Bare Feet, Earthen Bones

Devin stabbed a finger towards Jo with vehemence. “When this is over, you and me seriously need to trade notes,” he grumbled, “because we have very different notions of what spirits will do.”

His cane tapped thoughtfully, restlessly on the broken asphalt. Did he go or stay? His instincts told him to stay, but they were also very distracted by the bright, gleeful energy coming from whatever earthen thing Jo was working on. The stone clattered against the pipe; Devin’s ears tracked the echoes as it went upstream after the wrong that had left.

Devin wouldn’t admit his reluctance to follow to the industrial area had less to do with distaste for the filth and pollution of industry as a whole and instead that it was unknown and likely not the easiest place to explore or fight in. He was not one who chased. He ambushed, at the time and place of his choosing, if at all possible, controlling every factor of the fight.

He picked his words carefully, trying, for once, to inform and not belittle or assume Jo knew what he was referring to. “In my experience, twisted things stay near the source of their power. They have to, if they’re spirits. That’s a spirit of the pond, not the industrial zone. It can’t keep away for too long. Like a kappa can’t stay out of water or its power dries up completely.”

“I’ll come with you.” Devin couldn’t leave Jo to go off and fight on her own, it went against his battered and bent conscience. “But at least let me call someone to wait here for when it comes back.” He pulled out his phone and made to put an earbud in to listen to the read out of the screen and pick a contact he knew could get across the ‘burbs quickly.

"Definitely trading notes," Jo replied firmly, wondering what the hell kind of creatures he had been up against. She may not know every creature she had encountered, this thing being a case in point. Over the years, though, more than one creepy monster had felt free to travel across Astoria - right up until the point that she met it in an alley and gave it hell.

She watched him prepare to get in touch with someone and bit back a question about who it was. Two more hands would make four more than she had ever had before. "I'll get the car."

It only took her a moment to get back to Mercy. It took a bit longer to toss all the junk that had been accumulating in the passenger seat into the back. Receipts, soda cans, oh, there was the hair tie she had been looking for, a half-read dime store paperback - so sue her, she was busy. She slid in, tossing her backpack in the back as well, and took a centering breath.

The quartz was still there in her mind, bumping along. Devin was up ahead, still almost as much a mystery as he had been a few days ago. A fight was almost certainly brewing. It was time to get going.

Devin felt Jo focus, and reacted instinctively, reaching for the sheathed knife at his back, pulling out a sword instead of the smaller blade as Kuso took on a less socially acceptable form. It was a simple looking katana with a very light colored steel. He stepped back, away from the land that hummed to his senses with Jo’s magic. He had to step quickly again as Jo moved in front of him, and he scowled at he tossed his cane aside to hold the katana with both hands. Idiot mage, she should know better than to stand in front of someone with a sword. She should also know to not poke things she didn’t understand. The burst of force made him flinch; Devin’s sword coming up in guard before he noticed that it wasn’t aimed at him. He smelled rot, the sickly greenish yellow of anaerobic algae, and a metallic tang of pollution and the metal pipe that clanged hollowly and wetly as the thing fled.

Devin scowled and sheathed his sword, though he held the simple leather sheath in one hand instead of stowing it. “What the fuck was that?” he demanded, flinging his hand towards the pond. “You can just go poking at something, especially without warning, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing.

He glared towards the pond, shuffled towards the cane he’d discarded, and scooped it up without much difficulty. The sheath hung from his belt so he could clean the rubber handle and white surface of the dirt and muck of the area with the edge of his shirt.

The real question, his frustration aside, was what had leapt from the water. “Runoffs like this shouldn’t have native inhabitants, but you said it’s been here for years. That might be long enough to develop a real presence. But, with the pollution, it was doomed from the start.”

Devin sighed and tapped his cane on the ground. “So, now what? You managed to scare it off, but it’ll be back to its source eventually.”

Jo had forgotten she wasn't with a normal person, a mundane passerby who had to be shielded from the unknown. The sword that she caught sight of before Devin sheathed it made her mistake very clear. The fact that he had the audacity to lecture her on her home turf highlighted another mistake as well.

"I wasn't looking for it, I was looking at you." But her outrage vanished as she rocked back on her heels and swallowed a wash of revulsion. Jo could still feel its presence in her mental landscape. Its scale had expanded to follow the oozing swath of wrongness moving rapidly through buried pipes. Arrogant or not, Devin was right. She had woken this danger up. She had set it running through her town. She would take care of it.

Jo took a breath and looked away. Her gaze snagged on the tree that her quartz crystal was hidden in. "It's stayed at the bottom of that pond for five years. It's not going to come back just to wait again," she said over her shoulder as she walked to the tree and pried the crystal out. It would have to do. "Neither am I. The reason that old industrial section never got cleaned up? Chemical accident. They said it was contained so the public was safe, but if the pollution doomed that thing, it also might make it stronger."

The quartz warmed in her hands, happy to have done its work. She took that joy and turned it back down a tight channel, pouring energy through as well. Would it pursue the evil thing now? Would it show her where it went? Once the crystal readily agreed she filled it to brimming and lobbed it into the rusted pipe with the ease of long practice. It glittered once in the darkness before vanishing from sight, but not her sense. Now she could drop the nauseating mental landscape and switch to simply tracking the crystal's location. Jo exhaled slowly. She hadn't known if it would even work; she'd just needed it to.

Devin was pleasantly surprised by the depth of knowledge and research Jo did on the subject. Mages were territorial, especially among their element, if they tended towards that talent, and though Muck Pond was water and, well, mud, but he supposed it was surrounded by enough concrete and dirt to count for Jo. On that same note, the pond wouldn’t have pinged her radar until it started to bleed into the surrounding earth. “Your accent needs work,” Devin remarked absently as he mulled over the information. A blight upon the street. He’d met a surprising amount of Russians sensitive to what went bump in the night. As a society, they had their own fair share of monsters they had not left in the old country and still believed.

“Bone Bob… does that make you Mojo Jo? Watch out for little girls who come in color coded trios,” he teased. He clicked his tongue and continued before Jo could do more than glare back. “Poor strays. They know what’s up. A few go missing and most of them have the smarts to get out of dodge. It’s usually a good sign that something is up.” That was definitely the only reason he fed the feral cat colony near his apartment. Not because twenty cats was considered hoarding.

He rolled the rubber grip of his cane between his palms as he thought. “What about you? What do you feel? I know you were poking around here before.” Devin wrinkled his nose, his own senses bringing a sickly smell and a not-sound of slurping, sucking. His skin crawled as he let his ki flow a little more through his body, loosening up instinctively as if something dangerous was nearby. He hoped the crawling, sticky feeling was the humidity, but since when was his life that simple?

If people were as smart as strays, Jo would have half her work done for her. She could only be so lucky. She tapped into the earth reflexively as she prepared to tell Devin that, once again, nothing felt wrong. That thought was cut off before it started, however, as the landscape lit up around her and Devin became a gleaming presence. What the hell? First not there at all, then normal, and now this? And yet Jo couldn't see any outward differences as she stared at him. She narrowed her focus,  drilling her attention down into only the tiny stretch of land immediately around her.

Under that intense scrutiny something scraped against the edges of the pond.

Chime.

She moved entirely on reflex, whirling to put herself half in front of Devin as she pulled a handful of cheap souvenir stones from the side pocket of her backpack. They hummed in her hand, barely able to contain the little energy she had granted them, but they sang to her senses like a song as she cast them in a wide arc at the pond - and whatever had begun to stir there.

Devin’s grin widened as he heard the tap tap as Jo jumped. Was she so focused in her magic? That was not a very good survival technique. Kids these days. “I can’t. Magic’s overrated where good steel can do the job,” he remarked knowing full well he was talking to a mage.

He plucked at his shirt. “I was working out, so you get samurai-casual,” he remarked. “It’s far from a line of work, Jo McDonald. It’s a calling. My day job is so much more hazardous to my health.” As was hers, he was sure. He’d been in enough McDonalds to have respect for the workers.

Devin grimaced. “Felt like it. I thought I was five minutes early for the bus, but I was two minutes late for the prior hour’s bus.” Uber was one of the best creations for city rides, but out in the burbs he wasn’t nearly so lucky to have that level of flexibility.

But, down to business. Devin ignored the dig and faced the pond. “I got a feeling. Imagine a sly wink here.” Devin tilted his head towards Jo. “What do you know about this place? Have there been any changes or rumors recently? Any words at all.” Working with a local actually made his job that much easier.

Devin might be surprised to hear it, but Jo agreed with him about magic vs. more mundane means of getting rid of monsters. She had learned better than to exhaust her well of energy early on and to never trust that dust and rocks would be enough to solve her problems. Plus, there were only so many times you could rip up pavement on accident before you started guilty about potholes. Jo grinned wryly. "Somehow I'm always picturing a sly wink when you start talking." She stuffed her hands into her pockets, hunching her shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I don't know much. It's been this way ever since I got around to this part of Astoria a few years back. But what you said kept bugging me, so I got in touch with a few people." Being careful was the name of her game, most of the time, and she didn't like to poke or prod in case someone took notice at exactly the wrong time. Fortunately she'd had a cookie tin or two to return, and some convenient encounters on the sidewalk. "'Tonia claims it's been a terrible place for at least the last six or seven years." She affected a heavy Russian accent. "'Oh, Jo, I shudder to even think of that place! It is a blight upon our street, and foul things grow there.' Which, she's clearly not wrong. But she did say that she remembers, years ago, a day when the pond was covered in enough oil to be 'bright like the sun.' And Bone Bob brought up the fact that strays never last long around here. I always blamed it on the cockatrice. He thought it was from drinking water with runoff from the old industrial section that's farther up the way. The kind of place that got shut down but never cleaned out."

Muck Pond. Such a quaint name, Devin thought to himself, his nose curling at the smell of stagnant water and all sorts of bacteria growing in it. He felt like his nose needed a tetanus shot and was glad he’d worn his shitty scuffed boots. He was dressed down overall, from the band shirt worn almost to holey goodness, skinny jeans faded and with little holes in it from when he fought what was basically a homicidal sparkler, and the motorcycle jacked that looked like he’d fallen off one more than a few times. He’d left the gym to head over to Astoria, figuring he would shower afterwards if Jo decided to throw him around again.

Devin was alone this time, like the night he’d met Jo. Shishi got to stay in his apartment enjoying her dinner and her twentieth time watching Secret Life of Pets. His steps were sure on the old sidewalks with his cane leading the way and the GPS dictating turns into one earbud. He took a minute to pocket his headphones and phone before he went the last few blocks he had memorized. As he stored the electronics, Devin felt the sidewalk underneath his feet shiver without moving, and smirked to himself. The little earth mage was already there and up to some tricks, he figured. Now that he extended his senses outwards, he could feel the concentrated energy of the mage searching through the ground.

Devin tamped down on his own ki, keeping quiet in every sense, and quickly traversed the last few blocks.

“Come here often?” he said when he was some yards away. “Fancy meeting you here. Again. One might even think you missed me.” Devin grinned and waved. He stopped a few feet from Jo, leaning on the chest-high cane as if surveying her behind his sunglasses. “You started without me.”

Jo didn't jump. At least, that's what she told herself. Her body told a different story, bouncing onto the balls of her feet in the split second before she recognized his voice. It took her a second to collect herself with a breath and reel her focus back in. In that time only long years of practice at refraining from insulting managers kept her snapping out the incredulous question on her mind. What was he?

"Don't tell me you can teleport," she drawled as she turned to face him, shoulders rolling to settle herself. Gievn that she'd startled him with the rooster recording, turnabout was fair play and all. Then she caught sight of his outfit and grinned. "Jeans and band shirts must be the go-to for people in our line of work. If there are any other people. I know I said Astoria was rough and all, but did you have to physically fight the bus system to get here?"

Beside them the pond bubbled and gurgled quietly to itself. It had been built as an overflow basin, as far as Jo knew. The only times she'd seen it come close to being full were during torrential rains. If it ever escaped its borders she shuddered to think of the contaminants it would spread across the street.

“Uh huh. Thanks for your gallantry, sir knight, but I really don’t need your protection. And I’d like to avoid a repeat of last night, so please stick to New Mossley? I’m sure they’ve got plenty of things for you to stab.”

Jo checked the time. Three minutes were already up and regardless of what Becky had said, Sandra would ride her back if she appeared to be lollygagging. No idea why she wasn’t firing Garrett for just such a thing but hey, the world wasn’t fair. She’d learned that lesson early on.

“Oh, and just for the record. My co-workers already think I’m kinky. It helps explain half the stuff I carry around with me. Like the baseball bat I use in case my phone dies or a mirror breaks.” She paused, amused by a thought. “Odds are now they’ll think you’re into that kind of thing too.” She didn’t sound at all regretful.

Sir Knight’s guide dog was valiantly licking the last traces of the pup cone from around her mouth. Jo smiled at her and tapped her phone on the table as she grabbed it to put it away and stand. She still didn’t know how he knew about the things that went bump in the night, or why he killed them, but she didn’t have time. As amusing as this conversation had been it didn’t change the fact that some days - like today - she was barely holding everything together by the tips of her fingers. “I want to say thanks for last night, but let’s be honest, it wasn’t good for either of us. So. One last question - how did you know it was there?”

“Ah,” Devin pursed his lips and quoted a tv show that was funnier if it stopped after the first four seasons, “no can dosville. I take care of things when I find them.” There had to be some reason he was born in North America instead of Japan as he had the last seventy or so times, so he would go where he felt necessary.

Devin huffed and squished a fry before popping it into his mouth, then wiped his greasy fingers on a napkin he found on the tray. “Like a baseball bat works on most of these things. Use your magic. It’s strong enough,” he pointed out. He didn’t comment on the kinks, just gave her a grin. Maybe it meant he liked those kinks. Maybe he was just an ass.

Shishi whined when the lady who had given her ice cream stood up to go. “Oh shush,” Devin grumbled, “no begging. You’re still on duty.” He didn’t help his case by giving her a fry as he said that.

Devin looked up in her direction as she asked one more question. “Dude, I’m basically Daredevil,” he tapped his temple and pushed the sunglasses higher on his nose, wishing he wore the mirrored ones so they would flash in the sunlight hot on his shoulders. “Seriously, I can sense when shit goes wrong. That wasn’t just a cockatrice, it went wrong, somehow. I gotta make sure it doesn’t make more things go wrong.” It was a really poor explanation for what he did, but he didn’t have time or owe her a longer one.

What about that. She wasn't the only one who could tell when things went wrong.

"My knight in shining armor, and his faithful... companion?" Steed definitely wasn't the right word. "Thanks for the offer. I'd say the same, but it would be more like "Don't have time, good luck, let me know how to kill whatever you found or where you found it in case it kills you."" The next words nearly stuck in her throat but she forced herself to say them in the same nonchalant manner. "I'd appreciate a heads up if it's in Astoria, though, so we don't have any more repeats of yesterday's cock-up."

It galled her, acknowledging he might come back and intervene on her turf, in her business. She wanted nothing more than to tell him to stay the fuck away and let her handle it. She'd been doing fine for the last few years, damn it. But the people here came first. If it benefited them to have another set of senses on the look out she couldn't shut Devin out.

Grabbing the door with her free hand she glanced at the counter, saw Sandra looking around expectantly, and ducked inside, turning at the last moment to add, "Enjoy the rest of your fries!" After her apologies had been made and Sandra turned away to fuss at someone else, Jo sneaked her phone out and added Sir Devin's number, sending a single text so he'd have her number as well.

“I know what it was,” Devin scowled and pointed at her with a fry, “possessed chicken sounds better.” He was surprised by the depth of her knowledge and tried to keep that surprise off his face. Nerd. He didn’t have to know all of those details to stab it. The piercing rooster crow startled him; fries almost went everywhere but he was too controlled for that. Devin scowled in her direction. American creatures were so weird. “Fucking rude. Your coworkers are going to think you’ve got quite the set of kinks with that cock crowing,” he snapped with more heat than strictly necessary.

He started on the McFlurry to regain his composure, and added, “I haven’t met anything my sword can’t take care of. Phones can lose battery, or maybe the possessed chicken doesn’t let you go home and soundhound a rooster before it tries to kill you or someone else.” Cockatrices couldn’t be that common, though he filed away a mental note to investigate in case something was causing them.

“I had it entirely under control before you showed up. I had to change up everything to protect you,” Devin pointed out.

"Uh huh. Thanks for your gallantry, sir knight, but I really don't need your protection. And I'd like to avoid a repeat of last night, so please stick to New Mossley? I'm sure they've got plenty of things for you to stab."

Jo checked the time. Three minutes were already up and regardless of what Becky had said, Sandra would ride her back if she appeared to be lollygagging. No idea why she wasn't firing Garrett for just such a thing but hey, the world wasn't fair. She'd learned that lesson early on.

"Oh, and just for the record. My co-workers already think I'm kinky. It helps explain half the stuff I carry around with me. Like the baseball bat I use in case my phone dies or a mirror breaks." She paused, amused by a thought. "Odds are now they'll think you're into that kind of thing too." She didn't sound at all regretful.

“I live here,” Devin responded with a frown, “well, on the New Mossley side of things.” He named the next town over, a slightly more reputable part but not by much. “Better buses,” he confided around a few fries.

Ignoring the other question for the moment, he shook his head. “I’m fine. They’re hot, which is more than I can say for most places. You make good food, frygirl.” Flippant and casual, Devin was having fun needling this mage and maybe getting a bit of revenge for the chaos she’d brought the night before.

“Do you live here? Is that why you got in my way last night? You were up pretty late. Was that a walk of shame the murder-chicken interrupted?” Devin idly referred to the shrieking monster of a possessed chicken that gave him a headache that had only gone away just before he’d left home. He certainly hadn’t gotten in this Stone-girl’s way. “I saw it first, you know.”

He hadn't.

"Ha. Ha. The only walks of shame last night came after you attempted to carve a cockatrice up without bothering to pluck and roast it first." Jo stopped, realization dawning. "Wait, you didn't even know what it was?"

No wonder it had all gone to hell.

"Okay. Wow. Look, cockatrices can a problem around there because of Muck Pond and the toads. But they're got a pretty big weakness." She fished her phone out of a back pocket and set it on the table, tapping for a second. The high, shrill sound of a rooster crowing noisely burst from its speakers. She waited until it finished.

"They croak the moment they hear this. That, or sometimes seeing a mirror, if it's during the day and you don't want to attract attention. Doesn't matter which. All you have to do is stand out of its breath range, play the sound, and voila. Dead bird. Instead I show up to see what I think is some poor shmuck about to get jumped - my mistake - and it turns out to be a recipe for disaster instead."