Reality Crisis

After Hulk's appearance fighting dinosaurs made of snow, Kate thought would be safer to put some distance between herself and Hulk's mild mannered half. The hierarchy of leadership in this new settlement still wasn't clear to Kate, and until assurances could be made that Bruce and Hulk would be accepted, it was better not to give away Bruce's secret.

Talia might suspect, Kate thought. Kate mentioned a scientist and might have come off as a touch too protective. There was also Selina. Maybe no one would suspect. The young Hawkeye would just have to wait things out.

And pick out a different house.

Kate spotted a two story with a balcony, which she liked the idea of. It was impossible for her to tell, just by looking, if the wood was still good and would hold her weight, but she decided to check it out. Also, it was starting to become a pain lugging all her stuff. Pizza Dog, also known as Lucky, followed happily behind Kate, sniffing at her heels.

"Hello?" Kate called. It looked like someone might have come in before her. "There room for one more?"

Before Captain America gave her the name Hawkeye, one of her teammates joked that she should be called Weapon Woman. Judging by the quivers, the sword, the bo staff, fancy tactical belt and her very nice superhero grade bow, the moniker wasn't far off.

Also apparent: Kate really liked the color purple.

The entire group was halfway through their journey across the wilds when all hell broke loose, in a quite literal fashion. The temperature dropped quickly and snow started to fall at an alarming rate. On one end of the caravan, reality burst at the seams.

One of the trucks disappeared into the hole and the rest of the vehicles just barely stopped short. The ground started to vibrate and suddenly a loud roar could be heard nearby. A gigantic white mass moved from the direction of the hole in reality and started stomping around the caravan. Meanwhile, mounds of snow started forming into even more creatures that converged on the group and their supply trucks.

The largest of the creatures roared again, revealing a full set of snow-white teeth. The mounds of snow formed into dinosaurs that were about half the size of the largest dinosaur, ranging from the large Tyrannosaurus Rex formed out of snow to the smaller and faster Velociraptors.

A few screams rose up from the group below as people started to run in an attempt to avoid finding out if snow-dinosaurs could and would ingest them.

OOC: Just a little holiday crack!plot for you. Join in, create subthreads, and enjoy!

Buildings were missing, people were panicked and worse, people were now missing. Murphy rushed through the streets of die Festung with her sword strapped to her back. There were a few people that she needed to check on. People that she needed to touch and see and reassure herself that they hadn't left her. She could almost feel the weight of Harry's pentagram around her neck, could feel the loneliness that had engulfed her in that future glimpse. Could they really avoid that future? Or were some things just set in stone? She didn't much like the feeling of destiny, but couldn't shake the idea that no matter how hard you tried, sometimes you lost.

She stopped short just outside the building and stared up, reaching for her sword. The dragon on top fluttered his wings ever so slightly and then lazily rested his head on the roof, as though he'd taken up permanent residence there.

"And here I thought I'd seen every bizarre thing imaginable," she muttered.

It was not, perhaps, the safest move -- walking in the forest just outside Sanctuary -- but if she couldn't hold her own in this new world, then she didn't deserve to live in it. Bane was on patrol on the opposite side of the settlement. She was on her own.

And the days were growing shorter, cooler, and far more comfortable than they'd been recently. The sun was slipping down, but there were hours of day left yet.

Talia walked silently, moving in the way that her father insisted she learn, and stayed within sheltering shadows. Not for a moment did her attention stray from her surroundings, but inside her head, she was just as occupied with the newness of her situation. The woman Dinah had given her valuable insight into the politics of the world, to say nothing about the hints of her alternate's past with the woman herself. It required a good sorting before she acted.

One thing was certain: Talia would find that library in die Festung and learn what she could about the ones she most wanted to find -- Bruce Wayne, her father, and even Bane. Bane... She knew him to be the one from her own reality, if perhaps not from her exact moment in time; but that didn't excuse blind trust. There could yet be more to know -- perhaps more than what he would tell her. Knowledge never hurt anyone, not unless they needed hurting to begin with. Knowledge was the great equalizer.

A sound came from a distance away, something out of concert with the nature around her. She turned toward it, then, and followed the sound.

She hadn't expected to find a child.

This was not Saltpans.

Arya had never been to Saltpans before, but from all that she'd heard of it--a small harbor village, just like any other harbor village in Westeros--she knew what to expect. Wide roads filled with carts and people, alehouses and inns, and the smell of salt on the air. What she'd expected to do was to ride in on her mare, Craven, sell the horse, and buy passage somewhere else.

There was no salt air. No Craven, either. Arya had been dozing on the mare's back, had the feeling of falling and woke trying to catch herself, and found herself here, wherever this was. It looked nothing like the lands she had been riding through. And the buildings looked strange. She was immediately on her guard, trying to move quick as a deer and silent as a shadow.

It didn't work, though. A man saw her. "What are you doing out here?" he asked. She tried to back away, and to duck past him when he grabbed for her, but he was quick and she was disoriented. "What's your name? Are you new?"

She didn't answer, resolutely sticking her jaw out and trying to pull away as he tugged her along. She couldn't help but gape at the sights around her as he walked her through. It was big, like King's Landing had been, but completely different than anything she'd ever seen before.

He pulled her into one of the buildings, though she tried to squirm away one more time. "Got another one for you," he called.