It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

[kore_npc]

Who: Maggie and [OPEN]
Where: The General Store and its immediate vicinity
When: Early afternoon on day 110
What: a delightful earthquake rocks the Cape
Notes: This post is an open catchall for anyone who wants to use it. For Maggie, please tag this thread.

It had been a pleasant morning. The power had surged, blowing out a few minor appliances, before settling back to normal. The sun had been high in the sky and the bird had been chirping. The residents of Kore couldn't ask for a nicer day, at least not if they're being realistic.

That's why it's likely a surprise when the entire town begins to shake without warning. Things fly from shelves and animals scatter as the town is overtaken by a massive earthquake.

The worst of the shaking is centered around the General Store where poor little Maggie is looking for a box of crackers. The shaking is so violent that the building itself crumbles around her and he scream can be heard echoing in nearby buildings.

Comments

Maggie thread here!

[kore_npc]

(Feel free to switch to action spam if you'd prefer.)

[animator]

It was shortly after the shaking has stopped that Anita emerged from House 10, having kept herself relatively safe aside from some bumps and bruises, taking off in the direction of the screaming. It had been distant, but she knows she heard it all the same, and there's no telling what kind of damage an earthquake of that magnitude could have caused. Those sharpened senses that came along with being a human servant were good for something, apparently.

She kept running until the General Store -- or its remains -- came into view, quickly scanning the area for signs of anyone who might be injured. She exhaled slowly when she spotted Maggie, heading over without further hesitation.

"Hey! You okay?!"

[kore_npc]

"No!"

She was pinned under a huge chunk of wall, though she didn't seem to have noticed that despite her clothes being torn up, she wasn't bleeding at all.

[animator]

Anita pushed herself forward, closing the distance between them and falling to her knees, stooped down to try and get a good hold on that piece of wall and force it out of place. It took some doing, but eventually it started to budge, giving the girl beneath it some wiggle room.

"Here -- can you crawl out? I'm not sure how long I can hold it."

[kore_npc]

Without a second to spare, Maggie wiggled out from under the debris.

She took a deep breath and then turned to the stranger. "I'm getting real tired of that." She gestured at the pile of rubble that had once been the general store. "No one else gets trapped in buildings!"

[animator]

"This happens a lot?" Anita asked her with a raised eyebrow, the question caught somewhere between concern and sarcasm as she let the debris drop to the ground -- only when she was sure Maggie was clear of it.

"Looks like you're not injured... that's a good sign. Anything hurt, though?" Internal injuries were nothing to laugh at, either.

[servingmichael]

He heard the scream. Even if he hadn't been relatively close, he still would have heard it. It takes a moment, but he spreads his wings wild and flies, landing behind Maggie with wingbeats and the dim echo of thunder (or maybe it's just the ground settling).

"Maggie."

[kore_npc]

Maggie's clothes were torn, but she was physically fine and seemingly in shock about being caught in a crumbling building for the second time.

"Raphael!"

[servingmichael]

He offered his hand, meaning to take her outside. "Come along." It's a command, though gentle. The earthquake is curious, but at the moment he's not concerned about where it came from - what's an earthquake to an archangel?

[kore_npc]

She took his hand, happy to go with him.

"I'm starting to think I should live in a tent."

Running in from the woods

[venatical]

Dean's out for a walk when the rumbling happens; it's enough that it makes him stumble and fall, hitting his back on a tree as the leaves shake around him. The rumbling stops, and Dean stands there, eyes wide and uncertain as he waits to make sure it's not going to start up again. And then he gets the hell out of there, hurrying through the woods before they have a chance to fall down on his head.

Once he reaches the edge of the woods, he tries to spot what he was sure was a crashing sound. If the freaking diner caved in again he's going to be so upset. He's so proud of that.

Mind if I join you?

[tryingitall]

Balthazar's glad the power's back on. Gives him an excuse to go walking further afield on his foraging trips. He's between the stream and the forest when the shaking starts, and stumbles to one knee, waiting there for stability until the quake ends.

It's just one damn thing after another, isn't it?

When he rises again, he spots Dean as he appears at the edge of the trees. A quick flap of wings brings him to the hunter's side; he leaves his gathering basket behind. Hopefully he can come back for it later.

"Never a dull moment, is there? Want a lift back to town?" People could be injured. He'll try to regain his reputation for being a jerk to the Winchesters later.

not at all!

[venatical]

If it were anyone else, Dean might be suspicious. As it is, he looks over Balthazar uncertainly, tries to guess if he really thinks he'd have a hand in this and what he might get out of it -- not that he knows what the situation is in town -- and then he gives one short, quick nods.

"Alright. Was it just me, or did it sound like something big went down?" Two meanings: that something big happened and some big structure fell.

yay!

[tryingitall]

It didn't really occur to Balthazar that running into an angel in this situation might make Dean think of his recent trauma at the hands of Raphael and Gabriel. Not until that suspicious look, anyway. He's not sure whether he wants to laugh or apologize, so he does neither.

"Not just you. It was large-scale, and I think we may have lost a building." Reaching out, he places a hand on the hunter's arm. Assuming Dean doesn't stop him, he'll fly them into town in the next moment.

[venatical]

Dean spends too much time watching Balthazar reach in and flinching; he doesn't get time to tell him that they could seriously just jog. How long was that going to take? Freaking angels. The more he's been zapped around like this, the better his body seems to take it, but it still sucks. He shoots Balthazar a look, almost rolling his eyes, but they have bigger fish to fry than angelic impatience.

Quickly, he looks around and -- alright so he's biased, but he checks the diner first. One piece. Whew. He put a lot of work into that, okay. And Dean just likes to put feelings into inanimate objects.

"There," he says, pointing at what used to be the store. "Looks like a mess to me. Is anyone in there? Can you tell?"

ota!

[wolfofmidgard]

Earthquakes hold bad memories, bad associations, for Meja. Especially quakes in small towns. But for once, those don't immediately come to mind. She's sitting in the park as she experiences the shaking, with a notebook and a pencil that she'd found earlier in the week. It's being filled with notes, everything she can remember about magic so that she get it all straight in her mind again.

Squinting worriedly, Meja folds it up and heads back toward town. She knows earthquakes and that hadn't felt quite... right. Had it? Or is she being paranoid, over-thinking everything just because of the situation they're in?

"I hope you like your vacation, bird brain," she mutters. Muninn's eyes in the sky would have been useful.

[nevermindtherunning]

The Doctor was coming in from a similar direction and foolishly, he runs smack into Meja. Tumbling to the ground, he's very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?!" This wasn't the time to be colliding with someone else, but his mind was everywhere.

[wolfofmidgard]

Meja's instinctual reaction is to dig her armored boots into the ground and brace herself, with all of her strength, and so it's like hitting a wall. She blinks, though, startled. Panic is to be expected in these types of situations, but the Cape has her off-balance in general. The earthquake's added a new layer to that feeling of a loss of control.

"No, no, don't worry. No harm done." She holds out a hand, to help him back up. "I should have been paying more attention."

[nevermindtherunning]

"No, really... Oh! I don't think I've ever met you before!" Really, Doctor, now wasn't the time for introductions. But it begged the question how many new people are indeed appearing.

"You alright? Need help?" He was trying to determine how much damage was done while he was out. From the looks of it, there was damage to the houses.

[wolfofmidgard]

"I'm new, yes." She offers a small smile, given the circumstances. "I've only been here a few days. But I'm all right, mostly."

Especially now that the permanent headache is gone. She'd arrived during the power outage, just after the sea monster attack, and has now experienced an earthquake. Things are shaping up to be exciting, around here. What's next?

[servingmichael]

(( Prose or action spam, which every you prefer. ))

Raphael wasn't actually doing anything when the quake started. He was sitting in a grassy area, watching an ant crawl over Donnie's hand. But the earthquake gets his attention and he'd quickly on his feet.

He'll check the store first, then other areas of town as he told Castiel he would.

[godsprophet]

The last thing Chuck was expecting to feel was an earthquake.

He'd heard there was one in Kore before, but really, he hadn't thought much of it, and he'd never thought he'd be there to experience one. Besides, he lived in the United States and Real Earthquakes rarely happen there, he hadn't thought--

Well, he supposes it doesn't matter what he thought, because that was definitely an earthquake.

He's fine, of course he is, but he's quick to hurry out of the house and away from the walls, should they actually collapse on him.

When the earthquake ends, Chuck looks around, nervous. He does hope everyone is alright, because that was certainly unexpected.

[servingmichael]

Raphael is soon there, sure that had Chuck run into trouble he would have prayed or called for help, though he is quick to check on the prophet and he's finally getting the hang of flying without more than a soft echo of thunder accompanying his wings.

"You look about to jump from your skin."

[godsprophet]

[ Chuck does indeed jump out of his skin when Raphael lands behind him, whirrling around to face him. ]

Ah! Don't... [ ...do that, he almost finishes, but he runs his hands through his hair instead. ]

Well, uh, there was kind of an earthquake!

[servingmichael]

[ Raphael almost looks amused. ]

And here I was just telling Gabriel how well you handled those ghosts.

[ And you jump over angels. Really Chuck.]

That is why I am here.