{doom}
Though
most of the Garou's efforts have been centered on the area of downtown
surrounding 1999 Broadway, the area around the Caern needs patrolling,
too. The bawn is covered by a near invisible contingent of Guardian
wolves, but the suburban area just to the north? Not quite so well
defended. There is a corner one must turn to reach the park, from
Waterton Road and onto Rampart Range, and at that corner there is a
grocery store, a nail salon, an art gallery, and the area's public
library, among other things.
In this shopping plaza, closer to the
Chase Bank - an island building between the plaza's spacious parking
lot and the road - a group of people sit around off the back of an old
beat up truck.
Lola Hawkes
When the Cold Crescent
Sept building on Broadway was shut down and in crisis mode, Lola went on
several patrols with Garou collaboratives through the city. Since the
Sept had opened its doors and the burst of weak points in the Gauntlet
had lessened, the Kinswoman was nowhere to be found within Denver
proper.
Her place was protecting the Caern of Forgotten Questions,
just as she was born to do, and just as her ancestors had done before
her.
Somehow, though, she was talked into coming out into the
Suburbs to patrol there with a collection of other Garou. She knew
Keisha from one patrol earlier, and she knew Thomas from just a little
more than that. The Silver Fang she was utterly unfamiliar with, but
she wasn't unpleasant about it.
She was bothered by her inability
to carry her rifle around with her in the suburb, it wasn't at all like
patroling out around the Bawn proper. But she had her revolver strapped
to her side in a holder underneath her zip-up gray hoodie, the sleeves
of which pushed up past her elbows. Jeans and walking shoes completed
the boring, forgettable ensemble. Lola wasn't dressed for fashion
tonight, she was dressed for utility.
The Kinfolk must not have
caught too much grief when she joined with the other Garou to walk the
suburbs. She didn't cause much greif either, and largely kept to
herself, occasionally chattering if anyone else opted to bring up
conversation. She did speak up, though, when they round the corner of
the shopping plaza and she spies the truck with the collaborative of
people hanging out.
"Worth keeping an eye on those guys, you think? Or should we just keep on?"
Still Waters
They
may make an odd group for patrolling, but they aren't an improbable
one. A wide variance of skills and attitudes lie between these
individuals, and isn't that the best for a patrol group anyway? Keisha
walks along with the others, dressed down a little bit from her usual
neo-hippy garb. It's not particularly useful for potential combat
situations, after all so she's wearing an old Sisters of Mercy T-Shirt
(a relic from her part) and loose-fitting jeans. She's still rocking
the sandals though, and of course her staff, tapping on the ground with
each step.
She knows everyone that she's here with, has worked
alongside all of them at least once and trusts them all. They've shown
good judgment when she has, after all. And...well, she's Keisha and
even if things haven't been going their best, she's always the optimist.
The
group near the truck catches the attention of Lola, and of Keisha as
well. She nods a little bit at the kinfolk's words, taking them as she
would from any Garou.
"Worth keeping an eye on, at least until we
pass by." There isn't anything inherently suspicious about them, but
you never know.
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
Thomas
is just glad to finally be on another patrol with people he trusts.
For all that patrols with new Garou (and mostly new kin) have taught
him to at least trust a few more people, if only on patrols, he'd prefer
to be out with people he knows.
After the initial greetings,
which are friendly even if that is tempered with a bit of distance and
reserve with Sophia, he stays mostly quiet. Patrols are...not so much
social occasions. He's dressed in his general out of the city clothes,
cargo pants, tee-shirt, sensible hiking boots. If not for the Rage,
he'd be easy enough to slip around here unnoticed.
He nods to
Lola and Keisha. "A little caution never killed anyone." There is a
tiny flash of a grin. "Or probably not often, anyway."
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
They
were the ones who opted to bring Sophia out into public, and so they
were the ones who would have to deal with the consequences of their
actions. She couldn't help who she was, she couldn't help the fact that
she held little concern for the workings of the material world, she
couldn't help the fact that there was little difference, in her mind,
between the imagination and reality. This Silver Fang was a walking
example of why the other tribes are convinced the 'Fangs have gone mad.
Today
the Theurge concerned herself with a sparrow, the pungent scent of
death rose from it's carcass and drew her closer to investigate the
thing. Beneath it's feathers the thing wiggled and squirmed, and she
couldn't help but give the softest laugh. "Aww she has babies..." She
says as she gently pushes the feathers away to reveal the entry wound
where the sparrow had been shot by a bb gun. That wound was now well
opened by the fly larvae that now made the internal organs of this
creature their home.
Death was more than just a fascination to the
Theurge, it was her calling, and so she didn't seem bothered in the
slightest when she lifted the carcass from the ground in both hands and
muttered a soft little prayer for the creature, before drawing out a
small cloth to wrab the bird in, maggots and all, and there it goes,
right into the bag she had stropped across her shoulder. Sophia was
never one to pass up an opportunity to collect something that could be
put to use at a later time.
Although Sophia hadn't bothered to
look in the direction of the pickup, she had heard the others, she had
heard their questioning, and it didn't make sense to go into this
situation unprepared, so she decided to check the area for the wyrm's
presence![Sense Wyrm, Diff Varies depending on the strength of the wyrm
in the area, as well as how long at has been since it passed through the
area!]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Reese Evans
Reese
is not especially fond of the 'country', regardless of the terrain, but
there he can find virtue and value and so many different sorts of
beauty. The suburbs, though? They're so much worse, with their chain
coffee and burger joints and chain bar/restaurants and white picket
fences and lawns mowed just so. But he's there, and uncomfortable
despite the reassuring pressure and weight of the pistol in its holster
at his back, even with his shoes that are too pretty and fine to be
strictly practical for patrol work but still apparently comfortable for
walking.
So, yes, there he is - the eldest Evans kid, out to
patrol the suburbs near the Caern he never visits, with people he mostly
doesn't know. Or, with whom he only has bare acquaintance, anyway,
with the notable exception of one. Who, at the moment, he's treating
exactly as he does everyone else. And, for those who are paying
attention to his clothes? Nice, expensive (but obviously well worn)
jeans and a t-shirt that fits well to his shoulders and chest and
tapered waist - with a beer company logo splattered across said chest
and torso, of course, because it's Reese.
In his defense, he designed the logo.
"I
used to have a truck we hung out in the back of fairly often, trying to
get people to buy us beer. That's not a convenient place for it, but
could be a similar thing."
{doom}
The patrol
group's may seem a little odd at a glance. A kinswoman, two Theurges,
and a Galliard? But think about it and it makes sense. Two kin to
speak to the humans, two packed Theurges to deal with any rogue spirits
they happen across, and a Galliard for balance. The one who grouped
them together wasn't thinking "combat." They were thinking "patrol,
watch, alert." Of course, should trouble rise up before them, each is
more than capable of holding their own.
Lola and Keisha notice the
revelers on the truck first, who have noticed them, too. A man and two
women sit on that tailgate, with two more men leaning up against the
side. The conversation of the five trails off when the quintet of
Gaians nears. A couple are smiling, one is stone faced, all watch. The
two women lean together to whisper as they look from Lola to Sophia to
Keisha. One of them hops down, glances back to the others, and
tentatively steps forward.
"Heeeeey," she says to Sophia, a large jeweled pendant catching the light and sparking red. "You wanna party?"
She
looks young. They all look young, late teens probably, very early
twenties at the oldest. Behind the girl, the other four watch one,
grinning. Stone-faced. Watchful.
Lola Hawkes
The
sidewalk the group of Gaians was walking on touched the parking lot
that the truck was parked in. All five of those gathered-- both Kinfolk
and all three Garou, survey the group of five that hung out at the
truck. These loiterers surveyed them in turn.
Their stride
wouldn't break though, and they kept walking forward on the sidewalk.
The Gaians wouldn't be worried enough to be caught looking at these
people, for what did Gaians have to fear other than death coming some
five years earlier than normal? Not many of them were likely to reach
30 years of age anyways.
A woman hopped down and took a step forward to call out to Sophia, ask if she wants to party.
Lola snaps an answer, her voice all bravado and raining hell.
"No one wants to fuckin' party with you. Or your sentry-ass friends."
Still Waters
Keisha
loves her packsister. Her obsession with death and dead things creeps
the life-venerating Child of Gaia to no end and they will probably never
be quite on the same page because of it, but it doesn't change her
feelings. Siblings--even pack siblings--don't need to see eye to eye on
everything and this is just one of those wierd (very very wrong) quirks
that she accepts.
That being said...it's probably not a good sign
that of all the people in this group, the one collecting a bird corpse
is the one that the group wants to party with. Yeah, that's completely
bad, she's pretty sure. But it's no certainty, so it's not time to
start thinking tactically. (And that will start getting awkward anyway
if these people are bad guys and yet alive.)
So instead of doing
that, she just comes to a smiles a little bit and shakes her head.
"We're kind of heading somewhere specific," she says, speaking up even
though she wasn't addressed. Talk to one of them, talk to all. "What
kind of party you thinking about though?"
She looks down at the
pendant on the girl, curious. Yeah, she probably looks like she's
checking the girl out (and don't discount the possibility in most
cases!) but she's not.
Reese Evans
"Speak for
yourself," Reese answers Lola with a lazy, cocky grin shot Lola's way
and a wink for the girl asking about partying; he, too, checks out the
pendant, and maybe looks like he's checking out the girl too (but really
probably wouldn't in 99.9% of cases, because reasons). But he's old
compared to the kids at the truck, like he is compared to most of his
companions now - at twenty-eight , he's probably at least a few years
older than everyone in the motley patrol-pack, and nearly a decade older
than the group at the truck.
"What's happening?"
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
Thomas
tenses, just slightly when the woman approaches Sophia, but his
attention shifts quickly enough back to the four that remain at the
truck. The one girl is right in front of Sophia, who presumably can
keep an eye on her well enough. He defaults, as he usually does, to
letting Keisha handle the people. Sophia is also involved now, with the
girl. That's enough attention for her.
[Perception-Empathy: Sp. Hidden Motives (What, in at least one thing he is kind of like a Lord?)]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
{doom}
[manip+subt]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 4, 6, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
She
gives a little smile when she senses something on the air and she
speaks in the softest of tones. "He's here..." She says to the others.
"Coiled, watching, ready to strike..." She adds as she glances around,
and then in the direction of the truck.
Other's approach. She
counts their footsteps out loud. "One, two, three, four, five, six..."
They stop and she finds herself looking away from them, her smile ever
warm, their aggressive approach was noted and she gave the softest of
laughs at their question. "They march together, soldiers perhaps,
unwitting pawns, or maybe they have nothing to do with any of this?" She
seems to be speaking to herself. "Voices chime in unison, seeking
trouble more than fun, but the real question remains..."
Finally
she looks back at the pair. One, and then the other, and she pauses for
several long moments before speaking up in that same soft tone. "Why me?
What do they really want?" She asks them indirectly, her greyish-blue
eyes dancing from one figure to the next and she smiles back to them, in
no way aggressive or cruel, she was curious about them more than
anything!
There's a reason people might not want to bring Sophia into public too much!
{doom}
Keisha
starts checking out the girl, and so the girl changes direction and
starts heading toward the woman with the wicked staff and the cool
dreads. Lola's snapped answer is goes unnoticed. At least, that girl
doesn't notice it.
"What?" cracks across the distance
between the truck and the sidewalk like a snap of thunder. The owner of
the voice, the stone-faced young man, pushes off from the side of the
truck, meaty fists clenching. The others drop off the back of the truck
and start their approach, as well, coming up behind their friend.
Offering support? Maybe? Except that most of them are reaching into
their pockets for something.
But, hey, questions were asked of them.
The girl with the jeweled necklace says to Keisha, "This kind," her smile turning wicked.
One of the young men, headed for Reese, says, "This is."
And
the other girl says to Sophia, her eyes - pupil and iris both -
completely black, "Because we need another girl or we won't be even."
In fact, all of their eyes are black. And all but the one brandish knives or switchblades.
Still Waters
[[Per+PU!]]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 3, 5, 5) ( fail )
Reese Evans
[uh, heh. Per 2 + PU 0, why not?]
Dice: 2 d10 TN8 (2, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
[Who has laughable perception...?]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (4, 6, 9) ( success x 1 )
Lola Hawkes
[Perception 3 + Primal Urge 0]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (1, 1, 3) ( fail )
Lola Hawkes
Those
wolves (and the kin of) that rallied around her contradicted her
bust-out statement that no, none of them wanted to party at all. They
asked what kind of party, and the other Kinsman did so even with a wink.
This earned him a sharp, brief scowl. No chastizing, though, or
chewing out in other way shape or form because there was a burst of
vocal sound from the truck and those that were lingering behind
approached now.
Lola glanced left and right, up either side of the
sidewalk, then looked back to those that approached. Their faces were
stoney, save for the girl who had approached them first. A knife was
drawn, and it became apparent where this was headed.
Quick as a
whip, Lola reached inside of her sweater and drew her revolver, thumb
finding the familiar safety switch and turning it off. Her upper lip
was curled away from her teeth, and her dark eyes flashed something a
little too mad for anyone without Rage to have any right to carry with
them.
[Init die + 3 Dexterity + 3 Wits]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
[It's hard to notice much beyond the fact that these people are IN YO FACE, wielding knives and looking for blood.]
Still Waters
She
looks the girl over as she comes up, and now she IS checking her out.
Not for sexual reasons (well, not only, sometimes you can't help to
notice those things), but in a potentially combative way.
When she gets that wicked, nasty grin and her eyes go black, Keisha smiles a bit. "Oh, girlfriend. You were so goddamn close to my type, too."
She has her weapon, and it's always at the ready. And she falls back into a defensive stance, ready to lunge forward.
[[Init+5]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
{doom}
Stoneface dude: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
Knife dude 1: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
{doom}
Knife dude 2: +5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
Pendant girl: +7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )
{doom}
Other girl: +6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (10) ( success x 1 )
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
Sophia
frowns a little when she catches sight of their darkened eyes. Was this
real, or was this another nightmare? It was increasingly difficult to
tell the older she got, it all seemed to blend together into a seemingly
endless collection of memories. She did, however, remember hearing her
pack sister, at least she thinks that was her, and that voice helped to
anchor her to the world as she found herself pondering how to act,
react, or if she was even going to act at all!
Though, she wasn't
the only one present. There were kin here! That made this matter a
little more delicate and Sophia came to realize she would be needed. If
there was going to be a fight here, someone would have to wipe the blood
off the several garou, and kin, about to get stabbed by all those cute
little switchblades!
[Initiative! +5]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
And
this, right here, is why Thomas just never bothers with parties.
Sometimes, maybe, they could be fun. But then, there are all the
parties with the creepy black-eyed, knife-wielding people and those are
just not worth the effort. (Sadly, he probably enjoys the creepy
black-eyed knife-wielding maniac parties better than he would a more
conventional one, but...that is neither here nor there.)
[Init + 5]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (10) ( success x 1 )
Reese Evans
"Her
first," Reese says, not with complete authority - it's a guess, based
on the way her companions are reacting to her, the way she's taken the
lead. "Something to do with the necklace, I think - the 90s want it
back." And of course, the gesture is in the general direction of
pendant-girl, the one they've been most interested in since they met
this group of creepazoids.
And yes, there's that gun coming to hand, so comfortable and comforting just in its weight and cool that warms to his touch.
[+6]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (2) ( fail )
{doom}
Round One (holy shit why so many bad guys)
OG 16
Thomas 15
Stoney 14 [simultaneous w/KD2]
KD 2 14 [simultaneous w/Stoney]
Lola 13
Pendant 12
KD 1 10
Keisha 9 [attack simultaneous with Sophia]
Sophia 9 [attack simultaneous with Keisha]
Reese 8
declare in reverse, roll the other way!
Reese Evans
[Reflexive: safety off
1: Shoot to disable - pendant girl]
Still Waters
[[Rage Spent
1a: Iskakku Strike: Hand Smite (standard parry but at diff 8, if successfully parried than hand is dislocated)
1b: Called shot for that pendant
R1: Iskakku thrust strike]]
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
[Hmm...
Sophia will... Hmm... Taunt, whomever tries to attack her! If not, then
whomever tries to attack... Lola first! Gotta protect the Kins! :) ]
{doom}
KD1: Cut Reese!
Pendant girl: 1a/b: Cut Keisha!
Lola Hawkes
[Headshot on Stoney, spending WP]
{doom}
KD2: Cut Thomas!
Stoney: Punch Lola!
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
[Spend 1 Rage
1. Dodge (for once!)
Rage: Punch K2 in his nose (WP - for extra fun-times)]
{doom}
[OG: Take a bullet for pendant! (dex+ath to get in the way)]
{doom}
[Stoney: Punch Lola!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )
{doom}
[dam: +1]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )
Lola Hawkes
[Soak]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 8) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
[KD2: Cut Thomas!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN4 (3, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
[Dodge]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 7, 10) ( success x 2 )
{doom}
[dam: +2+1]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 6, 7, 7) ( success x 3 )
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
[Soak]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (1, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )
Lola Hawkes
[Headshot: Dexterity 3 + Firearms 3, Diff 8 for Called Shot, spending WP]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (1, 3, 3, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Lola Hawkes
[Damage: Weapon Base 6, + 2 suxx]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 6 )
{doom}
[one severely brain damaged teen is down for the count!]
{doom}
[Pendant Girl: 1a: Cut Keisha! -2]
Dice: 6 d10 TN4 (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Still Waters
[[Hand Smite: Dex+Iskakku, -2 dice for split action]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 10) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
[so close! dam: +1+2]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 5 )
Still Waters
[[Soak]]
Dice: 2 d10 TN8 (4, 7) ( fail )
Still Waters
[[Rage to avoid being stunned]]
{doom}
[1b: and the other one *cringe*]
Dice: 5 d10 TN4 (3, 5, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 4 )
{doom}
[dam: +3+1]
Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )
Still Waters
[[SOAK?]]
Dice: 2 d10 TN8 (4, 8) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
[Knife Dude 1: Cut Reese!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN4 (1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
{doom}
[dam: +3+1]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )
Reese Evans
[soak!]
Dice: 3 d10 TN8 (1, 2, 5) ( fail )
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
[Changing
action! +1 Diff, to use a Gaia's breath on Kiesha! Spending a Gnosis so
it gets an automatic 7 Successes, that heals the max of 4 Health
Levels! Will also use the Pack network to communicate with the waking
Kiesha "The Veil can be dealt with later, the battle cannot."]
Still Waters
[[Called shot for the pendant, diff 8, -3 dice for split, WP]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN8 (10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Still Waters
[{Damage]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 6) ( success x 1 )
{doom}
The
youths converge on the group of Gaians, intent on adding at least one
of them to their group. But the Gaians are not about to let a bunch of
punk teens get the best of them. Instantly, they spring into action,
readying weapons, getting ready for the attack. Luckily, no one needs
to visit the ATM machine for at least a few more seconds, because...
The
stone-faced youth, the one who'd taken offense at that cheeky young
Lola for talking like that to his girl (all of their girl, they all form
up ranks around her, or try to), swings for the Uktena. He's a star
athlete, you know, got a scholarship to take him to some out of state
college, he and his girl are going to get out of this town, go away, do
things, somewhere else.
A bullet to the brain immediately puts an
end to that plan. Or was it the necklace that put them on the path to a
ruined future? Either way, Lola points, aims, fires, and the boy's
eyes roll back in his head. Down he goes, a chunk of his brain and too
much blood splattering the pavement.
One of the other boys goes
for Thomas, it's so easy to get a knife, see, they sell them literally
everywhere. In gas stations, in gift shops, at public events.
Coloradoans and their love of knives, let me tell you, it is a strange
yet sort of beautiful thing. It was easy to get one, and not that hard
to use it, either. The boy cuts out, and he tries to slice at Thomas'
midsection, but the wolf is too quick. He curves his body, sucks in
that gut, takes a knick to his forearm instead. It'll be a scar later
tonight, nothing more than a memory in a day, and that's if he doesn't
choose to shift sometime.
The third boy goes for Reese. He's a
little stronger than his friend who went for Thomas, not so strong as
the one who went for Lola. A little quick. A little deft. He slashes
out and that blade catches the kinsman across the chest. Maybe he'd go
for more, try to dig it into Reese's chest, but, well. Things happen.
Plans change.
The girl with the pendant, the one who seems to be
the leader, now. She's a tough one. Doesn't look like she should be.
Cute little Latina girl, shorter than Keisha, with thick dark curls that
spill over her shoulders, not too strong looking. Not too tough. And
yet, some power drives her, drives that knife that she, too, found
(probably bought with the other kids, probably made a thing of it) so
easily. And so easily cut across the Garou with the staff, knicking an
artery or just getting really lucky. Blood spills from the wound, pours
over Keisha's side and stains her tee shirt, but that's not the end of
it. She's cut again and down Keisha went, her thoughts of pain
flickering out over the totemic link. Somewhere not too far from here,
their Alpha stirs. But Sophia is there. Sophia reaches into her pack
and draws forth a gourd, cracks it over her prone sister's form, brings
her back up again.
Up with her staff, swinging for her attacker's
chest. The chain that held that pendant, big, heavy, round, blood red
even in the darkness as if it has its own glow, was surprisingly weak.
Keisha swings, a bit of link snags onto some rough chunk of that staff,
and it snaps.
Instantly, the girl's eyes go from black to, well,
they still look black because they're so brown, but they have a light of
their own to them now. She's back in her own mind, back to being an
average teenaged girl. An average teenaged girl with a bloody knife in
her hand.
Behind her, the other girl starts screaming. Her friend
is on the ground, a hole punctured straight through his head, his
lifesblood pooling beneath his skull. His eyes stare up dully.
Somehow, by some miracle, he still lives. When the other girl, the one
who'd had the pendant turns and sees, she rushes to the boy's side.
Takes up his hand in hers. And she cries and says his name over and
over again.
One of the boys runs. The other stands stock still.
The other girl takes off after her friend, screaming into the night,
both of them ignoring the truck.
Meanwhile, there's activity over
by that grocery store. Shots fired out here, just past the farthest
edge of proper civilization? People will notice it. It was just one,
so people are curious. Did a car backfire? Was that...? Was it maybe something else? Most get in their cars and drive away. A few are wandering closer.
{doom}
Thomas: 1L
Reese: 4L
Keisha: 3L
Stoney: 6L, never gonna go to college
Still Waters
She's
still bleeding at the moment, a little woozy. Once the pendant breaks,
she plants the staff on the ground to lean on for support. Now is not
the time to shift and heal. But she'll live. And there's someone else
who may not if she's not quick enough.
The others are running but
there's still the boy that the girl is crouched over. She lurches that
way, dropping down. "Hon, lemme look," she says to the frantic girl.
"It might not be that bad."
Hey, you've gotta try, right? And
she focuses herself, fights through the pain and moves like she's trying
to look at the wound...but really, just trying to heal it with her hand
on the exit wound.
[[Mother's Touch]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (1, 7, 7) ( success x 3 ) [WP]
Still Waters
[[Another die!]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN5 (10) ( success x 1 )
Lola Hawkes
With
the pendant jerked from the Latina girl's neck, the mayhem of battle
came to a sudden stop. The attacks from the young people ceased all at
once, and there was a moment of still where the fog of possession
cleared from their minds and the air as well. Then a scream punctuates
the quiet, caused by the boy whose head was bleeding freely all over the
pavement, thanks to a skilled and merciless shot from Lola's revolver.
A revolver that she has not lowered or returned the safety to yet.
Her
shoes squeaked a little in the blood pool when she briskly took the
three steps between herself and the boy's fallen body. Their rubber
soles gripped the pavement sufficiently, though, because Lola's stance
did not shift or shake or waver when she reached down and wrapped her
left hand full up in the dense black curls of the girl who was crying
this boy's name over and over and holding his hand.
She wrenched
the girl's head back, fingers tightly wrapped in her hair, and pressed
the still-warm barrel of the revolver to the girl's cheekbone. Lola's
teeth were bared in a snarl as she leaned over the girl and half-shouted
her demand.
"Where did you get the necklace, girl? Spit it the fuck out."
Reese Evans
Reese
is cut, and fairly badly. It's not irreparable by any stretch, but
it's enough that he's bleeding quite a bit, and it's not slowing and
scabbing over anywhere near as quickly as a Garou's would . . . for
obvious reasons. So, while he's concerned about the necklace and the
girl and the kid who's now highly unlikely to be accepting that college
scholarship and Lola and Keisha and Sophia and all, but really his first
concern is Thomas, to whom he turns immediately and never mind that
he's been acting as if he barely knows the Galliard since this started.
It's
a thing, okay? It took him god knows how long to tell his family
because he wasn't sure how they'd react. A bunch o near strangers are a
different beast.
But still, there he is in front of Thomas,
reaching to check the cut on Thomas' arm, to make sure he's okay. Yes,
he knows that if something's wrong there are quick and relatively easy
fixes for the Trueborn, but that doesn't stop the fretting. "Are you
okay?" It's kind of funny, given the gash across Reese's chest.
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
She
finds herself glancing around. The blackness drained from the eyes of
the young people, with the darkness came a moment of clarity. These
children were not fomori, but there was something affecting them nearby.
This both saddened and concerned the Crescent moon, who was quick to
approach the man laying on the ground with a bullet lodged in his brain.
She
took the time to open his eyes and peek inside, to be sure the darkness
was gone, before she decided to do her best to help him recover from
the damage inflicted upon him. "He was here and then he was gone,
curious..." She says as she begins the process of mending the young
man's wounds.
[Using Mother's touch in order to ensure this one doesn't suffer too much!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN5 (4, 6, 6, 8) ( success x 3 )
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
Thomas
frowns a little at Reese waving off his hands, but a good half his
attention is still on pendant girl and those immediately around her.
Keisha is helping one of their victims, acceptable. Lola is- His eyes
widen a little, but really they have seconds here before they need to
get the hell clear and they do need to know where that damned pendant
came from.
"I'm fine. You're good to get out of here? Because in
a minute we might be running. Less than that even." He reaches down
to pick up the bits of the pendant. "And then we'll figure out what the
hell this is."
{doom}
Her boyfriend is bleeding
out all over the pavement, the light leaving his staring eyes, and all
this girl wants to do is, well, she doesn't know. She's too wracked
with grief, both for what she sees and what it means and what will
surely come soon.
So when Keisha stumbles over she barely even
registers it, just keeps holding that hand while the tears pour down
over her heart-shaped cheeks. And they continue to do so when she finds
a hand tearing at her hair, yanking her head back. Someone is
screaming in her face and all she can do is start to wail.
"No!" over and over, sometimes drawn out, sometimes choked off.
"We
found it," is her answer finally, from the boy who stayed. Two of his
friends are gone, one of them's dying (isn't he? That chick just
touched him and the boy sighed and closed his eyes, and his breathing
normalized.) and the other's crying. It's too late to run now, he
thinks, so might as well fess up.
And then, "You folks need help?"
someone calls from the direction of the parking lot of the grocery
store, drawn by the shot, the activity, and the ensuing shouts.
It's
not really a Veil breach, they're all human-looking, but most of them
have blood on them in some form or another. Either someone needs to
start fast-talking, or the Gaians need to follow Thomas' suggestion and
start running.
{doom}
[PS: Kid's all healed!]
Lola Hawkes
The
girl was useless, Lola decided. She just continued to cry and beg her
no. You see, Lola didn't grow up around normal humans-- she was raised
up around Kinfolk and Garou. They were all made of significantly
tougher stuff than human teenage girls. So she had expected to scare
the piss out of the girl, but that she would at least have enough
preservation sense about her to cough up the information.
Luckily,
one of the boys that stayed behind did instead. Lola's eyes cut to him
sharply, then over her shoulder toward the call of someone asking if
they needed help. A low curse was spat out in Spanish, and Lola tucked
the gun into its holster and zipped her hoodie back up so the zipper
hovered in front of the swell of her chest, pressed tight against the
garments she was wearing. She straightened up, walked a few steps
toward the boy that spoke, but kept her hands out and near her sides,
and allowed enough distance that he wouldn't have to be afraid she was
going to grab onto him too.
"Found it where?," she asked, and snapped quickly afterwards: "Quick, now. It's important."
Still Waters
There's
a moment where Keisha is about ready to grab that gun out of Lola's
hand and snap at her for using that kind of tactic. But she's got more
important things to deal with and so she shuts it out because--well,
because she has to in order to save the boy. And Sophia comes to help
and between the two of them, that guy may get his college tuition after
all.
"Ease up just a bit, 'kay?" she says to Lola, gritting her
teeth and getting to her feet. It's rather snappish, and when someone
approaches to see guns aimed at kids and one laying on the ground...now
they look like the aggressors. Just great.
~totem~ "Sophia, please don't say anything right now. Just promise me."
So
Keisha does what Keisha does best (besides her staff-fighting); she
puts on her best smile and waves a hand to the approaching guy,
activating one other gift from the Goddess: her Persuasion skills.
"Hey...everyone's
okay. Just an argument, things got heated for a minute, but we're
good, I promise. Go do your thing, okay? Nothing to worry about."
[[Persuasion! 3rd WP]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (2, 3, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]
Reese Evans
The
frown draws Reese up short and abrupt, much as running into a glass
wall might and with about as much hilarity - his hands probably don't
get to the Galliard at all, and so he's left looking pretty silly for a
moment before he shrugs, nods.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch." It's
not, mind, but he's hardly going to admit it now - instead, he calls
out, "We're alright, just helping these kids with their car. Engine
backfire, you know, and a chick-fight." He shrugs, rolls his eyes as if
to say 'what're you gonna do' and stays well out of range of Lola, who
he knows is pretty bad ass from things he's heard.
[Manip + Sub]
Dice: 6 d10 TN8 (2, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 6 ) [WP]
Thunder's Cry Echoes From the Sea
Thomas
glances at Keisha dealing with people, then at Reese, and there is a
sudden smile because...Reese is brilliant. And because...you know,
reasons.
Which would be the same reasons he turns a look on
Sophia that is only about half a step short of a command about healing
someone that they actually do care about (like their kinfolk who are
bleeding!) instead of random, inconsequential people who attacked them.
Treads-the-Ashen-Path
The
boy's survival wasn't a huge concern, though she preferred not to have
his death on her hands. So when the matter was settled she simply stood
up and looked in the direction of the one asking if they needed any
help. She smiled slightly and allowed Reese to handle the matter. Right
now she found herself more interested in the pendant.
{doom}
Lola
releases the girl to continue her sobs, which end shortly when the boy
on the ground, further healed by Sophia's touch, opens his eyes and
blinks around him. "What...happened?"
Between them, Keisha and
Reese convince the Good Samaritan that everything's fine, nothing to see
here, there are not the droids you're looking for. He sort of wavers,
but Reese has such confidence and Keisha seems so nice, that has to be
the truth. He wanders back over to his car to get his groceries home.
The
Uktena kinswoman goes after the boy next, letting this one know by
stance if not by words that she's not going to try and grab him or hurt
him. He shrugs. "I dunno, Jessie found it," he glances back in the
direction the other two had taken off into. "Said she found it in the
trash or something."
Except she didn't. This pendant, when they
examine it further, contains within it a spirit of memory, one that has
been trapped inside for a long long time. Longer than any spirit could
be expected to stay within an object. It was angry, and it made all
those around it angry, and it turned those children on each other at the
same time that it stole their memories becuase fucking teenagers up to
no good playing their music too loud and being a general nuisance.
At
some point the teens climb into their truck and drive away, and they
know because the Garou and the Kin know how to persuade fragile,
traumatized teenagers not to go talking about what happened tonight.
And
the Garou and the Kin continue their patrols, because the night is
young, and there are places yet to discover before their sweep is
through.
Still Waters
And once everyone is gone so
no one sees it, Keisha turns to Reese and lays her hand on his chest,
eyes shutting and will focusing to heal the knife wound. Her own can be
handled by finding an alley and changing form.
[[Mother's Touch, WP 4!]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (1, 3, 4) ( fail )
Still Waters
[[Oops, forgot the WP point spending check box]]
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