Xander's Cross, Oregon: a small town ringed with forbidding mountains and misty forest. The sky may be gray, but the townspeople are welcoming to people of all kinds...and things that are not quite human as well. Here the native shifters, aliens, werewolves, and witches live in peace. They have yet to find out the new business owners encroaching on the land are also vampires.
The peace has been broken by murder, however, and things in Xander's Cross are about to become quite a bit darker.
Welcome to your new home.
is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?
August 20, 2020
The mayor, Rowan Starkwood, was found dead less than a mile from his home. Rumors say his body was mutilated, but the state of the body has not yet been released to the public.
Post by Nolan Salvatori on Sept 16, 2020 16:53:06 GMT -5
After finishing his chores after getting home from delivering the morning paper all around town (and a quick nap), Nolan Salvatori was back on his bike and peddling down Main Street. His blue nosed Pittbull, Pickles, was sitting in the wooden crate on the back of his bike, he’d made specially for her. It was lined with a soft padding, on the inside of a wall was a small Velcro netting that held her toys, namely her rope and ball, a small baggy of dog treats, her water dish, and a water bottle. He even rigged it to have her very own “doggy seatbelt” so she was as safe for the rode as he was.
She was strapped In, her doggy goggles placed on her head as well as the helmet that Nolan had spent a good month making for her head. What could he say? He took his pet safety seriously. He didn’t care how ridiculous she looked, she was safe. He was whistling as he coasted around a corner, feeling his pocket vibrate, he slowed to a stop at the curb and dug his phone out. Seeing that Maisie had texted him to let him know where she was. The two had plans to play at the arcade for a bit, maaaaybe get some ice cream and then to go pester Finn. A typical summer day for Nolan. He texted her back quickly, before he pushed of the curb, coasting down a ways until he came to the bike stands, and jumped up the curb. Skidding to halt, he hopped off, and started the process of locking the bike up. He unclipped his helmet and pulled the latch on the crate, the back part of it dropping down to let Pickles out as he unbuckled her. She wagged her tail and her tongue lolled happily out the side of her mouth as she gave a happy bark and jumped down. Something caught her attention that caused her whole body to wiggle in excitement as she barked again and then whined, as she moved forward to greet someone.
Nolan looked down at her, “Hey Picks, where ya goin?” He asked lifted his helmet off his head as he turned to see who his familiar felt the fire need to say hi too.
After promising her father that she had her cell phone (she had to show it to him numerous times, mind you) and that it was fully charged (or, well, mostly charged at about 95%), he let her go off on her own after the bakery. Perhaps it was for the fact that she scored a part-time job there, so it made her appear like she was being an adult. Corinne seemed super nice, though, so Kit really didn't think she was going to dislike working there. At least for the summer. It would make her parents happy and get off her back, and having a little extra cash would also be nice.
Until they moved again, of course...because, naturally, that thought was still lingering at the back of her mind.
Now, she was supposed to be exploring the town, but for whatever reason, found the world wide web a bit more interesting at the moment. Kit was barely paying attention to her surroundings, which wasn't unusual for her, but those foxy reflexes usually saved her from any trouble. And she immediately felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end just seconds before the canine was wriggling towards her.
Bright eyes lifted from the phone screen with a gasp as she immediately halted. She was more than a little surprised to see a pit bull wandering towards her, and she may have been a little more concerned than she was (for a quick second) if the animal wasn't wearing a helmet and goggles. Wait, seriously? Kit was struggling on how to respond to that as she took just a single step backwards, biting her lip as she giggled. "Well...hello there..." She often had this problem with overly friendly dogs.
Post by Maisie Faulkner on Sept 16, 2020 18:05:01 GMT -5
"Oi, Nolan, are you letting Pickles introduce you to cute girls again?" Maisie called as she left the cool air of the arcade and re-entered the absolute oven that was the entire rest of Oregon. She laughed at her own joke and turned to the new girl with a smirk. "I'm kidding--Pickles has a mind of her own," she assured the dark-haired girl. A black cat popped his head out of her clear vinyl backpack and bit her ear.
"Lay off, Tobi, I'm only saying hi. And I didn't say I was kidding about her being cute." The cat sniffed at her, batted her in the head with one paw, and hopped out of her bag to run around the corner. "Ugh. Dratted cat. Ungrateful." Maisie complained as she watched him run off, then turned grin at the other girl without giving it further thought. "Yo! I'm Maisie, you already met Pickles here, and--" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at her best friend. "That's Nolan. Pixie stick?" She held a blue one out to the new girl unceremoniously.
Nolan may have a reputation for being the friendliest, but that was just cuz he was louder about it. Or, more outgoing? Yeah, that was probably it. But Maisie could be nice too, she just didn't usually do the pouncing--she let Nolan and Pickles handle that part. But this girl was definitely new; thanks to her best friends (Pickles also counted as a best friend) Maisie new pretty much every single person in town, and this girl was a brand new face. She looked like a doll with her fair skin and dark hair, not to mention the seriously big eyes. Maisie hoped she wasn't the type to make a big deal about it, unlike certain triplets she knew. She could use more girls to talk to that didn't make her want to puke.
Post by Nolan Salvatori on Sept 16, 2020 18:39:00 GMT -5
Nolan turned to see that Pickles hadn't actually gone too far, rather just about five feet ahead to say hi to the girl walking towards them. He did a double take for a second, having not recognized her. Pickles was all to happy to say hi, and would sit down in front of the girl, leaning back on her hind legs to paw at the air, before placing them in front of her. Whining and doing that little smile most Pitty's were cable off. "Ah-" He was about to tell the girl that Pickles was harmless, despite her breed, she was one of the sweetest dogs ever in his opinion; when he heard Maisie's voice. "N-no!" He stammered, nearly dropping his helmet, he fumbled with it, before he caught it by a strap. His cheeks went pink for a second, before he narrowed his eyes playfully at Maisie.
Nolan took the distraction to put his helmet in the crate, and then walked up behind Pickles, reaching down to unbuckle her helmet, and he pulled her goggles off gently. She zeroed in on Tobi when he hopped down and ran off, but she knew better then to off herself. She wagged her tail up at the new girl and Nolan quickly finished up with the bike, putting Pickles stuff away before grabbing her leash and then walked back over. He had to agree with Maisie, the girl was cute, and certainly not from around here, and Nolan and Maisie knew practically everyone. Squatting down, he clipped Pickles leash on her, and she yipped in excitement, wandering up to Maisie, and rubbing her body against Maisie's legs while she panted. She barked happily before she felt the need to give everyone kisses, and Nolan couldn't help but grin. "You new in town or just passing through?" He asked. "Uh-Not to sound nosy or anything, but we know everyone here, and you're unfamiliar face." He blurted. Was that rude? Or Awkward? Or maybe both? "Ah-oh man, I'm Nolan! This is Pickles, but- Maisie already told you that," He stammered out, he could practically see the metaphorical foot being placed in his mouth, and laughed nervously.
last edited Sept 16, 2020 18:44:22 GMT -5 by Nolan Salvatori
She was about to reach down and pet the smiling pitty when she heard another's voice. Blues rose up to find the other girl, as the arcade door swung closed behind her and Kit looked a little confused. Pickles? Oh, that was the dog's name! That prompted another smile from her. Not that she thought the animal was threatening (it was honestly hard to think that way about a dog wearing goggles), but she certainly wasn't threatening with a name like that!
"Oh!" The word left her lips in a quiet gasp upon seeing the cat in the girl's backpack. "Um...thanks?" she said to the compliment. At least, she thought it was a compliment. Kit wasn't really sure because she didn't get them very often. It came with the territory of constantly moving away from any friends she might have had, and the only socialization she could get was with her parents and toddler brother.
Her gaze trailed after the cat before it disappeared from view and she glanced back to Maisie with her introduction. Suddenly, though, she wondered if owning a pet was just something you did in this town...but Dad said it was weird with being werefoxes. Weird for him maybe. "Thanks..." she said again, taking the offered straw of blue colored sugar. She wasn't necessarily unsure about this meeting- it was more that she was a little surprised someone was being so forward and nice about it.
Leaning off to the side, blues looked past Maisie to finally have a look at the boy before he was on his way back to clip a leash on Pickles. He seemed to be a bit more nervous than she was. There was a cuteness about him also, so that helped her own nervousness. "I'm, uh...new. Family just moved here." She visibly cringed, her face scrunching up a little as she realized she hadn't introduced herself. "Sorry, I'm Caitriona. Everyone just calls me Kit, though..."Ha ha...inside joke they wouldn't understand. She did sense something off of them, though. Was that magic?
Post by Maisie Faulkner on Sept 16, 2020 22:50:20 GMT -5
Maisie knelt to rub Pickles' ears and placed a little kiss on her head, just as a familiar figure in black rounded the corner. She groaned immediately. Of course, the damn cat had run off and had to come back pretty so that he could make witty remarks to the pretty new girl. Conceited jerk. And he'd bitten her over that? He'd been the one who told her to bring a backpack so that he could nap while she 'insisted on playing useless games and wasting her mother's money.'
Tobias just smirked as he came up beside her and used the top of her head as an armrest. "Nice pun," he commented to Kit as his smirk widened into a knowing grin. He glanced down at Maisie and raised an eyebrow. "I was trying to tell you. She's a fox. A young one. Literal kit."
Maisie scowled and shook off his arm as she rose to her feet again. "How the hell is biting my ear telling me? Useless cat."
"I wouldn't be useless if you actually did any spells."
"Maybe I'd be more motivated if you stopped nagging me.
"Maybe I'd--Wait a minute, you brat. We're supposed to be making introductions."
Tobias turned to Kit and swept a low bow. "Tobias Black, at your service. Welcome to Xander's Cross." His sly smirk returned as he looked up at her before he stood up straight. "Not everyone here is part of the 'community,' but these two are, at least. Witchlings, both."
Maisie sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "This is Tobi. Remember the cat who was in my bag? Anyway, he's not supposed to just announce things loudly in public but he's an attention whore." She glared at Tobias, who pretended not to notice and adjusted his hair instead. Of course. "And he's also probably freaking you out, like, a lot. Are you good? You need to sit down? I can make him buy you a milkshake to make up for it." This time she pretended not to notice his glare instead.
last edited Sept 16, 2020 22:51:46 GMT -5 by Maisie Faulkner
Post by Nolan Salvatori on Sept 17, 2020 12:06:23 GMT -5
Nolan wrapped his hand around the loop in Pickles leash, she was perfectly content to get love from Maisie before she turned her attention back on the new girl. "Really?!" He blurted at hearing she had just moved. He tried to remember who the last "new kid" had been. Was it Valentina Johnson? Her and her dad had moved to town a little under a year ago. "Nice to meetcha, and welcome to Xander's Cross!" He grinned. Kit huh? Not a bad name.
Pickles decided to begin to whine, and let a sharp bark out when Tobi appeared, her tail began to go a mile a minute, but she staid put despite how obvious it was she wanted to go greet the cat. At Tobi's announcement, Nolan paled, and frantically looked around. "Tobi man, we've been over this!" He hissed out in a hurried whisper. He gave Kit an apologetic smile, before he glared at the cat. It was one thing to out Maisie and him as witches, but to also out the new girl when she might not have wanted people to know yet? Not cool cat.
While Tobi introduced himself, Nolan looked down at Pickles who sensed the slight change in his mood, and she wast staring up at him. Giving him her full attention. He arched his eyebrows and a slow smile appeared on his face before he winked at her, and Pickles moved her paws up and down impatiently. "Oh, you forgot something very important Tobi," Nolan said raising a finger as if he just remembered something. He looked to Kit, and crossed his arms over his chest and leaned in towards her as if he was about to tell her a secret. Pickles leash fell quietly to the ground at his feet. "Tobi, Is Pickles Favorite person next me. Isn't he Picks?" Nolan cooed as he looked down at her. "Where's your kitty Picks? Where is he?" Nolan asked the dog, and Pickles gave an excited whine, as she could no longer contain herself and practically lunged towards Tobi with an excited bark.
last edited Sept 17, 2020 12:16:15 GMT -5 by Nolan Salvatori
Those blues shifted towards the young man that suddenly appeared while she wasn't paying attention. Oh, he was rather cute also and this was all taking Kit off guard a bit. Was this town full of attractive, adorable boys (while Maisie was quite lovely herself)? Though, this one seemed older. Was he a young man? A man-child?
As he spoke again, blatantly calling her out, she definitely picked up on the dickish attitude. Yep, man-child.
Somehow, Kit managed to grow even more pale as her eyes widened into saucers. "W-what?" she stammered out, because she had never been called out like that before. She wasn't used to anyone ever just knowing and acting like it was no big deal. Was she in trouble? What on earth was even happening? Before she could panic, however, Maisie was arguing with him and she felt Pickles shifting her attention back to her. Kit, without looking, just reached out to pet the adorable pittie on the head, as if her very presence was soothing her in this strange moment.
She was staring, she realized, as Tobias' dark eyes drifted back to her. "The...community?"Oh my god, girl, could you speak instead of just acting like an idiot? He mentioned the other two were witches and those blues finally blinked down to their normal size. "My...mother is a witch," she finally said.
Oh, wait! Was that a secret? Should she have said that?!
'Are you good? You need to sit down?' Maisie was saying, and her attention slowly drifted back to the girl. "I, um, I'm...just not used to...others knowing what I am." And why did she suddenly feel ashamed about that? Maybe because she had been surrounded by nothing but witches her entire life, all except for her father. There was never anyone of her kind and her grandfather treated her like she was nothing but a waste of space. These teens, though, didn't seem to care. Actually, they barely even acknowledged it and it was...refreshing?
Kit leaned in towards Nolan as he did, informing her that Pickles had a second favorite person, and that was Tobias. Something told her immediately that the cat didn't like that idea. Her hand went to her mouth to stifle the laugh that escaped her as the dog rushed off.
Post by Maisie Faulkner on Oct 6, 2020 17:07:39 GMT -5
Tobias’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as Nolan told him he’d forgotten something. Forgotten what? And then he turned to that monstrous dog, and Tobias’s upper lip curled in disgust. He nearly hissed. “Stop right now, you–” He cut off as Pickles lunged towards him, and black cat ears flared up out of his dark hair as he really did hiss at her before skittering backward to try and avoid her. It was too late, though, she’d plowed into him just as he tripped over the back edge of the sidewalk and lost his balance. He wound up flat on his back, where pickles got in one good lick to his face before his human form seemed to vanish, and a black streak took off toward a nearby tree, yowling all the way.
Maisie, meanwhile just sighed. She actually felt just a little bit bad for Tobi–he was just so much smaller than Pickles, and he really hated slobber. As annoying as he was, she didn’t imagine getting tackled by a dog four times your size was any fun. He’d kind of earned it, though. She’d give him a talking to later, once he calmed down.
“You’ll get used to it, around here. Xander’s Cross is a safe haven for all kinds of people. That must be why your parents moved here. Lots of families end up here that way.” She pulled a piece of bubble gum from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. “Sorry again about that idiot, though. Just imagine having to live with him since you were four!”
Post by Nolan Salvatori on May 2, 2021 16:46:03 GMT -5
Nolan was definitely interested in Kit, but more in learning more about her mixed family. It wasn’t every day you had a mixed species family. Usually it was a Witch or a human, or Human and some sort of were-thing. Nolans own parents had been witches, and if he’d remembered Val had once said her mom was a human and her dad was a werefox. A lot of the supernatural kids in town, specifically the were’s could figure out when someone was a mythic.
But there was an unspoken rule, you didn’t say anything unless you mentioned it first. Something Tobi seemed to forget in his old age. There wasn’t anything that riled Nolan up more than outing someone as a mythic when they weren’t ready to share it. Maybe it had to do with the Salem trials…
He tried to hide his amusement in watching Pickles chase Tobi. He meant it to be harmless really, and Pickles was usually somewhat gentle with him. But he certainly deserved the little punishment. There was no doubt the cat would get back at him for it later as well…
He tilted his head curiously at Kit, Hoping they really hadn’t overwhelmed her. Nolan nodded in his head up and down rapidly as Maisie explained the safe haven that Xanders Cross was. Most kids were born there, like Maisie and Nolan. Once Pickles had chased Tobi up the tree, she whined and gave a bark at him to come down, but since it seemed like that cat was staying put, she trotted back over to Nolan where she sat against his leg panting. He reached down and patted her head. Taking comfort in her.
The roar of a motorcycle sounded, as one came roaring down the street, and Nolan looked over his shoulder where he audibly groaned. “Aaaaand then you have the Isaneqwe locals…” He said as he spotted the familiar leather jacket and rough and tumble look of Chogan Aikopy, as he rode by them before he quickly turned the motorcycle off to the side of the rode, parking it on the street. If it wasn’t the vixens making fun of their little group, it was the hoodlum and company of Chogan Aikopy and Denali. Both were members of the local Isaneqwe tribe. Nolan’s dark eyes were nervously glancing over at Maisie before back to Kit, and then back to Chogan as Nolan watched him get off the bike and take his helmet off. His raven black hair got the sunlight, and Nolan audibly groaned at his displeasure in seeing the other boy turning and making his way towards them.
Chogan’s Isaneqwe heritage made itself known with his tan skin, sharp cheekbones and dark eyes. He was built like a wall in a way, with his 6’3ft form and broad shoulders. The other boy had a perpetual pissed off look on his face, which made him especially scary. He certainly had mastered the “biker gang” look with his leather jacket, torn jeans, dirtied white t-shirt and riding boots.
He seemed to be heading into the arcade as well, and as passed, he arched a brow at the threesome. “Nerds.” He said in greeting, glancing at Kit curiously before he disappeared inside. Nolan sighed in relief, not realizing how tense he’d been at seeing him.
That bright gaze drifted over to Maisie when she spoke of Xander's Cross, and Kit got this blank look on her face for a moment; all humor washing away slowly. Was this why her parents moved them here? She knew her dad was from here, so she couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't come here in the first place.
Again, her parents were keeping something from her, and she was determined to find out what.
However, right now, she was kind of enjoying the company of these two teens, and they seemed happy to speak with her. Maybe they would even accept her into their fold. Could she finally be making friends?
"Oh, no, it's fine. Really," she told Maisie, even waving it off with a light gesture. "Was just a bit of a surprise, is all." Kit even laughed a little, shrugging it off. It was weird, having someone point out what you were, but these two "witchlings", as Tobias called them, didn't seem to mind in the least. If Xander's Cross really was a haven for the mythic kind, maybe she wouldn't have to be so nervous about people finding out that she liked to turn into a fox every now and then.
Suddenly, the roaring and rumble of a motorcycle startled her, and she noticed how it immediately made Nolan nervous. She met his eyes in brief question, then glanced to Maisie before her attention drifted to to the leather-jacket-wearing hoodlum and his angry face. Just because she didn't spend much time in one place for too long, she knew the type.
'Nerds.'
Wow, okay. Maybe the other two were (she really didn't know, but she also didn't have a problem with "nerds", either), but that kid didn't know her. At all. Big blues narrowed as he brushed passed them to head into the arcade. "And that's the town asshole, I presume?" she announced to the others, maybe a little too loudly.