forum Father I crave a t t e n t i o n / rp partners needed

Started January 21, 2021 by @ElderGodSwimwithGamers group

tune

Hailstrom fell silent when he was asked such direct questions.
"I…" the vigilante looked away, arms drawing closer to their chest. "He's my father," Hailstrom said, voice quiet. "And the reason I died."

Shea raised an eyebrow and looked over at Hailstrom. "The reason you.. died?"

Hailstrom nodded, not meeting Shea's gaze.
"The snowstorm I was caught in when I was a child, it gave me my powers… after it took my life." The snowstorm was common knowledge- the poor frozen child, barely alive when rescuers found them.
"I'm not even sure how I'm alive now."

"Wow," Shea muttered. "I know you became an icicle and stuff… but I didn't know you died. Mine's not even close to that dramatic," Shea laughed softly. That was just like her, always making jokes because she was too scared to show true feelings. The second things got emotional was when she was far, far away. But she was stuck in a small aircraft. With nowhere to go but down.

Hailstrom gave a dry grunt in response. Whenever Hailstrom got emotional, he shut up and usually killed someone. Old habits died hard, I suppose.
"It's not the worst of it. Honestly? I think it's the only reason I'm not still…" The vigilante trailed off, eyes climbing to look out the window.
"Do you want to know, who my father is?"

"I'm assuming he's the man that you were so scared of. Same thing with all those scientists and the pilot." Shea smacked a piece of gum in her mouth, where she got it was a mystery.

"That is correct," Hailstrom admitted. "But it's why we're so scared of him that matters. He… his powers." The vigilante took a deep breath, blinking slowly.
"He is LokJaw." A well-known villain, in many places. The puppet master. The one who'd lock your body down, trap you in while he controlled everything you did. All by just looking him in the eyes, just for a moment.

"Oooooh…." Shea widened her eyes and nodded slowly. "I have no idea who LokJaw is. But he sounds pretty scary." Shea stretched, letting her shoulders pop and rolled her neck. "So, does he have any noticeable strengths? Weaknesses? Have a wife or any kids that he cares about?"

"He's powerful," Hailstrom said, falling back on his cold processing of information to try to keep calm. He'd never talked so much about his father…
"And I don't know of any weaknesses. Whatever you do, don't make eye contact. His power let's him control people at any time after making eye contact at some point. No wife, and a daughter he controls directly."

"Mmm, you got a sister?" Shea asked. "And as for the eye-contact thing, does he have to see my eyes? Or do I just have to see his?" Shea watched Hailstrom carefully. She could feel the tension building within him, and Shea knew that she couldn't draw any more fear away from him without releasing the fear she already had locked away.

"It has to go both ways," Hailstrom explained. "But he's very good at making sure that people have their eyes exposed." He didn't say a thing about his sister, arms going around his chest again. It was… something they couldn't talk about. Not at all.

"So do you think that this puppy-" Shea reached behind her to grab her signature motorcycle helmet with the reflective purple visor from the seat. "Will be able to stop JockLaw or whatever?"

"Lok. Jaw. And it might… You'll have to be careful, though. Very, very careful." Hailstrom shook his head, looking out the window for a moment.
"You're going to be facing him on your own. If I'm in the same room as him… Well, he's already used his ability on my, so if he sees me in person he'll take… Control."

"So… anyone he's taken control of once, he can do it again without having to look at them in the eyes?" Shea asked, a chestnut eyebrow rising. "Sounds like a Gary Sue to me… Those aren't any fun to go up against."

"No, I think it's just because we're related. It's why he wasn't controlling the men we saw on the ship- if it had been his daughter… He'd have been the one in control." Hailstrom shook his head some, not referring to the daughter as his sister.

"What about your mom?" Shea asked, checking her teeth in the visor of her helmet. "Did LokJaw kill her off after she had you and your sister?"

"No, died in battle." Hailstrom looked at Shea a moment. "So we won't have to worry about that threat. Any other questions about the LokJaw family?" Hailstrom was slightly irked, that Shea was asking so many personal questions. Still, they weren't about to not answer if it was important to the upcoming battle.

"Does your sister have any powers? Will your father use her as a puppet when I'm gonna go fight him?" Shea kicked back in her seat again. "And if worse comes to worse, would you be okay with me killing her?"

"Not that I know of, but she could have gained some as I have. Most definitely- he would never let go of his hold on her. And yes, I would be." Death was better than a puppet, after all. The men on the ship had known that, and Hailstrom did too. He'd experienced it, after all.

"Death would be better than LokJaw's control…" Shea drawled out as she chewed on the thought. "Sounds dramatic." Shea looked over at the GPS, the red dot indicating their location informing that they were still 5 hours away from LokJaw's base. "We still got five hours and I'm running on like 16 minutes of sleep so I'm gonna crash for a little bit." Shea stretched out her arms and reclined her seat so it was almost horizontal. "Try not to kill us while I'm sleeping, Frosty." And with that, the vigilante was out.

Hailstrom watch as Shea fell asleep, letting out a low breath. This was going to be a hard battle for him to face… But Shea seemed to have no problem with it at all. They knew it was pointless to try to change her mind, especially with her asleep, so Hailstrom just watched as the ship continued, before they themselves dozed off into a light slumber.

The first thirty minutes of sleep were peaceful and dreamless. Shea was out cold, her mind and conscious blank. But then the beautiful peace was painfully interrupted by sharp, flashing images and blips of oh-too-familiar sounds. She saw glimpses of Kyoki, the man who had kidnapped and tortured her, and his maniacal laugh rang through her head. There was his daughter and her golden blades, with each swing she etched a new scar into Shea's complexion. She heard her brother screaming her name… her parents' final words…

And Shea woke up. Her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat and her heart pounded in her chest. "Can't get one damn hour of rest." She groaned and raked her fingers over her scalp. Deciding that sleep would refuse to return, Shea got to her feet, thanking whatever deity there was that Hailstrom was asleep and didn't see her panicked state.

Hailstrom shifted some when Shea spoke, eyelids fluttering but not opening. Their mask had moved some as they slept, revealing more of their face than just their eyes. Where most people had hair, he had leather and fuzz on his head. His skin really did look dead, like he was a walking corpse.

Shea had to do a double take at Hailstrom's face when he shifted. They really are a walking corpse. She thought to herself. Shea shrugged and turned to the GPS. Still three and a half long hours until they got to Europe. The duo of vigilantes still had time to kill, but what would they do? Shea had already asked enough questions and she was sure that Hailstrom didn't want to associate with her any more than they had to. Shea's heart was still racing from her nightmares but she had managed to at least look somewhat unshaken.

Hailstrom settled back into his seat, his skin still exposed. Condensation was slowly forming on it, like the patch was starting to defrost. It took a few minutes, but Hailstrom sat up with a gasp, quickly reaching up to get his mask back into position. Their heart beat spiked, but the longer their mask was on properly the slower it became before finally settling back down.