Shadows Over Camp Darkness

Spark to a Flame

The last time that Gideon had done the cooking over fire lesson, she'd been confident and arrogant, all while enjoying the experience. Right up until a can exploded and she'd ended up with shrapnel in her leg. This time she watched the kids more closely, not trusting them at all and her instincts demanding that she keep an eye on the herd. It bothered Gids that should couldn't help but think of them as helpless livestock, even though a couple of them were predators too. Just lower in the hierarchy of brutality.

The urge to pace around her Intake like a soldier marking perimeter had Gideon picking her feet silently across the autumn blanketed grass, the crackle of fire almost soothing. Last year the kids had rebelled, this year one of them did something much worse. It's not often that someone attempts murder in the first few days of Camp. Not entirely unheard of though, just not a common occurrence. They were in the midst of cooking cans of beans, hot dogs on sticks and the air was filled with the stench of singed everything when the sparks of flames suddenly engulfed the Fury's forearms.

Gideon stumbled backwards with an alarmed shout, the fabric of her jacket providing a moment's protection before it became fuel, too much for a simple stop, drop and roll to help quell the flames. The singed metal smell was grossly overwhelmed by burned fabric and scorched hair. Gideon quickly wrapped herself in fire blanket, spells reworked just this morning ensuring that the flames died immediately. Even as the Fury saved her precious skin, her snarl unleashing a zap that flattened her Intake and even covered several yards into the trees around them. Her arms under the blanket stung, making her want to whimper and vocalize the pain but there was no way she would show that kind of vulnerability right now. Gideon used her training to lock the pain away while she functioned.

One of the benefits of the new and improved Punt was that the moment there was a surge of emotional fear from the Intake, the onsite security staff was altered to what Intake needed help and where they were. Even if that wasn't the case, Gideon knew that her startled should was loud enough that the other Intake in the forest would inevitably have heard it. That meant help was almost immediately on hand, Lisa running to the site and giving the Fury time to confront the would be killer.

She dropped the fire blanket and crouched over the weakly flailing form of Mardrom and snarled directly in the girl's face. The Fury felt her eyes bleed black and the humanity of her face slip in her anger. "Any particular reason you tried to kabob me Nightmare?" Gideon had to resist the urge to sink claws into flesh and let her zap writhe through the suicidal girl.

Mardrom stared at Gideon with an insane look of hope in her eyes, entirely lacking in fear. She wanted Gideon's worse without ever understanding just what it was the Fury could do. We've broken this girl beyond self preservation. Mardrom gasped, trying to reply and voice ghosted from the intensity of Gid's earlier zap and kept soft with the Fury's close proximity. "I just wanted your anger. I didn't come here to get better, I came here to end." the Nightmare sounded far too at ease and Gideon desperately wished she was in better control of herself. But the pain and adrenaline stole away restraint.

Instead Gideon let her darker aspect bleed through her even as more witnesses arrived. "There are things I can do that take a very long time, will not kill you and will make you beg for a mercy that doesn't exist. Keep that in mind when you think to provoke me." The Fury felt her zap start to reach out for those moving closer to her even as the child under her claws started to show her proper understanding of the threat with a long delayed fear.

"Councillor Gideon." The Dragon called out, voice calm even as Gideon felt the others all react fearfully as well. The Doctor was keeping a lid on their panic but the Fury knew she could take it and make them hers, drive even the Dragon into madness so she could Hunt. If he tried to use his magic to calm her and try to control her right now, she might just go ahead and let loose to prove a point.