffy that makes it so easy for her to make those little quips when she's facing something more dire than would usually call for them, but she never misses a beat. He kind of loves that about her. It forces a levity into a situation typically void of it and sometimes that makes it easier to focus on the task at hand and get it done.

...maybe that's why she does it, he thinks, as he draws a little nearer. He waits until she engages it a little bit in battle, distracting the thing before he plans to move in to join the fray. It'll be easier if he can hit it when it's preoccupied, especially if it is a kanima, because the last thing he needs is for one or both of them to end up completely paralyzed because they've taken a swipe or a bite in the melee. Even werewolves can't bounce back from that faster than normal.

Once it stumbles a little, shaking its head like whatever she's done has especially upset its balance, Derek lunges out of the brush, slamming into the back of its legs to knock it onto the ground on its back. He has no idea if the thing can communicate with words or anything, so he doesn't make a move to kill it right away so much as he scents it so that he'll remember that smell later and will be able to actually identify it as a threat, and he checks the claws on its hands and feet to make sure that they're dry. The appear to be, in any case, so that leaves him hopeful. Teeth bared, Derek hovers near the creature, growling, fur standing on end. It seems to be ignoring him in favor of trying to get up again, but also seems to be having some trouble with that. Maybe Buffy's hit was well-placed enough to actually knock the little bugger off kilter.