scouting.

Santiago

Fri 11:52PM EST
..and wouldja look at that. One talen and one day later, he's barely even bruised.

Shirtless, gunslinging, showing only a few ugly yellowish bruises and a long line of claw scars along the right side, the swarthy Forseti approaches the gathering and nods to everyone present. Whomever that might be. "Thanks for the talen, Matthew." He slaps his lean, bare side, hard and ridged with the shape of muscle and ribs both. "Worked like a Charm."

...Garou humor.


Matthew Burk

Fri 11:53PM EST
"Ah... well, know we're down to 4."
A little sigh, and a quick turn as Santiago approaches.
"No problem... hope we have enough now."


Billy Bedlam

Fri 11:55PM EST
Billy nods quietly. "there will be enough. there will not be one for me."


Bloodless Star Howling

Fri 11:56PM EST
*She was there already, but they did not need to know it. She felt no urge to make her presence known yet, it was not necessary. Wollowing in the coolness of the mud beneath her paws, she listened to the drifting pieces of conversation that floated in and out on the breeze, alongside the stench of rotting meat. Frangrances both familiar and sweet. Above her, in a cloudless place, the dark shape of a bird crossed the sun and made shadows become infants for a moment, squawling in the silence of ethereal nothingness.
Peace. Tranquilitiy. The moment before shattering bones.*


Matthew Burk

Sat 12:00AM EST
"Not coming?"
And of course, Matthew frowns. This does not bode well. If Billy's not going, then they only have one Ahroun... and if Matthew goes to replace him, then.. well, matthew is NOT good in a fight, as he's said.


Ana Kozireski

Sat 12:00AM EST
The young Silver Fang is there, too. Seated quietly by the fire, she looks up as Santiago walks into the camp, then returns her attention to the flame. The firelight glances off her pale hair, resonates in her golden hair. Dressed simply, she is ready for the night's work.


Zoe Saldana

Sat 12:02AM EST
Settlign Corrina in for her nap she slipped bck outside, looking for Billy, all professional healer now, er supllies gathered into her bag once more...

"Alright... anyone else hurt out here?"


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:04AM EST
billy just points to the bodies of the war wolves...their heads hung from his lodge...and then tpo santiago...now only a little bruised.


Lucca

Sat 12:04AM EST
The wanderer made his way towards billy's camp. The map in his head helping him immensely. It was a knack to be able to travel somewhere and have memorized how to do it. He followed that blueprint now towards the camp.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:09AM EST
looking around quietly he says. "Everyone iis here that is going scouting...perhaps we should get underway."


Matthew Burk

Sat 12:10AM EST
"Do you wish for me to go?"
A glance over at Ana, and Matthew takes a step back, as if to say that she may have the right to go. They discussed this, albiet briefly.


Santiago

Sat 12:10AM EST
Santiago barely pays heed to the five war wolves whose heads adorned Billy's lodge. They did things differently. They fought well together, but Santiago keeps no remembrances of his slain foes. From his claws to the judgment of Fenris. From his judgment to the maw of the Abyss. That is how it is for him.

Once the greetings are done, simple and plain, Santiago squats in the sand, unslings his guns and lays them down. He rakes his fingers through the sand where he had fought last night, bled last night, killed last night and died last night.

Died, and rose again.

A handful of sand lifted. Grains are allowed to trickle between his fingers, a steady pale stream blown by the wind to scatter. Some few grains paint the leather and the steel of his guns and holster. He murmurs under his breath, lips moving in almost-silent prayer.

Father Fenris, there will be a hunt tonight, and the prey is knowledge.
Father Fenris, give me the wisdom to discern the enemy's tracks, for they are many and sly.
Father Fenris, give me the strength to withhold the kill, for they are only the offshoot and we seek the root.
Father Fenris, give me the honor to withstand the trials I might face, for in You I trust and for You I fight.

The last of the sand dusted from his hands slowly, thoughtfully. Then he lifts his guns from the beach and slings the holsters into place, one on either side, rough leather and cold steel and hard polymer against skin.

Agreement, "We should go now, Billy-rhya."


Zoe Saldana

Sat 12:12AM EST
"Do you mind if I stay out here then to keep an eye on Corrina?"

Settlign her things...


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 12:13AM EST
Time passes. *Whisper the shadows, but they are not shadows anymore. She moves forward through the gathering, her paws picking steps that are guided by instinct and not sight. She never relies on that, for it is faulty. It is sound and scent and feeling that accompanies her through life, now, and she makes the most of these as she crosses the clearing from one end to the other, slowly.*


Lucca

Sat 12:14AM EST
He makes his way into Billy's camp quietly without a word. expecting a Gathering so not being concerned to much at the sounds of one.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:15AM EST
He nods quietly as he looks at the group. then he looks at Bloodless star Howling. "glad you could join us...it's your show"

then he looks at Zoe. "Feel free zoe..."


Ana Kozireski

Sat 12:18AM EST
Billy speaks. Santiago speaks. Ana rises from her cross-legged position before the fire, rocking forward and then somehow unfolding to stand straight and tall as she can. Her usual garb: old jeans, an old t-shirt, broken-in hiking boots. As Matthew raises his question, the young Silver Fang half-turns and casts him a brief glances. Her eyes are pale, tonight, the sun behind a thin layer of gray cloud-cover, and the firelight dances within, reflected.

She says nothing. It's hardly her decision.

As she waits, she snaps a pair of heavy rubber bands from her wrist onto her hand, then reaches behind her back and doubles her braid once, and again, securing it each time until there is nothing onto which one can grab and the thick pale strands are webbed in elastic. "I'm ready."


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 12:20AM EST
Time passes. *She repeats, but it sounds more like an echo, now. Something from memory tickling its way across the surface of one's thoughts, sticky and hot. Like an overbaked apple dipped in honey. Tart, unpleasant, and cloying. Her tail flicks once, disturbing the peaceful slumber of a fat horsefly from one of the heavy leaves nearby and she passes into the forest, but not silently.*Is time. Show way...


Matthew Burk

Sat 12:23AM EST
He waits for a response. He was to make the talens, and prepare the way for others to go. But now, Billy seems to not wish to go. And so he waits once more, to find if he is to journey with them. A question, repeated.
"Am I to go with you?"


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:25AM EST
Looking at Matthew, he nods. "Stay by me Matthew and do Exactly as I tell you."


Santiago

Sat 12:26AM EST
He'd been halfturning to follow the Fostern Theurge - but now turns back. Black eyes flick between Matthew and Billy. He waits for the latter to make a call, shifting the itching, abrasive leather holsters on his shoulders.

Call made. He falls in behind Bloodless Star. The Theurge leads; the strongest fighter guards the rear. It's the way of things, instinctive.


Ana Kozireski

Sat 12:27AM EST
Another glance back, as Billy speaks again. It could almost seem idle, but it is not. There are no smiles on her young face as she falls into step behind Santiago. No smiles at all.


Matthew Burk

Sat 12:30AM EST
"As you say, Billy-rhya."
Usually he only uses the suffix to annoy Billy. But now, he's making sure that his place is clear. He is underneath Billy. And so, Billy calls the shots. Ducking his head to make sure the deferance in made clear, Matthew moves to gather the few things he needs. A knife. Some bags, of various things. And then, he moves to Billy's side. Ready for whatever.


Metro Staff

Sat 12:45AM EST
~Santiago takes the lead from Billys camp. He decides the most logical place to start would be from where the wolves were let out into the forest. Its a long trek from Billys camp. Santiago is very cautious, and several times there is a halt because of something supsicious. Though each time, there is an all clear. Its a beautiful night, some clouds in the air, and the distant roar of thunder from the storms down south, but they have yet to hit here again, the rain of the morning still fresh around. Its quiet, but the forest is not deathly quiet, the animals are chittering as par their usual, for the night at least. The spirits are also present, in their own worlds of course, vaguely aware of Gaia's warriors stalking silently. Its not long before they can hear the far off sounds of a lone highway, and Santiago knows he is close~


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:52AM EST
billy takes the rear guard position, walking quiertly, almost like a ghost, he keeps an eye on Matthew


Billy Bedlam

Sat 12:52AM EST
billy takes the rear guard position, walking quiertly, almost like a ghost, he keeps an eye on Matthew


Santiago

Sat 12:56AM EST
"This is where the scent-trail began," murmurs the Forseti, and then gestures down the road. "I parked on the shoulder over there. It's a Tahoe. It should seat all of us."

And the Chevy does, indeed, seat all of them. There's even room in the back for Bloodless if she didn't care to leave her lupus shape. From there it's off to the races, heading straight for the town he had gone to a few days past. Along the way he fills them in - he'd followed a gut instinct along this road, and it led him to Manahawkin, where he'd spoken to an old man who told him about "Neuro Labs" and the oil drilling company setting up camp together, and the wolves on premise.

Nearly at Manahawkin, he takes a sideroad into the forests instead, looking for this fabled camp. About two or three miles away he parks the car in front of a small grocery store, closed, catering to the residents of these boonies. The engine goes silent and Santiago points through the windshield.

"It should be that way, Bloodless-rhya. Let's cross the gauntlet here and approach through the Penumbra."


Billy Bedlam

Sat 01:02AM EST
Billy Passes out the 4 Talens. one to Bloodless star One to Matthew, another to ana, and the Last to santiago as he takes in all the information


Metro Staff

Sat 01:03AM EST
~The area is rather quiet, most townsfolks in bed, or drinking in Manahawkin at this point. Though through the quiet air, once can almost hear a faint humming coming from deep within the woods. Its a interesting sound, not exactly easy to hear, one would think his ears are playing tricks on him, but its a steady hum.~


Ana Kozireski

Sat 01:06AM EST
Her reflection: caught in a golden mirror carried on a golden chain around her neck. Her reflection, as she climbs out of the Tahoe, half-hearing the instructions, half-feeling them.

Sure-footed on the narrow country road, rutted and potholed after the contraction and expansion, the long undermining winter, she covers her gut-deep feelings of unease (this is no real pack) with a façade of calm that services her well.

The edge of her eye, captured in the silvered glass, reflected back at her by the ambient light. Absently, she reaches out and accepts the talen Billy offers her. Absently, absently. She glances up the road, and down, peers at the windows of the grocery store and then finds her way to the edge of the treeline. One can never be too careful.

Her reflection: both pale eyes in the pale light, pale skin and a crown of golden pale hair, mobile mouth still, captured in the small rounded glass. (Pop -

Ver
....ti
.......go.

- goes the weasel. The light grows silvered, like the backing of her mirror. There's a slash in the fabric of the atmosphere before her, not so much bright, but pressing, the other half of a sundered soul, and then she's gone, across the web of worlds.)


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 01:08AM EST
*She is the first to halt and the last to cross over. Her eyes glaze in a fashion that is entirely unusual, settling upon the sharpness of reflections in a space uninhabited by physical reality. She can feel herself pushing, a certain stickiness clinging to her fur. It is like being born and giving birth at the same time. A sensation of pushing through and pushing out that turns the insides to outsides for a brief instant. It has been enough to make some garou fear that their guts will recreate themselves on their arms. It is a feeling that has often afflicted her. Not tonight.
Perched on a small rock, grooming its feathers, a dark-winged falcon spirit cants its head, watching as the garou materialize and melt themselves like butter-figures into the penumbral world.*


Santiago

Sat 01:12AM EST
Somewhere between Ana and Bloodless, Santiago slips across. For a Forseti, he manages this with remarkable ease. One moment he's on this side. The next (a circle of transparency seems to appear in his gut and expand outward until) he's gone.

Crossed.

In the Penumbra now, moonlit, the Forseti rolls his head on his shoulders to loosen his neck muscles. Then he shakes out his fingers, flexes them, and watches Bloodless for cues. Her lead now.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 01:14AM EST
He waits for Matthew to Cross, then he himself slips into the Umbra and falls into his place again


Matthew Burk

Sat 01:14AM EST
He follows close behind. Stepping free from the car, and closing his eyes. The other reason that he doesn't like the city. Difficulty. But a deep breath drawn in, and eyes open to stare into the windows of the car. Reflections. This world.. the next... a wrench, and he is there.


Metro Staff

Sat 01:16AM EST
~The forest itself is alive. Its spring, and the Glade Children are out of their slumber of winter, and the forests own spirits notice the new comers, some curious enough to take a closer look, others a little skittish, hurrying away, some indifferent. The forest takes on what any would hope, and assume. Vibrant and alive, yet, from within, a smell of taint, and decay, can be noticed~


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 01:20AM EST
*The decay is not unusual, many things die, but it is strange here. So, too, is the taint. A scent that she had nearly put out of her mind, but that comes back all too soon. Shaking dust from her fur that glitters and fades, sparkling to nothingness around her paws, she pads forward towards the spirit.
A moment passes. A heartbeat. Slow and sluggish, made thick with the energies of magick that is not magick, but far too natural to be anything but real.
She locks gazes with the spirit, her maw opening, but the sounds that escape are like sighs and the slithering click-hisses of snakes through grass. The tongue of spiritual life. (Go. Find.)*


Ana Kozireski

Sat 01:25AM EST
Pale eyes flicker over the others as they push through, ticking off a mental list. No matter how close one is to one's spiritual self, the danger always remains. They could be trapped, somewhere in between worlds, suspended animation, or hijacked on their passage here. The threads that hold one half to the other grow frayed. When the worlds fall apart, the center, too, will fall away, shattered, spiral.

"The taint comes from your labs," a murmured aside to Santiago, quiet so as not to disturb the Fostern's communication with her spirit. "That way." The young woman nods her head as her hands skim down to slide the talen into the front pocket of her jeans. She tips her head to include Matthew and Billy in the gesture. It is so easy to get disoriented in the penumbra, if one does not know the landscape. "It's strong."


Billy Bedlam

Sat 01:29AM EST
Billy can hear it he can feel it...not completely healed after last nhight's attacks...at least he had his rage. turning to Look at Matthew, he speks in that soft half whisper he had learned through many battles. "Keep a kife close to hand and your wits about you...and Stay close but don't get in my way if weget attacked."


Santiago

Sat 01:32AM EST
A flicker of a glance toward Billy instructing Matthew. There might be annoyance there. If there is, it's bitten back; he returns his attention to Ana and nods. "We'll see what Rhya's falcon finds."

And he crouches again, folding easily into an alert sort of repose, eyes sharp, wrists upon knees. Listening and waiting.


Matthew Burk

Sat 01:32AM EST
A nod is all the answer his elder recieves, and the knife comes to hand. Very sharp. For skinning things he hunts.. and for fighting, if he has no other choice. Usually, there is a choice. But sometimes.. fingering the knife idly, Matthew does as told. Waits. Watches.


Metro Staff

Sat 01:34AM EST
~The bird flys high. As it makes its way deeper and deeper into the forest, the forest, loses life, and slowly, but surely, is blighted. It can see this, and after a few moments, circles on a set of buildings. It seems to be a former boy scout camp, converted to another type of use. Its hard to tell exactly, from high in teh sky, but its the source of the taint, and the start of the blight.~


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 01:40AM EST
*She had not been expecting this. The images flood through her mind, a once-familiar practice that had become an incapable connection between the two following (No, don't go back. If you don't turn around you won't have to see...)...
The images come as a surprise, striking home into her mind and making her back up several steps, until she nearly bumps into Santiago's leg. She can see more sharply than she ever has before, through the falcon, and as he turns his head so, too, does her head turn to inspect the area around the camp. The buildings, the shadows. It is the only time she has ever seen color, and it blazes into her mind, so bright and brilliant that she nearly forgets her purpose.
Something (hatred, a black ichor, dripping stars) brings her back, and she clenches her jaw, her tail held high and alert.*


Santiago

Sat 01:44AM EST
Santiago sidesteps as Bloodless Star Howling backs up suddenly. This is easier said than done while crouching, but the Forseti manages to make it look simple. His movement is fluid and quick; he, too, raises his head in the direction the Fostern gazes in, though he can't discern what it is she sees.

A frisson of tension through the gathered five. One hand reaches to his guns, gently unclasping the holsters so he could draw them quickly if need be.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 01:47AM EST
Billy kneels with the War club in front of him like a twisted vision of a Templar knight. that crimson eye looks sinister...ane would almost say evil on the eerie glow of the Umbra...but Billy isn't an evil person. the war club swirls red nd black and seems to be watching everything. almost singing out in it's purpose, because it was created for one thing alone...to destroy life.


Metro Staff

Sat 01:47AM EST
~The Falcon makes its way back, not going over the camp this time, but just a little north of it. Though the center of the blight is not seen, the effects its starting to have on teh area are all too apparent. Gaia is dying here. The Falcon finally makes its way back to a tree near the group, settling and looking to Bloodless~


Metro Staff

Sat 01:47AM EST
~The Falcon makes its way back, not going over the camp this time, but just a little north of it. Though the center of the blight is not seen, the effects its starting to have on teh area are all too apparent. Gaia is dying here. The Falcon finally makes its way back to a tree near the group, settling and looking to Bloodless~


Ana Kozireski

Sat 01:48AM EST
Tension: her jaw clenches. Beneath her cheek, a tendon moves. Santiago sidesteps the lupus Fury, rising. The Silver Fang falls into an easy crouch, watchful now. A moment, before she lifts her voice, quiet on the umbral wind. "...what?"


Santiago

Sat 01:49AM EST
A shake of his head. "I don't know," soft and simple. Dark eyes snap to the falcon as it returns; of the group, he is likely the first to see it. When it has settled, he turns his attention to the Fostern Theurge. "What did you see?"


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 01:56AM EST
*The link it still too raw, and she does not have the words in her wolf-shape to communicate what she has seen. For those who do not have the intimate connection of spirit-to-soul, they can never understand what it is like to see through the eyes of something else. It is indescribable. She can only do her best to report what she was able to interpret. It is all interpretation, even when it is plain sight. A cracking of bones and joints fills the too-still air, and her body elongates while growing slimmer in places, stretching. The sinews snapping into place as the bones lock, and her head narrows. It is not a form she takes often, but it is necessary, for now. This body wears badly torn military-issue fatigues and a shirt that covers enough not to be obscene. She is not beautiful. She never will be. A slender pouch is around her neck, and she burrows her fingers into it, removing a few fine grains of some kind of sand which she brings to her nose, sniffing it, before casting it to the wind, a small frown on her lips.*
Death. Is camp, like things for boys who are young and learning to become men. World is dying all around, place bad. Things falling apart. Abandoned, but life beneath. Inside. *The understandings of a lupus.*


Santiago

Sat 01:59AM EST
"And could you see inside?" presses the Half-Moon, still crouched, though his hand slips away from the holsters now. "What's in the camp?"


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:05AM EST
Not big. Small. Like...boy place...*She struggles with the words, the interpretations not flowing well through the viscose fluids of languages that hinder translation.*Like lodge. For boys. Place for boys. *Does that make any sense? She's trying, and the frustration is welling inside of her gut. She clamps down on it for now, although it is...difficult.*
Small. Feeling...not inside but beneath.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 02:06AM EST
He grunts. "It's beneath an Eagle scout camp?"


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:09AM EST
*I'm not through, one question at a time! She glances at Billy, waiting for him to finish speaking before proceeding to continue with her description.*And buildings. Many buildings, build around lodge. Stand out plain in umbra.


Santiago

Sat 02:11AM EST
"Buildings shouldn't be able to manifest so solidly in the umbra, should they?" - a quiet inquiry, half to himself. Then the Forseti unfolds to his feet. "Maybe we should go and have a look ourselves. Maybe Peek across the Gauntlet if we can. Do you think it's safe, Rhya?"


Ana Kozireski

Sat 02:11AM EST
"That makes sense. So the taint comes from below, but there are facilities all around, clear in the umbra." The young woman glances at the Fostern, pale brows rising as she seeks confirmation. "That's unusual. It usually takes some time..."


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:15AM EST
*She is hardly surprised that it's the only other female in the gathering who can interpret her comments properly. A glance is spared for Ana that seems to say "Yes, good job," without being too glaringly obvious, and she glances back to Santiago.*No, not usual. Buildings take time build presences. Taint, too. Is fast. Falcon saw no life, should be careful. May be traps, not trip by air, by walking.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 02:19AM EST
Standing slowly, his back gives out a series of staccato pops and cracks, his neck has started bleeding again, he he doesn't seem to notice as he moves towards the others. his rage seems almost like a phusical force...made moreso by the spiritual surroundings they are in Looking at Santiago then at the Lupuis Theurge, he finally says. "Your show...do we go or do we leave?"


Santiago

Sat 02:21AM EST
"But if someone were to purposefully taint and awaken a building, they could both manifest and be tainted in a short period of time, no?" - and then silence again, waiting for the call.


Ana Kozireski

Sat 02:24AM EST
The young Silver Fang returns the lupus' glance, meeting the Fostern's eyes briefly before dropping her head in respectful submission, as ever. She is largely quiet, though clearly attentive, turning her head from each to each as they speak.


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:25AM EST
Awaken building not simple, not like awaken tree. Spirit unhappy, surely if tainted. Hard work. Much effort, for such small camp. Think should get closer look, but caution. I go first. *She can't stand this human body anymore. It is horrendously inadequate. Forcing herself downwards and out, her body elongates, falling to all fours as the fur covers her form. It is a quick transformation, because it is familiar. Like breathing, or drinking clean water. The spirit follows as she begins to walk in the direction of the camp.*


Billy Bedlam

Sat 02:27AM EST
Billy falls into place at the back of the line leaving matthew with the vehicle, his eyes miss very little and his ears miss even less


Ana Kozireski

Sat 02:27AM EST
As Bloodless changes and begins padding toward the camp, the young Theurge's eyes lift, following the falcon's progress above the trees. The spirit's reactions and passage will be their surest indication of Bloodless' progress as she disappears into the Umbral forest.


Santiago

Sat 02:32AM EST
And somewhere in the middle, again, is Santiago, mouth set in a determined line in the bracket of his goatee now. As he goes the crunch of last year's leaves beneath his feet - not the physical manifestation but the very concept of it - lightens and softens and finally drops away entirely. Silent as a ghost, he moves forward, guns slapping soundlessly against his ribs.


Metro Staff

Sat 02:34AM EST
~Bloodless trek towards the camp is slow, as she is of course cautious. As she makes her way closer and closer, the taint of decay becomes more apparent. At first its a subtle change, some wilting, teh spirits losing life, and then into the blight, teh spirits are all but gone, save the banes. The place has a small number of banes. Most are actually seen in the camp, moving about, formori? Possibly. There is a fence around the camp, and the falcon can tell you from the air its a octagonal shape to it. There seems to be several large buildings. The center building is the focus of the taint. The humming comes from the building next to it, another source of the taint, though not as strong as the center building. From what you can tell, the building next to the center one is a large scale generator, as teh electricity can even be seen in teh umbra, the bolts dancing around the camp. The fence is not electrified, at least to the point to hurt anyone, its just, has currents running through a line around it, perhaps sensors?~


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:37AM EST
*They are not here to cause a fuss right now, this is a scouting mission and nothing more. If they were aiming to attack they would have brought more ahroun, that's for sure. She gets as close as she feels comfortable, knowing that the spirits, the banes, will be more sensitive to her presence than anything else that might inhabit the camp. The ability to speak with them was a double-edged sword. Lowering herself to her belly, she inches forward through the leaves, pausing with nothing more than her nose and eyes visible behind a fallen and decaying branch as she watches the camp, inspecting the placement of buildings. It is strange, to see from two perspectives, but enlightening. Her body is motionless, and her breathing has stopped. She holds that breath in her lungs, filled with the rancid taste of death.*


Billy Bedlam

Sat 02:39AM EST
He takes in the scene and nods quietly as he assesses the situation. a return trip would be made eventually and when it was...the generator would be the first thing that needed to go.


Santiago

Sat 02:40AM EST
Somewhere along the way, Santiago has become a wolf as well. He edges up beside the Theurge now, also crawling on his belly. The guns are gone, vanished into dark patterns barely seen in his fur, which is mottled, a mishmash of blacks and browns and reds and tans. Not at all the iron grey of a purebred Fenrir. Rather close, in fact, to the random scatter of furcolors found among the urrah tribes.

Stealth is easier in this form. Communication, too, can come quieter and subtler - a position of body, a height of tail.

"(ws) Too dangerous go in?"


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:43AM EST
Too dangerous. Banes guard, maybe...fomori. Might be more, can't see all. Our numbers too small, not safe. Electricity. *She grunts, low in her throat, and nudges her nose in the direction of the electrified fence. The smell of it makes her fur bristle, and her ears lay flat against her skull.*Patience. Learn much now. Not seen, come back, numbers more. Take out stinking generator.


Ana Kozireski

Sat 02:43AM EST
In their wake: another. The Silver Fang has changed as well. Where Santiago is mottled, she is pure as luna's bright light, silver-ruffed, magnificent. Silent behind them, lupine head canted, listening.


Metro Staff

Sat 02:44AM EST
Movement. It seems two of the banes are leaving the encampment. A patrol? What the hell were they up to? It seems they are starting to move around the perimeter of the camp, going the opposite way of Bloodless and Santiago, though, they will be near there position in 10 minutes. The camp is holding something. Its something that is changing the area around it, but, without a closer look, it would be hard to tell~


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:47AM EST
*Their numbers are too small to risk being found out, especially now that it is obvious that the camp is being guarded. They might not see more than a handful of living things (in one fashion or another, alive), but that does not mean that there are not more. It would be best, in her opinion, not to venture any further. They have seen the layout, and have a more clear understanding of the kind of defense that they are up against. That is all that is necessary, for now. When she sees the banes begin to move out of the camp, she slides back slowly away from the fence and slithers to a standing position, moving back towards the vehicle.*Seen shape of fence, seen defenses with eyes, seen buildings, felt death. Is enough, for now. Make plan, come back. End pain of land.


Metro Staff

Sat 02:49AM EST
~Suddenly, there is an echo, a sound too out of place, to eerie. It reeks of the wrym, and it calls out J’ehaoth. It echoes the words over and over again. J'ehaoth. Then is silent~


Santiago

Sat 02:50AM EST
I could pick them off before they ever knew what was upon them...

It's an effort to squirm back on his belly. To stand again, shaking out his coat lightly. His tongue darts out and licks his muzzle, his nose. Another glance at the banes approaching (...I could kill them...), torn away.

"(ws) Yes Rhy--" break off; head snaps around, ears flattened. His dark eyes flash immediately to the banes, trying to discern if they made the call; if they responded to it. "What is that?"


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 02:52AM EST
*Her hackles rise slowly, but nothing more than that. The sound, while unnerving...was not one that she could put a name to. The spirit has already retreated, making its way back in anticipation of her own retreat and she can feel his impatience. (Hurry.) Lowering her head, she sniffs deeply of the umbral ground, her nostrils flaring as she moves away from the camp, her ears against her skull. Troubled.*Unfamiliar.


Ana Kozireski

Sat 02:54AM EST
Ears prick, then flatten at the eerie echo. Still in the umbral underbrush, beneath the low sweep of an ancient cedar tree still clinging to spiritual life, though its mirror in the living world no longer remains, backing up without turning around, until a screen of trees separates her from the camp. Then she dares movement enough to turn around and falls into a tireless wolfen lope: groundeating, at the Fostern's command.


Santiago

Sat 02:56AM EST
Staying just long enough to be sure the banes haven't spotted them, the mottled wolf backs slowly away into the screen of undergrowth. Once he, good as his eyes are, can no longer see the camp (and, it serves to assume, they can no longer see him) he turns on his hindlegs. For lack of a better word, he hauls ass.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 02:59AM EST
He frowns as he hears the word. neck cracking...this wasn't the spirit speech...it was a dead language...the language of the native people.the locals in fact. he stays where he is. crouched down in homid...they weren't ahrouns...he was and if bad comes to worse...he can buy some time He gives them a full 5 Minutes before he himself fades into the underbrush


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 03:03AM EST
*She returns to where they'd left the vehicle by a slightly roundabout path, her footsteps carrying her across different tracks than she had made coming to the camp. Obscuring. Strange. Above her, the falcon is distressed, and she watches as he flies off deeper into the forest, back towards the deeper recesses. Towards familiar skies. Unsettled by visions, she turns to watch the company lope into sight, her ears flicking this way and that. Listening for the ethereal whispers of spiritual pursuit.*


Santiago

Sat 03:06AM EST
It's the two-legged form that reconvenes at the stop where the vehicle was parked realmside. The holsters are back at his sides, unclasped. One of the guns, the SIG-SAUER, is in his hand but he hasn't seen fit to thumb the safety off yet. He doesn't have to think twice before he puts his back to a treetrunk. Silent, he too waits for signs of pursuit.

Only when none seem to be forthcoming does he speak. "The banes didn't react at all to the call. It was as though they'd become accustomed to it."


Ana Kozireski

Sat 03:08AM EST
The Silver Fang offers a glance back: their path, pursuit, or perhaps, merely, morbid curiousity. The same impulse that comes to humans when passing a wreck, or tasting a cavity. What is rotten is somehow as compelling as it is repellant.

The wolf is no longer a wolf. The wolf is now a woman. Or rather: a girl, whose body is still thin and nigh-straight, thin torso, narrow hips, straight proud bearing, the heritage of blood stamped across her features and shining in her eyes, crowning this form with that pale golden hair. "Did anyone recognize the call?"


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:10AM EST
It's a full 15 minutes before billy melts out of the tres, Bane Breaker across his shoulders he hadn't heard the speculation or the questions up to this point.


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 03:11AM EST
Yes. No. *Two answers, two questions. She approaches them as they are offered to her, and her responses are succinct. Precise. She will have to investigate this further, but it will be in the form of questioning spirits, now. She should have done that first, but she was not aware of how deeply the taint had penetrated the land around it. If there were a thousand excuses or only one, the outcome was still the same. They did receive information. She lifts her eyes towards Billy, and her voice is low in her throat.*Strange call. Not hear before. Should return back, have learned much.


Santiago

Sat 03:12AM EST
Santiago shakes his head no. "I could make a Questing Stone after we get back, and see if it led me anywhere," he offers.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:12AM EST
Looking at the trio, he speaks in his choked rasp of a voice. "any of you speak Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape"


Santiago

Sat 03:13AM EST
Another negative. "Let's talk in the car." With that the Half-Moon strains across the barrier between worlds.


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 03:14AM EST
Never hear of this language. *Speak what? She could almost assume he was speaking another language at them, if it weren't for the nature of the question. She feels more at ease here, and yet she acknowledges that there is less danger for them realmside at the moment. Any signs of their passage will be less easy to follow if they change worlds.*


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:20AM EST
Slipping to the phuysical world, he speaks. "My grandfather used toi know all the native languages in north America...He was a Shaman and a traveller...J'ehoath is Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape A dead language of the people that used to live around here...some of the locals would know what it means"


Santiago

Sat 03:21AM EST
Santiago is unlocking the Tahoe for the lot of them when he turns to Billy. "I could drop you off at the nearest town if you want to ask around."


Bloodless Star Howling

Sat 03:21AM EST
Should ask. *She says, and she's looking directly at Billy, now. Her passage from Umbra to Earth was much too smooth, too practiced. She passed somewhere near the middle and appeared almost first among them. And why Billy? Easy to discern. She nods to Santiago, approving, and pads towards the truck.*


Ana Kozireski

Sat 03:22AM EST
Across: the barrier stretches, taffy-like. She pushes through, startled by the sudden absence of breath. On the other side, she slides into the Tahoe and takes her seat. A narrow figure, she takes up very little room.

She glances toward Billy. "I can find out what it means, Billy-rhya." Finally, the brief curve of a smile that dies, stillborn, as she glances across her shoulder in the direction of the camp. "Princeton. They have a Native American studies department, and an oral history group. Doubtless, someone there would know."


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:25AM EST
Smiling at Ana, he nods quietly. "You can do that if yoiu wish ana...but I think we would get a more sure answer if I were to come out and find a shaman." He takes his position in shotgun and cracks his neck then he looks at Santiago and nods. "find the local Reserve...drop ,me off there. then get Matthew home safely."


Santiago

Sat 03:27AM EST
Santiago opens the fifth door for Bloodless. The large wolf sinks the truck on its struts a few inches. He slams the tailgate down, locking it, and climbs in. Billy's in shotgun, Matthew and Ana are in the back.

"It's probably less conspicuous if Ana went to look it up, Rhya," Santiago says. "Until we get to the bottom of this, we can't rule anything out. The people in the local reservations could be involved."

There it is, plain and simple.


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:30AM EST
He nods. "they could be...and then again...who are you going to trust a scholar? or someone that has grown up with the language? I'll be fine Santiago...I know the old ways and I know how to survive in the woods."


Ana Kozireski

Sat 03:36AM EST
"If it's a dead language, Billy-rhya," in the back, the young Silver Fang is quiet. It matters not: her presence radiates from her, the corona around a blazing star. "Then no one speaks it anymore. However, the choice is yours, as ever, Rhya."

Behind then, she rummages through her small pack, tucked between her feet, left in the Tahoe during their trek. Something snaps open: leather. The scratch of a pen upon paper. Beneath her breath, repetition: J'ehoath. Twice, thrice, until it is written down.

She falls quiet, then, though still: the nib of a fine pen upon fine paper, scratching, scratching. Should anyone glance over their shoulder: incomprehensible scrawl. Cyrillic and Polish alphabets, alternatively, flowing in a fine sure hand. But for the scratch of the pen, she's quiet for the rest of the ride.


Santiago

Sat 03:37AM EST
Santiago's lips thin, but he nods in the end. "All right, Rhya. But don't trust too lightly." He takes a right turn on the intersection, heading deeper into the woods instead of out. A mile or ten later, the Tahoe stops at the side of the road for Billy to get out.

"Can you get back yourself? I can pick you up here tomorrow night if you like."


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:40AM EST
looking back at Ana he nods. "latin is a dead Language and it is still widely used ana this is kind of the same thing...It is not so dead that I did not recignize it...and many Shaman earn the dead languages for the prayers they hold and the stories that can't be translated properly.":

Looking at Santiago, he chuckles. "I'll make it back on my own...and thank you both for your concern."


Santiago

Sat 03:42AM EST
"See you in the Barrens, then. Good hunting, Billy-rhya."


Billy Bedlam

Sat 03:43AM EST
He nods. "Hoka hey." bleeing from his earlier wounds once more, he doesn't notice as he slips out and closes the door even before they pull away he has disappeared into the woods


Santiago

Sat 03:45AM EST
Santiago watches until Billy can't be seen anymore. Then he turns to cast an unreadable glance at Ana. "I'll take you to Trenton. I'll drop Matthew off on the way there."


Ana Kozireski

Sat 03:50AM EST
The girl didn't seem to notice much, not while she was writing. Not Billy's departure, not the change in atmosphere, and for a moment, perhaps, not the Forseti's comment. It's a moment before she glances up, catching his reflection in the rearview mirror.

"I have a car, Eyes-Like-Flint-yuf. I can find my way on my own, if you have something else that requires your attention." Her smile: sudden, the sun after the rain. "Though if not, I'd be glad of the company."