trigons_child | Tuesday afternoon, outside the dorms

The fog didn't bother Raven immediately; there had been times in the past when the weather produced such a greyness, though today it seemed much thicker than usual. She was on her way to work and debating just teleporting to town to avoid it, but paused when she saw a familiar face -- Kennedy, on her way to the Reserves. Grateful to not be alone now, she greeted the other girl. They talked idly for a few minutes, until Raven could no longer ignore the chill creeping up her spine. "This is not a natural fog," she said, trying to peer through the greyness. "I can feel that it is...wrong." She shivered and rubbed her arms to warm herself.

brat_intraining	"And the winner for Understatement of the Year..." Kennedy tugged her jacket a little more closely around her and took a deep-- damp, ugh-- breath. Had she ever run across anything about evil fog in any of her lessons with her Watcher? Not that were coming to mind, no. "Yeah, okay, pretty trippy. Fog should not wig me out, and yet, check, whoa with the back-of-the-neck-tingly. And not in a good way."
trigons_child	"I do not like it," Raven said. "I feel as if there is something out there, watching us." She turned in a slow circle, trying to see if she could get a sense of where the feeling was coming from.
brat_intraining	"Okay, now I think you're reading a little too much into it." But Kennedy took a step back, suddenly eyeing Raven with a touch of suspicion. More than a touch. "Or are you messing with me somehow?"
trigons_child	"Why would I mess with you?" Raven said, but her words trailed off as she turned back to face Kennedy, and she drew in a shocked breath at the sight of the creature that stood in her place, some demonic gibbering thing with three heads and four legs and as many arms. Eyes wide with sudden fear, she took a step back. "Stay away from me!"
brat_intraining	"Okay, what is your deal?" Kennedy demanded, eyes narrowing with an unexpected and very unfamiliar uncertainty about whether that was actually Raven she was looking at, or something pulling a fast one on her, because if she glanced away then back really quickly she could swear it looked like some crazy-ass monster instead of that girl she saw at Magic Reserves all the time. "Look, the fog's weird enough. Quit spazzing out on me, you're not helping!" It wasn't quite an admission of fear. Well, the words weren't, but the look on her face-- if you could see that-- was. Not sure if she was acting out of reassurance or irritation, Kennedy took a step forward, reaching out with one hand toward... was that really Raven, or...? She wasn't sure what she'd see if she blinked again.
trigons_child	For a moment Raven almost saw Kennedy as she truly was again, but she blinked and the creature was back. The fog wasn't just causing visual hallucinations; it was worming into her brain and causing all her senses to become confused. To her ears, Kennedy's words were angry snarls, and instead of fear and uncertainty, her empathy was picking up hunger and violence. Instinct was to flee to safety or to get help, but Kennedy had to be here somewhere, and she could not abandon her to this thing. She recoiled from the outstretched clawed hand, her own panic rising. Surely this horrible creature had to be something sent by her father or Sebastian to abduct her from Fandom. "Do not touch me!" she cried, trying to control her fear. She wasn't doing a very good job of it. Anakin would not be pleased.
brat_intraining	Kennedy shook her head, hard, because that hadn't come out sounding like words at all... and whether she liked it or not, so quickly she couldn't have fought it off if she tried, she was freaked badly. Her shoulders tightened and she shifted into a more confrontational stance as she took another step forward. "What the hell are you?" Every time she blinked the answer to the question got less clear, which only meant, as far as she was concerned, trouble of the big bad variety.
trigons_child	Raven stumbled back, looking around for any sign of Kennedy. She couldn't even feel her nearby, either her emotional signature or whether she was injured. "Kennedy, where are you?" she called, then gave the creature her full attention again as it lurched toward her. "Please do not come any closer," she said, holding up her hand. "I do not wish to hurt you."
brat_intraining	One minute Raven had been here, now she was gone, and this thing seemed to have taken her place. This thing that wasn't even speaking intelligibly, and was dangerous in a way she knew Raven, with her adherence to non-violence, could never be. So clearly it was up to Kennedy to deal with this creature and get her back. "Tell me what you did with her," she said, voice as steely as she could make it and hands up in a loose ready position, advancing one steady step at a time. "Tell me now, and maybe I won't lay a smackdown or three on you to get the info."
trigons_child	The creature roared at her and moved closer, ignoring the pleas to stay back. She wasn't even sure if it could understand her, and her growing fear momentarily managed to slip loose from her attempts to keep it under control. Her own face changed, her eyes -- all four of them -- glowing red as she snarled, "I said stay back!" A blast of pain and fear accompanied her command.
brat_intraining	The fear hit Kennedy first, and she was several strides into a headlong run back toward the dorms when she stumbled and hit the ground on her knees, doubled over from the blast of pain. Where the hell had that come from? She didn't know, but it knocked some sense back into her. She wasn't running, not without getting Raven back. "Yeah, screw that," she snapped, and even if it hurt she pushed herself off the ground, sprinted back, and lashed out with the hardest punch she could manage at the creature.
trigons_child	Raven definitely wasn't used to getting hit. The punch sent her reeling backwards, and she crumpled to the ground. "Do not touch me!" she hissed, pushing her self back up to her knees and sending the pain of that blow right back at Kennedy.
brat_intraining	"Talk--" Her snarky comeback got interrupted by a sharp whuff of air, namely the air expelled from her lungs when the projected pain got her right under the ribs. "--an actual language, God! And tell me what the hell you did with Raven!" Even if it was part of the job, Kennedy didn't like getting hit, so she retaliated with a half-blind (stupid fog) spinning kick.
trigons_child	The kick only grazed Raven, but it still hurt. And the pain was making her come closer to losing complete control. She wouldn't be any help to Kennedy in this condition; she'd be harmful. Raising her arms over her head, she prepared to teleport back to the dorms to get help.
brat_intraining	That looked pretty clearly like the sign of an oncoming attack, but it also meant this demon-y baddie had left itself wide open. Damn stupid luck for not having a weapon on her. Lowering her shoulder, Kennedy let out a yell and rushed the creature, fully intent on tackling the hell out of it.
trigons_child	Kennedy hit Raven just as she teleported, causing Raven to inadvertently bring the other girl with her when she transported herself back to her room in the dorms. The momentum of the tackle carried them both into Raven's bed, and Raven struggled to push the creature she thought Kennedy was off her.
brat_intraining	Kennedy was trying to swing a fist at the creature's head when it felt like something had just taken all her insides and tossed them into a cement mixer going at light speed. It didn't stop her from taking the swing anyway, but she missed badly, her fist going into-- a mattress? What? The sudden dizziness and urge to puke took care of whatever the shock of teleportation hadn't, and she rolled sideways before she could stop herself, and hit the floor. "Son of a bitch," she sputtered, trying to get back to her feet.
trigons_child	Raven scrambled back on the bed, pressing herself into the corner. Her demon side was still fighting to be free, and it was an effort to fight it and the demonic creature that surely must have been sent by her father. She drew in a breath to call for help, but blinked and suddenly wasn't sure just what was in her room with her anymore.
brat_intraining	And they were in the dorms. How were they in the dorms? Kennedy didn't know, but whatever she was dealing with here had gotten in, and Raven might still be out there somewhere with who the hell knew what. Ignoring how her slightly off-balance lurching took the edge off of an intimidating effect, she launched herself back at the bed and grabbed the creature by what passed for an armlike appendage, one fist drawn back to strike. "Take us back," she demanded. "Get me back to Raven, now, god damn you, and I might let you live."
trigons_child	Raven's healing ability allowed her to rid herself of the effects of the fog faster than Kennedy could, and she could see the other girl for who she was, though she was still on edge and confused as to what had happened. Maybe the creature was trying to trick her by taking on Kennedy's form now. "Let me go!" she said, trying to pull her arm free. "I am Raven!" Just with two sets of red glowing eyes and reddish skin still. Details.
brat_intraining	"Like hell you are," Kennedy spat... and realized she'd understood that. Something was definitely messing with her, whatever this thing was. And it wasn't fighting back too hard, so seemed like a good idea to scramble up and straddle the thing, try to pin it down. "Tell me what you did with her!" she yelled, giving the creature a rough shake.
trigons_child	"Kennedy, stop, please!" Raven pleaded, pressing her hands against the other girl's chest to try to ward her off. The shaking and the anger and aggression wasn't helping her calm her demon side, and she didn't want it to hurt Kennedy. "Stop!"
brat_intraining	"Hey, hands off, and quit trying to fuck with my head!" Kennedy snapped, too mad now to make the connection between hands, not tentacles and what she still thought she was seeing-- which looked like Raven, sort of, but in some messed-up four-eyed glowing demon way that still had to be a trick. She didn't want to just take off to find Raven with this thing loose in the dorms, and it was wasting her time, so she let go with one hand and hauled back to deliver a sharp backhanded blow.
trigons_child	Raven really needed to learn how to defend herself. She stopped pushing at Kennedy to try to ward off the blow, but Kennedy struck her and she cried out in pain and clutched the side of her face. The demon wanted to strike back and fill Kennedy with unimaginable pain; she was only barely able to keep it reigned in. Meanwhile, there was a pissed off Doberman growling and barking at Kennedy as Ajna woke from a nap on Diana's bed and realized her mistress was being attacked. "Ajna, no! Stay!" Raven managed to say.
brat_intraining	"It knows you're not really her," Kennedy snarled, misinterpreting completely, although her rage was beginning to fade. "It knows you're not--" She blinked, hard. "...Raven?" But that didn't quite look right...
trigons_child	"Please do not strike me again," Raven said, trying to scramble out from under Kennedy. "It is me, I swear it is." Her eyes were beginning to return to normal, but not as fast as she might have liked. She tried to shield her face so Kennedy would not see, though it was far too late for that.
brat_intraining	Okay, she recognized that voice, and Raven's distinctive speech patterns. But the eyes were beyond trippy, and Kennedy jerked away, scrambling back off the bed like she'd been burned. "Jesus, Raven? What the hell is this?"
trigons_child	Raven covered her face; anxiety was making it difficult to fully submerge her demon half. But she had years of practice in controlling her emotions, and now that the danger -- whatever it had been out there in the fog -- had passed, she could center herself and focus better. So long as Kennedy stayed calm, at least. "It will be all right," she said. "I will not harm you, I swear." Saying it wasn't what it looked like would be a lie.
brat_intraining	"All right," Kennedy repeated, and you'd forgive her for sounding skeptical about that, right? Whatever effect the fog had had on her was wearing off now, leaving behind an exhaustion not unlike what happened after an adrenaline rush and a lot of confusion to go with it. "How do I know you're really Raven? Because you sure as hell look a lot less harmless right now."
trigons_child	Raven focused on calm, letting her breathing return to normal. The red glow faded from her eyes (just two of them now), and her skin resumed its usual color. She dropped her hands from her face and looked at Kennedy. "I...lost control," she said. "There was a creature attacking me, and my fear began to overwhelm me. What happened? There was a creature here, but now it is gone and you are here. Are you well?"
brat_intraining	Kennedy looked down at her hands, a little scratched up but otherwise all right. She flexed her fingers for a moment, then looked back at Raven, and slowly backed away a step. "Not hurt. Confused as hell, though. I thought something kidnapped you and was coming after me, for one, and for two... you're not... completely human, are you?" This could stop turning out to be the case for people she knew any time.
trigons_child	"I...am not," Raven said, drawing herself up to sit on the edge of the bed, staring down at the floor. Ajna came over to sniff and lick at her hand. "It is not something I wish to share with others, for I know that most fear demon blood."
brat_intraining	It wasn't fear, exactly, that flashed in Kennedy's eyes. "Demon blood." She was trying, she really was, but ten years of demons bad, people good without the real-world experience to temper that point of view? Really, really hard to shake. "... you're a demon. And I almost... holy shit."
trigons_child	"I am," Raven said quietly, lifting her gaze to look pleadingly at Kennedy. "Please, do not tell anyone. I am not evil, I swear. I have fought against my heritage all my life."
brat_intraining	Kennedy's hand went up to the back of her head in an uncharacteristically confused gesture. "And I've been training to fight demons my whole life, so if I'm not ready to go Lifetime-movie hug-and-coffee routine with you here, it's, uh. It's not personal, okay?" She shook her head, a little bothered by the refrain of holy shit I totally would have slept with you that one time running through her brain. "Never would've pegged you for the demon type."
trigons_child	"I understand," Raven said sadly. She could feel Kennedy's confusion and suspicion, much as she wished she did not. "It is not something I am proud of, nor something I would wish upon anyone else. That is why I do not share what I am -- only a few know of the truth. But I swear, I do not wish harm against anyone. It goes against everything I believe in."
brat_intraining	"Got that." She did. Sort of. "You know, I believe you about the nonviolence thing. Tara told me, about you getting attacked? I wanted to go after the vamp who did it. She told me you didn't want that to happen. Didn't get it then, don't get it now, but..." She half-smiled. "Guess you're lucky I listen to her." Seriously, if it wasn't for that incident being so memorable, and having met Christophe a couple of weeks ago, she'd be freaking out a hell of a lot more.
trigons_child	Raven managed a small smile and shook her head. "Even when I thought it had been Professor Maximus who attacked me, I did not wish him to be harmed because of what he did. I only wanted him to be sent away from the island, someplace he could not hurt another." She hesitated a moment, biting at her lip, wondering how much she should tell Kennedy. But she was a friend, and Raven thought she could trust her. "My father -- my demon father, he is evil and would have me use my powers to harm others, but I refuse. I defy him and use my gifts to heal. There have been times when I have been in danger of losing control of the dark side of me, but I would truly rather die than be what my father wishes me to be."
brat_intraining	"And yeah, that's pretty cool of you, or..." Kennedy crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Or maybe a pretty good-sounding act. Kinda hard to tell just yet."
trigons_child	Raven lowered her gaze again. "What must I do to convince you?" she asked softly. "You may speak to Professor Skywalker if you wish. Or Karla, or Dinah. They all know what I am."
brat_intraining	"Well, you've been here longer than I have and you haven't done anything yet," Kennedy conceded-- which did not sound half as gracious out loud as she thought it did, but at least she hadn't mentioned how she'd just decided to keep an eye on Raven for a while. "Look, I don't know what I think about all this right now. I need to think about this for a while." This conversation sounded vaguely familiar, and she couldn't quite place why. Eventually, when she figured out that it was because she sounded like her dad when she was fourteen and told him (again) she was gay, she'd feel horrible.
trigons_child	"I understand," Raven said, folding her hands in her lap and looking down at them. She blinked rapidly several times to hold back any incoming tears. "It is much to process...or accept." Well, she hoped Kennedy would accept it and not hate her. She was afraid of what would happen if Kennedy told Tara, who had been so excited when she had found out that she was not part demon.
brat_intraining	Still oblivious to the stunning amount of irony at work here, Kennedy shrugged awkwardly. "Yeah. Kinda really is. Look, I should go... you're okay, right?" So she'd just tried to rescue a demon from being attacked. Like she'd actually been worried about Christophe's well-being back in South Dakota a couple of weeks ago. This was all nuts.
trigons_child	Raven nodded. "Yes, I am all right," she said. She'd already healed the bruises from Kennedy's punches without even thinking about it. "I will...talk to you later." She hoped.
brat_intraining	Maybe. Kennedy wasn't sure yet, which was a situation she hated being in, which in turn made her more brusque than usual. "Yeah," she said, heading toward the door. "Later. Don't go out in that stuff again, 'kay?"
trigons_child	"I will not," Raven said. "And I will be vigilant for those who might have been caught in its effects. Please be careful yourself."
brat_intraining	Oh, way to just keep throwing her, Raven; Kennedy paused with her hand on the doorknob and looked back, her expression caught somewhere between confused and diffident. "Always am," was what she settled for in a mostly-on-target approximation of her usual cocky tone (because that was so a lie). "So... later," she concluded, and let herself out.
trigons_child	Raven stared at the closed door for a long moment, trying to tell herself she was going to settle herself on the bed and meditate and make sure she wasn't feeling any lingering effects from the fog and her demon side was completely quieted. Most assuredly, she was not going to cry. She'd been trained for 16 years on how to control her emotions so that she didn't feel sadness no matter what happened. She had perfect control of her feelings, even if she'd been learning to experience them for these past few months. She most definitely was not going to cry. Except maybe a little.

[OOC: Preplayed with

brat_intraining, who is also doing radio tonight and knows better than to mention the D word. NFI, but comments, cookies, and cuddles are always welcomed.]