Welcome to Rift, a post-apocalyptic werewolf roleplay set in Point Grey, on the University of British Columbia's campus. We play by liquid time and we're R-rated for the possibility of violence and language. Please have a look through the navigation links to learn more!
"Liam, trust me when I say, there isn't anything in your head that I haven't seen before." It was true. When he was a boy, before he had so perpetually worked on blocking out the thoughts of others, Joseph saw snippets of everyone's thoughts. Any meandering stranger that happened to pass his way usually sent something his way. Some were as simple as a list of groceries... some were as sinister as a list of ways to kill a person... and some were so dark they made Joseph wish he could hide away in his room and never come out. "I know that's not exactly the reason why your telling me to get out, but you know there's no chance I'm letting you be either way." The empathetic look that graced Liam's face couldn't be fully appreciated. His mental tenor did it no justice. "You can try to rub me out any way you want, but I'm not going anywhere. Maybe if we get out of here I'll teach you how to block out a telepath, hm?"
It was around then that the second bullet came out. Joseph sat up with some satisfaction. At least Liam was responding now. His mind was still a swirling veil of shadows, but he was talking. If Joseph could just keep him talking it would help. He pulled himself up against the tree beside Liam, letting his head fall back against the trunk. Joseph was out of energy. He wondered if he'd ever felt so tired in all his life. He switched the pocket knife closed and was about to slip it back in to his pocket when Liam spoke again.
"I can't do that again."
Joseph wanted to promise Liam that 'that' would never happen again, but that was a lie he wasn't ready to tell. The side effects of a werewolf's rage were a part of the package. It was something you could learn to control though and it certainly wasn't the only way a werewolf transformed. That didn't happen every time. There were several good things that came with being a werewolf as well, though explaining those at this point probably would have fallen flat. Spontaneously going fireblood wasn't the best way to discover you were a werewolf.
"It's not like that at all. This was an--"
Joseph's explanation was cut off by a tickle of a thought that itched at the back of Liam's mind. He recognized it, but hoped it wouldn't come to fruition. His hopes were dashed when Liam mentioned the knife. Instinctively, Joseph tucked the knife more tightly in his fist and kept it far away from Liam. "Absolutely NOT!" He didn't sound nearly as horrified as he intended to. It's not every day one discovers they're a monster. Joseph had had the same thoughts in his head that day so many years ago. The pause in his features as he looked at Liam and felt his desperate plea could be felt inside Liam's mind. Joseph was made to feel like he was denying water from a thirsty child. He hated it.
Joseph's free hand whacked Liam hard across the back of his head. "Do you always jump to such extreme measures without first understanding the entirety of your situation?" He frowned, "If that was all that we were, don't you think we would have been hunted down and burned out a long time ago? Do you really think I'd be here with you if I was afraid I'd become a monster at the flip of a switch? Do you really think I would have lived this long?" The questions were valid, especially when taking Joseph in to consideration. The two had spent enough time together for Liam to get the sense that Joseph was incapable of knowingly hurting a fly. He was a self sacrificing fool who tended to care about other people to the point where it was to his detriment. If life as a werewolf meant life as a monster, Joseph would have been the first to jump in to the flame.
"Besides," he added, warily tucking the knife away, "I just got finished putting you back together." Joseph sighed. "Why don't you let me tell you a little bit about what you've become before you start planning your funeral."
He had expected this. Most decent human beings would instinctively rebel against the solution Liam proposed as Joseph had. It was to be expected that Joseph would harshly flatten the idea. Not only was he too empathetic of an individual to ever consider letting Liam get away with something like this, but he was a werewolf himself. The latter thought lured a bristling chill down the back of his neck. If Joseph was a werewolf, then did that mean he went into the same state Liam had every time? A tangible pause settled between them.
And then an intolerant hand struck him hard across the back of the head.
Liam's head snapped toward Joseph, his expression tinged with surprise and, even more faintly, with dejection. No, he wasn't the type to jump to extreme measures. But didn't this situation necessitate one? If more people were going to die in that way, if he was going to continue tearing people apart, even if it wouldn't be for his entire existence, didn't he have an obligation to stop it? "And if that's all I am?" Liam demanded. "Is it like this for you? Was it ever?" The points Joseph presented were valid but did nothing to alter Liam's perspective on the situation. Maybe not every one of them became a monster, but Liam had. And, in the end, all he could account for in life was himself anyway.
Once more that quiet desperation shrouded Liam's thoughts and fashioned his brow into knitted, fine lines. "I tore them apart, Joseph. I can still feel it. I can still taste it..."
Nausea singed the back of his throat once more, and Liam swallowed hard, his nostrils flaring as he did so. He let his head fall back against the tree that now supported them both, exhaustion gnawing at his mind. "There was nothing more I wanted to do than rip something apart. You couldn't stop that this time so how will you the next time it happens? I can't do that to anyone again. You can't let me."
His head rolled to the side, away from Joseph. "What else is there to do? I could have killed you." The thought had hardly occurred to him before, and as it did now his head turned back toward Joseph, a thrill of fear twirling through his heart. In his previous abysmal mental state, he hadn't taken into consideration how he had been pried from the village and his assault. Joseph had lured him away, drawing Liam's fury onto himself. Liam straightened, wanting to inspect Joseph for any injuries he might have caused. There was no way to do so, not with the blood so thickly caking his senses. Who was to say if some of it might have been Joseph's.
"That's not all you are." Joseph replied defensively. A somber key took hold of his mental tone. "And it has happened to me, just once. I was thirteen." He didn't elaborate on the story. There was really no need to, at least in Joseph's mind. These were not war stories you shared with fellow veterans. "It happens to all of us at least once..." Why he thought that was some how comforting, Joseph didn't know. "But that isn't what happens every time you transform. That's only when you lose control of your rage. Normally you just become a wolf." Joseph illustrated his point by sending images of his younger self transforming in to a pup. "Well... not just a wolf, a very large wolf. But you're still yourself..."
When Liam's mind drifted enough to take in Joseph's own well being, the atmosphere of their discussion changed a bit. Joseph paused to actually assess his own wounds. He thought there might be a mild fracture to his fibula. He had a gash across his back from when he struggled away from a raging Liam and a cut across his shoulder where he'd snagged on Liam's teeth. Was he hurt? Yes. Would he say so? Of course not. But Joseph needed to be a bit more clever about the situation. "I ran myself in to a tree is all. Cut up my leg a bit, but it's nothing serious." Joseph shrugged the question off as best he could. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."
Maybe the injuries weren't, but Joseph had certainly never been on this side of a new werewolf. Back at Point Grey, Joseph was the baby. He might have been a werewolf longer than other members of his pack, but he hadn't been a member of werewolf culture for long at all, which was why he found this entire situation not only uncomfortable, but also extremely unfair, for Liam. "I'm really not the best person for all this." Joseph stated, defeatedly. "I've been out of the loop and away from my pack for about seven years now. I'm, quite possibly, the worst candidate to teach you anything. What we should really do is get you back to Point Grey. You'd be in better hands there." Joseph had started to feel like he needed to return home anyhow. seven years was a long time to hold a grudge.
"I'll help you in every way I can, Liam. I'd already committed myself to that much when they carried you in to camp. I just wish I could do more."
A rueful yearning wound loosely around his chest as he listened. As much as he wanted to find solace in these promises and assurances treading solemnly through his thoughts, they were little more than white noise, a palpable ripple in the heavy despondency that cradled his mind. The revelation that Joseph had gone through the same and that apparently everyone was subjected to it at some point as of little consolation. This was not something Liam could fathom as a common occurrence, as simply "one of those things". He certainly couldn’t grasp that a thirteen year old Joseph had gone through this, that someone so young could have ever been exposed to such rage. And beneath it all there was still that refusal to accept that this was real. The terms "transform" and "wolf" ricocheted off the walls of his mind, and the notion that Joseph expected him to accept that this was what he was now found no traction amid his thoughts.
A shudder clattered down his spine as the vision of a young Joseph changing into an equally young wolf assembled itself before his mind’s eye, and once more Liam wished he knew how to reject such thoughts. "Then why did this happen?" He asked, centering his attention on Joseph’s claim that this only happened when one failed to control their rage. "There was no rage before I… before it happened. There were gunshots, you pulled me to the ground, and then…" A memory of the blistering rage seared his thoughts, and all structured thought perished beneath it. He made no attempt to return to this line of thought.
The pause preceding his question regarding Joseph’s health didn’t escape him. When the answer finally came, Joseph spoke it aloofly, attributing his injuries to a tree. Something about the answer didn’t sit, as if some part of Liam’s mind recognized Joseph’s thought process and the words he finally offered didn’t add up. But what made him quietly claim, "You’re lying", was the deeper knowledge that he had caused Joseph harm. Some part of him remembered doing so. He remembered fur beneath his fangs rather than skin. Joseph’s defeated comment distracted him from pursuing the matter.
"I don’t expect you to be." He shook his head limply as Joseph mused that they should get him back to Point Grey. "So I can endanger more people? Look what happened in the middle of the jungle." He wasn’t about to fathom what could possibly happen in the middle of a city.
Shifting himself so he sat straighter against the tree, Liam let his shoulders fall with a heavy breath. "You don’t owe me anything, you know. Go back to the village. They’ll need your help." Something pulled at him as he brought up the village. Some part of him wanted to go back himself, to help. What if the gunmen were still there? And even if they weren’t, there would be enough damage to sort though. But Liam quickly shook off the thought. He was the last person the village needed, but they could use Joseph. All things considered, they would probably need him.
"It was my fault. I mentioned they were there because they'd heard there was an American soldier in the camp." The thought dawned on Joseph with a heavy weight, "God, I shouldn't have been so stupid. My mind just doesn't hold up the same defense with you as it does with others anymore. Things just slip out. Had I been more careful I wouldn't have told you why they were there... I should have known it would cause you to rage." The two men sat now at the bottom of a tree, shoulder to shoulder. Joseph was still exhausted, but at least his wounds were healing. He observed the gnash in his leg with morbid curiosity as he listened to Liam rebut his idea to get him to Point Grey. "You don’t owe me anything, you know."
"I do owe you something. You're my friend." The honesty of that statement made Joseph hold his breath for a moment. He hadn't had a real friend since he left Point Grey. Liam was in exclusive company. "I'm not going to just leave you here to rot, especially when there are other options. Besides, like I said, this is partially my fault. I shouldn't have been so careless." Joseph slipped his fingers around Liam's wrist and gave it a squeeze, meant purely for comfort. Joseph knew all to well how lack of human contact could make a sensory deprived individual feel detached and alone from the rest of the world. After the singe squeeze he let his hand drop.
"I meant what I said Liam. You're my friend, and I refuse to abandon you. I also refuse to allow you to do anything stupid... that includes raging a second time. It won't happen on my watch, not even if I have to knock you out to keep you from going there. Can you trust me with that?"
The words 'American solider' set off a vague bell, and it occurred to him that, before all this, he had an obligation, a duty that was expected of him. There would be no way to return to that now. But this was but an obscure, passing notion, one completely surpassed by the strangling guilt that wound itself around his gut at the mention that it was his presence that motivated the attack. It was not only the deaths that bloodied his own hands that he had to account for. All of those who died that day were on his shoulders. During his recovery, he had all forgotten he was nestled within hostile surroundings. It had been all too easy to forget, given the people he was surrounded by... Joseph himself in particular.
"From what you're saying, it would have happened anyway. You can hardly blame yourself." There wasn't much force behind the words, Liam simply didn't have the energy to offer any convincing form of consolation, but how honestly he believed Joseph was completely blameless was bared blatantly in his mind. There honestly was nothing Joseph had done to spark the situation, and absolutely nothing he could have done to prevent it any more than he had.
Head reclined listlessly against the tree, shoulder inclined just the slightest against the support of Joseph's, Liam listened in a coyly fog of exhaustion to Joseph's assurances. The claim that this was partially Joseph's fault ignited a slender flare of annoyance, and Liam caught himself just on the brink of demanding that Joseph stop claiming responsibility. The abrupt singe of ire shocked him, and he was still marveling over it as he responded.
"You tried to warn, remember? You were hardly careless. I just... refused to believe it." But then, who the hell would readily believe they were bitten by a werewolf and would become one themselves? It couldn't have been possible, it still didn't add up, but it was too much for even Liam to deny now.
The gentle squeeze to his wrist accompanied Joseph's promise that he would refuse to allow Liam to rage a second time, and a shallow comfort settled lightly on his frayed mind. Even though Joseph had released his light hold on Liam's wrist, Liam's hand had found Joseph's and held it loosely in gratitude before letting it slip away.
"I'll trust you with knocking me out. Good luck on preventing me from doing anything stupid." The barest tinge of humor graced his final words. Joseph would have to admit the latter would be a rather impossible task.
Joseph always took blame on himself. That's just the type of person he was. It was a complex perhaps, one Liam would always find frustrating, but one he'd eventually learn to live with. He gave Liam a small smile. "Well, keeping you from doing anything stupid would be impossible... but you know what I mean. He was just glad Liam was finally able to crack a joke.
They traveled for two full days after the incident. Joseph had never stretched his telepathic ability so far for such an extended amount of time. Back when they were in the village, Joseph was able to take periodic breaks. But now, in the jungle, constantly moving with no one but him and Liam around, Joseph had to be consistently connected at all times, for Liam's safety if nothing else. The ware was beginning to show in Joseph's face... not that anyone could see it. The pair were both doused in mud and blood and the occasional rain only seemed to make things worse. If there was one thing in the world Joseph wished for... it was a bath.
Low and behold... like an angel framed in golden light... The evening sun reflected across a beautiful pool, fed by a tall, slender waterfall. Joseph was so awed he had to stop walking and stare. The image, of course was sent in detail back to Liam, who wasn't far behind. One word followed. "BATH!"
No sooner had the thought been passed, Joseph took to a run, stripping off his shirt as he did. At the edge, everything else came off. It could all use a good scrubbing, and he'd find a rock or something later on to do just that... but for now, he fust wanted to remove the caked on mud from his hair. Joseph wasn't a vain man, but he did have his limits.
"Water doesn't wait for slow pokes," Joseph said with a smile, before jumping in. It was waist deep from the rocks where he jumped in, and Joseph squatted so he could immerse himself completely. Three days of mud and blood loosed itself from his hair and face. It felt like his skin could breathe again. While still underwater, Joseph rubbed his face with his hands, then flipped up to the surface, throwing his weighted hair over his head. It also happened to send a stream of water right in Liam's direction. It hadn't been intentional, but it was a nice bonus.
It had become instinctual fpr Joseph to send every image he saw to Liam. The image of a naked Liam, poised to jump in the water was the next to shoot through Liam's mind. The visions faltered for a moment, and Joseph had to shake himself out of shock to resume. Why he'd been so shocked was beyond him. He tried to blow it off. "Figures your ass would be the only clean thing on you."
Liam's mind had been numb for days. The gravity of his recent situation and the events that followed forever plagued the back of his mind, haunting any deviating path his thoughts might take until he was once more hauled back to the night of his transformation. Yet even without the memories leeched to his waking thoughts, there was the perpetual reminder ingrained in the blood that marred his clothes and skin. He could smell it, more sharply than he ever could have as a human. Time and Joseph's constant companionship had helped to lure him from the initial depths he had reached, and by now he was able to barricade the incident from his conscious mind completely.
Other things began to occupy his mind once more, although one thing stood out, the exact thing that constructed Joseph's primary focus. Both were in desperate need of a bath, both psychologically and physically, although Liam's need was slightly more pressing. He was, after all, the one stained in the blood of a dozen others.
At first, the striking imagine of the divine waterfall was lost to his drifting thoughts. In fact, the image hadn't stirred him at all, for he had, for the most part, been neglecting the mental visual of the forest floor passing through Joseph's eyes since for the majority of the walk the scenery had remained unchanged. It was Joseph's mental shout that startled him into awareness, and he was stilled momentarily both by shock and in awe of the scene Joseph was recreating in his mind.
Without hesitation, Joseph took to the water, and Liam couldn't restrain the laugh that pushed from his throat at his enthusiasm. "It doesn't hold out for speed demons either." Approaching the pool at a considerably slower rate, but with nearly the same quality of enthusiasm, Liam pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, completely indifferent to where it ended up. His pants followed next, although he had hardly been able to step out of them when a wave of water peppered him from Joseph's hair-flipping antic.
"Calm yourself." Liam admonished humorously, a shallow smile settled on his lip as he approached the lip of the pool. Ordinarily, nudity wasn't a problem for him. When it came down to it, every guy was built the same with minor variations, so it was nothing new and nothing to take notice of. But there was something about the visual of his own naked self leaping into the water that threw him off, so much so that he inhaled a mouthful of water after submerging himself. Kicking off the smooth stones underfoot, Liam pushed himself to the surface of the water and came up sputtering to exchange the water in his lungs for air. He recovered just in time to catch Joseph's comment.
"You're keeping stock of what parts of me are clean now?" The words were interspersed with a hacking cough as he dispelled the water from his lungs. He shook his head with a quick snap, casting excess water droplets from his sodden hair. "Or are you really just checking out my ass?"
A grin canted his lips, and he struck out away from Joseph with clean back strokes. "The sooner you just come out and admit your attraction to me the better off we'll both be."
He was, of course, kidding, although he knew perfectly well the sort of rise the comment would bring out of Joseph. That was his intent after all.
Joseph snickered mentally as Liam came up sputtering for air. "I know, it's an awful sight, but I put up with it. No need to pity me." He let himself leisurely float on his back his eyed moving to settle in the cloudless sky. They were in a rain forest, but today it didn't seem much like it. He kept a fixed image of the pool in his mind so Liam would have an idea as to where things were.
For the majority of his life, Joseph had focused the aim of his ability on keeping other people's thoughts out of his head. He'd been brought up under a code of privacy. People weren't projecting their thoughts, he was invading their space. When he'd finally found the Kahlite's and had some real training as to the use of his abilities, he learned the difference between eavesdropping and simply overhearing. He'd learned how to use his ability to communicate more efficiently with other werewolves. But he'd never used his ability so constantly and in such a way. He never realized there might be side effects.
"I'm keeping stock of all your parts," Joseph smirked and sent a flick of water in Liam's direction, "Medically speaking, of course." That was 90% true. Joseph wasn't an official doctor, but Liam had been his patient, for all intents and purposes, for several months now. The fact that Liam had just gone through a mental shock to the system was something else Joseph was monitoring. So far Liam seemed to be bouncing back fairly well. His now comical behavior a test to see just how well.
"Or are you really just checking out my ass?"
Perhaps he was coming along too well...
Joseph pushed his legs down beneath the water so he could stand, the water stopped just below his shoulders. A bigger splash flew in Liam's direction. "You know, you're so obsessed with the idea that I'm attracted to you, Liam, that I'm starting to think it might be wishful thinking on your part." Joseph's grin was apparent in the tone of his mental tenor.
Somewhere in the back of Liam's mind, there was a small flare of a ghostly whisper. It was barely worded and more felt, but in essence it came to the sensation of 'how could i not be attracted?' the phrase was ambiguous and almost not there at all. It was Joseph's thoughts invading the other man's mind. A side effect he'd soon discover to be the achilles heal of his rather powerful gift.
"You’re a saint." Liam quipped around one final hacking cough meant to bully the remaining water from his lungs. Able to breathe once more, he gave his head a gruff shake before striking out for deeper water. The mental visual of the pool was hardly needed. Liam didn’t particularly care where he was going. As long as he was still in the water, he didn’t have to concern himself with colliding with anything. Except maybe with Joseph.
"All of them, huh?" A grin angled the edge of his lip upward, the pointed allusion tucked within the words all too clear in his mind. The reprieve from the smoldering guilt and horror that still plagued his skull gave way for his previous vigor to return. Unfortunately for Joseph, that meant all his old jibs returned as well. Although the one regarding the formerly preposterous notion that Liam would become a werewolf was hardly suitable anymore, the one charging Joseph with being attracted to Liam was still fair game. Really, the flustered rise these accusations received from Joseph was what sustained them. Had Joseph reacted impassively, Liam would have likely abandoned the taunts. But, that's not the way things went.
"You know, you're so obsessed with the idea that I'm attracted to you, Liam, that I'm starting to think it might be wishful thinking on your part."
A smile perched on the corner of his lip as Liam splayed his hands in front of him in a disarming gesture. "Calm down, I was only kidding... 12 year olds aren’t my type." And there was the other main point he enjoyed prodding Joseph with: his youthful appearance. Before Joseph could retaliate, Liam crouched and dove underwater, pushing off of the bottom of the pool to propel himself a few yards under water. As he did so, a sudden sensation swept across the back of his mind, a tantalizing essence of thought without any tangible structure. If he had to put it into words, it would resemble, 'how could i not be attracted?'
Creases of perplexity ruffled his expression as he returned to the surface, the water ebbing at the base of his neck even as he stood. Where had that come from? Dismissing the incidence, Liam shook his head once more, dispelling the excess beads of water that dribbled down his face. To further divert his focus, Liam went about scrubbing his arms and torso of the more tenacious blood still plaguing it.
