Daniel Leto Glimpses

**Daniel Leto** · Jan 24th, 2014 10:45 AM

"Run," she commanded as she turned away from him. Fog and shadow roiled towards them. The old woman raised her hands and light shone from them light that of the sun. She spared one last glance back, her tears glimmered like stars on her cheeks. "Run!"

Noah woke up. There was a suspicious looking stain over him on the ceiling. It’s color seemed to shift with the light. He couldn’t tell if it was yellow, red, brown, or green. He also couldn’t answer how it managed to get up there in the first place. Still, it wasn’t the worst motel room he’d seen.
His rucksack was on the floor by the bed. He reached down, pulled it up, and did an inventory. “Prepare your goodbyes” had been the advise when New-face Nathan had made him pack it. “Have enough to survive at least a month, a year is better.” Noah had had enough cash to last him four months, four fake identities, and survival gear. Now he’d be lucky to last two weeks on his current funds, he was down to one ID, and even his basic were wearing thin.
He couldn’t flee much longer. Time to switch gears. He unfolded his worn out map and looked what options were available. San Francisco, San Jose, or Sacramento. All pretty big population centers he could get lost in. San Francisco was too popular. San Jose was too big and obvious. Population only helped hiding from fey powers so much. That left Sacramento.
Noah folded up the map and took out id and papers. Daniel Leto. Not his best work, but any ID that Nathan had helped to make Noah had thrown out as too risky to use.
“Daniel Leto,” Noah said, getting a feel for his new name. Hopefully Daniel would be wiser than he’d been. All he’d wanted to do was help.
Daniel got up and looked out the window to the road that led to his new home. They weren't forgiving, he knew. Hopefully he’d run far enough.

**Parable** · Jan 26th, 2014 10:15 PM

Conversations often went in strange and unexpected directions during the course of a car ride. He was pretty sure his current driver hadn’t expected them to ever end up on the topic of girlfriends and messy breakups, but Fate and random tangents of dialog were fickle mistresses at the best of times.
“Then she just left,” his voice was a mixture of anger and regret. Then he flashed a quick smile.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice was a little unsteady and his eyes had started to glisten oddly in the light. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear about stuff like this. Do you have any hobbies?”
Daniel wasn’t surprised at the attempt to misdirect. It was difficult for guys. They tended to think showing emotion was a sign of weakness. It was ridiculous of course. It was like putting up a dam in your mind. Eventually it cracked, fractured and burst, causing more harm than just letting go.
“You know…” Daniel said before pausing. He always felt a bit of two-fold guilty when harvesting sorrow. There was already so much sadness in the world, why bring out more. As always, the answer remained the same. Catharsis. It was like sucking venom from a wound so that it could heal. Daniel could feel the yearning of the young man to release his burden.
“I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. I’m not going to judge,” he said sincerely “And once you drop me off you’re not likely to ever see me again.” The implication was allowed to settle in. Having no connection to someone meant you could open up without consequence.
“You don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to but if you don’t I know two things. One; this drive is going to pretty awkward at this point otherwise. And two; I know that holding in sorrow is like holding ice a piece of ice to your heart. The numbness may feel nice for a while, but eventually you’re going to freeze.”
And there came the second reason for guilt, allowing other to feel sorrow while holding onto his. However, Daniel didn’t have an answer for that, so he generally chose to ignore it.
He could feel the dam cracking and fracturing. “Pull over for a bit. No unwanted advise, no cliché saying. I’ll just listen.”
They drove for a silent minute. Then the car slowed, turned onto the shoulder, the dam burst, and the sorrow flowed like poison from a wound. Daniel drank from the fount and it was cool, and clear, and sweet.

**Daniel Leto** · Mar 1st, 2014 06:30 PM

Daniel sat on the motel bed going over the day’s events and writing them down in a cheap journal. He wasn’t sure exactly why he did it. He had an excellent memory and could recall everything with ease. What entries he wrote were short and with very little detail. If someone were to pick up the book they'd have a very hard time following along.

There was permanence to having things written down though. No matter how good your memory was, once you died all that knowledge was gone. Well… mostly but there were very few people able to wake the dead.

Met some interesting people. Poster girl, sexy guy, glam gal, musician, and coon runner. Got chocolate. Found there’s a ‘Her”.

Daniel sighed and glanced over at the opened box on the dresser. The number of people, the chaos and awkwardness of the scene had been too much and Daniel had just kind of left before getting further details about the woman mentioned. He still wasn’t sure what to make of it. It felt like a test he hadn’t studied for, or been told what the questions were, just to answer.

The journal got set aside and Daniel picked up the box to examine it. It certainly didn’t look enchanted. Maybe it was some sort of goblin fruit? Daniel dropped the confection into his hand and sniffed it as if that would give him some new insight. Maybe it was part of a contract catch. Of course that could go either way; didn’t accept gift, or ate what was given. Looking back at the box the thought struck him that the wrapping paper itself could have been a trifle, in which case he had already activated it. That made him crack a smile. He was probably just being paranoid and trying to figure out the mystery of the man who gave the gift since he hadn’t been able to make heads or tails in the little time they were talking. Then he noticed the chocolate was melting on his palm.

“Shit.”

Daniel tossed it back in the box before instinctively licking up the smudge. His eyes slowly closed. Both because of the exquisite taste of the swiss chocolate and because if it was cursed he had just done a really stupid thing.

“Ah well, too late now.”

He spent a long time eating the rest of the chocolate. If he was going to make a mistake that could lead to his death, he was going to make sure to savor every moment.

**Parable** · Sep 16th, 2014 07:00 PM

Drip. Drip.

The gravewight stood in front of his grandmother's grave. The stone was a shiny black but the etchings stood out in pale grey. However, as he watched, her name faded as drops fell and darkened the patterned scores on the headstone.

Drip. Drip.

It was as if his mantle had expanded to encompass the graveyard. Mist flowed and small droplets clung to his hair and arms. He shivered, feeling numbness in his arm spreading up from his wrist. In his hand he held a limp chain of white marble links with streaks of red spreading across it.

Drip. Drip.

All he had to do was tug on it. The chain could answer the very basic question he had. Was a living woman buried here? The last moments of his durance had cast so much doubt and guilt on him. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. He didn't know which answer would be worse. 'Hold to that' she had said. He wasn't sure what she had meant by that but he was sure the answer was at the end of the cold chain. All he had to do was tug.

Drip. Drip. Clink.

He dropped the links of polished stone and they evaporated into glamour. He turned and walked away through the smell of damp drizzle and grave dirt. The cut on his wrist still oozed blood and it fell on the wet grass like a slow rain.

Daniel deliberately fails Waking the Dead

**Parable** · Oct 16th, 2014 11:17 PM

Dishes and cables and connectors, oh my!

Daniel Leto sat at a library computer typing up a list of components to give to Lynn. She had suggested bringing along parts to help as a bribe. He wasn't sure how much she knew about antennas though. In any case another person's thoughts might help her, even if she did have knowledge. Plus a library card was one more piece to add to his identity.

From what Gianna had said, it was mostly antennas and cabling that was being stolen. If it had only been cabling then it might have been possible he was just doing it for the copper, but the antennas told a different story. Unfortunately, without knowing the frequencies of the antennas being taken, Daniel didn't have a lot to go on. He could still guess most of them were for television but he couldn't be sure. All in all the list was a lot more generalized than he'd like. Plus it cost 25 cents to print one page. Still, every little bit helped. He'd get Lynn the list as soon as he could. Maybe he'd try to email it before printing.

The List

**Parable** · Feb 9th, 2015 04:03 AM

Daniel wasn’t particularly proud of most of his work. Not to say it wasn’t good. Well, maybe not the best but good fake IDs were difficult to make in the first place. In the second place, most people didn’t want good IDs. Most people were spoiled kids looking to score booze and that only needed a driver’s license with the right birthday and a cashier that didn’t look closely at the rest of the card.

Daniel remembered being one of those kids. He also remembered where his choices eventually made him end up. Drunk in an alleyway and prey for the Fair Folk. That was the path he felt he might be setting them on. But the fact remained that if he denied high schoolers, he’d lose more than a decent chunk of his income. And a decent chunk of a little was a lot. So, Daniel kept selling to the underage despite the self-loathing it invoked. All the darkling could hope was that the kids would get caught. If they had suffering and sorrow now, then they would avoid trouble later.

That was Daniel’s thought process as he handed the sixteen year old boy a card that with the name Sarah Millard. Even with a girl's name the kid was giddy and practically jumping up and down. If Daniel had gave him a ring the guy would have been calling it his precious. The gravewight could taste the excitement and took that along with the payment. However, even the glamour of exhilaration couldn’t completely drown the feeling of guilt.

**Parable** · May 23rd, 2015 08:36 PM

Ava had planned to go on a minor Hedge expedition. No, that wasn’t true. Not even an expedition really. More of a patrol that might turn into a trip into the Thorns if things didn’t go well. A quick in and out at the Freehold’s major trod at Capitol Park. More like peeking in behind a closet door to make sure there was nothing scary on the other side. Still, if there was something on the other side, it was best to be prepared. Thus, she had a backpack full of survival essentials, as if she were going on a full on jaunt through the Briars. As fate would have it, things had not gone well. Just not in the way Ava thought they might.

His name was Davis and he had been at the park playing when his parents had said it was time to go home. Not wanting to leave, the six year old had decided the best course of action was to run away as fast and far as he could while barefoot. Ava shuddered to think if he had made it the final few feet to the trod entrance. The Hedge had a way of snatching people up as much as the True Fae did. Luckily for Davis, he managed to step on a nail before that had a chance of happening.

That was how Ava had stumbled across him. Alone and bleeding. And thanks to wanting to be prepared for anything, Ava just happened to have a first aid kit handy. It had taken a few words to get him calm down and a few more before he trusted her enough to let Ava tend the injury. The nail and come out rather easily. It was over before the kid had time to even register the suction-like pain of the intruding metal being pulled out. Binding the puncture wound had proved a harder task due to squirming and insistence that she not touch his foot again. That 'now it hurt.' It took a couple minutes of honeyed glowing assurance that it was okay. In the end, the foot got disinfected and bandaged.

Now Davis was holding tight to Ava like she was his only protector and the Beast was more than happy to see a worried looking woman break into a run when she noticed them. Ava had been glancing around regularly. Almost as much for the kid’s parents as for Coco. If the Wasp saw her now, her title as ‘Savior of Children’ never wear off.

Davis let go as soon as his mom appeared, hobbling over to her. He of course praised Ava to the skies on how she save him and that she was the 'niciest kindest bestest person ever' and that she saved him. Ava explained in more coherent terms what had happened. While Mrs. Davis’ Mom did thank Ava profusely, she was also in a hurry to get her child to a hospital for tetanus shots after hearing he'd stepped on corroded metal. Ava, for her part was more than happy to get on with her original mission.

Released of her charge, Ava glanced down at herself. Her carefully prepared pack was scattered willy-nilly and her clothes now had specks of red here and there from the initial flailing of feet that pulling the 'thorn' from Davis’ foot had cause. Her hands were also thoroughly covered with blood too, from the process of staunching the hole in his sole. Fresh blood

A sudden urge fell over her. A terrible, horrible, tantalizingly familiar urge. Just a little taste… What could it hurt? Ava tried to push the thought away but it just wouldn’t dislodge. That was the purpose of being in the Autumn Court after all, wasn’t it? To confront your fears. To overcome them.

Slowly… tentatively… she licked the very tip of her index finger. It tasted like iron and salt and vital life seeping from a wound; even drying as it was. And Ava couldn’t help but savor it. Hold it on her tongue. Enjoy it. Have it bring forth memories.

A rush of disgust and fear rushed over her. It wasn’t her own though. It was a tide of sweet and savory glamour. Ava open her eyes, not realizing she had closed them in her ecstasy, and met the horrified gaze of the young child seeing his savior taste his blood. Davis was being held by his mother so that he didn’t have to walk and was looking over her shoulder. In his look, Ava saw everything she should have been feeling now but wasn’t.

A panic seized her. Not at what she had just done but at being caught indulging in her darkest tastes. As the boy began cry, the Beast fled to the closest hiding place. The trod entrance was only a couple steps away. Her supplies lay scattered and forgotten behind her. The gate had opened and slammed shut before the mother had even turned around.

Sinking down to the ground of the path, Ava couldn’t stop looking at her hands. She wanted to feel revulsion but the feeling wouldn’t come. She tired to feel distaste. But but she could taste was rust and brackish water and meat. It was so rich it made her want to throw-up.

**Parable** · May 24th, 2015 04:43 AM

These were the days Daniel lived for with his work. Where he actually felt he was helping people with what he did. The Latino woman was looking down at the folder Daniel had just handed her and was crying. It was joy that was flowing off her though. It was like radiant beams of sunlight piercing through on overcast sky. The gravewight could almost feel the warmth as the emotions shot through his Mantle, slightly dispersing the constantly rolling mists. The folder containing everything from passports to birth certificates hid her heart but even with that, Daniel could sense the glow of hope emanating from her heart.

The newly reborn woman closed the gift of a new life as Samantha Mendoza. She wiped away some of the tears and Daniel could feel a slight shift as the of regret clouds closed a little over the wellspring of happiness. As if to get it over quickly, Samantha suddenly began tugging on her hand till like she meant to tear off her finger. Daniel was about to try to stop her from tearing of part of her hand, when Samantha stopped just as quickly and then held out a diamond ring.

“Es suficiente?” she asked and Daniel understood the offer. He could see the value of the ring to her. Not just in money. It hurt her to lose this part of her life and thus it hurt Daniel that he needed to take it. New life could not begin until the old died. He wished he didn’t have to but it was necessary. And on a less metaphysical level, Daniel needed to money.

“Es suficiente," Daniel said, hoping he was saying it right. Since coming to California, he had meant to learn Spanish but he’d never gotten around to it.

Taking the ring, Samantha began crying again. Like rain from a clear sky, Daniel let her conflicting emotions fall upon him like sunshine and dewdrops, before she hurried out the door and into Sacramento’s spring. The breeze blew around his journals and papers, making a mess. Still, Daniel kept smiling and felt the wind cool the tears on his cheeks.

**Daniel Leto** · May 26th, 2015 04:18 PM

Daniel pushed aside the hanging willow branches and entered the grove where he’d helped Lynn call forth the spirit of her husband from the violin. He wasn’t sure exactly why he had come back here. Then again it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. He couldn’t just go back home. There was probably somebody new living in the house anyway.

He looked around before his eyes settled on the spot where Jason had appeared. The ground was damp from the morning air and with the dawn twinkling through the leaves, Noah could almost imagine her sitting there.

“This is all my fault,” he muttered. In his mind, his grandmother smiled reassuringly like she didn’t believe him. She didn’t say anything though.

The hope that seeing how Lynn reacted to being reunited would somehow help him confront his own ghosts had not been as enlightening as he’d hoped. Rather than closure, Daniel had instead betrayed his fellow Darkling, her husband, and himself. Left them all in Limbo.

“This is all your fault,” Noah said, anger and voice suddenly rising. “Why couldn’t you have stayed dead?! Just left me there. It not like I didn’t deserve it! But no, you had to save me. Remind of everything I’ve lost and everyone I betrayed. And for what?!” He had begun to shout at the phantom. The light and shadows began to blur together. He knew he wasn't really making sense but the guilt he normally kept hidden came welling up in a tide of nonsensical rage.

“For this constant need to try to help people that are beyond help? People that don’t want my help. People I can’t help. Hell, I don’t even know if anything I’ve done has EVER helped ANYONE!” Noah’s voice cracked with sorrow, thinking of all those he’d killed in Arcadia. He thought of Terri in her denial. He thought of Lynn clinging to her violin. He thought of the screaming artist he’d left behind in the apartment. What had he really done for any of them but cause sadness? Noah sank to his knees and hung his head so the tears could fall.

“I just have these never ending doubts,” he sobbed.

For a long time he just knelt there, the dew soaking into his pants. When Noah finally looked up again his breath was still shaky. Beyond the mists of his mantle and the haze of tears, the illusion of his savior still smiled serenely at him. Was it possible for one’s imagination to be cruel?

When he wiped his eyes, the specter was gone. The doubts remained.

**Daniel Leto** · Jun 9th, 2015 09:14 AM

Everyone had ways of dealing with sorrow. A coping mechanism to distract you from having to feel or think about what was making you sad. Daniel had one too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a particularly good one.

You see, in general what made Daniel sad was the dead. His grandmother, Jason, the artist. The fact that he couldn’t help them tore him up. In a bitter twist of irony, the only thing that helped take his mind off such things was to delve deeper into those that had passed. To escape death, Daniel sought it out.

So Daniel was reading obituaries and stories about murders. He had bought a whole bunch of old newpapers and opened up more than several search windows on his browser. He justified it as research for potential new identities he could use. Notes were even occasionally made. Mostly though, Daniel just read about others how had died; who they left behind; how old they were, was the investigation still ongoing. It was all thoroughly depressing, distracting, and… calming. Daniel enjoyed it. Up to a point. A very specific point. So long as he didn’t know any person personally he was fine. And Daniel had assumed he would be fine. After all, he didn’t know anyone how had died in the local area aside from those he already was aware of. There shouldn’t have been any.

Daniel was wrong.

You see, the Lost often disappeared. It was a fact of life. Winters ran and hid. Springs followed their passions. Summers got fed up and left. Autumns followed knowledge to far off corners. No one questioned it too much when a Freeholder stopped showing up to events. It was assumed they had gone off to parts unknown and people didn’t talk about it after that. That probably had to do with the fact that those that vanished might have returned to The Other Parts Unknown and no one wanted to think about that. Other times people didn’t want to think about the second ~~best~~ worst option.

Headline: “Dozens Killed in Hotel Fire”

There was a list of names. How many were Changelings? Daniel looked for any he might recognize. Spartan; Terri; Bates. The list was undoubtedly incomplete and held only mortal names. Could any more have survived?Whether he knew it or not he was probably reading over other Freeholders as well. If Anya and Rook were on the page, Daniel would have passed over them without even realizing who they were. So many dead with none to remember them.

“Shit.”

And just like that the Gravewight had lost his distraction.

Sometimes Daniel sought Death to escape it; sometimes Death found him instead. It seemed to be happening more and more. His back itched but Daniel hardly noticed as he read the article over and over again, memorizing every name. He didn’t even register the new raven black feathers growing from his back.

Wyrd increased to 2

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2014-10-16 22:45:20		Daniel Leto rolls 5 to Parts list Crafts3+Int2 (10 Again)		2, 10, 10, 9, 3, 10, 3, 3		4 successes

Daniel Leto Glimpses

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