March Revel: At the Dump

[hazlogs]

It is currently 17:55 Pacific Time on Thu Mar 28 2002.

Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (99% full).

Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the southwest at 9 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.28 and steady, and the relative humidity is 71 percent. The dewpoint is 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius.)

[The caern.]

Fights-For-Hope steps away from the alpha, satisfied having said his peace.

Nightflash paces near the stone as the time for the revel draws near.

Bitter Cup waits with the rest of her pack. The foggy air billows around her head as she lets out a long breath.

Shadow Eyes lopes into the caern, panting at the end of a good run.

Tempered-Blade rests, still in her war-form, at the foot of her alpha. The no-moon Fianna's claw flex occasionally as she watches the garou begin to assemble for the fight to come.

Hanging out near the others is Alicia, pacing slowly back and forth, shaking the last of her nerves out. She looks to be a bit jumpier then usual.

Owen pats himself down, taking a quick inventory before the revel starts off. Knife... check. Rage... check. Balls of steel... check.

Three-Blades lies at her pack alpha's feet, ears up but head down on her paws. She looks pretty calm, if not for the hackles occassionally rising and lowering.

Leonard stands next to Sepdet, outwardly calm save for the constant flexing of his hands into fists and back.

Seeker surveys the crowd gathered and nods, pleased.

Seeker contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Seeker shifts into Crinos form.

Owen remains in homid for the time being.

Salem stands near Roger, still wearing homid form, hands clasped behind his back. The Philodox is in no hurry to shift to Crinos.

Seeker says, ~As I said, we revel tonight against a dump in the scab. There are banes lurking in the piles of garbage and may be difficult to lure out. There are also humans buried in the waste, possibly food for the banes. A man was luring them in, presumably for that reason. I killed him before he could deceive us. He was tainted somehow, because his blood withered my hand. That was some months ago, and I haven't been back since. I don't know what's been going on there since then. There are flying banes, so children of Owl should take to the sky and be wary. Is there a galliard here who can call out minions of the Wyrm?"~

Sepdet has been standing with arms folded, but flashes her packmates a rare bright grin as the sept prepares to move. Seeker's outline of the evening's prey is noted with a slight nod.

Runs-at-Dawn catches sight of his packmate, and moves over toward her. They'll be providing air support for the group, apparently, better that they stay close so they can more easily coordinate when the time comes.

Three-Blades flattens her ears back, teeth showing ferally. Going to the dump and digging around the trash... a Gnawerly thing to do.

Bitter Cup glances about her for any fostern galliard.

NAME             BREED    AUSPICE         TRIBE            RANK    SEX
Faces-Shadows    Homid    Ragabash        Uktena            3      Male   
Seeker           Homid    Ahroun          Silent Striders   2      Male   
Salem            Homid    Philodox        Glass Walkers     1      Male   
Little Bear      Homid    Galliard        Wendigo           1      Male   
Nightflash       Lupus    Ahroun          Children of Gaia  2      Male   
Guards-Flame     Homid    Galliard        Children of Gaia  1      Female 
Runs-at-Dawn     Homid    Theurge         Fianna            1      Male   
Tempered-Blade   Homid    Ragabash        Fianna            1      Female 
Bitter Cup       Homid    Theurge         Children of Gaia  3      Female 
Three-Blades     Homid    Ragabash        Bone Gnawers      1      Female 
Francisco        Homid    Philodox        Glass Walkers     1      Male   
Tobin            Homid    Theurge         Silver Fangs      0      Male   
Shadow Eyes      Homid    Theurge         Bone Gnawers      2      Male   
Fights-For-Hope  Homid    Theurge         Get of Fenris     1      Male   
Shadow-of-Blood  Lupus    Theurge         Red Talons        1      Male   
Owen             Homid    Ahroun          Get of Fenris     2      Male   
Roger            Metis    Galliard        Glass Walkers     1      Male   
Sepdet           Metis    Theurge         Silent Striders   3      Female

Little Bear stays conspicuously silent, folding his arms.

Seeker sees that no one has the gift. ~No matter. I imagine such a large number of garou should provoke them. To the Shadow, then!

Reaching for the central stone, Sepdet tips back her muzzle in a clear, keening howl that fades out as she disappears. ~Gaia's claws go forth!~

[Scene change.]

Salmon's Leap moves as one, loping confidently behind the leader of tonight's hunt. Sepdet takes point as usual, scanning and sniffing for stray spirits playing hard to see, with Little Bear at her right hand, claws bared and ready for action. Three-Blades sniffs around the Umbral trashdump, taking in the spirit of scents in the Realm with an interested, cautious air. She flanks Sepdet's left, watching her surroundings with a hint of paranoia.

As they make the journey, Salem uses the brick walls to grind his claws against while moving, sharpening his claws for the coming blood they will spill. Francisco is quiet most of the way, seeming less anxious about the fight coming ahead then many others. Roger on the other hand, is all anxiety. With his trenchcoat flowing behind him, and the glint of gunmetal beneath said trenchcoat, he manages to look like some mutant from a John Woo flick in the glabro form he currently inhabits.

Runs-at-Dawn, Guards-Flame, and Faces-Shadows all take flight, the last with no obvious means of support while the first two spread their wings wide. The Fianna is doing his best to cover his third of the entire group, to make sure that none of them are caught unawares of danger, and that they are alerted to anything that might stand in their path, while the Gaian seems to be focused on the upcoming task at hand, preparing herself mentally. The Adren Uktena's form simply fades from view. Below, Bitter Cup lopes with the rest of her pack, her expression still mostly calm despite the moon's pull. As the group draws nigh on their target, she murmurs a single word. Her fur, already shadowed with Uktena's gift, glows a warm silver for a moment before it fades into the skin. Behind her, Tempered-Blade takes read, sewwping back and forth and keeping watch.

Seeker leads the Revelers in lupus, crossing over the bridge and into the city. Soon they are approaching the dump area and Seeker stops about a half-mile away. He scrapes his claws against the umbral concrete, drawing sparks and leaving gouges. He turns to the group and delivers an inspiring speech, strengthening the resolve of all who hear it and giving them a renewed sense of purpose. Having done that, he calls for the no-moons present and asks for them to scout ahead and report back to him. Shadow Eyes runs with the others, stopping now and again to point out umbral landmarks that he knows, with regard to the city, so they don't get lost or separated. Owen waits until the revelers have reached the junkyard before slowly moving up to the warform, dragging his claws along any hard surface that may be around. Nightflash makes no preparations immediately. He sticks near the front of the group, pacing restlessly. His muscles twitch in anticipation and his ears swivel constantly with each new sound. Shadow-of-Blood moves along with his former packmates, characteristically silent. His mannerisms are quick-paced, getting more irritible the closer the group gets to the city. Rides-Fire mimics Wildfire's actions, sharping his claws to their keenest edge. The Stargazer has shifted down into hispo and strains forward, eager for the fight.

Tempered-Blade calls upon her gift to blur her form and make her harder to see. Along with any other dark-moons, she moves towards the front, leaving her pack for the moment as she concentrates on scouting ahead.

Three-blades slips ahead as well, blurring from view.

Runs-at-Dawn flies forward of the main group. He's got a better range of sight from up here than the Ragabash, and he might as well put it to good use. Not only that, he's likely to draw the attention of any enemies, since they can see him. Just maybe it'll make the ground scouters' jobs that much easier.

Seeker clarifies to the ragabashes, ~Don't enter the dump just yet. Let me know if you can see any activity inside.~

Guards-Flame follows after Runs-At-Dawn in the air, spreading out her owlish wings to the sky, feeling the rush of the cold umbral air blast against her. Squinting her eyes some, she gives a silent nod to her packmate as she continues to survey the world about her.

Sepdet glances to Little Bear before the scouts have returned and nods, then reports in a low voice to Seeker, ~Trash quivering, they say. Something about to emerge.~

Little Bear tenses, head down, hands almost touching the ground as he readies to spring on the first target he sees.

The Sept Alpha confirms, ~We have movement in the trash.~

Nightflash continues to pace restlessly, waiting. Not much else to do.

Seeker nods at Sepdet, then motions for the Revelers to follow him. He moves forward at a medium pace, quietly, toward the dump. ~Watch the skies. Attack at my signal.~

Fights-For-Hope growls deeply at this news, ~We are in the eye of a storm. Soon the rage will be on before we can see peace once again.~

Runs-at-Dawn suddenly streaks toward the ground, a bird of prey descending upon its chosen target. He's seen something, but by the time he could shout a warning to the Ragabash, it might be too late, and that's not a chance he's willing to take.

Following after her pack mate's lead, Guards-The-Flame arches out her body and spirals her away after him, splitting the air quickly with a rush. Her eyes are trained upon the ground, arms outstretched with claws dancing in the moonlight, ready.

Salem bares his teeth, a low rumble escaping him as he glances skywards. He flexes his claws with barely-controlled impatience. Skyscraper is silent and still in a very high-tension sort of way, ears up, earrings glinting. Roger's breathing gets faster and yet deeper as the moments pass, rage bubbling up as a frightening smile that isn't quite sane appears on his face.

Seeker continues toward the dump at a steady pace. Without slowing, he calls out to the fliers, ~When the battle starts, try to force the flying banes down to where we can get at them more easily. Attack their wings if you can. Anyone with ranged weapons, concentrate fire on the airborne banes.~

Sepdet starts forward the second Seeker gives the command, a controlled urgency to her movements, anticipating the battle about to be joined. She and Little Bear head with speed along the path their packmate took to catch up with Yi as quickly as possible. ~The living-dead humans are there, Seeker,~ Sepdet reports grimly. Yi, meanwhile, if she could be seen, has shifted into a larger form, waiting anxiously for the revellers to converge on the dump.

Bitter-Cup starts to move forward, relaying, ~Several rotting humans coming out of the trash, with more behind.~ Before the group, Tempered-Blade begins backing up slowly, regrouping with her pack and slipping easily to the alpha's left flank as she prepares to meet the attack. At the dump, Runs-at-Dawn rakes the creature with his claws, but not without price. What looks as though it was a maneuver meant to arc back upward does not, his wings unable to carry him back aloft as they should, as the thing's arms reach out to surround the Fianna.

Swooping down behind her packmate, Guards-The-Flame aims herself for the creature reaching for him, claws outstretched, ready to tackle it from behind and knock him out of the way, sinking her talons into him.

Seeker picks up the pace, heading toward the dump at a run. He leads his pack down the middle and barks commands for the other packs to flank left and right. He smoothly shifts into the warform and howls out a war cry, signalling the attack. Wildfire stands silently behind Seeker, fidgeting with anticipation. Should the word be given, he'll already be three steps in motion to the nearest bad thingy. Nightflash runs alongside Seeker, keeping pace with the Wyrmfoe. Shadow Eyes moves to one side, flanking Seeker on the side opposite Nightflash; ~The dead-like humans are our first target?~ He clenches his fists, letting claws flash. Shadow-of-Blood growls at the prospect of finally fighting, moving forward fluidly slightly behind his former packmate. Seeker replies, ~Yes, but concentrate on the banes if they make themselves seen!~ Rides-Fire goes with the rest, tensing when more news of the foe is reported.

Roger, with a throwing wide of his arms sends his trenchcoat flying up into the air behind him, from underneath he grabs a dedicated assualt rifle in mid-shift to crinos, bullets blazing forth before the warbeast into his enemies with a mighty roaring hail. Beside the metis are the two hulking forms walking with speed, yet almost looking like they are in slowmotion with the length of their strides.

Three-Blades, closest to Luke and his target, helps out with a gusto as she howls her warcry and throws herself to the feet of the front zombie, seeing if her tactic will immobilize the enemy: striking low as Alicia goes high. Sepdet charges forward and left at her packmate's howl, Little Bear a few paces back.

The groans that emit from the dump seem to sink into the bones of the revelling Garou, as more and more tortured human faces begin to emerge from the trash. Runs-at-Dawn stands frozen with his captor perhaps twenty feet from the first swell of trash, and two more zombies have pushed past the pair toward the rest. One of the new ones from the edge of the trash begins to shuffle toward Guards-the-Flames, just as Three-Blades hits low on the original zombie and tears its legs out from under it. Runs-at-Dawn's wings begin to stir again. To the group's right, Roger's first round of bullets totally annihilates one zombie, which falls to the ground and oozes blood. More foes exit the dump.

Sepdet and Little Bear have selected a zombie near the one Yi just dispatched, so that Three-blades can join them. The Gnawer lunges for the nearest arm, aiming to rip it off. Little Bear uses his greater weight to try and shove it off-banace, while their alpha puts on a burst of speed, throwing herself /past/ their target so she can pivot on a heel and swipe downwards at what passes for its hamstring.

Swinging around to face the oncoming Zombie, Guards-The-Flame crouches a bit, then leaps forward, lashing out with both claws quickly to dig them into the zombie's chest and sides, ripping straight upwards. Tempered-Blade lunges foward to attack the closest target, launching herself foward in an attempt to knock one of the creatures over before raking at it with her claws. There is a decided reluctance to try and *bite* it, however. Behind her, Bitter Cup's dark eyes narrow as she pauses when the others rush into combat. ~They can sap your strength and hold you fast,~ she warns, though any that were near the front line don't need the last notice at least. ~Beware!~ Runs-at-Dawn shakes his head, taking a moment to recover from whatever force held him immobile before he spreads his wings again. A nod and a faint smile to his packmate and to Three-Blades in thanks for their assistance, and then he takes off once again. Rather than re-engage immediately, he flies higher to get an assessment of the battleground, to gauge the numbers of the enemy and make sure they're not trying anything sneaky.

Skyscraper snarls harshly and lashes as whatever zombie comes within his long reach. Salem bares his fangs in a humorlessly savage grin as his tribemate gives one of the undead a fatal case of lead poisoning, then sobers. Standing erect, he scans the sky and the group's surroundings, more wary of banes than moving corpses. Roger takes aim at a grouping of unengaged zombie creatures and unleashes more hell into them, taking out only one if he can't find a viable group.

The Walker group near Fights-for-Hope tenses as they wait for anything to come closer. Salem watches the sky and spots a lone crow circling lazily nearby, though it has not yet moved to attack Runs-At-Dawn, who just rejoined the sky. Roger finds a pair of zombies just beyond Guards-the-Flame's right and peppers them with bullets. They moan as they stumble and bleed, but the theurge's gun has begun to sound raspy.

Seeker charges forward, drawing out his kopsh and howling a challenge before leaping into combat. His gift allows him to attack first, and he swings his kopsh at the nearest of the walking dead. There is no strategy at first, only free combat to clear out the zombies. Wildfire lunges forward fully at the zombie-thing Seeker attacked, aiming for any purchase offered before turning into a German chipper-shredder. Rides-Fire springs for another abomination, howling a challenge to the entire blight as he joyfully enters combat. His heavy jaws snap at a rotting thigh. Nightflash attacks with his packmate, lunging high where Rides-Fire goes low. He seeks to strike the humanoid creature in the chest, knocking it to the ground. Fights-For-Hope growls loudly at the gunfire, not caring about the results but annoyed at the application. He calls out fenris' name in the mother tongue and the designs in the strange tattoo collar about his neck glows a bright red-orange like firelight. With this he is ready, and and heads towards an enemy. Shadow-of-Blood launches himself at one of the shambling creatures, ripping at its midsection fiercely. Shadow Eyes launches himself at one that Shadow-of-Blood is already on, seeking to distract and tear through the creatures head or spine with his claws while it's being gnawed on by another.

Together, Salmon's Leap demolishes a zombie, though it manages to get a good slash in on Little Bear's muzzle before it goes down in gobs of flesh and blood. Behind them, though, Sepdet is attacked by another of the monsters, which sets both outstretched hands on her shoulders and leans in to bite her neck. She seems to wilt under the attack.

Guards-the-Flame goes claw-to-hand with her zombie, slashing deeply into its chest but taking a bruising blow in return. It attempts to bite her neck, but fails to reach. Tempered Blade knocks hers over easily, as the slow-moving humanoid falls under her weight; she scores it shallowly, but it doesn't manage to do damage in return.

Seeker's group seems to be determined to bath in blood, as they wade into the fray. Seeker and Owen both strike before the zombie has a chance; he hits Wildfire shallowly before his final stoke cuts it down. Nightflash and Rides-Fire do almost as well with theirs; it reaches out to Nightflash and attempts to grapple the hispo's head, but fails as the Gaian shakes it off. The two theurges attack a third before Fights-for-Hope moves in; it seems the worse for wear, but it reaches out to grab Elan's arm before he can jerk away. Its hungry mouth latches on to the Bone Gnawer's wrist and seems to suck away will with Elan's life blood.

Three-Blades turns on the attacker, enraged that it would dare go for her packmate. Set low, the Gnawer follows a working tactic of knocking out the legs from the animated corpse. Little Bear yelps sharply at the attack on his muzzle, but does a pirouette on the chest of the downed zombie, digging his hindclaws in as he turns and aims a devastating claw towards the head of the beast that seeks to do his alpha harm. The little Strider staggers, head falling forward as a wave of vertigo passes through her. Then she snarls and twists, trying to slash through the grasping arms at the wrists.

Roger strides forward and sprays another round of fire into the two zombies he already injured, hoping to take them both down. Then shifting to the crinos form finally, the assualt rifle absorbs into a tattoo of itself in his forearm. The two garou beside him, Skyscraper and Salem, move forward as well. As they approach a zombie, Salem and Skyscraper cross in front of Roger almost casually, but then the facade of control ends... their claws seek eviserate the poor undead bastard with rage driven speed.

Tempered-Blade's snarl is laced with rage as the Ragabash tears gleefully into the zombie below her, even as her theurge packmate moves up beside her to attack. The reluctance to bite seems to have faded, and the Fianna's teeth snap for the head of the zombiehile the Gaian tears at the zombie's legs, working on dismemberment from the either end. Grunting at the blow, Guards-The-Flame redoubles her efforts, this time becoming a smooth blur of claws as she throws two quick strikes, one across the throat, the other at his torso as she attempts to bowl him over with her strength. Above, Runs-at-Dawn keeps a close watch on the dump, calling out, ~More coming up!~ Ahead, Faces-the-Shadows-Within suddenly appears, striking an unengaged zombie--away from Roger's targets--with enough force that his invisible divebombing is evident.

With a last moan, the zombie on Sepdet desperately sucks more life from the Silent Strider, but it is not enough to keep him alive as the pack tactics wipe him out. However, two more zombies have approached: one for each Yi and Little Bear, though they simply try to swing and connect. Little Bear this time nimbly dodges out of the way, but Yi takes a slashing cut to her left shoulder. Sepdet seems weakened but is currently unmenaced.

The two zombies shot by Roger stagger under the hail of bullets, but do not quite go down. However, they are eaten alive--not quite literally--by Skyscraper and Salem in turn. One manages a shallow score on Salem, though it bleeds freely for such a comparatively glancing blow.

Seeker disengages from the zombie he and Wildfire killed, then leaps at another one in single combat, bringing his kopsh down on it with a mighty chop. Nightflash drops his head to the zombie's, and attempts to bite it off. Rides-Fire scores with his sharpened claws, seeking to put to rest anything his packmate hasn't already served. He's already turning to the next as soon as it dies. Shadow-of-Blood rips his claws into the zombie once again, working to tear it off the blank Gnawer theurge. Fights-For-Hope leaps forward with a warcry engaging his first enemy, that zombie which is attacking Elan. If he can't make purchase with claws into the zombie itself he'll at least work to knock the zombie and Shadow-Eyes away from each other. Elan shakes his head and seems to regain some resolve, then, seeing the thing has his wrist, just seeks to hold it at arms length in case the others might want to also slash at it, and tries to crush it's head with one large clawed paw. Wildfire drops his zombie like a bad habit to charge into the next closest, Claws outstretched and aiming for the neck for either a quick kill of to keep the thing from gnawing at him at the least.

Tempered-Blade strikes out at the corpse beneath her, even as it seeks to bind her. Her limbs slow as it reaches out to hug her to its breast, but Bitter Cup's claws put a quick end to whatever the wounded zombie was going to do. Another attacks the Gaian from behind, though she seems uninjured as yet. Alicia manages to dig her claws into the monster's throat and stomach, though this opens her up to its last desperate attack. The Gaian staggers as her blood enters the spirit's mouth, though it sinks to the ground as she gives her claws a final twist. Faces-the-Shadow-Within manages to surprise his zombie, though it attempts to hold him as well. For now, it fails, though it's far from dead.

Seeker again manages to deeply wound his target, though without Wildfire there to help the zombie has not quite died. It reaches out and bites through the Silent Strider's shoulder, drawing out essense with blood as it sucks. Nightflash and Rides-Fire easily strike and kill their target before it can attack again, but the Gaian is attacked from behind. The living corpse bites into the Gaian's furry back, eating and craving more salty blood. Between Shadow-of-Blood and Fights-For-Hope, they manage to nearly kill it, and Elan's force of will calls the blow that kills it. More zombies lurch forward.

Wildfire exchanges blows with his zombie, but it does not manage to reach its mouth to his skin. Instead, it settles for more bruising on the Get.

Little Bear doesn't let anything stop him from going cuisinart on the zombie in front of him, clawing and biting. It seems Yi's pause to communicate with her packmates cost her a nasty slash. She backs away further from the zombie attacking her, dodging away as she tries to spot a major source of the zombie trouble. Sepdet is visibly fatigued as she lurches towards the one that was aiming at Yi, giving the scout cover. ~Find the maker of these things!~ she snaps, aiming another swipe that's more a delaying action than direct attack. ~Burn the root!~

Salem snarls, his self-control waning as the zombie gets through his defenses; bloodlust surges to the surface -- he shakes his head sharply, beating it back, doing his best to keep a clear head as he seeks out a new target. Howls-When-Dreaming moves with Salem towards the next flesh pile, in front of his packmate, Dreamer waits for the zombie to close to him. Once the zombie is just close enough Dreamer reaches out and howls with rage, bringing a ball of flame into existance originating inside the zombie's rotting mouth. Salem takes this as his cue to kick out with a massively muscled leg over and over again into the zombie's midsection. Skyscraper low-growls encouragement to Salem--keep that temper, for now at least! and moves with him to take down the burning and rotting pile of wyrmy flesh.

Sepdet manages to distract Yi's attacker while the ragabash searches; the little Strider takes a blow, but it does no appreciable damage. Little Bear doesn't fair nearly so well. His first blow against the zombie opened its stomach into a flood of rotting intestines, but then it reached out for his shoulders. His actions slow to a standstill, even though it has not yet further damaged him.

Tempered-Blade lunges for the creature attacking Bitter-Cup, teeth snapping for purchase she she hopes to rip it to pieces between herself and her alpha, who also returns the attack. From above, Runs-at-Dawn calls out, ~Even more movement! Looks like lots more coming!~ The adren Uktena takes to the skies once again, he zombie still clinging to him for at least part of the ride. ~Shit,~ he confirms.

The three Walkers again work in concert. As Roger burns the hapless undead, it reaches out to rake him with clawed fingers in its blind pain. Salem and Skyscraper quickly help take it down, though one attacks Skyscraper's back. It nearly latches on, but is shaken off.

The zombie on Bitter Cup's back manages to bite through her arm and suck some of the adren theurge's blood before it explodes into a wet stain between the two packmates. Faces-Shadows is lightly damaged as he escapes his zombie; it stares up after him dumbly without switching to another target as yet.

Three-Blades howls her defiance, her packmates both getting deeper in zombie muck. With the moon fueling her Rage, she shoots in a line for both zombies, aiming a first blow at simply tackling the first zombie to the ground and trampling it on her way to lunge at the throat of the zombie holding onto Little Bear. Sepdet hears Yi's howl and dives, using flagging strength to throw her arms around the first zombie's legs to bring it down as Three-blades practically charges over her alpha's back to tear into the one immobilizing the Wendigo.

Seeker sags helplessly as the corpse bites into his flesh, then he forces himself to snap out of the reverie. He shoves the zombie away with a snarl of revulsion, then takes a home run swing at its neck, his good eye burning with murderous fury. Shadow-of-Blood turns to the closest mindless creature and once again tears into it, attacking in a blur of speed with tooth and claw. Wildfire keeps what purchase he has on his current zombie instead of raking it through. Instead, he uses his hold to pick the zombie up, using it as a two-handed sledge against the next nearest monstrosity. Nightflash yelps in surprise as he's bitten. It takes him a moment longer to react than it normally would, and when he does, he doesn't move with quite the same determination as normal. He rolls onto his side, seeking to crush the spirit, or at least get it to let go of him. Rides-Fire flings himself on Nightflash's attacker with a flury of teeth and claws. His good ear slicks back to his head as he presses the attack before it can react. Elan, still bleeding slightly, moves to help Nightflash. He tries to come in from the back, reach around and claw the things head clean off it's shoulders, tearing at the soft rotting flesh around the neck and hoping to sever the head right off. Fights calls forth steeled will from deep within, raising his hands before him like a bear's. Suddenly he takes a few steps and leaps forward raking with claws into his next target, still in the air as it moves out to meet it's doom. Regardless of the outcome of the strikes, Fights-For-Hopes' is hurtling almost feet first at the zombie.

Dreamer roars out in pain right into his packmate's faces but maintains a grip on his sanity for now, something in his eyes unfocuses a moment that perhaps is the cause of him not going into Roger's special brand of frenzy. He roars to his packmates, ~COME WITH ME! We attack the source!~ Salem's ears twitch at Runs-at-Dawn's warning, and he mutters, ~Fuck,~ to Dreamer, quickly moving to take out the zombie attacking Skyscraper so they can move on. Skyscraper turns on the zombie that tried to latch on to him, going for it's lower body, as Salem blurs with rage into it's upper half.

Many of the fostern ahroun have the gift that allows them to always strike cleanly before the shambling undead, and they use it to good effect here, as Seeker's and Nightflash's foes are taken down before they can do any more damage. Wildfire's unusual tactic does appear to damage both zombies, but the one in his hands twists lithely until it sinks teeth in his forearm, drinking the Get of Fenris' blood. Fights-for-Hope manages to exchange blow for blow, and both zombie and Garou bleed.

Shaking her head a few times to try and clear her head, Guards-The-Flame takes a few running steps and then launches up into the sky, allowing her Owlish wings to carry her up quickly. She hopes to join the other two in the sky and take a deep breath, but they are busy looking around the dump. ~Still more over here!~ Faces-the-Shadows-Within calls from ahead and one side. ~And here!~ comes the answering call from Runs-at-Dawn, opposite.

Ragabash and theurge strike hard at the already-wounded zombie holding Little Bear still. It sags but desperately hangs on to the Wendigo, though the pair of attacks do seem to stop it from biting into Little Bear's neck.

Dreamer charges ahead and into a line of three zombies exiting the dump. They advance toward him, arms stretched yearningly to his warmth, as Skyscraper and Salem tangle with the one on the former. Salem takes another stinging blow for his trouble, but the zombie expires in a pool of blood.

Bitter Cup takes a quick assessment of the situation and howls, ~Retreat! This place is a blight! We will return!~ As she calls the cry, Tempered-Blade guards her from another zombie's attack, feinting as the pair start to drop back.

Three-Blades' jaws strike to hold and tear, the ragabash shaking back and forth in attempts to tear the undead ragdoll into just that - rags. Sepdet, already low to the ground, rolls and tries to yank Little Bear free as Yi tears into their opponent.

Seeker continues his onslaught with a burst of speed, covering the revelers' retreat. He slashes twice at a zombie with his kopsh, then leaping away to dodge the zombie's counterattack. Wildfire snarls deeply as this beast bites his flesh. How dare it sully a Get? Drawing into some inner reserve, he spins once and flings the zombie with all his might at the second. Fights-For-Hope grabs at the right shoulder and side of his zombie throwing his strength into the wyrmy thing to turn it about, raking it with claws incidently while pushing it away from him. Elan rushes to help Fights, raking at the thing's throat with a slash of his claws. Rides-Fire readies himself to attack another target. However, when the alpha howls, he snarls defiantly. He begins to fall back, but he attacks one more target on his way, his claws and teeth flashing with the speed of rage. Shadow-of-Blood snarls at the zombie, partly at the creature itself and partly at the futility of making a difference in this Wyrm-tainted Scab. Nonetheless, he continues attacking until the retreat is sounded, when he starts to pull back, too quickly for the zombie to follow. Nightflash falls back with his packmate, helping Rides-Fire to take down the last target as the group retreats.

Salem and Skyscraper hear the call for retreat but without even the need for thought turn to make sure their Galliard tribal brother is safe. Seeing him suddenly surrounded by three zombies the two Philodox Walkers move in to bail out Dreamer. Moving in quickly coornated actions Salem moves in to simply touch the furthest zombie to the left in an area far from it's head, exerting the falling touch upon it. Skyscraper grabs the heads of the other two zombies whose attentions were on Dreamer and slams them together with rage driven crinosed strength while Dreamer drops to the lupus form and leaps down and through the center zombie's legs to get away from the danger zone.

Seeker's foe drops in a ooze of rotted flesh. With an effort of strength, Wildfire flings the first zombie into the second; the two fall down to the gound in a tangle of limbs. Fights-for-Hope badly wounds his opponent, but he too is bitten; blood paints the dying zombie's mouth red as the Get of Fenris's willpower seeps away. Rides-Fire and Nightflash take out one more foe on their way back. Shadow-of-Blood manages to cut out the creature's legs before he begins to retreat. It crawls toward him, moaning pathetically, but far too slow to trouble him further.

Salem's target falls to the ground; it reaces from there to Salem's foot and bites down, but the ahroun shakes it off before any blood is drawn. Skyscraper takes another glancing blow from a staggered zombie, but the other misses entirely. Dreamer manages to escape, shifting easily to lupus in the umbral setting.

Dreamer growls and leads the retreat of his small group. Let us go, I know what to prepare with next time. At this Salem steps down harshly on the head of the zombie who dared attempt to bite him, to crush the head like a watermelon at a Gallager concert. If the desired effect occurs or not, Salem turns and drops to the faster lupus to leave with his breatheren. Skyscraper is right behind him as he turns away, shifting to hispo before a split second passes, as he turns. He pushes off with his massive hispoed hindlegs against the zombies to propel him forward to join his tribemates'.

As Yi worries the clinging zombie, it dissolves down in a pool of blood and slime. Little Bear blinks one, twice, and finds Sepdet yanking hard on his arm.

Guards-Flame watches the others down below with glassy eyes, slowly coming to as her wings beat against the night air. As her Elder shouts out for a retreat, she holds herself steady, waiting for the others, making sure that Luke is near by. Faces-the-Shadows-Within retreats slowly, watching both for flying banes and the continued signs of movement throughout the dump. Below, the Alpha and her Fianna packmate continue moving back out cautiously but steadily, now that it looks like all are retreating.

Brains squish under Salem's taloned foot. The Walkers manage to disengage without further incident.

Little Bear stumbles suddenly as he's freed from the thing's gaze, looking around with a comically bewildered expression on his face. HE goes in the direction he's pulled, shaking his head and stumbling. Sepdet slides her arm down around his waist to steady him until he gets his feet, growling curtly, ~We're leaving.~ Three-Blades finishes reducing the zombie into a chunky dogfood consistency, and turns with her back towards her pack. Go! she barks to her pack, following more slowly. A goo-stained set of fangs will greet any zombie dull enough to attack them again.

Though the zombies continue to chase in their slow, shuffling way, the Garou can outdistance them. Once beyond a certain range, the zombies seem to lose interest. They remain near the blight, moaning their despair.

Seeker apparently intends to be the last one off the battlefield. He snarls defiantly and waves the others off to retreat and begins to back up, taking a swing at any zombies or dodging their attacks if they come too close. When he's sure the last of the garou are away, he races off using the Strider gift of speed. Wildfire shakes the cobwebs from his mind one more time at the Alpha's orders, backing up with the rest as needed. He peers around for any zombie that might dare be a problem for their glorious retreat. James isn't going to be doing much else then running at the called retreat unless he sees someone in dire need of healing before their either fall unconscious or die... both being equally fatal in his mind. Shadow Eyes stands his ground and calls in a Commanding voice, ~STOP!~ Rides-Fire falls in with his pack, limping a little. The Stargazer does not look pleased at the retreat, though at least he and the other wolf-born no longer have Cougar's ire to risk.Nightflash and Shadow-of-Blood use this opportunity to retreat with the rest of the group.

[The Walkers reassemble at the safehouse.]

Basement(#2835RJ)

The basement consists of plain cement flooring and walls. Aside from one wall, which is made out of metal and has a matching steel door. This leads into the second half of the basement. Nothing has been done to make the place homey at all. It is little more then a cement cube, resembling and oversized bomb shelter. With a small drain in the middle of the floor, and a hose curled up and resting neatly against on wall. Directly above two metal tubs, that are covered with large sheets of metal. Usually near the drain and metal tubs, is a well sized desk, that is covered with an impressive looking chemistry set. Large chucks have been torn out of the cement walls and are in various stages of repair.

Salem takes Glabro form once they return to the safe house, stripping off his trenchcoat -- the big leather coat's not quite repaired yet from its encounter with a low-life's shotgun -- and cursing. "What a fucking balls-up piece of shit /that/ affair was."

Dreamer remains in the homid form in the basement, his wounds healing supernaturally in this form as well as any other. "I take some responsibility. The one time I'm not prepared is the one time it would have helped the most."

Francisco shifts up as well once within the privacy of the safehouse, and growls between pointy teeth in agreement with Salem. "You can't swing a dead cat in this city without hitting a Blight. At least no one died."

Salem paces, limping slightly and cracking his knuckles. "Like that fucking movie. Assault rifles. Grenades would be nice, too, or the equivalent. Hell, pass some to the fucking Bone Gnawers. They're not like to turn up their noses like the other tribes."

Dreamer nods, heading over to start hot water into the two crinos-sized steel-alloy bathtubs. "This is a problem we need to handle while the enemy is weaker in numbers though, if we wait too long tonight's blood and pain will be for nothing. And I have all the /toys/ we'll ever need. I just couldn't bring them to the caern. I had to stash my gun in the woods and pick it up on the way to the fight as it was."

Salem shakes his head again and leans against the wall near the stairs. "Does anyone even know what the heart of that pile of moving corpses _is_?"

Roger frowns at the quesiton. "I... well, I saw a vision of it. Can't explain it any more then that. Perhaps Sepdet sent it to me, it showed me using the metis' gift of creating element's to blow the thing skyhigh."

Salem tilts his head, fixing the Galliard with his good eye. "What did it look like?"

Roger thinks on this a moment. "It was a heap of trash from which zombies were emerging. I didn't notice it till the vision. Then fire and death to the undead. Which is when I tried to get in there, which would have been fine if the retreat wasn't called and all our support didn't suddenly vanish.

Salem grimaces. "Sloppy. Not your fault in the slightest, though." The Philodox pinches at the bridge of his nose with two clawed fingers. "A surgical strike. Hrmn. I need to think about this."