Never a new beginning

[nooneleft]

Totally screwed over

She stands alone in the middle of London, a battered duffel bag by her feet and an oversized khaki jacket on her back. Fucking perfect. She's got to go round the long bloody way to get to the safe zones unless she tries her luck in vamp territory. But Johanna's not stupid. She's not going there unarmed.

She crosses Trafalgar square quickly, keeping her head up, her eyes flicking in every which direction and ducking through the crowds as quickly as she can. Which right now, isn't exactly as quickly as she would like. She walks stiffly, the bruises all over her body causing her more pain than she would ever care to admit. Teeth gritted though, she barrels on. That is, until her path is blocked by someone. Johanna scowls.

"I would move if I were you."

Not like the rest of you.

She's not really got anywhere to go, even once she reaches the East End. She heads for Waltham Forest for no other reason than the reference to the woods. Once there, she treads the streets until she finds herself a park. A tree is much like any other tree, but to Johanna at least, they remind her of home. She reaches up to swing herself into the lower branches of one quite far into the park: she growls in annoyance when her grip fails and she falls on her backside with a thump. She tries again though, and again and again, until at last she gives up and kicks the trunk hard out of her sheer frustration.

"Fuck you!" she screams out, her voice hoarse and cracking.

The only result is her toe hurting now too, a specific pain, unlike the dull ache that floats through the rest of her body.
Is it a good excuse to take an extra tablet now? She flings herself down under the tree, her back resting against it. And then she realises that someone's coming towards her, and she groans again.

"What do you want?"


A bit of rain never hurt nobody

She realised too late, of course, that her plan for sleeping in a tree would do only as long as the weather held. It wasn't the cold that bothered her in the slightest, but rather the rain.

June in England is wet. This year, it's uncharacteristically wet. At first, Johanna tries to ignore it, and just pulls her sleeping bag above her head. But still, she can feel - she can almost hear - the steady drip, drip, drip of raindrops splashing down onto her forehead. It's almost exactly like where he made her - NO!

No, she refuses to think, but the damage is done, and she can't stay here any more. Not in the rain.

She doesn't bother to pack, but simply bundles the sleeping bag over her shoulders and her face, an extra layer of protection from the water. With her bag over her shoulder, she runs, quickly scaling the fence that surrounds the locked park. But where to go? She's spent her time in London so far watching people. She's cottoned on to a few of the werewolves, though she hasn't directly approached them. She has followed them though, noted their comings and goings, looked out for their homes. For now she's got no choice. She'll have to go there.

She groans as she turns on her heel and runs to the nearest residence. A hammering on the door will hopefully wake the occupant, not quite sure what she'll say when the door is eventually opened.

For now though, she presses into the doorway as close as she can, away from the rain.

Comments

A bit of rain never hurt nobody

[redshoerevenge]

Mako might not be in the house but she's parked Gipsy, her motorcycle nearby. The rain doesn't bother her at all but it has its own sense memory. Different rain, different continent. Her umbrella pops open as she slides off her bike and it lowers against the rain. She knows that fear, the one that makes her own hair at the back of her neck rise. With all that racket, the house should have been lit up ages ago.

"Hey," Mako says gently, the umbrella rising to reveal the most non-threatening face probably on the planet. Her hair falls forward a little to reveal bright blue slices of colour in her hair. "Can you stand a ride on my motorcycle? My home isn't far. No one will mind, I promise."

[nooneleft]

Johanna glares at Mako even as she turns around. It's the tone of pity that the girl has that makes Johanna bristle. She's not scared, dammit. Who wouldn't want shelter from the rain? She glances behind Mako to the motorbike. She's always fancied a motorbike. It's just so pitiful, isn't it, having to ask for help from strangers? She hates Mako just a little bit for her kindness.

"Here -" she digs her fingers in her pocket, and comes out with a crumpled ten pound note. "For the petrol. Whatever. It's only for tonight."

She sniffs. "You're not a werewolf. What are you? What do you want?"

[redshoerevenge]

"I am a shifter," she says quietly and shakes her head at the money. "Gipsy has enough for a long while. I just wanted offer you somewhere dry to stay.
If you want it. It's safe."

She gestures lightly and smiles. There's no pity in it, though, just kindness.

"It was there for me when I needed it. So, I just wanted to offer it to you, too."

[nooneleft]

Johanna rolls her eyes. She can't be doing with kindness.

"Don't get your stink on my stuff." That's rich, given how much she reeks herself. She bends to grab her duffel, hesitates a moment, still bent over, before she musters the strength to heave it onto her back. Without so much as another glance at Mako, Johanna pushes past her to sit on the back of the bike. She has no idea how to drive it, but she doesn't seem like she's going to be shaking this weirdo any time soon.

"Where're your digs, sap?"

[redshoerevenge]

"Hillingdon," Mako says, ignoring the girl's attitude as she popped the back compartment to grab her spare helmet. That's set in her guest's hands. "It's not far. Put that on." Mako swings herself onto Gipsy and starts her up. "Slide forward and lock your arms around my waist. There's a mic that'll switch on once your helmet's secure."

[nooneleft]

Johanna stares at the helmet that she's been left holding. Then, quite deliberately, she drops it onto the pavement, not caring if it's damaged, and slides off the bike. She doesn't say anything, and her expression, an almost defiant glare, is unreadable.

It's a race of thoughts bursting through Jo's head, one after the other, chasing each other so quickly that she can barely register them. If she goes with the stranger, she can get out of the damn rain. If she goes, she won't know where she is. And if it's a trap? Johanna's no fool. Snow doesn't care about her, but if he's on the run, he'll blame her. What if it's a trap for Snow? And she won't follow directions, not unless she absolutely has to. Resolutely, she pulls her sleeping bag tight about her shoulders, and slides down the wall so she is sat with her back to the brickwork.

"Doesn't matter," she mutters. Come on, Johanna. It's only a bit of rain.

[redshoerevenge]

Mako shuts Gipsy down with a short, frustrated sigh and takes out her phone, plugging in the street they're on and Hillingdon's address. It really isn't that far. Ten to twenty minutes, maybe less given Mako's skills with Gipsy.

"Sure, it matters." She holds the phone up to show her the route. "There's a hot shower, good food, and an actual bed in it for you. You sleep until you sleep, you get up when you want to get up." Mako's face is honest, wide open, and there's no trickery at work. "You eat when you want to eat, you come and go as you please. But, if you're coming, the helmet goes on, though. It'll protect you and keep you drier than you are now. You can hear the directions, too, if you want. It's easy to patch through."

Mako makes a face.

"Or I could sit here all night with you. It's your choice, all of this is. I just happen to have a pair of wheels."

Not like the rest of you

[bellbound]

He shouldn't be surprised that this display of stubborn foolishness is coming from a werewolf. Mogget can smell her from a mile off and normally he would avoid her, but he has to wonder what on earth she's doing here. It isn't a full moon, so it's not as though she's setting up camp for the night. And he doesn't recognise her from the East End Pack.

She practically screams at a passer-by who hastily moves on his way and it's only after he's gone that Mogget emerges from among the trees.

"You know, a bad temper won't get you anywhere."

Yes, a cat is talking to her. Good thing there's no one else around to see.

[nooneleft]

"Whatever," Johanna shakes her head and leans back against the tree again. It doesn't seem to bother her really that she's talking to a cat. Very little of the world surprises Johanna these days. She's just not interested enough to be surprised.

"It's not like anyone in this dump is going anywhere fast anyway." She sits up, levelling her glare at Mogget. "Cats usually stay away from dogs." As in, scat.

[bellbound]

"Dogs don't usually climb trees," he says, as if that's a reply. "Why are you here?"

No full moon, no pack nearby. Seems fishy.

[nooneleft]

"Piss off." She replies, but she laughs. The cat's got balls. At least it calls it like it sees it.

"What do you care? I'm not planning on a kennel, if that's where this is going."

[bellbound]

Hmm. She could just be messing around. He'll never understand werewolves. The cat pads a little closer, treading lightly through the leaf litter.

"I don't much like lone wolves in the wood. Seems like an accident waiting to happen, don't you think?"

There's no venom in his tone; if anything, he's curious. What is she doing out here?

[nooneleft]

"What do you think i'm gonna do? Ram a stick up your arse and roast you on a fire?" Johanna cackles. "Don't flatter yourself. I prefer my meat lean."

She shakes her head and leans back against the tree, breathing in the damp, rotting smell of the earth. It's not as strong as Delemere, but it's going to have to do.

Totally screwed over

[knowntohisfriends]

He was just walking. That was the thing. 'Course he was just walking most of the time, often in the direction away from people suddenly wondering where their wallets, watches and phones had gone. Honestly, couldn't trust people these days.

(It really is an accident he ends up right in front of this new wolf though)

"Charmin'."

[nooneleft]

"Move." She goes to push past Dodger. If he's looking for her to recognise his age or his scruffiness, well, it doesn't wash with Johanna. Fight or die, right?

"Or 'Charmin'' won't have teeth left."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Not my fault this place is bleedin' busy, is it?" he said, glancing about then. "Act like you'd never been in a bloody city."

[nooneleft]

"Yeah well, maybe I bloody haven't." Johanna turns on her heel to address the cheeky kid behind her.

"Maybe some of us haven't exactly had the opportunity to run around without a care in the whole, fucking world." Not that her past really matters. It is what it is.

She wrinkles her nose. Dodger stinks. "Do you know how much you reek?"

[knowntohisfriends]

Run around without a care... Yeah, no, that wasn't his life. He stares at this newcomer - and weren't they just fitting that image of the angry werewolf perfectly. It's tempting to rib them on it. But instead he shrugs.

"Been graftin'. It makes smells."

[nooneleft]

"That's not what I'm talking about."

She reeks. She smells enough that even the humans around her give Johanna a wide berth. Hers is of sweat and grime, that unwashed, unclean dirty smell of not bathing enough. And then there's the wolf stench. She likes to call it wet dog.

"You're supernatural. I can smell it on you." She doesn't know what it is though. She's never met a fae before.

Not like the rest of you

[thelastjoy]

Girl walks out from behind a tree, hands held up in a placating manner. She was out some exploring for herself, walking the length of the pack's territory to familiarize herself. It wasn't the scent of an unfamiliar wolf that drew her in as much as the noise and she'd only meant for a quick peek to see if it were something worth reporting.

She looks sheepish to have been caught.

"Don't want nothin'," she promises, shaking her head. "Just heard some noise and thought there might be an animal 'bout."

Re: Not like the rest of you

[nooneleft]

Animal. Ha! Johanna snorts.

"Like calls to like," she replies. "So I actually found the wolf pack?"

Not that she's particularly interested in joining said pack, but it's better to be in the company of wolves when there are vampires so close by. Who even planned out the territories in the place anyway?

But that's by the by.

"Sit down, Kid. I'm not going to bite!" For now, anyway.

[thelastjoy]

"You found one of 'em, anyway. The one that runs the area 'round here." Girl wishes she'd forced someone else to come exploring with her. She didn't think of herself as a good emissary for pack matters or particularly good at selling the pack to new comers. "Were you lookin' for the East End pack?"

She tenses a little at the call out; was she that obviously nervous? She sits carefully, though she'd like to think it wasn't because she was told to. Let her have her delusions.

"Didn't say you were gonna. And I ain't a kid." The last part comes out grumbled and a little defensive.

[nooneleft]

"Oh no? You sure argue like one." Johanna smiles sweetly. Too easy to wind up.
She pats the floor again.

"I'm not looking for anything, Kid. Especially not a damn pack." Johanna leans back against the tree.

[thelastjoy]

"No, I don't." There she goes, proving Johanna's point.

Girl frowns, more a pout than anything and curls her legs under her so she can hug her knees. Johanna's answer is surprising, to say the least. Girl lives under the assumption that any wolf is in want of a pack, that it's tied to their nature. To reject it seems unthinkable.

"You don't have one? Really? But- how long have you been a wolf?" Maybe she was new to this. Maybe all the instinct's hadn't kicked in yet. It didn't seem likely, but Girl had to reason it out somehow.

[nooneleft]

Johanna shrugs and leans back against the tree. "Longer than you've been alive."

It's not that she doesn't have the instinct, but it's one she definitely fights. Johanna has learned that she is poisonous: she brings misery to the people she's close to. She just can't face that kind of loss again.

"If you're supposed to be the spokesperson for the damn clan, then you're doing a crap job."