Arise and Walk

Jul 2nd, 2017 04:30 PM

"Dirge. Yes, I remember Alice talking about her, back when it was my first visit to our sanctuary." He pauses for a moment. It was an interesting night. "Blind Haunt, hiding in the sewers. Hope they will make the date work sooner rather than later." It wasn't explained to him clearly ust how will the Archon make it happen, all he was told is it's weird Daeva shit.

As Cross recalls the ingredients' names, Longstreet's face turns more and more blank to hide his complete lack of knowledge on the subect. It sounds like magic, but definitely not Kindred magic. To be frank, he's irritated. Couldn't these people be more clear in what they want if they want it found? "Then if we want that resolved, then our only chance is luck... or that guy with the book. I don't think any library would let us in during the hours we prefer." Or they could send ghouls. But you can only trust them so much.

The answer to his background question comes and from the very first words Longstreet is struck. But he lets the other Haunt finish and only then looks him in the face. "Wait, you were... a cop? What department did you work? Vice, Homicide?" He lets out a dry, unpleasant laugh. "Holy shit, the Dark Father has a weird sense of humor. Me, I'm an ex-mobster. Robbery, extortion, debt collection... but I'm reformed now, as you can see, thanks to my sire." Honestly, he should see this coming, but this whole situation is just so damn hilarious he can't help but laugh again. The laughter dies down, however, and his face turns serious once more.

"And Alice? How does she fit in that equation?" He may never get the chance to ask about her again in such private circumstances, so he goes at it, and besides: if the Burned Man wants to, he can easily get away with a non-answer. It's a touchy subect, after all, especially now.

**Robert Cross** · Jul 4th, 2017 08:26 AM

"Might be we have a little more to go on than luck. I've got a few leads: Radzinsky, the one with the book. But also a woman named April Armitage. Retired professor. Could pan out." He shrugs. It's better than nothing.

On to the topic of his old profession. "Yeah, a cop. Homicide. I've been catching bodies for a long time." There's a wry twist of his scarred lips, not quite a smile. "Mob guy, huh?" Cross doesn't seem that surprised by the revelation. "Reformed?" On this point, the Burned Man is a little more dubious. Of course, Longstreet works for another organization now, but Cross has no trouble imagining his fellow Haunt using his old tactics in that service. Not that he has a problem with it.

The mention of Alice seems to wipe all emotion, all expression, from Cross's face. It's as if what little openness he's achieved with his Brother is withdrawn in an instant. "How does she fit in with that?" With his old life? "She doesn't."

A long silence as they continue to trudge toward the surface. "Alice is important to me. And she should be important to you too. She serves our Family well in the halls of power." Cross leaves it at that.

Jul 4th, 2017 03:47 PM

"Armitage?" Did he hear that name somewhere before or was that ust his imagination? Probably the latter. "What does she have to do with all of this? She an Alchemist too?" It turns towards the direction where he wouldn't be of much use to the Domain. Well, unless the old lady'd need to be kneecapped or something.

The Burned Man smiles while talking about his ol ob, meaning he was quite fond of it. "So you are catching bodies in life, and dropping them in death. Funny how the universe turns." It's now his time to smile in the dark. The remark isn't meant to be philosophical or entirely serious, just a mirror of the world's sarcasm and cynicism. "Yeah, reformed. By 'reformed' I mean my sire whacked my crew and yours truly, but figured a corpse can't be taught a lesson. So we had a talk, I thought he has a point and here I am, a hound in the vineyard." Good memories flood his mind, and it shows in Longstreet's eyes.

He glances towards the other Haunt only to find his face devoid of any emotion, no doubt the work of his ill-timed question. It seems he's not ready yet to talk about how it came to be that an ex-cop and a pagan priestess became so close to each other. He wondered if Cross will ever be ready for that talk. "Who says she isn't?" Although probably in a very different way. "And it's funny." That word again. Funny. "How you mentioned the Family, but not the Domain." Was that an accident or did he choose his words consciously? Well, Longstreet is about to find out.

**Robert Cross** · Jul 4th, 2017 09:03 PM

"Not sure. Her name came up during our conversation. Or after it, really. The Breathers didn't know I was still in the room." That whole 'one with the Shadows' thing. "She worked in history and anthropology before retiring. Maybe she specialized in this stuff? Or maybe she's in deeper? Anyway, it's another angle."

Longstreet's assumption about which side of the body dropping he'd been on, and when, would be right. If things hadn't gone a little crooked toward the end of his life. "Well, dropped a few before I stopped breathing too. Sometimes I'd catch those just to put them back down. You do all sorts of things when you're in that way..." When you're a ghoul, is what he means. "And I did it well. Probably why Vic brought me over instead of leaving me to die after the fire."

There's something in the way his Brother speaks about his Sire that tells Cross the other Haunt doesn't resent the interruption of his previous plans. "So, what--you were brought right into the Dark Faith, then?" Cross wonders what that must've been like. Having that direction right off the bat. The only Faith Sick Vic subscribed to was the Church of Getting the Fuck Over.

It's almost a relief, when Longstreet let's the Alice thread go in favor of his pointed question concerning the Family and the Domain. Almost. After all, this is still dangerous ground. They're just entering the Caldarium now, emerging from the catacombs, and Cross stops in that peaceful place to consider for a moment. Hard blue eyes steady on his Brother:

"Listen, we both know the score with our Family. In any city. Too little power and we're disregarded. Too much and we're seen as a threat. An underground or shadow group. Literally. I'm invested in the Domain's security and prosperity. But I'm also invested in the security and safety of our Family. Alice, serving as she does, is making sure of both." Another pause. "And let's not forget, Brother, that, at least for now, our Family is also the sole group sheltering the Faith in the Domain. So there's that as well. Our fortunes lie here. In more ways than one."

He wouldn't normally speak so directly. But this is home and Longstreet is Blood. There must be an understanding between them on this point.

Jul 5th, 2017 11:03 AM

"Did you get an address? Because we should definitely pay grandma a visit" It won't be just a social call, obviously. Longstreet seems and sounds eager to get right into the action again, even if 'action' means scaring a lovely old lady shitless.

He finds himself nodding along to what Cross says next. His handiness with guns (and possibly other tools of mayhem) became apparent the night they were in that warehouse. "So, this... Vic? What became of him? If I were in his shoes I'd never let someone as skilled as you go." Ordinarily, when you compliment someone you do this on something other than their ability to kill people, but then again Cross is anthing but 'ordinary'.

"Yes, I was" It must sound strange to the man who spent years, possibly decades, to find his purpose. "Sure, at first it was more of a marriage of convenience, for both sides. Trust and devotion came with time. You were introduced in LA? How did that look?" Conversions are another touchy subect, at least for some, but the newly awakend Haunt feels it's a good opportunity to test limits.

"Oh, far be it from me to question your loyalty to the city. But the city changes" Not that he'd witnessed much of change here, it's just the natural way of things. "And our Blood doesn't. Neither do the tenets of the Dark Faith." It's the clearest he can pronounce the order of his loyalties before becoming fully overt. He's sure the Burned Man will understand. After all, when you work Homicide you must have an eye for details.

**Robert Cross** · Jul 5th, 2017 12:06 PM

"Yes," Cross concurs. "That would be the obvious next step." Maybe it's just Longstreet's menacing aura, but Cross feels the need to spell out the delicacy with which they should advance: "We need to tread lightly with her, though. She's one of our only connections to this world, other than the two we're speaking with directly. Might need to keep her on tap for further information..." Cynthia would definitely need to be looped in on that little visit.

What happened to Sick Vic? "Victim of the Game, as he would say." Cross shrugs. It still stings, what happened to Vic. But not so much as it used to. Things have definitely changed for the Burned Man. "Someone got to him. Left him ash. Never found out who. It became clear that I was next. So, I left. Came here. Looking to start up his kind of racket. But the situation was different, and I found another way." Family, Faith, Domain. And love, believe it or not. "Vic always had more enemies than friends. I'd like to say it was his line of work. But..." But, it's always that way, when it comes to their Blood.

Cross nods. "What'd you make of it at first? Coming from your world." Cross can't imagine it. He needed his time dead and aimless for the Dark Faith to make sense. The man he was when he'd first been embraced? Would've scoffed at the words of the Centurion. Did scoff, in fact.

"Me? I was introduced here. By Bishop Gilroy. It started slow. I attended a lecture at the Moore House, more to check out my Priscus than anything else. Things were rough between us then. He gave out copies of the Testament. I took one to be polite. Left it in my glove box. Found it one night and started reading. Don't really know why." To this night, he's not sure why he'd cracked that little book, which is still the one he reads, studies, meditates over. "Anyway, that's how it began. I read the words of this Centurion who'd lived this life of evil, callousness, cruelty. And I saw myself. And I saw a path that led out of that. And into a fuller understanding of what we are. Decided to take it. Approached the Bishop about the matter." And he's glad he did.

"Shortly after that, though, Gilroy left suddenly. I was kind of lost at sea. And distracted. Alice...lost her sight. The Family continued to shrink. I was given the position of Reeve. It all came one thing after another. Too much for me to think about my decision to join the Faith. Then, one night, I realized what I had to do. So I left, went back to LA. Found a Priest there. Paul's his name. He took me under his wing, catechized me. Taught me the best he could about the Dark Faith. Until I couldn't stay away any longer." Another shrug: so here I am.

A nod when Longstreet explains his own priorities. "Then we understand each other." Good. Because that understanding is all that might stand between their Family and annihilation. "That's why this place," gesturing to the Caldarium and by extension the Necropolis as a whole, "is so important. And so dangerous. It promotes our safety, and displays our capacities. But it also paints a target on our backs. Gilroy was always careful to balance our independent productivity with appeals to the Domain's well-being at large. If the Underground is an asset to our Family, it must also always be seen as an asset to the Prince's rule." An important lesson. One of the last that his former Regent had taught the Burned Man.

Jul 6th, 2017 03:20 AM

"I'm not saying we should do to her what we did to Sterling." He shakes his head, painfully aware that it might've sounded that way. "But I don't think there's much we can offer her beside a good scare to squeeze out information" He recalls Tomori offering some of his resources to exchange with the Alchemists, but apparently it never happened.

So Vic is ash? There's not much he can add to what Cross has to say on the topic, so there is an unindentified sound signifying acknowledgement and understanding in the place of a comment. "My world? My world was full of people claiming to be good altar boys right after they shot someone, so at first I didn't think there'd be much difference. But to answer your question: at first I completely missed the point. See, I thought it's all about me: how I get points for the afterlife, how I calm my soul with purpose" For a moment Longstreet looks almost...remorseful? But then a sarcastic grin wipes all that from his face. "But then time passed, things happened and I realized that what I do is about anyone but me. We terrorize mortals so that they get a chance at redemption taken away from us. We do all these horrible things so that the other Damned don't have to. Ours is the existence of sacrifice." His answer went way beyond the original question, but he didn't feel bad about that.

"And so here we are, world's ugliest crusaders ready to amaze everyone." There's this dry laugh again. Also, Gilroy. Again, he hears that name and regrets he didn't have the chance to meet such an obviously influential figure in the city. Then again, maybe he will resurface one night, ust like Cross did?

Longstreet nods as his brother explains the political intricacies of having as grand a Haven as this. His cautious attitude doesn't really infect the other Haunt, though. "I think it's pretty easy to see how we are invaluable to the Domain. Take this warehouse situation, for example. If we and Alice weren't there, the Reeve would be ash by now." He quickly thinks what he's just said. "Don't tell her I said that" A half-smile. "Anyway, if not for us these animals would be merrily firebombing the Nox or whatever is their endgame. And our fighting talent is just the surface."

**Robert Cross** · Jul 10th, 2017 12:59 PM

Cross shrugs his agreement concerning Armitage. "We may not be the right tools for that job. But there are others who might help." They'll just have to see who can be convinced to do so.

Cross listens closely as his Brother speaks about his development in the Faith. It is clear that he's hungry for instruction, direction. And any little bit helps. "An existence of sacrifice..." he muses, echoing Longstreet's words softly. Nodding along. It makes sense, his reading of their purpose.

On the topic of their Family's use to the domain: "You're right, of course. Without us, the warehouse would've been a disaster." Or even more disastrous. "Problem is: if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to see it..." A frown twists his scarred face. "And that's why Alice is important." Or at least one reason. "She's our only advocate in the halls of power. At the moment, the Reeve is telling the story of our victory. And I'm not sure we can trust her to tell it straight."

Jul 10th, 2017 05:52 PM

"Do you mean someone specifically? You mentioned Cynthia did good at that meeting with the Alchemists, maybe she'll be interested. I'd like to talk to her anyway, feel her out" It's personal curiosity as well as the never ending search for new followers of the Faith. "Any family besides the Family?" The capital letter in that last word was clearly heard, signifying the world of difference between the two.

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" He's definitely unaccustomed to the role of moral authority, or even someone worthy talking to about matters of faith, but Longstreet'd lie if he told it doesn't move all the right strings of his ego - lying is a sin, after all. But so is pride. "We are sin eaters, putting our own souls on the line so that those of others may remain pure. It's a dangerous path, but one we have to take" There's that expression again, like he's thinking about something intensely "We should talk about it in detail sometime, compare notes" Neither of them is a theologian, but weren't the Apostles simple fishermen?

Alice is not exactly his cup of tea, but she proved to be a competent and decent (as decent as you'd expect from a walking corpse, anyway) Family member, so Longstreet nods silently when Cross stresses her importance. "And now she's in torpor. That's one layer of defense less for us, so sniffing out just how long the Prince intends to keep her would help. And you're right, we can't fully trust the Reeve on that one. Which is why we should get out of here, see what's what" There seem to be many affairs that need their attention.

"For instance, I'm sure the flock I managed to gather before this... incident is dying to meet me. I better check up on them soon, 'cause I intend to keep them busy in the months to come" He smiles, imagining the many uses the wretches of this city could have. "So unless there's nothing else..." The question mark hangs in the air. He's still sore and some of his wounds didn't fully heal yet, so longer discussions will have to wait - unless something needed to be said now.

I think it's a good place for a wrap. And now that Gilroy's about to be back, we can have an awkward/interesting Covenant meeting. Can't wait for the three of us to meet!

**Robert Cross** · Jul 11th, 2017 01:40 PM

Cross nods. "Cynthia is who I had in mind. She seems to be...better with this kind of stuff." At least when compared to most of their Family.

"We are the Damned," the Burned Man concurs. "And we are not without reason." It is a bit of double speak: they are not unthinking and they are not without purpose. "Yes, I would like to discuss the Faith at greater length. Once you're...readjusted."

Cross can tell his Brother is anxious to re-emerge, to enter, again, into the Long Night. "No," he answers. "Nothing else." And with that, he leads Longstreet up and out of the depths. Back into the Danse.

Sounds good! Great scene!

Arise and Walk

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