Santiago
Fri 03:32AM EST
pop.
Twig breaking. The usual greeting, a few seconds before Santiago himself shows up at the edge of the camp.
"Billy-rhya." Nod. Then to Corrina, faint grin. "You're up late. And out far, too."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 03:35AM EST
He chuckles. "Your Bdy comes equipped with an alarm...and Coffee has been around for many years...and it tastes better when you grind the beans yourself." Santiago appears in his camp and he nods quietly even as he thinks of new plans for the tRap layouts...too many people were getting through them too easily without his knowledge.
Corrina
Fri 03:37AM EST
She nods at Santiago.
"Hi. I wandered out because I couldn't sleep and stayed out because Billy was up too."
She turns back to Billy, smiling.
"And I grind my beans fresh every morning, thank you very much. The motor makes a lovely noise."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 03:39AM EST
He nods and reaches into a wooden box. coming out with a bowl and grinding pedestal "This works too."
Santiago
Fri 03:41AM EST
"Miles from the cabins? What a remarkable sense of direction." Chuckling, he sits on a log and turns his attention to the Wendigo. "Your tribesman Matthew's taken an interest in my kinfolk Kennedy, Rhya. Whether she wants him or not is her business, but if he wants her he'll have to challenge for her. I'm the only Get in these parts and probably the only Half-Moon too, so it'll be me he needs to come see. I'd tell him myself but I haven't seen him for a while."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 03:45AM EST
He nods quietly. "It would appear that she is interested in him...as she made the first move on him and she came on Rather Strong. as far as challenging for her...I was of the opinion that was only if another was interested in her also."
Corrina
Fri 03:46AM EST
"Billy showed me the way. And yeah, I do have an okay sense of direction. My . . . Jon's moving out here, so I need to know the way to visit."
She quiets, letting the two garou discuss business without her interruption. Poor Kennedy; she's never met the girl, but she'd hate to be talked about the way her kinsman is talking about her. Gah. Challenges and what not. Why not just let the two decide if they wanted each other?
Santiago
Fri 03:50AM EST
"Jon's moving out here?" - quirk of eyebrow, turn back to Corrina briefly. Then the butchershop meat-hawking is on again with a shake of Santiago's head, "The Get of Fenris as a whole have a vested interest in her. And we won't give up a kin to our blood to anyone who does not earn her rightfully."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 03:53AM EST
Looking at santiago, he shakes his head. "when it comes to them santiago...I hate to say...but you do not get to decide. if he wants to challenge I will not stop him...should they decide to do whatever they're going to do Without his challenging...then I will not stop them from doing that either...but know...should harm befallHim...then I will take it as an attack on myself and the rest of wendigo's people."
Santiago
Fri 03:55AM EST
Santiago only nods - calm. The black depths of his eyes are, as ever, unreadable. "The ways of the Wendigo here are yours to decide. But should he claim her without challenge, I'll take that as an insult to my tribe and myself." A shrug of lean shoulders. "I respect you, Rhya, but our tribes don't always play by the same rules.
Corrina
Fri 03:56AM EST
Her eyes go back and forth between the two of them, debating whether it's best to sneak into Jon's lodge and hide until they're done discussing and arguing or to just sit here quietly and listen. Sitting quietly and listening wins out, at least for now.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 03:56AM EST
He grins. "Of course...but now on the other hand..what if it is she that has claimed him? as it would seem she has?"
Santiago
Fri 03:59AM EST
A quiet. He leans forward, elbows on knees, and rubs the clean line of his jaw from his ear down to where the goatee edges over his chin, and back up again. A shadow of a frown flickers, is gone. "I'll talk to her," simply enough.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:02AM EST
He shrugs and waves dismissively. "forget it...they're still kids...let them play.,..if it becomes seriuous THEN we can work out a Dowry or something." he smiles and looks a little surprised at himself...he really WAS starting to feel old...and he had just turned 18 less than 2 months ago....the other Wendigo in the area were begginning to feel like his kids.
Santiago
Fri 04:04AM EST
Santiago chuckles, and then looks at Corrina. It seems the discussion was over - for now. "You're lucky," he remarks, "that Jon's the same tribe as you. Save you a lot of trouble."
Corrina
Fri 04:04AM EST
Sheesh, if Billy's old she's ancient . . . The 23 year old pushes her blonde curls out of her face as she listens.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:05AM EST
He grunts. 'Aurora was coggie."
Corrina
Fri 04:08AM EST
"I suppose. I hadn't thought of it that way."
She really hadn't. She thought of him as a friend, a . . . what? Worrying about tribes and that had never been a thing in her family.
Santiago
Fri 04:09AM EST
"Yeah, well," he tosses a twig into the fire, where it pops with the heat and releases a small upspiral of sparks, "the Coggies are easygoing about everything." The answer seems to work for both of them. A pause. Then, "Except Corran-rhya. I've never seen a Coggie lash out like that before."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:10AM EST
He grunts. "He walks the black pat...he would have made a good ahroun."
Corrina
Fri 04:12AM EST
Black paths again . . . she's in over her head, as usual. She listens still, her attention half diverted by thinking of ways to help Jon and Corran get along better when Jon gets home.
Santiago
Fri 04:12AM EST
"Too sweet for an Ahroun." Grinning, then, "Too bitter for a Theurge. Black path?"
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:15AM EST
He nods ashe removes 2 necklaces from his person...one a polised red stone, the other a Polished Black stone. "My people believe in 2 paths...the Red Path...that runs north and south and will lead a Wendigo into the heart of wendigo's home is the road of understanding...of Honoir...it is a hard road to walk because sometimes the path is so red it is almost black istelf...and then there ois the black path, a wide road paved in black stones...it is the path of Evil, of dishonor and leads to the ways of Harano and of the spirals....Misunderstanding is bred on the black path."
Santiago
Fri 04:20AM EST
Eyebrows rise. "Pretty harsh criticism of Corran-rhya."
Corrina
Fri 04:21AM EST
It makes sense, she guesses, in a strange way. Foreign to her very modern ideology. Harsh criticism, yes, but it seems to fit.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:23AM EST
He shakes his head. "I'll put it in context for you...the road to hell is paved with good intentions...no on intentionally walks toe black road...well...almost no one...but we all find ourselves on it at some point or another
Santiago
Fri 04:28AM EST
A upturn of his mouth, ever so slight. "Did I say I disagreed, Billy-rhya?" Another twig tossed into the fire. "But he might have had his reasons. Someday I'll talk to them both about it. When this threat is over," a nod at the general surroundings, evidently meant to indicate the oil-drilling, the wyrm wolves, everything.
And he must know that the threat - some threat, any threat - will never, ever in his lifetime be over.
Corrina
Fri 04:29AM EST
She stands, stretching and yawning.
"I guess maybe I'll be able to sleep after all . . . Are you sure it's okay if I crash out here Billy?"
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:31AM EST
Billy smiles at the pair and nods to Corrina. "Of course...there is wood inside for a heating fore...there are blankets in my lodge...help yourself to a couple if you want"
Looking at santiago, he nods ad says. "Just wait until you see his fanatical side Santiago."
Corrina
Fri 04:33AM EST
Chuckling, she moves to get the offered blankets.
"I think if I tried to start a fire the whole lodge would go up and all your hard work would have been for nothing. Thanks though."
Santiago
Fri 04:35AM EST
"Don't think I want to," replies the Forseti, who then nods to the kinfolk. "Goodnight, kinwoman."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:35AM EST
he grins at corrina. "they're made to have fires in the Corrina...trust me...you ain't gonna burn it down if you keep it in the fire pit."
Corrina
Fri 04:36AM EST
"But I wouldn't know how to start it. Goodnight to you both. Sweet dreams."
She smiles and heads for Jon's lodge and makes a bed for herself, where she promptly falls asleep.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:37AM EST
billy makes a note to go in and start one before morning
Looking at Santiago, he nods. "You are right...you really don't want to...that is where I lost any respect for him as a leader i may ever have had.
Santiago
Fri 04:39AM EST
Corrina disappears into the lodge, and Santiago gets to his feet. "I should probably head home myself. Thanks for the hos--"
--break off. His eyes are on the path. The wind blows from his back tonight. The figures on the path (two...no, three...no four) are downwind from them, the scent lost to the night.
Wolves. Grey, eyes glinting in the dim and distant firelight. Big creatures, a pack, unafraid, head and tails head high, ears forward.
Santiago's eyes narrow. He gets slowly to his feet and breathes in deeply. "They smell like wild wolves to me..." a pause, "...but there are no wild wolves in this area."
Flashback. Last time there were 'wolves' here--
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:42AM EST
Now that corrina has gone to bed, Billy stands and picks up the War Club. "I've been hearing them since they came into my territory santiago. "
Santiago
Fri 04:48AM EST
As the two werewolves stand, two of the wolves break off from the pack, slip into the night. There's a snap! of a trap closing. A yelp. But from behind them, a growl...
(How many? Three left? four? more?)
"They're trying to surround us." Santiago's fingers fly over the buttons of his shirt, undoing them as he steps backwards to put his back to the lodge. Jon's lodge. There was a kinfolk in there. He strips the fabric from his shoulders and suddenly the black patterns wreathing over his skin bulge outwards, become three-dimensional and solid.
Shoulder holsters.
Guns. SIG-SAUER P229 on the left; Glock-22 on the right. Locked and loaded.
He pulls them now, and the lead wolf throws his head back and howls. It's a chilling, discordant sound. It's not quite wolflike.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 04:54AM EST
They're on an Island in the middle of the swamps about a half mile by a half mile in dimensons...only one way onto the island. tufts of earth...most of them have stone spikes in them. the rest of the island has spikes driven into the ground so anyone trying to swim to the island gets skewered...and there are Kanji pits on the island.
billy turns to face the back of the island...wondering how they got back there, softly he mutters. "I know you can use a rifle Santiago...how are you with a blade?"
Santiago
Fri 05:01AM EST
The howl stretches on and on. Soon the beta-wolf joins; and then the one(s) in the forest. It's hard to tell how many there are. The howls echo and reverberate; the noise bores into the skull and hammers at the ears. Gradually they can begin to understand some parts of it--
...hungryhungrygoodfoodsmellfoodsoclosefoodacrossWATERANGRYeateatkillrendeathungryHUNGRY...
Two more slip out of the shadows. Then a third. Five in all now (god knows how many there were before the traps--!), they stalk the shores of the natural moat, glaring at their intended prey.
"I don't use blades," comes the calm reply as Santiago snaps out the clips on both guns and checks them. The SIG was fully loaded - 12 rounds. The Glock was six bullets down - 9 left. Twenty-one total. He shouldn't need more than that. But then again, there were a lot of them.
Raise the gun. He doesn't even seem to aim. BLAM. The betawolf yelps, four legs down to three. The rest of them suddenly roar into their Crinos forms, snarling, dripping foam and saliva to the sandy shore.
"I use guns and claws."
And all of a sudden the war wolves are charging, flowing down the narrow ridge of land, the only path to Billy's island. They're not smart, but they're damned fast, and agile enough to avoid the spikes.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 05:05AM EST
His form changes slowly...but quickly enough that by the time they reach the island he's in cinos...the Crimson eye settles on his first target and he raises the War club as he lets out a sharp battle cry of "HOKa HEY"
Santiago
Fri 05:12AM EST
The guns bark twice more each, the trigger pulled so fast the sounds overlap into one almost-continuous roar before the first war wolf's paws hit the island. Four bullets strike true and three bullets do nothing. The fourth barely slows the leader before he's upon Billy.
The wolves of the Wyrm shouldn't be this fast (just as fast as they are).
The wolves of the Wyrm shouldn't be this strong (stronger than they are).
The wolves of the Wyrm shouldn't be this tough (tougher than they are).
The wolves of the Wyrm shouldn't be at all.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 05:16AM EST
Racor sharp inner edge of the crinos sized club comes around at the wolf's neck, the backstroke comes around, the spike ramming into it's side. he snarls as his rage is barely contained.
Santiago
Fri 05:35AM EST
Santiago snarls into Crinos form behind Billy, an eyeblink before the action begins. The Wendigo's first hit glances off the emaciated, wild-eyed wolf's pelt. The wolf retaliates: a crushing bite to the neck that Billy turns aside at the last second with a twist of his body. He's not a Fostern for nothing.
The second crushes the wolf's ribs, sending it toppling sideways - but not before its vile claws flash out and tear away a chunk of Billy's stomach.
Gunfire: point blank range. Both guns at once. The first pair of shots slam into the alpha wolf, but it's not necessary. He's already dead. Still, these are no normal wolves, to retreat when the alpha falls. The beta lunges - teeth clack together, bone grinds to powder, and the Cliath is on three legs himself with a snarl of pain and rage, blood flowing in torrents. But he's not a Get for nothing. Pain is a distant thing - the blessing of tribe and moon both - the guns roar again, bullets slamming into the beta wolf twice, felling him.
The third wolf is still crossing the bridge. Two more bullets. The third wolf staggers, bullets tearing through tough hide. It whines, turns tail and runs. The stink of rage hangs over the air - Eyes-Like-Flint can't possibly have too much more to spend. He's a Half-Moon, not a full.
Two more wolves. And they aren't running.
Round two.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 05:46AM EST
It was the Last straw,
War club in one hand, tomahawk in the other, he lunges at the nearest one with a belowing howl full of Rage, pain, and sorrow for a fallen mate...a mate fallen to the wyrm. the Club comes around and the spike drives into the creature ((Wp point for insta success))(1) the Tomahawk comes down between it's eyes.(2) Leaving it embedded there he drives his claws into it's back and closes his fist (3) but the Rage won';t be quelled as the wolf is lifted into the air and slammed bodily into a kanji pit close by(4)
Santiago
Fri 05:57AM EST
The wolf was dead by the first blow. The tomahawk caved in its skull and buried deep into the foul recesses of its diseased mind. In its tortured, starved, mad eyes, Billy might've glimpsed - just glimpsed - a hint of ... gratitude?
(Not everyone chooses to be of the Wyrm. Most don't. And these?
Maybe they didn't even have a choice.)
The instant's over. The fourth war wolf lies dead in the pit, its body impaled on the spikes. The first two are sprawled on the beach in various states of dismemberment. The third is long gone, trailing blood. The fifth -
- still coming on.
BLAM. BLAM.
An eye missing. Half a face missing. Its neck tendons raw and exposed.
Still. Coming. On.
Claws rip into the Cliath - he turns to take the blow on his better side - it rips a hole into his lungs and rends down his ribs, snapping them like matchsticks, ripping through the right-hand holster, shredding the dedicated leather. The Cliath drops dead. Rages back from the edge - barely. Some of the terrible wounds heal, but the claw marks will stay with him forever, ridged scars beneath the holsters he wears - or the tattoos they sometimes manifest as. He lies still, barely breathing, as the wolf wheels on Billy and lashes out with terrible teeth -
- but the Fostern dodges the worst of it.
Round three.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 06:04AM EST
War club dropped(you've done enough in this fight bane Breaker) his claws come up driving through the soft spot of the throat and up through the top of it's head. he holds it there, staring into it's eyes breathing ragged, bubbles of blood frothing from his nostrils the claws of his free hand raised ready to rend it's head from it' body if need be.
Santiago
Fri 06:12AM EST
The wyrmwolf claws at Billy's forearm ineffectually as the Wendigo's own claws drive up through the base of its skull and gradually, its struggles...just...cease.
Neurons fire dully.
The maniac light in its eyes dims. It stares glassily, still breathing - shallow, uneven, a small whine escaping at the edges.
...hungryhungry(givemepeace)hungryhungry...
Billy Bedlam
Fri 06:14AM EST
He nods quietly and whispers. "find your peace and hunt well." that done, he drives his other claws in and twists sharply killing it instantly and tearing it's head from it';s body
Santiago
Fri 06:19AM EST
One split-second before impact, the light in the wolf's eyes blaze--
--and then it winks out.
And that's the last of them. There's one more in the woods somewhere, but the trail of blood won't be hard to track - and likely it'll die of exposure by the next night, even unattended. Wyrmridden and diseased, these wolves barely had the mental capability to do what they did best - hunt - much less anything else.
Silence, except for the lapping of water at the edges of the island. The ground is soaked with blood, littered with bodies - four dead, one barely this side of death. Eleven empty shell casings wink softly from the sand, bloodsplattered. Two Garou against five war wolves of the wyrm, and still they've won. Not bad. Not bad at all.
This battle's over.
Of course, the war's barely even begun.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 06:21AM EST
moving over to the cliath, he sets the thing's head on his uninjured side as he whispers. "a trophy for you and a reminder for those dark nights....you going to live?" his voice hard to follow as he shifts down from crinos...first in the high tongue, then a mixture and finally in english
Santiago
Fri 06:24AM EST
An exertion of rage to awaken; another - his last - to shift into Glabro. Immediately, his body begins to heal itself, slowly but surely pulling muscle and bone back together. The suddenly rougher-featured Half-Moon looks at the head and smiles a faint, bloody smile. "I'll live, Rhya."
Billy Bedlam
Fri 06:26AM EST
he nods quietly. "You sure?"
Santiago
Fri 06:29AM EST
Collapsed lungs. Eviscerated bowels. Shattered leg. It's difficult to speak, the words slow and quiet, but the meaning comes through all the same. "Great Fenris... won't let me... die so easily," whispers the Cliath.
He closes his eyes and sleeps. Heals. Rebuilds.
Billy Bedlam
Fri 06:31AM EST
He grunts as he removes one of the Talens that Matthew gave him....he didn't want to use too many...but one wouldn't go amiss. He activates it, directing it onto Santiago. then his eyes roll back in his head and he slumps face down on the ground unconscious.
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