Mod Journal for Throwing Stones RPG (throwing_mods) wrote in throwingstones, @ 2010-04-17 18:28:00 |
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Who: Evan Rosier, Rabastan Lestrange, Silas Selwyn, Roderick Gamp, Severus Snape, Aston Mulciber, Felix Greengrass, Walden Macnair, Constantine Travers, Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene McKinnon, Sirius Black, Edgar Bones, Ted Tonks, James Potter, Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, Gideon Prewett, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Valere Lestrange, Augustus Rookwood, Jack Nott, Sabriel Mulciber, Solomon Rosier, Frank Longbottom, Alice Longbottom, Euan MacDougal, Albus Dumbledore.
When: Saturday, 17 April, 1979; early evening.
Where: Hogsmeade, Scotland.
What: Bad things.
Rating: R.
Status: Completed log, part 3 of 7.
Bellatrix & Rodolphus vs. Frank & Alice Rodolphus was admittedly just a little bit happy with the current situation. It should have bothered him that the Outer Circle was in need of assistance, that either something had gone wrong, or that they were simply taking too long. As it was, he could only see another opportunity to appease his Lord, to get himself back into His good graces by whatever means necessary. And so, Rodolphus counted it as pure luck that when he apparated, the first pair of people he saw happened to be the Longbottoms. He didn't hesitate, barely flinched, but to flick his wand and murmur Perculsus at the female. He would allow Bellatrix to play with her toy. Until he was bored, anyway. Bellatrix apparated into Hogsmeade seconds behind Rodolphus, her eyes immediately landing on none other than Frank Longbottom himself. And his wife. How lovely. A broad smile spread across her face from behind her mask and she glanced briefly towards Rodolphus to ensure that no, no he was not going to come between her and her plaything. "Longbottom!" she called out, not caring for a moment if Frank knew who he was fiting against. It was not as if he could do a thing about it and as far as she was concerned, she would take off her mask if there wasn't at least some need to not be seen by others. Frank knowing that she was there didn't bother her in the slightest. She wanted him to know. She wanted him to know who was going to be the one to finally kill him. Even if that meant giving him all of two seconds of warning before the red fire of a cruciatus went streaking through the air. Not running to the scene the second she had seen Dorcas's ward had been hard enough, but when you were 33% of the auror office, you couldn't really just disappear, even if the younger members of your vigilante group were in the middle of a battle with Death Eaters, so when the news had finally gotten around to the DMLE, Alice hadn't waited a moment before apparating to the scene. Of course she wasn't given a second to even get her bearings before a spell was sent right for her, and so concentrated on finding Order members that needed help, Alice wasn't watching out for herself at all. She felt the spell hit her square in the chest and her body flew back, landing her on the ground. She tried to catch her breath, but her heart was pounding than she'd even felt it pound before. Still, she wouldn't make the same mistake as last time and while she half registered the voice yelling her last name was Bellatrix, she was too focused at throwing a hastily murmured blasting hex at her attacker to come to the realisation it was likely Rodolphus. Frank was picturing the worst possible scenario after Dorcas's ward and he'd spent all of his time thereafter trying to take inventory of everyone he knew. Desmond and Al weren't there, that much he knew, and half of the DMLE were in comas. Those were all adults, so his immediate concern fell on the kids and he had himself worked into a silent near panic as he relocated himself to Charlotte's desk so that he could at least be close to Alice. And then the order had come to assist at what was being called a 'major public disturbance' and the few officers left in the building were sent on their way. They practically sprinted to the Atrium and Frank arrived on the scene just moments after Alice, and already there was trouble. Alice was hit and a familiar voice cut through the chaos, putting Frank on immediate defence as he spun to face the cloaked figure. Frank fired off a blasting curse that was meant to collide with the red light hurdling at him, and it exploded with a loud crackle. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that torturing curses aren't really battle friendly, Bellatrix? You need to broaden your repertoire." And of course Frank ignored his own advice and sent a very familiar slashing hex in her direction, casting only a momentary glance over his shoulder at his wife. Rodolphus's attention was on Alice, for the most part. He kept half of an ear on the conversation between his wife and the other Longbottom - something met with a vague roll of the eyes, a stab of almost uncharacteristic impatience - before he glanced back at the other. The slashing hex dug into the skin of his arm, earning a hiss of surprise and pain. It did little to stop him though - after all, what was a flesh wound in the face of his Lord? - and he slashed his wand at her leg. "Fractus emendo," he snarled, aiming for her knee. He wanted the whole thing to just mend itself together. It was an attempt at immobilisation, to buy him enough time to mend the slash across his arm. Bellatrix let out a short, sharp laugh at Frank's taunt, a sound that was very clearly not the slightest bit amused and somehow turned itself into a snarl as she gave a furious slicing of her wand through the air, sending a chest crushing curse at Frank in a streak of purple light. She stalked towards him, practically walking into the slashing hex, unwilling to be bothered with defending herself against such paltry attacks beyond the slight turn of her body to let it graze her arm rather than tear open her side. "Do you want to see what I can do, Franky?" she taunted. "Do you want to see what I did to your sister? Your dear best friend? I am more than willing to provide you with a recreation. Or perhaps something entirely new." Another attack, this time a flaying curse, went flying towards him as she closed the distance between them even further still. No, she was very clearly not fucking around today. She was out for blood and it was going to be Frank's. Alice never should have let herself get hit by that first hex. Not only was her heart still pounding, creating a pain in her chest like she'd never felt before, but she was on the ground, and Rodolphus (who she'd managed to assume was her partner given the conversation going on between her husband and his wretched wife) had the serious advantage. She had intended to use the moments that her slashing hex hit to get off the ground, but halfway there, his spell hit and the strangest sensation ran through her left knee. It didn't hurt, it just felt peculiar, and so Alice pushed through it until she realised she couldn't actually bend her knee to get off the ground. It was as though he had managed to meld her bones together, and so with a frustrated sigh, she fell back on her bended right leg and sent a stupefy straight by him followed by a blasting hex on either side to buy her a moment to push herself forward and off the ground. Frank somehow managed to get out of the way of the purple jet of light and what was even more amazing was the fact that he'd stayed on his feet while doing so. Despite his very small victories just then, he couldn't hide the perplexed look that crossed his face as she quite willingly walked into his attack. It only caught her arm but she could have avoided it completely, so why she hadn't was lost on him. But she was talking at him again, taunting him with mentions of his sister and best friend, and he knew that she was just trying to get a reaction out of him. Unfortunately for almost everyone involved, she knew that was all it took and he instantly felt his temper flair with some ridiculous desire to defend people that weren't even there. He lifted his arm to fire back after the first avoided curse, though the spell on the tip of his tongue stayed there as he felt the skin on his forearm peel away like he was being attacked with one of those tools that Greta taught him to use on carrots and things. He was fairly sure that a carrot didn't feel nearly as much pain as he was experiencing at the moment and he grabbed his wand with his left hand, casting another slashing hex which was not nearly as strong as he would have liked. Rodolphus focused his attention on healing the slash on his arm, murmuring the healing spell and watching the skin regrow over the bloody wound for a second before he glanced back up. With a flick of his wand, he deflected the stunning spell with his own blasting hex, a spray of sparks colliding between them in mid-air. The second blasting hex though, hit him square in the ribs, and he stumbled backwards, the air knocked out of his lungs for a moment. His left hand strayed to his side just enough to ensure that nothing was broken, before he turned his wand on her once again. "Scindo internum," he growled, aiming for her already damaged leg. His attention was slightly diverted as he threw a glance at Bellatrix, so the spell was far from full-force. As soon as he was reasonably sure Bellatrix was still winning, he added, "Immobulus lacerum." His aim was this time at her other leg, the one she was still able to bend. He fully meant to tear her apart, once piece at a time. Bellatrix had stopped her advance a few mere metres from Frank and could not help but note with no small measure of satisfaction the expression of anger on his face in response to her taunting. Anger that turned to shock and pain as the skin was peeled from his arm. And Bellatrix just smiled from behind her mask as he was forced to switch his wand to his other hand. She could have let the second slashing hex hit her as well. She didn't see any reason to deflect such a paltry curse, but that didn't mean she couldn't have fun. A glance to Alice, still on the ground and Bellatrix cast a silent summoning curse to pull the other woman to her, right in the path of Frank's attack. She braced herself for Alice's weight flying at her and pulled her back against her chest, wrapping an arm around her and up to put her hand around the Auror's throat. "Still trying to save the world, Franky? Still trying and failing to protect your loved ones? When will you learn? All of your efforts and all you have managed is to hurt them. Pain. And suffering. And it is all your fault," she snapped, her grip on Alice's throat tightening with every word as she quite obviously dug the tip of her wand into the other woman's side. "What is her life worth to you?" In a third attempt to get off the ground, Alice had her hands positioned in front of her and had managed to put her weight on them as she noticed Rodolphus's first spell come towards her injured leg. With more effort than should have been necessary she moved the leg and barely missed the hex, but felt her hip protest as the leg twisted in a way it certainly was not supposed to. A frustrated and pained grunt escaped her lips, but it didn't last long because before she could even acknowledge the fact that Rodolphus was sending another spell her way, she was flung into Bellatrix's arms. Well, at least she was off the floor, she thought briefly before the negative aspect of all of this, the strangling, registered. Thanks to Bellatrix's loving death grip, she hardly felt Frank's slashing hex until she felt the warmth of her blood trickle down her abdomen, but really what did it matter? It was nothing in comparison to her lame leg and slowly diminishing air supply. Really, she'd had enough, and so before Frank could do anything stupid like surrender for her safety, or Bellatrix could continue waxing poetic with her taunts, Alice balled up her fist and threw it up and back with as much force as she could muster, hoping it would collide with some bone of Bellatrix's face. "Will you shut the fuck up?" Frank hadn't realised that he wasn't breathing until his chest began to burn. He forced himself to exhale and then draw in a breath as he watched his spell hit Bellatrix's human shield. As far as he was concerned Rodolphus could attack him while he was distracted and he wouldn't have noticed. This woman was bad for him, not that it was a new realisation for him. He knew this rivalry was unhealthy and that it could never just be about the two of them. She always had to bring in other people, always had to make it complicated. It was just like the wolves and their cowardly ways of handling their problems. That was one of the things that Frank had actually liked about their duel in the field. Yes, it had been stupid and yes, they had both almost died, but it had just been the two of them. Sure, they were there because she attacked Al to get to him, but at that moment the duel had just been about them and their stupid list of grudges. So while she talked he heard every word and he didn't respond because he was too busy trying to figure out a way to get his wife away from Bellatrix without conceding or getting either of them killed. He hadn't arrived at an actual plan by the time Alice had reached her hand up, an though he hated to turn his back on her, he turned away just slightly, bringing his wand back to his right hand. With a reserved movement he pointed it at Rodolphus's chest and cast defluo, not expecting it to do much but perhaps buy him a second to turn his situation around. Rodolphus only looked mildly surprised when Alice flew away from his spell, a hint annoyance creeping into his features as his spell missed. He was left, for a moment with no one to fight, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at his wife. Well. Fine. She took his plaything, so he was going to deal with hers. With a flick of his wand, he avoided the hex, in no rush to not be able to breath, and added a barrage of his own attacks. "Perculus, Visanaer, Avada Kedavra, Scrindo Internum, Avada Kedavra." He barely stopped to breath himself, instead allowed Bellatrix to deal with her new toy. If he was being quite honest with himself, he was ready for this ridiculous rivalry to simply be done with, and if he had to kill Frank Longbottom to do it, then he was more than happy to. It was a wonder the man was still alive to begin with. Bellatrix fully expected Alice to fight back against her. What she did not expect was for the woman to resort to using her fists like some common Muggle and the pain that shot through her face when it drove her mask solidly into her nose was enough to force her into releasing her hold on the Auror and stumbling back. She could feel the blood on the inside of her mask and she snarled at Alice, instantly regarding her with nothing but fury. Frank could wait. Her wand sliced furiously through the air as her own attack, unbeknownst to her, mirrored her husband's, at least in its speed and ferocity as she cast spell after spell. "Aduram virga, avada kedavra, pulsus latus..." Streaks of red and green and purple light tore through the air. And then a growled, "crucio," that was fuelled by every last bit of anger and rage she felt. So punching Bellatrix probably hadn't been the move that exemplified her auror skills most, but it had done what it was supposed to; it had gotten her released and as an added bonus, there was now blood trickling down her mask. Good; the bitch deserved to bleed. Using her time granted through Bellatrix's stumbling to the best of her advantage, Alice moved back a few steps, but everything took more time with her dragging leg. She wasn't that far when the sparks of light flew, and she managed to dodge the majority of them, albeit with less ease than usual if only because she had a leg that wouldn't bend and dragged along like some child's toy. She threw back her own barrage of stupefy, vlaencoria, diripio testis, the latter if only because Alice was 97% sure Bellatrix had a set of balls, and if she didn't, well she could do with some swelling down there. A purple light from Bellatrix hit her lame leg, but Alice didn't feel much at all, until the crucio hit in the same place. From her knitted knee, pain seared in all directions and tore through her worse than anything she'd felt in some time. There was a brief attempt to hold back her screams, but it didn't last for long as the pain filled her, itching for a release that only came from her throat as she fell down on her good leg and landed on the ground once more. Frank was confident enough in his knowledge of Bellatrix that he liked to think he knew what he was getting when he was up against her. Most of the time. He didn't have that same luxury when he was matched against her larger, less talk more business husband. Rodolphus deflected his attack with ease and then there were incantations that Frank had never heard before, mixed with a curse that he would be fine with never hearing again. There were five separate streaks of light coming at him and thank Godric they weren't so close that Frank's movements were limited. He knew that being hit with any of the four spells would not be good, though he could deal with pain. Death was a little more difficult to cope with. So Frank, forced with a dilemma, deflected the first, avoided the second, deflected the third, and then let the fourth hit so he didn't walk into the fifth. All of that maneuvering spanned over a matter of seconds and probably looked like a poorly choreographed dance, but Frank was more focusing on the fact that the light that had hit his chest and not stopped until it collided with the ribs and shoulder on the right side of his body. Muscle, tissue, and everything else that wasn't skeletal separated and had he been properly focused, he would have felt very lucky that his lungs and heart were protected by something of a cage. The function in his right arm was almost nonexistant and he once again took his wand in his left, trying to ignore the gross amount of pain he was in. Still, better than being dead. Frank extended his arm at Rodolphus again, casting a gouging hex and Emmeline's eye burning hex, as he tried to ignore the blood that was very readily dripping from his body. Rodolphus barely slowed his stride, had lost interest in playing games. Though he certainly had the occasional fascination with toying with a victim, it wasn't right now. It was only when the gouging hex had hit him square in the chest that he slowed, stopped to avoid the second hex thrown at him. Blood dribbled from the wound, where part of the muscle had been quite literally scooped out of the way. It stopped him for a moment, a brief span of a few seconds where he could regain his breath, to think through the pain and move forward. A simple wound closing spell, not enough to fix it - he didn't have the time or concentration, but it kept him from bleeding out. A position he was perfectly happy to leave Frank in. When he finally managed to turn his attention back to the other man, he streaked the air with green once again. "Immobulus lacerum, perculsus," he snarled, again, nothing less than a barrage of attacks, aggressive and possibly deadly in the backwards, perverted nature in which they were used. Alice was lucky as far as Bellatrix was concerned in that as much as she wanted so desperately to hold the cruciatus on her for hours. To hold the spell longer than she had ever held it before only to finally be forced to stop just to cast it all over again moments later. She wanted to test the Auror's limits and see where they fell. Instead she was forced to end it to wave away the paltry spells that came flying back at her. The stupefy that was so easily dismissed. And two curses that she did not recognise - which was quite honestly a rare enough occasion these days - and the last of the three hit and... seemed to do nothing at all. But just because she had been forced to lift it once did not mean that she could not simply cast it again. A fire blasting hex to keep her occupied for a moment of contending with that. And then another snarled crucio as she stepped closer to the Auror although this time she at least was sure to keep herself well out of striking range should Longbottom get any ideas. She was capable of learning from her mistakes. When she chose to do so. There was no such thing as being lucky when it came to the cruciatus curse, especially when the caster was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange who would likely marry the curse if she could. But Alice had been on the receiving end of it enough times to know that if she spent too much time recovering, she'd be dead from the next spell that Bellatrix chose to send. So she hardly caught her breath, which was even more difficult than usual because her heart was still pounding like it would break through the muscle and bone that kept it caged in, before her wand was up again, sending a glacius at the ball of fire coming towards her. And although, given her position on the ground and utter inability to bend her left leg, getting out of the way of the crucio was unlikely, she attempted to pull her body out of the way and sent a ferocious avis oppungo straight at Lestrange in hopes that the seering pain that was now starting from the ball of her foot and quickly spreading and searing through her entire body once again would not last too long. Again Frank managed to elude the killing curse, something he was very thankful for, and as he was dodging he was trying to remember those healing spells that Edgar had gone over. He just needed to stop the bleeding. If he could stop the bleeding he would be fine. After a few haphazard tries the bleeding slowed, though it didn't stop, but Frank wasn't given time to celebrate. Then again, having a gaping slash in his chest that would eventually cause him to bleed to death didn't really warrant celebration. Despite his ranting inner thoughts, Frank took the first spell in the right arm, and that ended any hope of using it again during this battle. He was officially a left handed wizard. The second spell crashed into the side of his chest as he failed to produce a shield and for a moment confusion washed over him. He could describe the feeling, but he knew he didn't like it. His heart threw itself against his ribs and he was sure that it would break free at any moment. He'd neve felt his heart race like that, not even during Quidditch, and it almost made him feel like he needed to run or vomit or something. Anything that could potentially get his body back to normal reactions. Despite the standing shoot to kill order on the Lestranges and despite how much Frank wanted Rodolphus out of his life, the killing curse was not even an option in his mind. Though the fact that there were other ways to die had occured to him and he blamed it on his racing heart and the loss of blood and the fact that he felt lighter than he'd ever felt, so he pulled his wand diagonally and used another gouging hex, though this time he swiped from right shoulder to lower left abdomen, focusing as hard as he could possibly manage. Rodolphus, for a moment, pondered forcing a major blood clot or two into Frank's system. But no. Besides the fact that it might accidentally fix the damage he'd already done, he wanted him to feel it. He wanted him to know that he was dying, and while his Killing Curses had struck just about everything but their intended target, he could take a certain satisfaction in simply ripping Longbottom to shreds. So it was with two more quick slashes, a hiss of scrindo internum, not aimed for anything in particular. He just wanted it to be damaging, crippling, deadly. The gouging hex once again, made it through the air dug into his abdomen before he could block or deflect it, and Rodolphus stumbled back two paces, the wind knocked out of him. Blood spilled down his stomach, damage that was once again arbitrarily mended to stop the bleeding. He'd deal with the rest later. Bellatrix saw the birds flying towards her. Insufferably cheery looking yellow things all headed in a straight line for her head, an attack formation of their own with minuscule beaks and talons. She saw the birds and she knew it would take nothing more than a single, simple spell to have them all falling lifelessly to the ground. But that would mean lifting the cruciatus from Alice Longbottom. That would mean granting the other woman a reprieve from the pain and suffering that had her writhing and screaming in agony and Bellatrix was not willing to do that. No, Alice Longbottom needed to suffer more. And so Bellatrix kept her wand trained on the screaming woman, channelling her anger and hatred of her and her husband and everything that they stood for into the magic, even as the birds descended upon her, pecking away at her head through the hood of her cloak, stabbing at her shoulders with their beaks and their sharp feet. They swarmed around her head, attacking and flying and attacking and still Bellatrix maintained the crucio, the spell becoming even more furious with every attack until one of the birds managed to grab a hold of a thick tendril of her hair that had fallen out from under her hood and it pulled until the hair was ripped free from her scalp. That was enough to distract her and without even thinking, her wand was pointed at the bird and it exploded into so many pieces of bone and feather and blood a second later. Well. Now that she had been forced to end the crucio, she could deal with the rest of the birds and with a broad sweep of her wand, they were all given the same treatment as the first, exploding into so many little pieces, the pieces all pelted straight for Longbottom in a thoughtless, reactionary and thoroughly petty manoeuvre. The birds had not gone as well as planned. Alice had hoped a flock of birds would have distracted Bellatrix enough to break the curse, but no, of course not. Of course Bellatrix Lestrange had to be the one crazy bitch that could send crucios while birds pecked at her entire body, and of course Alice had to pay the price for underestimating her partner. She writhed on the ground with more pain than she had ever felt in her entire life. Her screams tore through her throat; she had lost all sense of maintaining some semblance of pride. And then it stopped, and Alice caught her breath. A dead bird. Fine. It was done. But there wasn't a second before Alice was covered in bird guts and her expression was nothing more than disgusted shock. "What the fuck? How fucking crazy are you?" She yelled as she resisted the urge to wipe the intestine that was dripping down her nose. No, she had to fight back. She lifted her wand with an arm that was sticky with bird guts and feathers stuck to it and fired a vlaencoria and a gouging hex, with more anger than she could muster from the ground, and then finally, because she never wanted to deal with this bitch ever again, or have her near any of her family, she shouted "Avada Kedavra." Frank hadn't done much in the way of worrying about what was going on between Bellatrix and Alice. It wasn't because he didn't care about his wife but more because he was mildly distracted by Rodolphus. His gouging hex had hit the Death Eater and Frank found an odd sort of triumph in that fact. He was going to attack again, another violent spell that would result in more blood, but he picked that one moment to pay attention to the women behind him. He heard the killing curse shouted, heard the conviction behind it, but it had not been Bellatrix casting it. Frank, who knew and followed most of the rules of the battlefield, did what he knew was unheard of and turned his back to Rodolphus so that he could look at his wife. He had to make sure that she was actually herself and not under some control. It would have been easier had it been a spell that she was forced to cast. Her face was clear, or as clear as it could be, and Frank didn't know what to say. He was frozen in shock and confusion and then he felt the ripping pain of Rodolphus's severing spell at his back. It did the same thing it had done to his chest, tearing through flesh like butter until it was stopped by solid mass of Frank's ribcage. He tried to keep himself on two legs, but it wasn't happening. He slowly dropped to one knee and he felt his body jar with the impact, his leg already sore from the impact with the cobblestone. Frank wanted to know if the spell would connect and if it would actually do what it was meant for, but he couldn't watch. Instead he forced his torso to turn, despite every nerve firing off signals or excruciating pain, and he fired an blasting curse at Rodolphus's feet to destabilise him and perhaps give Frank a moment to figure out how he was supposed to come out of this alive. Rodolphus too, diverted his attention for just a moment, watching a flash of green pollute the air. He narrowed his eyes, didn't even bother to see if his spell had hit Frank, and instead threw his own Killing Curse at Alice, for daring direct a Killing Curse at his wife. A single glance at Frank told Rodolphus that he was just about finished. It was only when he heard a booming voice echo across the field of his battle that he paused. Frank's blasting hex collided at his feet, and he stumbled backwards a few paces, just catching himself on a lamp post. "Visanaer," he growled, one more for the male Longbottom then, and Rodolphus turned away. There were other things to attend to. Bellatrix laughed at Alice's yelling indignation. She laughed and she waved aside the skin peeling hex with barely a second thought, about to do the same to the gouging hex when Alice screamed the incantation for the killing curse. That caught Bellatrix's attention and for a moment it looked as if she was going to do absolutely nothing to defend herself because she was regarding the Auror with a curious sort of expression. As if she did not believe that the other woman could possibly have the strength of will to manage a successful killing curse and curiosity became contempt right before the gouging hex tore away a chunk of flesh from her side and Bellatrix realised that was not an assumption that she was willing to bet her life on. Spinning out of the way of the green light with hardly a moment to spare, Bellatrix rounded on the Auror again, her eyes flashing furiously from behind her mask as she trained her wand on the woman. Oh, she would show her how it was done. First how to properly flay someone and her wand sliced through the air, the incantation on the tip of her tongue when an oh so familiar voice had her head snapping around. A glance to Rodolphus, a silent message between them and Bellatrix took off down the street without a moment's hesitation, not fleeing but running towards the old headmaster. Jack & Silas vs Euan The battle was already raging when Jack and the rest of the Inner Circle appeared amidst the chaos in Hogsmeade, flashes of light and screams of pain and the destruction of the entire town underway. Idly, Jack glanced around him, taking in the sight of his masked comrades engaging the members of that insufferable little group that had made themselves quite a nuisance. Amongst the unmasked quotient were several Aurors, he noted. Though if they were unpoisoned law enforcement merely responding to a call or vigilante rebels he was most unsure. Well, it hardly mattered, did it? They needed to be stopped. And the Outer Circle just was not completing their task in the time alotted, so it was up to Jack and the rest of the Inner Circle to clean up after them. Much as always. Jack really despised their incompetence. Especially when it forced him to engage in battle. At his age he should be granted a reprieve. Nonetheless, orders were orders and Jack did not question his Lord. And so, not in the mood to play with his food, he turned his wand to the first individual he spotted without a mask. "Crucio," he drawled, almost lazily. Still not satisfied with the complete necessity of his being here at all. Euan stopped just short as a streak of red smeared the air in front of him. They had been slow getting here, the few that had managed to avoid getting sick and the damage already done was evident. He'd noticed a handful of civilians attempting to defend the town, and he'd set off a few haphazard hexes in order to contribute before he was wrapped up in combat. He turned to where the curse had come from and immediately threw a handful of gouging and blasting hexes. Maybe it just had to do with the fact that this was Scotland, but Euan was even less interested in pulling punches than ever. The masked figure - that he assumed the spell had come from - was tall and thin. Taller than him certainly, and Euan automatically set his stance slightly wider as he added a stunning hex into the mess of spells. Auror, Jack thought as he attempted to throw up a shield charm to block the numbered and varied amount of spells that came vomiting from the man's wand. Whether he was part of the vigilantes Jack could not be sure, but he recognised him from the department at any rate, even if his name escaped him. The shield charm went up a fraction of a second too late, one of the gauging hexes slipping through and slamming into his left arm. Immediately his robes grew warm and wet where blood came gushing through and he had to struggle through the flash of pain to hold his shield charm through the duration of the attack as a stunning spell flung itself against the invisible wall. Eyes narrowing beneath his mask, Jack's hand twitched, the shield falling down for a brief moment as he flung his own curses back. Severing hexes, a crucio and even silent legilimancy for good measure; not nearly as rapid or precise as the Auror's had been, but now Jack was contending with an injury. Precision wasn't quite his main concern at the moment. Euan's own wand was up and maintain a shield charm. He didn't rely on physical speed. He wasn't that fast. He had a slightly-more than healthy gut that tended to slow him down, and there had been a point in his career that he'd simply decided to rely on the strength of a honed shield charm rather than trying to dodge out of the way. He was fine right up until the last spell. He was ready to drop his spell just long enough to send another offensive attack in his direction, when the last spell collided with him. Immediately, there was a clawing in his head, the closest thing to an internal physical assault as he'd ever felt. Euan knew next to nothing when it came to mind magic, but he knew he didn't like this, and he threw up another shield charm - weak as it was when he was so distracted - to try and throw it off, to force the Death Eater out of his head. Already in the Auror's head, Jack saw the shield charm before it's hasty casting and redoubled his efforts in order to keep from being pushed out. His mental claws sunc in deeper into the man's thoughts and he dove in, searching out the information he was here for in the first place. The Auror - Euan, he noted - did not seem to be a vigilante, which was quite disappointing. Indeed the only relevant thoughts on the group was apathy and disinterest, tinged with a touch of annoyance. Mostly how Jack himself felt about the entire idea of them as well. Unfortunately for Euan, Jack did not grant lieniences for sharing an opinion. The man had injured him and it was not something Jack took lightly. He should understand that opposing him and his fellows was foolish. And so jack latched onto the strongest memories he could find, collecting bits of information as he went: he had a wife, a daughter, and Moody had been his partner. Well that last bit might interest someone, he supposed, and he filed it away. More interesting was the family. Children seemed to be the touchiest subject among fathers lately, and so Jack noted the wife and then began to sort through the thoughts and memories of the child. Idly he tossed memory by memory to the side as he dove deeper, and finally he hit where he wanted to: birth. Normally Jack tended to stay away from the bigger memories, they had the potential to be so damaging to the brain with their loss. But this man had drawn his blood, he deserved it. And so Jack viewed the memory intently, and with a precise mental incision the memory was removed. Gone, a gaping hole where it once was. Euan struggled, unable to help but cry out in pain as his brain was dug through. Memory after memory flashed through the forefront of his mind, unbidden and without any discernible rhyme or reason at first. And then there was daughter. Adaira. Euan struggled more violently, casting a handful of inaccurate, weak blasting hexes as though to distract as her five years were torn through. He caught the barest glimpse of her birth, growled a strained no before it was just gone. It was with an angry, desperate cry that Euan gathered every last bit of focus and snarled "Avada Kedavra," at the Death Eater responsible for removing one of the most life-changing events he had. Euan was not a man who's anger was easily roused, as he tended to let most things slip off his back. But an offence to his family was far more than he could allow, and green streaked the air. It was very fortunate that Jack had still been in Euan's mind, the spell that came hurtling at him had flashed through the other man's thoughts only moments before it was yelled, giving Jack just enough time to tear himself out of the Auror's mind and dive to the side. It wasn't like the simple blasting hexes Jack had been able to idly side step during his work, this was something Jack didn't play around with. He'd used and seen the results enough, and Jack was not going to risk becoming a casualty in a mask on the field of battle. Landing hard on his injured arm, Jack let out a hiss of pain, feeling dirt fill and scrape the gouge wound as he struggled to sit up and turn around. "Crucio," he muttered, sending the red light flashing past where the green had just been. If Aurors wanted to play with Unforgivables they could see personally exactly what it was they wanted to harness. Silas bowed out of the duel with his fellow healer while still relatively unscathed, tossing a handful of spells at him before moving to assist the cloaked figure he had noticed out of the corner of his eye several moments ago. He had recognised Jack easily, despite the mask and cloak, if only because the man he was dueling reacted like many a victim to Jack's legilimency. While a few members of the Inner Circle were quite talented with legilimency, none seemed to use it in the midst of battle save Jack, and though some people might not have recognised the sight for what it was, Silas certainly did. He had certainly experienced it enough times himself in the past. As the Healer approached the ongoing duel, the auror tossed a Killing Curse at his mentor, and he snarled, hand tightening around his wand as he watched Jack end up on the ground. Irritation at the auror's ill treatment of such an esteemed member of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle bubbled up inside him, and Silas cast a few hurried slashing hexes at the man and then tossed up a Shield Charm so that Jack had the chance to get back on his feet. His eyes almost immediately drifted to the sliced fabric of Jack's cloak, and he made a mental note to heal the injury when they had a spare moment. It was much easier to duel when not injured, after all. Euan only just dodged out of the way of the streak of red. No shield charm followed it though. There was a lot of years of experience that told him not to lose his head, but when he was angry, it made him reckless, no matter how hard he'd worked to suppress that particular trait. It wasn't until the slashing hexes cut into his arm, side and abdomen that Euan realised that someone else had joined the fray. Automatically, he made sure there was something solid behind him. He wasn't going to allow them to surround him, and he was fairly certain he'd be able to deal with both. As it was, Euan only tossed a handful of gouging hexes at the new Death Eater, and turned his attention back to the bastard that had stolen the first seconds of his daughter's life from him. Blasting hexes flew from his wand, one at a time, but in rapid succession in a diagonal line. He didn't have time for duration spells, not now, or else he'd have given him a taste of his own medicine. Blood seeped from fresh wounds, but Euan couldn't be bothered to notice right away. Adrenaline kept him from feeling much more than his rage, and he didn't allow them to distract. The indignation at being on the ground was beginning to wear on Jack, and he only had a moment to spare in frustration as Euan dodged the crucio before he noticed the shield charm covering him and the Auror being attacked from another side. A brief glance told Jack all he needed to know. Masks did little to hide an identity when you were so intimately acquainted with the fighting styles of those specially trained by himself. Silas. Jack was on his feet and steady just in time to note Euan turning from Silas and focusing back on him again. People were so touchy about their lost memories. However Jack only had a fleeting second to ponder the inanities of people when he was defending himself against blasting curses. Unfortunately Jack's reflexes weren't what they once were, and after only a few parries, one caught his shoulder and sent him hurtling across the street and into the wall of the remains of one of a building. He felt his stomach turn as pain shook him and his head spun, struggling to not lose sight of the Auror and attempting to pull himself to his feet despite the desire to be sick. Silas deflected the gouging hexes and then let his attention rest on Jack for a moment to make sure that he was all right, and once he saw the older man on his feet again, he focused on the auror once more. Silas was by no means a terribly skilled duelist, but he did know a number of spells he used at work that came in handy on the battlefield, and he directed one such spell at the man who opposed them, a spell generally used to make precise incisions. It tended not to be as messy as your typical slashing hex, but it was certainly meant to cut deeper. The only trouble was that it required concentration and aim, and it was hard to focus with an auror shooting blasting hexes in your general direction rapid fire, and he did a poor job of aiming the spell at the man's vital arteries. The blasting spells missed Silas, however, and while Jack managed to counter most of them, one finally struck him and sent him hurtling toward the wall. Silas looked on his shock before dashing in the direction of his fellow Death Eater, and when he reached Jack, he stepped in front of him, hoping to allow him some time to recover, and he aimed a Cruciatus Curse at the auror. He wouldn't kill the man. He would simply try to bring him to his knees, and he would allow Jack the honour of ending the fool's life. It was simply what he deserved. Euan took quick advantage of the first Death Eater falling to the ground, sending a mixed bag of slashing and gouging hexes at him, chased by a blast of fire. His rage fed the power of the spells, and still, he attacked without thought to his own defence. In just about any other circumstance, Euan wouldn't have allowed this to go on for so long. He'd have already an attempt or two to capture the pair of them. But there were few things that made him lose his focus than an attack, indirect or not, on his family, and he paid for it when the second Death Eater's spell collided with his side, digging into the muscle. It was enough to take his breath away, to make him pause his attack, and Euan finally put a shield charm around himself long enough for his free hand to wrap around to the stain spreading over his robes. Right. Bad, but not too bad, that was his first instinct. And with that knowledge, he redoubled his effort, reminded himself that his task was to capture, and threw a stunning hex and an annoyed incarcerous at the Death Eater that had managed to wound him. He was much too old for this, Jack thought as everything down to his bones ached and he struggled to keep standing. And then Silas was beside him and another Shield Charm was in place and Jack could take that precious few seconds to actually close his eyes and feel the world around him right itself. Despite knowing his shoulder was probably dislocated - feeling it hang oddly and having to curl it in to his side - and that same arm was still gushing blood, Jack squared his feet behind his mentee's shield and readied his wand at the Auror. His anger boiled and he cast a heated rush of severing hexes at the man's feet, gouging hexes at his eyes, and another final crucio for his shoulder, hoping he'd manage to fall into at least one of them. Silas allowed himself a small yet satisfied smile when one of his spells struck the auror, and he considered taking a few moments away from the fight to see what he could do for Jack's injuries, but the auror decided to start throwing spells again, and while Silas had put up another Shield Charm, it couldn't hold forever. Eventually it fell. The auror seemed rather intent upon causing Jack further injury it seemed, but Silas had every intention of stopping such a thing from occurring, and he did his best to deflect what spells he could. He managed to dodge out of the way of the stunner when it was thrown at him, but the incarcerous caught him around the ankles and yanked him hard off of his feet. Unable to get his hands behind him fast enough to break his fall, he cracked his head hard on the ground, and his vision blurred for a moment. Growling, he aimed several slashing hexes at the ropes that were winding themselves around his legs, and he managed to cut them away. After scrambling backwards a bit, he gained his feet once more and gingerly touched his fingers to the back of his head only to wince at the pain that worsened with the contact. Probable head injury or no, Silas knew he could not allow his attention to slip away from the fight as it had again. He would not be responsible for getting himself and Jack arrested. Turning his attention back to the auror, he lobbed several blasting curses at the man and the wall behind him. Euan's attention was forced back to the first Death Eater as the first of the slashing hexes caught his shins and knees. It stung and immediately, he felt blood trickling down the fronts of his legs. The bone protected the more tender muscle and tendons from the attack though, and he remained standing. Right up until he threw himself out of the way of the gouging hexes and the third cruciatus of the day. Unfortunately, he'd taken his attention away from the other Death Eater for a fraction of a second too long, and he didn't even see the blasting hexes until one collided with his already injured side. He couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as pain exploded through the tender, swelling area. His body collided with the solid brick of one of the houses the remained standing, and he slumped to the ground for a moment, unable to move as his attention was redirected towards everything that suddenly hurt. Right, so capture was not going so well. Euan threw as many incendio's as he could from his spot against the wall, simply as a distraction, until he was able to pull himself back to his feet. Euan felt sluggish now, no doubt a symptom of his still bleeding side. This wasn't a matter of running or not though, and the auror snarled gouging and blasting hexes at both Death Eaters. If nothing else, he was going to bloody well give them something to remember him by. Between Silas' shield and his own flimsy deflections, Jack was able to avoid the fire, but it was more energy than he had to spare. When the gouging hex came he laboriously moved out of the way... only to find himself directly in the path of the blasting hex. Already pressed against the back of the wall, the Auror's hex ground him in further. The curse didn't give, the wall didn't give, and since physics declared something had to - that something was Jack. He felt his bones crack against the force, his head slam into the cement, and a combination of trauma and pain combined as the world went soft at the edges and darkness closed in. Jack's broken and battered body slid down the wall, landing in a disjointed pile of black robes as the fighting continued around him, each unconscious breath more laboured than the last. Silas felt some measure of relief when the auror was struck with one of his blasting curses, but the relief was short-lived as there were all too quickly incendios and gouging and blasting hexes flying through the air all around him. The incendios were avoided, but one of the gouging hexes hit the Healer in the thigh, and he stumbled, just narrowly missing taking a blasting hex in the face. Instead the spell struck Jack, and Silas looked on in horror as his mentor was crushed against the wall. With Jack down for the count, Silas decided that it was time to duck out of the battle. He was not about to keep fighting the auror while Jack died on the ground in a heap. He would exact revenge later and tend to Jack now. Limping over to the older Death Eater's fallen form, he lifted him up as gently as he was able so as not to cause further injury, lobbed a Killing Curse at the auror, and apparated away with a pop. Euan used the time to stumble to his feet, nearly falling as his world spun around for a moment before everything righted itself. He saw the first Death Eater compressed against the wall, saw his body fall and then quit moving. But he was still in the middle of regaining his balance, and any last attempts he had at capture (a couple of incarcerous's) were badly aimed and went wide both times. Before he knew it, the Death Eaters were gone, and he was left to bleed. His own breath was coming slightly laboured, and though there were some muddled cries of 'Dumbledore' from somewhere in the village, he didn't know quite from where. Further, he wasn't going to be useful for very much longer if he kept bleeding like he was. So with a sharp crack!, he disapparated. Perhaps if they were quick about it, he'd come back. |