It is currently 17:18 Pacific Time on Thu May 30 2002.
Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (73% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is mostly sunny today. The temperature is 67
degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in
from the west at 9 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.08 and
falling, and the relative humidity is 43 percent. The dewpoint is 44
degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)
Location: Glass Walker safehouse
Three-Blades sleeps curled and tucked up in a corner of the rec room,
lying atop her folded jacket and black boots beside her. The Gnawer's ears
point upwards, relaxed yet still somehow alert to the noise about the
room.
Salem has seated himself in one of the better armchairs, moon-restless but
attempting to calm himself with a book, a paperback copy of William
Gibson's _Burning Chrome_. He pays no attention to the sleeping Bone
Gnawer.
Three-Blades eventually shakes awake with a start, some dream fading away
back into the recesses of her mind. With a few blinks of looking around
and sniffing familiar scents, the newmoon settles back onto her stomach.
Vague, sleepy, and curious as to what the Walker is reading, she peers at
him out of the corner of her eye.
Gibson. Perfect Glass Walker reading, really, and Salem's about halfway
through the short collection of short stories. Catching movement out of
the corner of his good eye, he glances over toward Yi.
Three-Blades echoes the form of a lupine statue, staring back at the
halfmoon now that he's noticed. A splay of her ears greets him, while she
wonders how long he's been there while she was asleep.
Salem smiles thinly at Yi and answers, "Long enough." He closes the book
on one finger.
In the Lobby, Sarah buzzes at the door, having gone out for her afternoon
walk some hours earlier.
Three-Blades looks away, though the multiple mirrors in the room give her
ample angles from which to watch Salem. Fair enough, she chuffs
nonchalantly. There is a brief nose into her boot, as she hears something
crawling within it. The newmoon pokes her muzzle in, which in turn prompts
the cockroach to retreat back towards the toe. Her ears sweep back.
In the Lobby, Yawning, a red cub sleepily sticks her head out from the
basement door, ears flicked forward towards the heavy door. Visitors?
Four-Leaves mumbles, tail starting a slow wag behind her. She cants her
head, looking from the rec room to the door and back again, then heads to
the door, sniffing at it as if she could tell who it was even through the
door. Visitors! she says louder, adding a sharp bark, and scampering to
the rec room to announce the news.
Salem pulls a bit of a face at Lyra. "I'm aware, thank you," he says, in
clipped tones. Leaving the book behind, he heads into the lobby to check
the monitors.
Sarah stands waiting outside the door, her expression obscured by an
unreadable mask.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades glances over at the announcing bark, ears
pricking forward. The Gnawer cub gets a chuff, and with her tongue lolling
Three-Blades motions with her tail for the cub to come over and sit beside
her in the corner of the rec room. The cockroach in her boot seems have
found a good place to hide.
Sarah's waiting on the doorstep, arms crossed over her chest.
Salem opens the door for the new arrival.
In the Rec Room, Four-Leaves' lips curl in a the lupine equivalent of a
sheepish grin, and she pads over to Three-Blades, bending her head down to
sniffle and snuffle the boot. Smells like you, she chuffs good-naturedly,
before stealing a glare at Salem, back in the lobby. He was supposed to
play hide-and-seek, she mutters, sounding miffed. I fell asleep waiting
for him to find me.
The Native girl looks up, offering the barest hint of a smile and then
stepping inside. "Thank you."
Lianne opens the front door and steps inside, surveying the room and
lifting an eyebrow at the small crowd. The door closes behind the
kinswoman with a soft *thud*.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades bemusedly peers over towards the Lobby,
though her view is obscured by some furniture. The scent of the kin comes
in with a slight breeze, along with her voice reaching the newmoon's ears.
Three-Blades laughs in a wolven equivalent, tail flipping back and forth.
Him? Play hide-and-seek? The thought of Salem playing hide-and-seek...
that's something even Yi doesn't dream about.
Peggy peers down the stairs, attracted by the sounds of a gathering. She
lingers, not descending.
Anneka follows in after Sarah, a few strands of sandy, curly hair trailing
out from beneath the hood of her battered coat. More tumbles free when she
pushes her hood back, glances to Salem. She nods. "'lo."
Leonard slips in just behind Anneka, catching the door before it closes.
Sarah walks up the stairs, to the second story of the building.
Anneka sniffs once, then turns to look back at Leonard. Her eyes widen a
bit, though she doesn't quite smile. "Hey-- Hi."
Leonard looks down at Anneka, nods. "Hey." He glances past her, towards
the main room, lifting his head to almost test the air.
Salem regards Leonard steadily for a moment, not quite recognizing the
young Wendigo, then turns to Lianne. "Ms. Fitzgerald," he greets the
kinswoman, politely. "Good evening."
Leonard returns Salem's look for as long as he deigns give it, then moves
past the knot in the hallway, towards the main room.
In the Rec Room, the sound of more people coming in distracts the cub from
what she's sure is a bug inside the boot, or a very tiny mouse. I think
he's just really bad at seeking, Four-Leaves offers. If Salem comes off as
gruff and grouchy to her, she's sure good at pretending not so see it. She
crawls under the pool table, then shoots back out and flops onto
Three-Blades, a bundle of energy now that she's awake. Meeting? she asks,
nibbling at the older Gnawer's ears. Ritual? Birthday party?
*RingRing* There goes the Buzzer. Someone's wanting to come in, isn't that
sweet. And look, it's everyone's favorite Fanglet, Kristine.
Peggy continues to hang back at the top of the stairway, unwilling to
brave the crowd but staying close enough to listen and be seen.
Heading downstairs after Peggy is Alicia, yawning and stretching herself
out. She looks as if she just woke up from a nap of sorts.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades yawns widely, teeth peeking out from
black-lipped jaws. With a brief bump of her head against the cub's
shoulder, she gets up to knock the boot containing the bug over. Hide and
seek is over for the insect, as Yi picks up the boot in her jaws and
shakes gently. The bug drops down onto the floor, and scuttles a short
distance, antennae waving. Yi sets down the boot, and looks up at the
number of people who have arrived. At site of her packmate, she chuffs
from the far corner.
Peggy waves silently to Alicia as she passes by, smiling.
Anneka cants her head, then stuffs her hands into her pockets and pads off
into the recreation room. Quiet enough, even with the clonky, square-toed
shoes.
In the Rec Room, Leonard makes a beeline for his packmate, nudging her
with his toe, then crouches, laying a hand on her shoulder and leaning in
to whisper.
Salem, as has happened before, seems to be stuck playing doorman. Which he
does, with as much of a show of patience as he can manage.
Eamon strolls into the safehouse from the street, glancing around inside
the building.
Lianne inclines her head toward Salem, moving closer to the familiar face.
"Evening. This is quiet a gathering of 'interesting people." The kinswoman
looks around critically. "And do they have to walk around like that?" She
says, pointing the tip of her cane in the direction of the Rec Room and
the lupus form she briefly spotted.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades flickers her ear, Leonard's whisper tickling
the inner fur. She looks up at him, amused, before wagging her tail once.
Of course, she replies.
The door's opened, and there's no questions this time. This is good.
Kristine pauses and gives an inclination of her head and a ghosted smile
to the poor Walker playing doorman. She turns, and blinks. "Eamon?" Whee!
Fangs distract easy, don't they?
In the Rec Room, Leonard glances around the room, pointedly, then looks
back at Yi, a gleam of amusement in his eyes. "Then you must have taught
her your gift of hiding in plain sight."
Alicia gives Peggy a nudge as she passes, ruffling her hair back into
place. After popping her neck a few times, she glances about to the
gathering, looking surprised at all who's here.
"Bone Gnawers," says Salem to Lianne, as though this explained everything.
He glances toward the rec room with thinly-disguised distaste. "At least
they're staying off the couch tonight."
Eamon grins broadly. "Kris, hey! Long time no see! How ya doin',"
In the Rec Room, Tail awagging, Four-Leaves barks twice, tongue lolled out
and eyes bright. Hello hello Bridge-Mender! she carols, then rolls off of
Yi carefully, scampering into the lobby to greet more new people. So many
interesting smells!
Roger comes up from the basement, perhaps turning a few of the heads of
his fellow tribesmates who haven't seen his new laid-back attire recently.
But his expression is as stern as it ever used to be, and his left hand is
covered in bandages with red peaking through every here and there.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades looks past Leonard a moment, hearing her
tribe called out amongst the various sudden chatter that has come up.
Spotting Lianne, then Anneka, and... the newmoon is instantly glad she's
stuck to the far corner of the rec room.
Peggy sits down on the second-to-top stair, scooting over against the wall
so as not to block passage for anyone else descending. She keeps an eye on
Salem, though her gaze wanders into the crowd whenever he looks in her
direction.
Lianne's lips thin and she briefly shakes her head. "Filthy creatures,"
she murmurs lowly, just loud enough for Salem to hear.
Roger is about 5'11" with dark brown hair and pale skin. His eyes are
reddish green in color. He isn't the most handsome or hideous man you ever
met, but instead boringly dull looking. The only standout feature about
him is his long upper-back length ponytail. But even that, can be easily
overlooked when in a room with other people who are anyway more
interesting. He wears khakis and a dark blue button down shirt, and a
black full length trench coat. Some with the perception for it might
notice a small lump that is always under his left armpit. He seems to shy
away from those around him, fighting the urge to run away. Occasionally he
will close his eyes tightly as if a bad headache had come over him.
"Smiley!" She moves over, giving the smiling Fianna a large hug. Just
because..she can. It's brief, but, hey, "It's been so long! I didn't know
if you were still around. I would've looked you up, but, y'know, been
busy. Just got back in. Heard most everyone left. Just you'n me." Out of
the old pack that was. Kristine glances around and says, "Just came here
to make sure everything's alright. Just in case my help's needed."
In the Rec Room, Anneka glances towards Leonard and Three-Blades, makes
her way over to lean against the pool table. She smiles, quick and sharp,
reaches up to brush her hair out of her eyes. Her smile gets wider as
Four-Leaves darts out into the lobby. She tugs a bundle of string from a
pocket, lets it tumble loose. A shell, tied at the end, twirls about, then
turns to point to the cub. She glances at Three-Blades, then tucks the
shell away again.
Weaving in and out of people, the cinnamon wolfcub approaches Salem and
the stranger next to him jauntily, green eyes bright and friendly. Hello
hello! she says, playbowing to the stranger. I am Four-Leaves, a cub. Said
cub cants her head at Salem and says, in a softer, slightly hurt tone. You
didn't like playing hide and seek?
In the Rec Room, Leonard gives Three-Blades a parting stroke and
straightens. "I'll go find her."
Salem doesn't comment further, but is no secret that he shares the Walker
kinswoman's opinion of rat's tribe.
Eamon bearhugs Kristine, lifting her off the floor and spinning her around
once. "Great to see you! Yeah, Brian, Megan, Steven, they split. Just us
now. And now the caern's gone to hell. We could always use your help. What
happened to your hair?"
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades whuffs a quick 'hello' at Anneka, before
watching Leonard disappear up the stairs. In a much smaller form, the
ragabash weaves her way over to Anenka and looks up at her.
Peggy's eyes follow Leonard as he passes by her, then slip back towards
the growing gathering of people. Her ears twitch periodically as snatches
of conversation drift her way.
Alicia glances about everyone, then heads over to Roger, rolling her
shoulders back some. With a soft breath, she says to him. "Hey bro'. How
are you doing?" She hasn't had the chance to talk to him lately, spread
the news, shoot the shit.
Roger looks around the safehouse with an expression quite unlike him, not
the usual distaste at all the hullabalu going on, but rather quaint
indifference. He makes his way calmly towards Salem and offers a simple
nod and peaceful smile.
Kristine laughs lightly, reaching a hand up to run in her hair, "Don't
quite look like a Masqerading Fianna anymore, don't I?" She smiles a bit,
and offers, "Premature graying. That combined with stress, and the usual
stuff us Crescents get. Hair couldn't handle it."
Salem arches a brow at Roger's demeanor, but returns his packmate's nod
with cool amiability. "How are things?" he asks the Metis, with a tilt of
his head toward the basement.
Lianne's nose wrinkles, as Four-Leaves gets close. The lines around her
mouth becoming more prominate, as she makes a vauge shooing motion with
the tip of her cane. She the Gnawer cub isn't careful, she probably end up
coming into contact with the silver-plated tip.
In the Rec Room, Anneka crouches down to settle on her haunches near
Three-Blades. She tugs a hand from a pocket, ruffles the fur along the
base of the wolf's ears. Her eyes stay on the lobby, though, the glimpses
of Four-Leaves she catches from her spot.
Eamon chuckles. "Nah. Damn, musta been some kinda stress. Well, we can
talk about that later. What's goin' on?"
The room is getting two crowded and there are Bone Gnawer's running about,
yuck. Taking a step back, Lianne turns and begins walking away from Salem
and toward the Rec Room. Cane-tip clicking against the floor.
Peggy strains forward to hear as the increasing clamour makes it difficult
for her to pick out specific words.
"I'm not sure. This seems to be a central congregating point for us.
Making sure that there's no stranglers of the Tribe, or if anyone needs
healing." Kristine comments quietly, a hand moving to rest on her chin
thoughtfully.
Roger turns his head to regard Alicia for a moment and a cool shrug is his
only answer, a voiceless equivilant to a "It's Cool." To Salem he then
turns and with a voice lighter and less weighed down then usual he
responds, "Things are well enough. Except for this damnable house. That
Get should have left the fleas, at least we didn't get crowds like this
when we had them." At least Roger is still... similar... to his old self.
The cub eyes the cane, not worried about silver but just being poked with
it. She slowly comes out of the bow and takes a paw back, her happy
demeanor wilted from the distaste the two seem to have for her, though she
doesn't understand why. Carefully she follows the strange woman, walking
slowly at pace with her but not quite beside her. Did I do something
wrong? she asks, distressed, as they enter the rec room.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades eyes the cane-tip, nose flaring at its tip
before she backs away from the cane-wielding kin. At Lyra's demeanor the
ragabash just notions with a flick of her ear. She doesn't like Gnawers.
"Well ya'know Roger, I could always just leave." Says Alicia with a smirk
as she watches him head off towards Salem, arms crossing over her chest.
Salem's mouth thins at Roger's words, and his good eye scans over the
gathering with some tension. "Mnh. Yes." The ex-Ronin shifts his weight,
arms folding across his chest.
In the Rec Room, Lianne walks right past the two Bone Gnawers, completly
ignoring them as she moves toward the bar. In short order, the kinswoman
has located a glass and a bottle of water behind the bar. The water is
opened and the kinswoman is about to pour it, when she notices that she
has a visitor. Once again, Lianne lightly waves her cane-tip in the cubs
direction. "Shoo."
Roger turns and eyes Alicia for a moment, regarding her in an odd fashion
for that time. "You want to join my pack, correct Gaian?"
Eamon nods. "Yeah, a lot of people came here after everything went to
hell."
In the Rec Room, Anneka's eyes drift from the cub to the cane. Her nose
wrinkles a bit at the bridge and she stands, stuffs her hands in her
pockets, then leans back against the pool table once more.
"My name is Alicia, not Gaian -- and yes, you know I do. I was making
light of your comment regarding the crowd control issue." The Gaian in
question raises up a brow to him, flipping back a strand of red hair
behind her ear.
Kristine tries to keep an ear on what's going on around her, before
offering a smile to her ex-packmate, "Missed you. Glad to see you're still
around."
Dove pads up from the basement, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his
eyes.
A slightly-built boy, maybe about 15 or so. He's about 5' 6" and still
growing, starting to fill out with some muscle; his chest deepening a bit
and his shoulders squaring off. He's got a sleek rangy look about him,
like someone who spends all day outdoors and on their feet. He practically
vibrates with impatience the rare times he has to stand completely still.
He's got smooth light tanned skin, clear sky-blue eyes and a delicate
facial structure that is just starting to define itself; he looks like
he's still passing through that 'boy' phase to the more defined features
of a handsome young man. His hair is short and fine; it's a very light
blonde, the color of dry pampas grass in the sun.
Dove is wearing black jeans, buckle-and-belt festooned black leather
motorcycle boots, a white short-sleeved t-shirt covered by a denim shirt
left open and worn like a light jacket, and a leather bead-and-feather
necklace. On his left deltoid is a 'barbed-wire'-pattern tatoo.
Peggy waggles her fingers at Dove from the stairs, lifting a finger to her
lips with a grin.
Roger lets out a simple half chuckle at some private joke, perhaps a
joke... "Have you met with our totem then?"
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades completely keeps her opinion about the
kinswoman to herself after that, watching the cane-tip wave about as if it
were some gun barrel pointing around. Her black ears disappear into her
fur, but otherwise she remains unmoved. Yi gives Lyra a short nuzzle of
reassurance.
"I'd like to, if I could get some of you guys in one place for five
seconds at a time and Spirals were not blowing us up and taking our Caern.
I've tried to put more important matters first ya'know? But if it helps
some, I got roachs in my apartment now and its driving Tom nuts." Alicia
grins.
Eamon grins. "Yeah, I missed you too. So where've you been lately?"
In the Rec Room, Oh, isn't that silly? Four-Leaves asks, before the cane
makes a smooth motion in her way again. The cub takes a sidestep before
eyeing the woman, and turns to nuzzle Three-Blades in return. You must be
the nice lady who gave the Walkers all these nice things, yes? the cub
asks, facing Lianna again, then grins wolfishly. Sees-True-Nature was
sorry about the couch. I helped clean up, too.
Salem cracks a bit of a smile at the would-be Roach follower.
Roger laughs a bit louder now, looking at Salem for the smile Roger knew
would be there. "Its a start... we'll introduce you soon enough, when the
place isn't so... crowded."
Kristine sighs a bit, "I've been in New England." It's the answer she
gives, "Other than that, I've been at Falcon's Rest." A shrug's given,
before she listens to the conversation nearby. Roaches. That's amusing.
Dove smiles weakly, finds a couch and curls up on it.
In the Rec Room, Ack, now there are two of them! Lianne reatreats further
behind the bar with her water, resting somewhat heavily on her cane as she
drinks.
In the Rec Room, Three-Blades laughs a bit at Lianne, in that wolfishly
grinning way, before she makes her way out into the crowd. The Gnawer's
gotta answer a call o' nature here...
Roger turns to look over his shoulder at the long lost Fang theurge and
with a nod offers, "Roger Cohen. Howls-When-Dreaming. Metis of the Glass
Walkers and Galliard to St. Claire. Child of Cockroach. You are?" Yes,
that was purposeful emphasis on the word 'metis', yet it all came out
kindly and light toned, with no hint of submission or dominance.
In the Rec Room, Four-Leaves just blinks, then looks at Anneka for an
explanation.
In the Rec Room, Anneka glances at Three-Blades and Four-Leaves, then
grins and settles down on her haunches near them. She brushes her hair
away from her eyes, then reaches over to ruffle the cub's ears.
Alicia grins a bit. "Thank you Roger. Means a lot." Her eyes trail about
the rest of the room now, shifting a bit, then retrieves her coat from the
hanger, sliding it on.
Roger shoots a quick nod to Alicia, before turning to properly look at the
spying Fang.
Eamon grins at Kristine. "Oh yeah? Didja get into Boston at all?"
"Kristine Vaughn-St. David. Stands-Proud, Silver Fang Theurge. Cliath,
Homid." The breed isn't normally put in there, but since the other man
mentioned it, she did. And she wasn't spying, she just has a habit of
listening to things that are -right there-. Ahem, anyway. "I think I heard
of you. Might've been brief. Didn't keep up much in the City when I was
here last." To Eamon, quickly, "Actually, I did. But it was passing
through. Couldn't hook up with anybody."
In the Rec Room, She must -really- not like Gnawers, muses the cub with a
mixture of surprise and sadness. But she's getting her ears ruffled, she
couldn't be sad for long. So! Is it a birthday party? Four-Leaves asks,
mood picking up. She seems to have forgotten about Salem totally.
Roger simply nods and then offers a similar quick nod to Eamon. "Charmed,"
are his only other words to the fianna before he looks back to Salem. "Is
there a John somewhere in all this madness?"
"I imagine that he's out with Rina somewhere," says Salem, giving a glance
toward the rec room to see if the Gnawers are still harassing Lianne.
Eamon grins. "Hey, Rog. Nope, haven't seen him lately." He chuckles at
Kristine. "You'd've felt right at home in Boston, it's fulla Fianna."
In the Rec Room, Anneka cants her head. "A party? D'no." She looks out
towards the lobby. "Sure a lot of people, though. I came here lookin' for
you."
In the Rec Room, Lianne finishes off her water and looks at the empty
glass irritably. After checking for some more bottled stuff and not
finding any, she settles for tap water from the bar's small sink.
In the Rec Room, Four-Leaves eyes laugh for her as she nuzzles the Gnawer
cliath under the chin. I'm flattered! I'm sorry that I wasn't at the
junkyard. Came here to see if R- if somebody was here, but they weren't,
then was -supposed- to play hide and seek with Salem but he forgot, I
think, and I fell asleep waiting. All this comes as a long rush of words.
That gets the raised eyebrow treatment, "Okay..." That was certainly odd.
So, Kristine turns her attention back to Eamon, finding a spot to lean
against.
Eamon laughs and chucks Kristine on the shoulder. "Just kiddin'."
In the Rec Room, Anneka grins and draws the bundle of string from a pocket
again, She shows it to Four-Leaves, then untangles it, lets the shiny
shell tied to one end spin about, suspended in the air. She looks at it,
eyes bright as it slowly stops to point right at the cub. "Shell says
you're right here."
Sarah comes jogging down the stairs, and threads her way past people to
get to the door.
Peggy scoots over to allow Sarah and Leonard room to descend.
In the Rec Room, ! There are no words to convey Four-Leaves' surprise as
the shell points at her forehead. Experimentally, the cub gets up and
circles Anneka, slowly, eyes centered on the shell.
In the Rec Room, Anneka leaves her hand still, fingers splayed, the string
looped about her palm. The shell slowly turns to follow Four-Leaves,
points dutifully at her.
In the Rec Room, Four-Leaves sits down abruptly at Anneka's feet, tongue
lolling out in pleasant surprise. Is there a spirit in it, to make it
move? She cants her head, ears twitching madly in deep thought. And why is
it pointing at me? Because you wanted to find me?
Leonard pauses on the stairs, watching Sarah leave, then shakes his head,
moving through the crowd silently, towards the rec room.
Roger claps a hand on Salem's back and thinks on something a moment. "I'm
no sliver moon, but damn if something about the air tonight doesn't give
me the creeps."
Kristine shrugs and smiles a bit, "Doesn't seem like much is happening,
does it?" Just the usual it seems. Again, her eyes move to Roger at his
words, her lips pulling thin in silent agreement, but she doesn't voice
it.
In the Rec Room, Leonard moves over to Anneka, speaking to her in a low
voice
Salem grunts at the back-slap, flicking a glance toward Roger. He just
shakes his head a bit, moody and pensive. Nothing new.
In the Rec Room, Anneka wiggles her fingers, then twines the smudged and
dirty string about the shell. She nods. "Uh-huh. It's a questin' stone,
except that it's a shell." She holds the bundle out for the wolf to sniff,
though it smells like little more than string and shell and salt. She
glances over to Leonard as well, shakes her head once.
Eamon listens to Roger, then arches an eyebrow at Kris. "What is it?"
In the Rec Room, Lianne finishes off her second glass of water and sets it
aside, watching the Garou from behind the bar.
"Just paranoid." The Fang flashes a smile, "Someone mentiones something
feels wierd, and I'm suddenly on guard. You expected something else?"
In the Rec Room, Carefully the cub leans forward, whiskers working as she
sniffs at the small object. It smelled like...Dunkirk, when her parents
had taken her there on vacation. The memory brings a vague smile to the
lupus' muzzle. One eye rolls up to look at Leonard, followed by a tilted
head.
From upstairs, Yi's voice rings out with all the very much fear necessary.
"SOMEONE GET UP HERE!!!"
In the Rec Room, Leonard is moving almost before she's done talking,
leaping over the inquisitive cub in his haste.
Peggy snaps around suddenly, hair rising. She scrambles into a standing
position and runs the two steps up to the hall.
Kristine blinks at that, and well, she moves. "And here's where being
paranoid pays off." And she bolts.
Roger is instantly into the hispo form, already standing by the stairs and
barreling up them.
Dove freezes, and clutches the couch. "Wha-what...?"
Eamon frowns at Kristine. "Well, with what's going on right now,
that's..." He breaks off suddenly as Yi screams, then runs for the stairs.
Salem has time to mutter, "Shit," before he, too, is heading for the
stairs.
Hallway(#3407RJL)
The narrow stairwell leads up to a brightly lit hallway, with four doors
along the sides, each door equipped with a small one-way peephole and a
number. Several small security cameras are mounted near the ceiling. On
the far end of the hall hangs a full-length mirror in a simple wooden
frame.
Yi's furry crinos form almost blocks the whole doorway to an open-door
bathroom in one of the apartments, where there is definitely something
else in there with her. And that something else is laughing. Cackling,
more like, with the gurgle of water accompanying it.
Peggy crouches against the wall, breathing heavily and watching from a
distance.
Leonard sees Yi in crinos and snarls, shifting up, then down into hispo,
baring his teeth.
Four-Leaves quickly darts between legs, coming to a standstill when there
is nowhere left to squeeze through. Can't see! she mutters angrily. She
turns her head at a strange sound, coming eye to eye with Peggy. Are you
alright? the red wolf asks gently, nosing the girl's hand.
Up the stairs and..whoa. The Fang moves standing next to Peggy against the
wall. "That doesn't sound very good," Yup, here we go with stating the
obvious. The Crinos isn't making her feel any better, but, she's
unanturally curious so, she moves further down the hall, trying to get a
peek into the open room, saying quietly to the Crinos, "You called?"
From within the toilet itself, the torso of a scrawny man can be seen. If
it was chopped off at the waist, it'd make sense. But half a body sticking
out of the toilet, dripping wet, giggling insanely, just doesn't come
across as being quite all right in most people's minds.
Eamon rushes up the stairs and blurs into glabro form. He runs past Yi to
get to a flanking position. ~What is it, Yi?~ He shouts.
Peggy hardly seems to notice Four-Leaves's attentions, eyes glazed over
with feral anxiety.
Dreamer growls out loudly, barking orders. ~Cubs! Back and away, now! Will
a sliver moon please tell me what that is?~
Three-Blades doesn't take her eyes off the thing coming out of the toilet,
but moves even further into the bathroom with all the people suddenly
crowding her inwards. Closer to that.. thing. The Gnawer wastes no more
time, lips curling back with both fear and anger. Her arms come out to
grab this abomination of reality by its head and its arm, and rip it from
its spot in the toilet.
The Gnawer cub's ears flicker as an order regarding them is called. She
tugs on Peggy's hand gently, teeth merely catching the hand with a gentle
squeeze. Down the stairs we go, she says with an out-of-place cheeriness.
Between people's bodies in the crowded hallway, the cub can't see what the
fuss is about, although she can hear motions. Come on now, up up up!
Peggy takes a few steps back, but stops at the top stair, not about to
leave that easily.
"It's a Something, but, since I can't really see, I can't tell." Kristine
states, trying not to block the bathroom. Besides she's tiny. People can
jump over her. She does stay -near- the Bathroom, though. That's a given.
"And it's giggling..Which, isn't good."
Oh, I've got BSDs coming out of the toilets right now. I don't think
anyone will be reading on the throne anytime soon after this.
Little Bear barks harshly. Back up! Don't trap her! He takes his own
advice, creeping towards the stairs, inadverdantly herding the cubs down
the steps as he does so.
Salem is one of the last Garou up the stairs, and remains in homid form,
albeit with some effort. He also does not attempt to crowd forward -- in
fact, the half-moon climbs a few steps back down the stairs, wary for an
attack from the front door.
"Giggles" is quite easily grabbed by Yi, though he's slippery with...
stuff... from the plumbing. If anything, he giggles harder and faster and
more manically. Then the lights go out. Pitch blackness descends over the
whole floor.
Ever-Grinning looks back at the group of garou. "Kris, Roger, check the
other rooms, make sure nothing else is coming through there.
We'll be in the way when they all get bigger, points out Four-Leaves,
releasing Peggy's hand and coming around behind her to give her a gentle
nudge behind the knees. Then the lights go out and the cub barks in
surprise, darting forward instinctively, bumping hard into Peggy's knees.
"And me without a flashlight." Is KRistine's immediate response. She pats
the wall next to her, seeing if she could get a hold of a doornob, "Easier
for you to say, Uncle Smiley." But she obliges, nonetheless.
Little Bear growls low and warningly, relying on scent to tell him of
anything else out of lace.
Peggy's breath quickens. She darts her head from side to side in the
darkness. Four-Leaves's nudge tips her onto all fours, where she remains,
chest rising and falling rapidly.
Dreamer would be annoyed at the orders on any other day, but instead just
pushes over to another door to check it out. Right before hitting glabro
though he yelps out, ~Sweet Gaia!~ when the lights go down. Now in glabro
form Roger rips off his shirt and wrapping it up like a towel he sets the
end on fire, illuminating what he can.
Three-Blades roars as her eyes get shrouded over with black. Lucky for
her, she actually had a hold on half of this monster that so disturbed her
restroom visit. ~Monster!~ she snarls, gripping very tightly against
Giggles' head. Even in complete dark, she frees a hand and claws away
around the head, searching for the neck and throat. The hand holding the
head clasps down hard, claws sinking in like an osprey to a fish.
"It reaks of Wyrm. In case that wasn't obvious." Kristine moves up to
Glabro, giving her extra weight to throw around. SHe waits to see if
Roger's light illuminates the area. Who knows, it could be a wierd kind of
unnatural darkness or something.
Roger's impromptu torch fails to provide any illumination, but definite
heat as the shirt catches fire--in black oblivion. Chaos and confusion
erupts as people run into each other, step on tails and toes, and jostle
each other unexpectedly. A sewery smell begins to be faintly detectable
even to the noses of those in homid.
Sorry! Sorry! yelps Four-Leaves, as she scampers down the stairs till
she's beside Peggy so the girl can grab on to her, if she needed to. Or
hit her for being so stupid. The cub doesn't notice how she is crowding
the stairs. Golly I'm sorry! The red cub's eyes narrow in distress. Please
say something. You're worrying me.
Peggy shifts into crinos as panic grips her. Unable to see Four-Leaves's
body language, she picks up only her yelpings, which are lost on her in
her panic and anger. She crouches on all fours, taking another step
backwards as chaos breaks out. Her back foot finds no purchase, and she
flails a moment before catching her balance on the steps.
Roger growls, claping the shift together in his hands to put it out as it
is of no use and simply pushes himself, back up against a wall. "EVERYONE
CALM DOWN AND STOP MOVING! Hit lupus now! Cubs, get the HELL OUT! Any
Fangs here who know those light tricks, now would be the time to try
them!"
Peggy contorts and blurs as she is transformed. Peggy ripples and changes,
slipping into Crinos form.
Little Bear crouches immediately, shifting to lupus, still growling.
A pause. "If I knew the light trick, I'd be doing it already. It seems to
be lacking around these parts." Kris and her sarcasm. "But I agree. We
should stop moving. I like my toes where they are. Thank you. I'd also
recommend staying in whatever form you're in now. This hallway isn't
-that- large." SHe takes a sniff in the air, "Great. Icky smell."
Tumbleweed scrambles down the stairs awkwardly, her inexperience with the
Crinos shape exacerbated by the darkness. She falls half the way down with
an enormous racket and landing at the bottom in a heap of fur.
Ever-Grinning shifts to lupus and tries to get to the stairs, relying on
his nose and ears to get him through the pack of wolves.
Salem bares his teeth in frustration, flatting himself to the wall of the
stairwell as the Crinos'd cub comes tumbling down. His form surges upward,
stopping halfway on its trip to the war form by sheer force of will. In
Glabro, he hurries down the stairs, muttering, "Shit, shit, bloody fuck
SHIT."
Walker Safe House - Lobby(#2832RAJL)
Tumbleweed backs up, watching the stairs nervously. Her ears twitch at
every tumble and shout.
In the Rec Room, Lianne stays behind the bar, ready to duck behind it if
need be.
Ever-Grinning shifts back up to homid. "Salem, is there a mirror in here
somewhere?"
Salem comes down the stairs with quickly clumping bootsteps. "Plenty," he
tells the Fianna curtly, gesturing around the lobby and toward the rec
room. Speaking of which, he informs Lianne of what's going on. "At least
one Dancer, up from the fucking toilet. Entire second floor is blacked
out."
Eamon hurries into the rec room.
Tumbleweed's lips curl back in a snarl at the mention of dancers.
Four-Leaves barks, scrambling down the stairs after the crinos'd Peggy, a
whirl of color passing by Salem. She hits the floor as she's shifting
homid and kneels beside the other cub. Her face twists in worry. "Peggy!
Bloody hell, what hurts?"
Rushes-In shivers and bares his fangs. ~Where?~ Kill it!~
In the Rec Room, Lianne nods, pulling out a small handgun from her vest
and looking at it gloomily. "I wish I had some silver on me."
~Crinos!~ Bridge-Mender says, quick. She looks to Lyra. ~War form, now,
now!~
Tumbleweed scarcely acknowledges Lyra's presence, incensed beyond speech.
She crouches low to the ground, muscles tensed.
Salem turns a sharp look toward Rushes-In. "Upstairs, but stay the fuck
_put_. Too many people blundering blind up there already, and this may
very _well_ be a fucking diversion."
~You know here. What's the best place to fight?~ Bridge-Mender asks,
yellow lantern eyes turning to Salem.
After glancing back at Peggy- who looked too angry to be in any pain, at
this rate -Lyra takes a deep breath and blurs, growing into a frightening
kneeled shape by Peggy's side.
In the Rec Room, Eamon calls out, "Salem, John, come with me, I want to
check the Shadow."
Tumbleweed slowly flexes and unflexes her hands, black claws glinting in
the light.
Rushes-In stay put, yes, just like he's told. His ruff is fluffed out in
anger, and rage boils in the young ragabash's eyes. ~Just point me at what
needs killing,~ he growls.
~Fighting might be here, soon. Keep eyes open, watch yourselves.~
Bridge-Mender looks to Four-Leaves, then around at the room. ~It came
through the pipes. Door here, watch that. Mirrors here, watch them. Sink,
in the other room, watch that. They come through holes, those are holes.~
The giant, spidery wolf snaps her jaws, sharp. ~We'll be ready.~
Salem gives his head a quick shake, then takes a quick breath, pulling
himself into some semblence of outward calm. To Anneka, he says, ~The best
place to fight is where they attack. I suggest a watch on the front door.~
Then he moves into the rec room to join the Fostern.
Walker Safe House - Rec Room
Pack> Salem says "Any screams from upstairs?"
Pack> Dreamer says "Roger's screams are QUITE evident."
In the Lobby, Rushes-In chuffs. ~I had no idea they were small enough to
fit into such places.~
In the Lobby, The front door is opened no sooner than the watch is
ordered. John strides through, stopping suddenly at the sights and sounds
evident. He frowns, and casts about, before fixing his eyes on the shifted
Bridge-Mender. "Sit rep. Now."
In the Lobby, Tumbleweed whirls as the door opens, forcibly restraining
herself from rushing forward.
In the Lobby, Four-Leaves rises from the floor, her tail sweeping out
behind her. ~Downstairs, the sinks and drains,~ she points out with a
growl that is almost a resigned sigh. As the door opens the cub whirls,
legs tense and ready to fight or flee, black eyes peering from a silvery
mask.
In the Lobby, Bridge-Mender shakes her head, once and quick. ~There's a
Dancer upstairs. People are up there fighting it. Salem and Eamon went to
the shadow to see what's there. Matt is coming, he's one of my packmates.
I hear him.~ Her hackles are up, a snarl apparent in her voice.
In the Lobby, John gives a curt nod of acknowledgement to Bridge-Mender,
starting swiftly toward the mirrored rec room Free of windows, he shifts
as soon as he's within the room, up to the Glabro.
In the Lobby, Suddenly, the fire alarm goes off. A blinking light on a
panel indicates it's on the second floor. Sprinklers kick on upstairs.
In the Lobby, Rushes-In keeps a careful lookout on the area.
In the Lobby, Tumbleweed nearly snaps as the alarm begins to wail. Her
eyes dart back and forth, seeing enemies in every shadow and in the
thousand reflections of the lobby mirrors.
In the Lobby, Four-Leaves looks up into the black void of the second
floor, muscles bunching into tense knots of worry. ~Bridge-Mender, what of
the vats and sinks downstairs?~ she asks, voice pitched higher in
ill-hidden fear. ~Should...should we watch those too?~
In the Lobby, ~It's noise! Don't let it turn your ears! Watch stairs,
watch doors.~ Bridge-Mender keeps her own eyes on the monitor, the mirrors
ringing the lobby. ~Watch the door, don't go down there. Circle, now, we
work as a pack.~
Lianne winces as the alarm starts and moves out from behind the bar,
reaching the control panel near and punching in a code. The alarm stops,
but the sprinkers keep going upstairs. That done, she goes back behind the
bar.
In the Lobby, Four-Leaves nods tersely, turning and keeping her gaze
affixed to one of the mirrors on the wall. Her right hand fingers splay
out, claws ready to tear into...something. The hand is shaking.
Eamon returns from the umbra. "All right, I'll stay down here in case
something comes through. Be careful if you go upstairs, it's fuckin' pitch
black up there."
In the Lobby, The sandy-colored monster's voice has lowered, the growl
still there but the tone's even. ~Use your rage. It is what Gaia gave
you.~ She looks to Four-Leaves. ~We are all here, now, a pack, not alone.~
She looks to the other room as Eamon draws from the umbra. ~Nothing here
yet.~
From upstairs, there is a quick burst of gunfire. Lianne scowls, knuckles
turning white as she holds onto her handgun.
In the Lobby, Rushes-In growls, keeping watch.
In the Lobby, Tumbleweed snarls lowly, muscles twitching with fury and
tension. Her coarse brown fur stands on end, and a string of drool dangles
from her clenched maw.
Salem grimaces, brutish glabro features drawn tight and angry. "Chaos," he
rumbles. "Fucking chaos."
John shoots a quick look at Salem, a slight hint of amusement in the
expression of his bestial face. "Upstairs. You game?" He doesn't wait for
an answer before striding out of the rec room.
In the Lobby, Four-Leaves doesn't exactly relax, per se, but the furred
hand shakes a bit less. She sneaks a sideways glance at the stairs and
blinks, turning her coarse, massive head to stare fully. ~Light is coming
back,~ she calls out.
Lianne lightly shakes her head, looking over at Salem. "Thats what we get
for housing other Tribes here. Disorganized lot."
Eamon grits his teeth, staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah, no shit."
Salem just gives his head a shake and stalks after John, his hands opening
and closing.
Walker Safe House - Lobby(#2832RAJL)
In the Rec Room, Eamon hears more gunfire and roars from upstairs. "Fuck!
Nevermind." He races back up the stairs.
Hallway(#3407RJL)
Roger's attack comes before anyone elses, and he manages to get off a
burst at the wolf-spider creature thing. A few bullets strike it, drawing
the creature's immediate ire. Roger is, once again, engulfed in flames.
His gun explodes in his hand, turning it into chunky salsa that splatters
all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Bullets *VIP!* everywhere,
striking Roger, the creature, and Leo in the process. Leo plows into the
creature and rips into it but good, carving out large chunks of flesh from
its side. The hallway is narrow enough to limit Yi and Kris to only ranged
attacks and, maybe, cheerleading.
Three-Blades immediately flattens at the sound of gunfire, expecting a
bullet that doesn't come. And then explosion sounds, and passes by the
ragabash. Little Bear! The ragabash is back on all fours in a flash,
bearing down from one apartment towards the other. She squeezes out of the
apartment and moves to one side, letting Kris come out if she wants, while
she searches for some opening to jump in and take a grab with her jaws. A
handy leg, or flailing limb perhaps.
~YOW!~ Okay, YOW just sounds wierd in Crinos. She takes the advantage of
the opening Yi gives her, and just..looks. Sighing, the Fang murmurs a
slight apology to the owner of the place, and silently begins tallying up
the total damages. And with that, She bolts. Across the Hallway, striaght
against the opposite wall--and INTO the opposite wall, using her claws to
help her gain extra crashing power, to get into Sophia's room, and behind
the critter.
Eamon decides to join the fighting upstairs, following John and Salem. He
shifts to Crinos and crouches, waiting for an opening.
Little Bear ignores the relatively minor pain of the bullet and shrapnel,
focusing on digging his way through his monstrosity. He digs his claws
into its torso and pulls, biting viciously where the rip would appear the
whole time.
Eamon shakes his ruff as he can't get to the combat at the moment, so he
goes around to the rooms he can reach to make sure there aren't any others
in the building.
Growling in the unnaturally deep glabro voice, John grunts at the nearest
noncombatant, "How many?"
Roger slumps down for a second almost drifting unto unconsciousness or
death, but right as his eyes appear to close they snap open again and his
body explodes up off the ground, standing in the crinos form as a raging
warcry, defiant against black death sounds throughout the house loud
enough to penitrate into the basement with its vibrato of hate. The metis
Walker's eyes, still wide open and glassy lock onto that which attacked
him and dive for it's legs, trying to chew them off and claw through the
back of them with his one good clawed near-hand, grunting with gusto as
little else but vengance at the attack he just suffered is sought by his
mind.
Kristine plows through the wall on the first try, splintering boards and
snapping a two-by-four in the processes. She knocks over a TV that was
inside the room and barely escapes getting her foot tangled up in the
process. The others, kept at bay by the architecture, can do little more
than watch. Any fool could see that seven on one is one that will be lost,
and the wolf-spider thing flies into a rage-charged blur, lashing out at
the one he's already damaged the most and attacked him first: Roger.
Roger's own frenzy counters the slippery, shit-coated monster. Blood,
flesh, fur, and gore flies everywhere in it's last-ditch effort to kill
one of the already-wounded Garou. Little Bear continues his ripping and
clawing and biting, doing considerable damage to the thing, particularly
since it essentially ignores his incoming, savage attacks. Roger goes down
a mere fraction of a second before the beast, which manages to get in one
final, frenzied blow on the downed metis Walker before Leo rends out half
a lung and exposes most of its chest cavity, befouling the entire hallway
with its stench and the tang of blood and fire. Sophia's room continues to
burn, sprinklers still spray water everywhere. But the battle appears
over.
Little Bear picks the bloody carcass up by digging his claws between the
ribs of one half of the chest cavity, SLAMMING it against the wall with a
roar of triumph. He turns, gorey talons clenching and unclenching, and
kicks the door open of the room Roger was just standing in front of,
looking for more intruders. ~ Heal him, ~ he calls over his shoulder
almost nonchalantly.
Three-Blades howls her fury, seeing her packmate being attacked and even
more at Roger going down. The Gnawer slips and slides her way down to the
metis, still on all fours through crinos-sized, putting herself between
the Beast and Roger's fallen body. The Gnawer lets Stands-Proud through,
before pushing and shoving her way towards the Wyrmthing and her packmate.
From there she launches herself at the midsection vitals of the creature,
biting and clawing at the extra limbs and spine.
John wastes no time with petty vengeance on the corpse, but instead narrow
his eyes at the group, frowning. "Where are our fucking heal--" He trails
off, before striding back down the stairs.
Cursing is heard as the Fang detangles herself. Why does this always
happen? Not that she's going to explain outloud. She moves through the now
open door (not the one she made, mind you), ~Just a note, the Wall is my
fault~ She's not paying for the water damage. She moves over to Roger, a
hand moving, not taking the time to see if he's still alive. Hands glow,
and she places them over the Metis' body, channeling the energies
necessary to begin knitting torn and injured flesh back together, ~Mother,
allow your light to heal our comrade...~ she trails off, and the hands
touch Roger's form.
Ever-Grinning returns from checking the rooms. ~All clear.~ He moves to
check the situation.
Dreamer coughs out a gurgling blood soaked hack and lashes out with a hand
to grip and throw Kris' hand away. "Let me die!" He gurgles through a
nearly useless throat.
Leonard emerges from the last room, in homid. Soaked, covered in slime and
shit and gore, his normally expressionless face is alight with anger. He
checks on Three-Blades, making sure she's alright, then moves down the
stairs, fists clenched.
Three-Blades sniffs with a wrinkled muzzle on the corpse of the last
Dancer, before growling angrily at Roger. She offers to hold him down
though, if Kris insists.
Salem hesitates, staring at his downed packmate. Then, face tight, he
follows downstairs after John.
Walker Safe House - Lobby(#2832RAJL)
Kaz pages: There's ooze; there's also Kaz, lain out on the floor, Anneka
doing field surgery. Is there anyone ELSE coming?
Tumbleweed pages to the room: Peggy is unwisely attempting to slash at the
slime because she's freaking nuts. Rar.
Tskilegwa pages to the room: Okay. Slime is on the ceiling and oozing up
from the basement door. Pose attempts.
Eyes squinting at the slime that has come to surface, Guards-Flame turns
around and growls loudly, heading over to back up her cub. ~Tumbleweed, be
careful.~ She attunes herself, focusing and calling upon her numbing gift.
Kaz continues to bite down hard on the small piece of wood in her mouth.
Tumbleweed crouches and leaps at the door, raking her claws at the slime
without thought to the consequences.
Bridge-Mender opens her eyes, wide and round, looks at Kaz as her claws
dig into her mentor's wound, questing for the silver there. She grits her
sharp teeth, turns her ears back as she tries hard not to look towards the
other room. She growls, low, the sound spilling from her mouth.
Rushes-In moves to keep the slime from getting over him; he watches it
carefully.
Leonard takes one look at the scene, growls, and moves right towards
the...kitchen? Yes, the kitchen.
John frowns, eyeing the slime as it makes its way up from the basement.
Looking after Leonard, he shakes his head slightly, and reaches into his
jacket to withdraw a lighter. "Booze, under the bar, Bear," he growls back
there.
Leonard nods, kneeling and digging for bottles. "Knew this stuff had to be
good for somethin'." He grabs whatever cleaning supplies might be under
there too, reasoning the evil chemicals may well work against the Wyrm as
well as for it, tucking them under one arm. With his free hand he gathers
up a book of matches and some tea towels.
Tumbleweed's claws rake through the slime, not doing any visible damage to
it nor getting any visible reaction other than leaving rake marks in the
ceiling with her claws. It promptly drops onto her with a wet *SPLAT!*,
coating her like $240 worth of pudding.
In the Rec Room, Lianne presses herself fairly close to one wall, as
Leonard gets in behind the bar as starts digging for suplies.
Growling, Guards-Flame looks confused on how to handle the situation,
rumbling to her cub. ~Get back Tumbleweed, the others got a plan going.~
As she gets 'slimed', ghost busters style, her eyes widen, hoping that the
crap isn't lethal.
Salem takes direct action as the cub gets coated; he surges up into Crinos
and lunges forward to grab Tumbleweed bodily and pull her away from the
ooze.
Tumbleweed growls viciously, thrashing and shaking in an attempt to free
herself from the clinging muck.
Seeing the situation worsening, John winces and growls out, "Lianne! Get
ready to turn off the sprinklers!" He tears the arm off his trenchcoat,
before promptly setting it alight.
Leonard pulls open one of the corks from a bottle of vodka with his teeth
and sprinkles it liberally on the slime encroaching from under the
basement door, then lights a match and drops it.
In the Rec Room, "Off!?" Lianne yells. "Are you insane? We don't need to
have the entire building burn to the ground." Despite her protests, the
kinsowman leave the bar and takes up a position next to the control panel
embeded in one wall.
Tumbleweed sputters and gags as some of the glop gets into her mouth. She
wheezes and spits, still flailing insensibly.
John snaps back, "Just this floor," as Leonard does his little fire trick.
"If you can. Water may be as good as fire..." He eyes the stricken cub,
and murmurs, "Please don't set her on fire..."
The metis makes a muffled noise; eventually, Anneka's questing claws get
the bullet, and Kaz lurches upwards. "Next time, use a fuckin' knife.
Thanks, Otter." She sounds, predictably, pained. "Water. Want water offa
me?"
Salem takes hold of the flailing cub, quite firmly, and never mind the
claws he sinks into her to get a better grip, and hauls her out of the
way. Bodily, if need be.
Guards-Flame looks worried and heads quickly over to Salem and Tumbleweed,
growling in her throat. ~Get a towel on her and start scrubbing?~
In the Rec Room, Lianne is pale and starting to look more then a little
shaken.
Salem plunges an arm into the goop, grabs hold of Tumbleweed's arm, and
pulls. Leonard's fire water cocktail ignites, adding flames to the main
floor as well as the upstairs. Tumbleweed is pulled free by Salem, but not
before the entire mass catches fire, writhing frantically to escape the
flames that engulf it. The cub, sticky with goo, and Salem's hand, both
catch fire.
Bridge-Mender splays her bloody fingers out and flattens her ears. ~No
knife.~ Then she stands quickly, looks with wide lantern eyes as fire
catches in the other room. She snarls.
Tumbleweed hardly seems to notice as Salem breaks the skin with his claws,
as the two of them light up like a roman candle. She emits a high-pitched
lupine shriek, futilely attempting to sweep off the flaming ooze.
~Hold still~ Guards-Flame calls out as she grabs two pillows off the
couch, starting to try and smother the burning parts of the two Garou,
growling. "Someone wanna get some water over here?!~
~Water. Behind the bar, sink!~ Bridge-Mender calls out. Then she looks up
towards the sprinklers.
The Crinos'd Walker Philodox lets out a roar of anger and pain, dropping
the burning cub and lurching away.
Lianne's eyes go wide and she quickly punches some buttons on the control
panel, causing the room's sprinklers to go off. Water soaking her hair,
the kinswoman runs as fast as her lip will allow. Ducking behind the bar
and staying there.
Leonard keeps feeding the flames on the slime with the vodka bottle,
trusting the others to take care of the 'walker flambe'.
John tosses his burning - then fizzling - scrap of material away, and then
shakes his head. "Wish we could've Let the slime burn a little longer," he
murmurs coldly, still standing by the stairs, with water starting to drip
off him.
Kaz eyes the slime warily, then shakes her head abruptly. "John. You got
snipers up on the roof. What else is going on in here?"
Three-Blades pages to Salem, Leonard, John, Lianne, Kaz, Tumbleweed,
Rushes-In, Guards-Flame, Bridge-Mender, Kristine, Eamon, and Dreamer: A
howl, long, loud, low and full of sorrow issues from upstairs. It calls
out to Gaia, telling her to spirit the fallen warrior, Howls-Before-Dying,
to his home in her heart. To keep him safe and heal him there, until the
time he can return.
John winces. "Toasted bane and Dancer upstairs. No windows on this floor,
at le--" He stops, at the sound of the howl. His eyes widen, and he
charges upstairs.
"Gang Way!" Somehow, Kris got a head of Eamon, and is quickly running down
the stairs. Expression wise, she looks like hell. Damn, she's in a
heap-o-trouble, probably. But, that's for another time. AT the howl, she
stops in her running down stairs--her lip instantly going into her mouth
to be chewed on, before she takes the few steps to land on the floor.
Damn, this is one helluva mess. She looks to John--but John runs away.
Damn. Okay, back to the Helluva mess. Okay, that's a lot of people to
heal.
Leonard snarls, shifting up into crinos. He slams the bottle down onto
what's left of the slime, shattering it, and moves to the basement door,
yanking it open hard enough to rip it off his hinges.
Kaz, abruptly, says, "/Fuck/." A beat later, she's following Leonard.
Guards-Flame snaps her head up as well, listening to the howl. She raises
her own voice and roars out, her voice pained. ~FUCK!~ Claws flex for a
moment before glancing back over to Tumble and Salem, growling. First
things are first.
The ooze spasms and pulsates, occasionally forming an arm or a leg or a
humanish face from the primordeal muck until, finally, it stops moving and
just bubbles and pops and boils. It looks, decidedly, dead. As Leo smashes
the basement door down, he's assaulted by a pungent, noxious, lung-searing
odor that starts to filter into the house.
Bridge-Mender's head sweeps about as the howl echoes down from upstairs.
Her ears flatten against her skull and she looks to Kaz before nodding
sharp and racing up the stairs after the Walker Elder.
Eamon looks around at the situation. "Shit." He winces as Leonard opens
the door to the basement and the odor hits him. He follows the Wendigo.
Flaming cub? Damn it. She yanks her coat off, and moves over to the person
that's making a descent Human Torch impersonation, and uses the blazer to
attempt to smother the flames. "Rest easy, we'll get this taken care of in
no time." Kris comments. Damn. Damn damn damn damn. This entire thing's
gone to hell in a handbasket. "I can heal..don't worry."
Guards-Flame turns and follows after BM and John, eyes widened as well.
She shifts down into her glabro along teh way.
Little Bear immediately starts coughing up a lung, going down to his
knees. ~ Back... Kaz.. air... ~ He tries slamming the broken door shut.
Tumbleweed drops to all fours, whining lowly in between gags as her
flaming hide is gradually reduced to a charred wet mass. She smells so
horrid it's almost painful, and her skin is covered in blisters and
charred welts.
Kaz skids to a halt and starts backing up, helpfully tugging Leo with her.
"Lemme down there. I can throw some fire, at least. Lianne," she calls
backwards, "You guys got flashlights?"
Salem, occupied with the flames eating at the fur and flesh of his arm and
close to losing control entirely, stumbles another step and slams into the
nearest wall. It holds, thankfully, and the flames sputter out under the
assult of the sprinklers, but for the moment, the ex-Ronin doesn't
register John's absense, or the commotion upstairs. One gold eye rolls
toward the open basement, and his teeth show in a spit-smeared snarl.
Tskilegwa pages to the room: A roll of lung-searing chemical stink comes
up from the basement. Anyone near it start taking 1 agg per round as your
lungs are burned.
Little Bear tries to relearn how to breathe, lungs on fire, and lets
himself be dragged by Kaz.
Rushes-In, stalking around the periphery per instructions, backpedals away
from the hissing noxious smoke.
Tumbleweed scampers backwards towards the exit, eyes alight with
unreasoning panic. Bits of sticky, charred skin remain behind where her
hands touched the floor.
A potent chemical stench issues forth from the basement, searing nasal
passages and making breathing difficult. The closet to the basement door,
the worse it is. And it's getting worse.
Eamon doesn't seem to be affected by the noxious gases. He tries to get
down into the basement to see what's going on.
Little Bear chokes out, ~ Air... fire... something! Stop it! Get out~ He
kneels, coughing.
Kaz drags Leonard further from the door and then growls in pain; she snaps
her fingers and heads over to the bar, looking for more flammables.
Ever-Grinning shifts into crinos form as he does.
Ick, Ack! It's a combination between the gas, and the fact the cub just
upped and ran off. Kristine is quick to give chase, coughing, she attempts
to catch up to Tumbleweed. "STOP!" She'll follow her outside if she has
to, the gift already being called upon, to deal with the cubs incredible
wounds.
Tumbleweed reaches the door and falls to one knee, panting. She sounds as
if her lungs are trying to escape through her throat. One hand paws weakly
at the door.
In the Rec Room, Lianne remains tucked behind the bar. Staying out of
sight and hopefully out of harm.
Salem retreats to the wall farthest from the basement, slouched down
almost onto all fours, his injured arm held close to his body. He
continues to growl, low and steady, hackles bristling and fangs bared.
Rushes-In tries to back away from the gas, growling.
Little Bear crawls up the stairs in crinos, trying and failing to growl.
"It'll be alright..." Here, hopefully, they're away from the smoke, at
least, for a little while. Glowing hands come up above the cub, and then
down, hoping she has better luck healing the cub than she did Roger. At
least Kris can be useful somehow. Then, she'll have to get away from the
gas s'more.
Tskilegwa pages to the room: Everyone near the basement door or kitchen
now gets another 1 point agg from fumes unless they have Resist Toxin.
Little Bear lies sprawled over the steps and coughs up blood, holding his
throat.
Ever-Grinning calls out from the basement, "There's chemicals all over the
place down here! Nobody use any fire or shoot any guns!"
Kaz yells, "Eamon, you fuckin' dipshit, you don't got no backup. Get OUT
of there, and I can /torch/ it."
Tumbleweed weakly attempts to claw through the outer door, scraping
against the metal. Her muscles begin to slacken as fatigue and injury take
their toll.
Little Bear crawls his way up the stairs.
Salem backs himself into the furthest corner, still snarling, and starting
to cough as well as the fumes worsen. He snaps at the air, spraying little
flecks of foam.
Ever-Grinning comes out of the basement. ~You torch it and this whole
place could blow up!~
"Come on, you should be okay to move a little bit now." Not to mention,
okay to be touched. KRis felt the flesh mending itself, so she knew it
took. Right now, though, they need to get away from the gas. The buzzer's
going off, and.."Over here," She moves to another far corner, beckoning
the cub with her.
Kaz grunts at Eamon. "Are those /chemicals/, or banes posing as
chemicals?"
Tumbleweed pushes herself to her feet, pain written on her face. She limps
over to the corner, eyes darting frantically about in search of some
escape.
Eamon shifts back to homid. "No, somebody trashed Roger's lab."
Lianne looks up from behind the bar, eyes squinting at the slowly
spreading cloud of toxic gas. Slowly standing, the kiswoman takes a deep
breath and holds it. Hobbling toward the front door as fast as her feet
and cane will carry her, intent on getting out the front door and away
from the chaos.
Kaz growls, "There's /snipers/ out there. Ma'am."
The fumes coninue leaking out of the basement, reaching halfway across the
first floor of the building now as the demolished chemistry lab downstairs
creates noxious, lung searing gases that slowly eat away at people's
lungs.
Lianne looks down at Kaz and doesn't speak, still holding her breath. The
kinswoman doesn't stop moving, either. Its one choice of death, or another
for her right now. She'll take her chances with the snipers. Reaching the
front door, she begins to open it.
Tumbleweed's chest heaves as she attempts to hold her breath. She strikes
at the wall repeatedly, each hit sending pain lancing up her burnt arm.
Kaz mutters, "You're an adult," and flips her cel phone open, speaking
into it urgently. "Thanks."
Eamon stares at Kaz. "Snipers? Shit. They're tryin' to get us outside.
Stay against the walls! Don't get out in the open!" He shouts a warning to
Lianne as she tries to get outside.
Salem coughs again, then growls a few short, sharp, syllables. ~Close.
Door. Perhaps?~ He scrapes at the floor with the claws of his good hand.
Rushes-In is far back from the gas, looking around now for any other signs
of invasnion.
"Smiley, you're waltzing through this like it's nothing, close the bloody
door!" There goes that Fianna influence. Kris keeps close to Tumbleweed,
pulling the cub away from the gas, as there are gas-free pockets about.
The door is opened just enough to let Lianne wriggle outside and thats
exactly what she does, or tries to do. The door is knocked more fully
open, as Renee's small form dashes inside. Right away, the cub begins to
hack and cough as the front door closes. Sealing the room off, once again.
Tumbleweed's stamina fails her and she gasps for air. ~Umbra...can't
we...~ She runs out of breath before she manages to complete the thought,
wheezing and gagging.
The metis, who is edging toward the stairs, blinks. "Renee, what the fuck
you doin' here, there's snipers out there."
Little Bear comes down the stairs, a wet sheet wrapped around his face. ~
Ice has the snipers. ~
Eamon says "Well, I'd love to, but *somebody* busted it open." He nods at
the cub. "Yeah, get to the Umbra. Watch for snipers, though.""
Little Bear promptly coughs from forcing out the word 'snipers' from his
crinosed' throat.
Alicia follows after the others, wearing a wet sheet around her mouth,
tied around her head. She is holding something in her hands with a goopy
orange goo' inside.
Bridge-Mender follows after Little Bear. Her coat is soaked, her fur wet
and standing out everywhere. A sheet's wrapped around her muzzle, her ears
flat as she looks about at the room.
Three-Blades jumps the last few steps, wet sheet wrapped about her head
like desert clothing was suddenly trendy. Bloody claws are ready to carry
the injured out.
The fumes coming up from the basement cover 3/4ths of the bottom level. It
appears to be heavier than normal air. It continues to be rather potent,
burning away at people's lungs still. The spread of the fumes seems to be
slowing however, and it looks like only the first floor will eventually be
affected and contaminated.
Renee's eyes water as she continues to hack and shifting into crinos
doesn't help. After one quick look around the room, the crinosed cub runs
up the stairs.
The Fang's hands move down to help the cub up, while the other hand fishes
out a mirror. "Please let me bust through on the first try...C'mon kiddo
you gotta help me here..." SHe says through breaths, "Now, there's no
garauntee that the umbra's going to be spiffy..probably going to get our
butts ripped open, but there's no gas." Kris tilts the mirror, Tumbleweed
in arms, and prepares to flip on over to the other side.
Little Bear starts coughing again, in earnest. He swears and tries to snag
the cub as she runs by, then moves to go up after her.
"I need a light guys." Alicia says, carrying the cloth wrapped bottle in
her hands. "Quickly." Her voice is muffled from the wrap about her face.
Eamon calls out to Kristine, "The Umbra's clear, I checked it before!"
Salem is coughing steadily now, but he manages to get to his feet, and
stagger a few steps toward the stairs. The Walker's right arm is a mass of
red burn-flesh, and drool slathers his muzzle like that of a rabid dog.
Tumbleweed shrieks as her eyes are seared by the gas. She attempts to
regulate her breathing, staring into the mirror and doing her best to
reach. The pain nags at her mind, fouling her concentration, but she
swallows hard and forces herself to ignore it.
Three-Blades growls, coughing through her mask. She makes her way through
the gas, back to the rec room where she had her jacket and boots. If
they're still there, there should be a lighter or some matches in one of
the pockets.
Eamon yells, "NO! Don't light that fucking match! The whole place could go
up!"
"That'a girl..." Kristine says, the shimmer of the mirror, and the Fang
moves, a step, and then another, and she's gone, taking her charge with
her. And If Eamon was wrong, she'll come back from the dead and throttle
him.
Even through the rags, the gas is still apparent, burning eyes and throat.
Bridge-Mender coughs, muffled, looks up towards the stairs where Renee
went. She shakes her head once turns to scale the stares.
Kaz adds, "There's chemicals down there. Though at this rate, once we evac
everyone, I wanna torch it /myself/."
Three-Blades finds her lighter. Gaia help us. The Gnawer doesn't light
anything though, with Eamon's yelling. She comes back, coughing through
her mask and eyes burning. The covered zippo lighter gets handed to
Alicia. ~Everyone better get out.~
Kaz growls, "Go fuckin' Umbral, there's snipers on the roof."
The gas continues its spread, filling up the first floor completely now,
but seeming to stop. It is still rather potently noxious and toxic, and
continues to damage the lungs of all present.
Kaz edges up the stairs further.
Alicia glances over to Kaz, taking the lighter from Yi. "Rhya, this is
ganna make an A Bomb look like a firecracker. I got Roger's magic missle
in my hands." She mumbles from behind the cloth, thanking Gaia for that
gift Adam taught her.
Salem's ears twitch. He swings his head around to look at Kaz, then at the
noxious cloud-emitting basement. He thinks better of heading upstairs, and
drags himself to the nearest mirror. It takes a monumental effort and an
exertion of will, but he drags himself through the Gauntlet.
Eamon growls, "Ah, fuck this." He heads over to the rec room and reaches
across from the mirrors there.
Kaz sounds amazingly hoarse, by now. "You /want/ to explode it." (She's on
the stairs.) "Yi, give her the fuckin' lighter, get the fuck outta here,
we ain't havin' /two/ people die in this damn explosion. Clear? 'Cause
Alicia lights that, she's dead."
Three-Blades jerks her head in a hacking cough, then looks from Kaz to
Alicia. There's no way she's letting two of her friends die tonight.
Little Bear comes down the stairs, carrying Roger's corpse. ~ Can't leave
this here. Can't dedicate it, too big. ~
Alicia glances over to Kaz and lets out a breath, coughing a bit under the
rag. "Hey, what a way to go eh'?" She says, pounding on her chest with a
free hand. Reaching out, she goes to snag the lighter from her friend.
"Just get outta 'ere, I'll be right behind yeh'. I'm launching this thing
and leaping right out."
Renee hacks, as she makes it to the bottom of the stairs. ~Okay. Someoen
take fuckin' charge and lets move before this shit kills all of us!~
Kaz bites off the words. "Get. Out. Now. Renee, are there fucking still
fucking snipers?"
Bridge-Mender thumps down the stairs, a few great leaps that takes her
past Kaz and to the foot of the stairs. She looks back up to the wreck of
the second floor, then back to Kaz and Three-Blades. Her ears go flat. She
looks back to Leonard, then pulls the rags away from her muzzle. She
coughs out a shout. ~Walks-Thin-Ice is going after them!~
Renee shakes her head. ~They're gone. Matt and I chased'em off.~
Three-Blades looks up at the stairs, and Roger's body. ~Lay the body on
basement stairs, and get out of here,~ she tells her packmate. Then a
sharp look at Renee and Kaz as if 'What are you still doing here!'
Kaz growls, "I know that. I'm asking the cub, who was /there/. Thank you,
dipshit, for telling me that when I asked the first time. Ok, everyone
OUT, now. Alicia, I got it."
Little Bear nods to Yi, and shakes his head, murmuring, ~ Go with
Grandmother. ~ He chucks Roger's body down the stairs, coughs, and moves
to the front door, shifting down to homid and staggering under the flurry
of coughs that wrack his body.
Renee runs to the door and opens it wide, before heading out, into the
open and straight for the nearest alleyway.
Roger's body flumps uncerimoniously down the stairs, awaiting yet another
form of oblivion.
Alicia growls loudly. "Kaz, fucking A. John wants this place lit up." She
heaves out a loud huff, finding herself outranked by this decision. She
looks up at her, then hands over the glass tube, dancing from foot to
foot. "Please, don't die.." She says, then looks to Yi, turning and
starting off quickly and out of the building. "C'mon Yi."
Three-Blades protests no longer, helping her packmate with the body down
the stairs and using the brief moment of air to breathe. Once Roger's body
is down, she shifts down and follows Little Bear and Alicia out.
Bridge-Mender looks to Kaz and nods sharp, is changing as she runs towards
the door. She's human by the time she darts out into the alley, at least
in seeming.
Regan Avenue, Downtown
Tenements, small businesses, and tiny restaurants line the street. Heavy
metal bars encase the glass fronts of the stores. Battered cars, almost
falling apart with rust, are parked haphazardly here and there along the
sidewalks. People travel in groups, here, wary of the small gangs of young
boys at street corners. Several blocks have the same dull repetitiveness,
from Fifth Street all the way to Twelfth. Only the graffiti marks a
difference between the blocks, the occasional rudeness sometimes broken up
by light colors and strange designs.
[Salem, Kristine, and Tumbleweed are still umbral.]
Blocky shoes scrape and thump against the alley as Anneka bails out into
it. Her hair's sticking out everywhere, her coat's sodden, wet. There's
blood on her face, more on her hands and shirt when she coughs, leans hard
against a wall.
Lianne rubs at her eyes once again, then moves away from Sepdet and an
expencive looking car across the street. "I can take five poeple to my
home," she states. Anyone who wants to come, had better follow.
J.C. peers at all the figures stumbling out of the safehouse, then
retreats all the way back to the far end of the alleyway, vanishing behind
a large dumpster.
Brittany strides from an alleyway across from the safehouse, wearing a gas
mask and looking seriously, seriously stoked for business. With a pistol
in her right hand, a second gas mask is in the left, as she states,
loudly, "I need one for recon and removal! Step up!"
Leonard shakes his head at Britanny, taking shallow breaths to try and
talk without coughing. His voice sounds like it comes from the pits of
Hell. "Kaz is setting a bomb... in the basement. Going to blow it."
Sepdet is staring distractedly towards the building, apparently scanning
through some other means. But Brittany's words bring her back to the
present. "One or two still inside, but they're bailing, Princess, and
setting a bomb. Time for us to clear out."
Renee wipes at her mouth and groans, before straightening up. Still in
Glabro, she finds a nicely shadowed corner of the alley and curls up in
it.
Leonard moves away from the door, towards Sepdet. He looks angrier than
you have ever seen him. "Wait." He raises his voice, looks around. "WAIT."
He chokes, spits blood, wipes his mouth.
Brittany nods, stride never slowing, as a white fire starts running along
her body. "Then she'll need a way out and someone to watch her back." She
stores the mask under her arm, and prepares to simply keep walking forward
and in, without pause.
Anneka leans over, rests her hands on her knees and coughs streamers of
blood to the earth. Then she straightens up, pale and looks to Renee. Her
freckles stand out, stark against her skin as she shakes her head, once.
She rubs her mouth with the back of a hand, then furrows her brow, steps
to the cub. "Time to run, now."
The Fang gets a Gnawer barrelling into her. "Hi," she says, hoarse.
"Thanks. Now get the fuck outta here."
Lianne reaches her car and gets inside. She waits a moment to see if she
will be driving anyone away, before leaving the area.
Roger's bike leans against the wall near the safehouse door.
Sepdet says crisply, "Injured, go with Lianne. NOW." She steps up to
Leonard, touching her forehead. "No more waiting. Go on." She starts east
at a crisp clip.
Leonard shakes his head, moves towards the car.
Anneka leans over, rests her hands on her knees and coughs streamers of
blood to the earth. Then she straightens up, pale. Her freckles stand out,
stark against her skin as she shakes her head, once. She rubs her mouth
with the back of a hand, then furrows her brow, looks along the length of
the alley. "Renee?" She frowns. "Anyone see her?"
Yi, who had been coughing and hacking through her loosely arabic
sheet-mask, has it loosened and motions to Anneka. "Junkyard. Go." She's
already moving away, fast, barefoot, bleeding... into Lianne's car
Leonard glances at Anneka, moving towards Lianne's car. "Some went to the
other world. John said meet at the Rialto." Leonard helps Yi, leaning on
her almost as much as she leans on him.
"Rialto," Anneka says to Yi, in return. "Take Lyra with you in the car."
She pushes the cub that way, quick, then looks down the length of the
alley. "Renee!"
J.C. decides to take her leave. In the shadows at the back of the dead-end
alley, she touches Renee's shoulder, then shrinks down to rodens form and
vanishes into a hole that would only fit a rat. And she's gone.
Brittany oofs, as Kaz collides with her, but manages to move 'round the
Gnawer, to guide her with a light push towards the wounded. "Last chance,
anyone need me in, or we bail now?"
Kaz nearly makes it out the door before the sparks from the fuse sets off
the volatile gasses that are already dispersed throughout the house.
There's a massive *krum-BOOM!* as the gas ignites explosively, shooting
Kaz out the door and into the street like a spit watermelon seed. The
secondary explosion is even bigger than the primary. Window shards blast
everywhere, flames gout through windows and, as the windows can't
accomodate the explosive force, the bricks themselves are blasted across
the area. Windows in neighboring buildings shatter. Grandfather THunder
himself would be pleased at the deafening noise and raw shockwave that
comes from the building. The world shakes. People are knocked dozens of
feet away from the blast. Cars flip over. All hell breaks loose, and
ground zero is the Walker safehouse.
Kaz, hoarse, has enough time to say, "Everyone's ou--" as she's still
running, before she gets slammed down by the explosion.
Alicia goes flying down the street, tumbling, landing with a thud and
skids a bit. She grunts, groans, then coughs out on the dust. "Holy
fucking shit. That rocked."
Renee looks up at J.C. and watches as she turns into a rat and disapears.
Slowly sitting up, the cub responds to Anneka's call. "Over here." Only to
be drowned out by the sound of the Walker Safe House going up in smoke.
Anneka was not badly injured before the explosion, but things change
quickly as the girl's picked up by the force of the explosion, her coat
turn here and there by flying glass and rock. She lands hard, raps her
head against something and ends up in a dazed sprawl on the ground. A
little tendril of smoke stirs up from a shoulder.
Yi and Lyra get knocked straight into the car. And glass gets dumped on
the ragabash who covers the halfmoon cub.
Brittany joins Kaz in a bit of air ballet, tumbling through the air before
landing, roughly, in the street. A shame everyone's deaf, or they'd get to
hear her, breathlessly, mutter, "Fuck."
Lianne's car rocks with the blast and she yelps in surprise and shock. The
car windows facing the explosion crack and the kinswoman starts up the
car, hitting the gas and driving away with the squeal of tires.
The metis thuds to the ground, quite still for rather too long a moment.
Then she's snarling, up on her feet, quite deaf, and running. "/Police/!"
she says, far too loudly. "Get outta here."
Parts of bricks, glass, and shingles start to rain down on the whole area.
From the car, Leonard shouts at Lianne to stop stop stop, wait for his
packmates.
Small bits of cement have sliced up Renee's face, as she moves to check on
Anneka. "Lets get the hell outta here! Come'on!"
Brittany manages to stand, blood running down her cheek from a glass
shard, and wicning a bit, but it looks like the vest actually came in
handy. Her light wavers, then flashes a moment, to get attention from the
dazed and deafened, as she pulls Kay by the hand, shoving towards the
alleyway where she emerged, shouting, "My car, go!", then starts trying to
gather up the rest as best she can, light dimming again swiftly.
[Salem, by the way, does not meet up at the Rialto, but chooses to make
for a lone hiding place in a motel. Paranoid? Yes.]
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