Earned.

[flint_garou]

First wounds in battle, and he earned them.1 March, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Half (Philodox) Moon phase (57% full).

Though the sun peeks down on the meadow, catching the occasional glimpse of the world when the clouds shift out of the way, it offers no warmth to the land. It is still bitterly cold when it should be warming up as winter wanes.

WIth this cold, one can only stay outside without fur for so long and April makes her way from the tree line towards Edgewood House to get back into the relative warmth of the shelter. Her hands rubbing at her arms a little. She should really get a jacket for herself.

Mouse has just pulled up into the driveway, and only within the past few moments stepped out of her car. She's busily flicking a lighter against the end of her cigarette as she makes her way, unhurried, toward the front steps of the house. The chill today means she's wearing both the hooded sweatshirt she's adopted lately, and the long black duster over it.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Alexandra and Flint sit at the kitchen table visiting, each with a steaming mug in hand to help ward against the bitter cold outside—one coffee, one hot chocolate, if the smells in the room are any indication.

Somewhere down the road Mouse had just driven along comes a howling sound. Eerie and not quite natural, but canid in nature.

April comes to a stop just by the front porch of the house as the howl is heard. Still rubbing her arms, April glances down the drive that the car just came down.

Mouse is just lifting her hand to turn the front door's knob when the sound comes. She jerks her head back toward the road, half turning, expression wary and uncertain. Her upper lip twitches briefly away from her teeth. The cigarette in her mouth, as well as the door, are momentarily forgotten.

Inside, Flint puts his cup down on the coffee table, wary recognition of the sound in his expression. "Mouse-rhya's here," he says to break the contemplative silence after a minute, flipping his phone shut and into his pocket as he gets up and moves through the living room towards the front door, a sort of come-on gesture given to Lex that she should come too.

The Ahroun cub doesn't have to be told twice. She's only a few steps behind Flint as he heads for the door, her expression worried given the sound she just heard. "She's got good timing. I hope some of the other elders heard that, too."

There's nothing down that way that can be seen. The mouth to the driveway is still partially clouded with residual dust from the Walker Elder's car. Yet, seeming farther away there comes a second howl, replying to the first.

April glances over towards the one at the front door. "Is that something you know of?" she questions Mouse before looking back towards the drive. The cold is momentarily forgotten as she squints to try and look through the settling dust.

Mouse pulls the cigarette away from her lips, exhaling smoke. Abruptly she stubs it out against the side of her shoe. "If you heard it too, I think we're about to have visitors." She jerks her chin toward the door she was reaching toward. "See who's inside?"

Too late. The door opens, Flint looking between his Elder, and then April, though the cub doesn't actually go outside. "Mouse-rhya," the boy asks, looking back to Mouse once more. "Did you. Did you hear that, a minute or two ago?"

Alexandra, immediately behind Flint, gives the two elders a brief nod. For Mouse's benefit, she gives a brief introduction, "Alexandra. Shadow Lord Ahroun cub." Looking between Mouse and April, she asks, "What do you need us to do?"

April nods towards Mouse before the door opens and the job is all but done for her. "Are there any others inside?" she asks the two coming out. She keeps her spot just off the porch for the moment.

Mouse's jaw tenses. "How long have you been a cub?" she asks, after Alexandra has introduced herself. She's pocketed the stubbed, barely used cigarette now, and that same hand is reaching under her duster for the gun in her shoulder holster.

Alexandra shakes her head. "There have been a few different people here to check on things throughout the day, but no one else right now." Then, addressing Mouse's question, "A little over three weeks, ma'am. I've fought for real once, though, in the Umbra."

Flint takes a step outside, then leaning on the doorframe again. "No one else," Flint echoes Alexandra's answer quietly, stretching his arms out in front of him.

Another howl, closer this time but from behind. The dust has settled but the way seems somehow darker than before. Overhead, clouds have definitely moved in and blocked out the sun's weakened rays.

April turns about to look for the new direction of the howl before glancing briefly back at Mouse. "Do you have a plan?" she asks, stepping from the porch a little to let herself get a better look about the house.

Mouse pulls her pistol free from the holster, and flicks the safety off. "We stay together," she says. "Flint, you're in charge of Alexandra. If I say, I want you both booking it back to this house, and I want you calling for backup. Do you have a cell phone?"

Flint nods. "Yes Mouse-rhya, I have the cell phone today," he says, a glance towards the Shadow Lord cub. "Gotchya." There's a definite and noticeable tension in the boy's shoulders, but it's readiness and alertness rather than anything else.

Alexandra replies, "Understood. And I don't have a cell phone, no, ma'am." Her own tension is largely nervousness, although she doesn't seem inclined to let it stop her from doing what needs to be done.

"A fast little bugger." April remarks as she restrains herself from moving too far from the group at the house entrance. Keeping her eyes out for the source of the howls she asks back towards Mouse, "We going to find it or get them to safety?"

Out of the gloom, from the road, shadows move and soon enough materialize into tangible creatures. Or a creature. Glowing green eyes pierce through the dimness first, followed by a heavy body with fur of grays and blacks, a shadow with four legs. Roughly the size of a hispo, though it looks more like a mastiff. It plods toward the gathering near the house, head leveling with its shoulders in an aggressive posture. Again, from the other side, flanking the Garou, rises a howl. It's closer this time.

Mouse's answer comes, quiet and thin, "We're getting it away from the house. Flint, send up the howl when you can. Everyone follow me." She lifts the gun, tilts her head and narrows one eye as she aims. When she's sure of her shot, she fires, but she doesn't wait around to see if she scores a hit—instead she launches herself off the steps and runs. Away from the house, away from her car, and toward the meadow, as fast as she can go.

The galliard cub nods, pulling on Lex to follow as he starts after Mouse at a run. As they get away from the house a little, the boy shifts up into glabro and then into crinos, voice lifting and then echoing in his own howl, calling for help against the hounds of the Wyrm at Edgewood.

The Ahroun cub is already beginning the transition to glabro as she's leaping off the porch, though she doesn't assume the warform until after she sees Flint doing so. Masks-the-Storm drops to all fours as she runs, though she's careful to match her speed with the rest of the group.

With Mouse taking the front and the cubs in the middle, April moves to follow in the rear while keeping her focus on the first beast to show itself. Her steps are hurried, but not rushed as she moves to keep up.

The report from the gun echoes loudly off the frigid air. It can't be said for sure if the round found it's mark or not, no cry in pain follows the thundering crack. The hound continues toward the house steadily, though it seems more interested in the Garou than gaining entry, placing itself between them and the porch.

When Mouse enters the meadow, cubs and Fury in tow, she's met with the second howler. A shadow solidifies into a shape like that of the other, hispo-sized mastiff of dark grays and near blacks, glowing green eyes, and a mouthful of teeth. Heavy paws land on the Glass Walker and it's by sheer luck that those teeth miss her completely. Not so lucky, though, she's pushed to the ground, knocking Flint and Alexandra to either side in her wake.

Rather than try to push the massive beast off, Mouse seeks to jam her gun's muzzle against—or even into—that gaping, teeth filled mouth, before squeezing the trigger several times. "Up!" she shouts, sounding winded. "Back to back, all of you!"

All-in-Stride snarls slightly, but Mouse's order deters him from going after the beast after it tackles her. Instead, the galliard cub backpedals, around his Elder and to rejoin Alexandra, though he places himself between her and the hound anyway, getting several steps away and towards joining April in anticipation of what's to come.

Barrelling out of the woods in lupine shape comes a Nieve—fleet of foot in this shape, and snapping up into her crinos form once she's where the battle is. She snarls something distinctly uncomplimentary about the hound parentage, twisting around to pelt towards where Mouse and the cubs are, to dig claws into the hell hound's hind quarters if it survives being shot at close-range.

Masks-the-Storm isn't quite so easily kept from the hound. As she sees the Glass Walker get pinned while still in homid, she's already darting in for the creature, trying to sink her teeth into one of its forelimbs and lift it up in an effort to get Mouse freed.

April continues to face the original hound that blocks the way back to the house. She keeps her gaze upon it steadily even when the multiple shots are fired off behind her. "Keep back," she warns, though whether it's towards the hound before her or the cub that comes from behind her, is hard to say. Even as she says it, she shifts up to her war form, preparing for the hounds attack.

There is a loud, bellowing, baritone howl sounding from just outside of the woodline, an anthem of war from a voice those here probably wouldn't recognize right away, Wildfire's. It is soon followed however by the sound of something large crashing through the undergrowth and vines.

Tooth and slaver and blood spray after the first shot, the force knocking the hound's head away from the path of the other successive pulls so the bullets bite nothing but air. The hound's head snaps forward again, and with it the remainder of its teeth clamping down on Mouse's arm. Nieve's claws cut into the hound's back end, red welling and drawing stripes where her nails have raked. Alexandra manages to pull some of the weight off the Glass Walker, but to no avail, she's unable to lift it off completely.

April's warning, if it were for the dog, falls on deaf ears. Just as she shifts, the hound lunges at her, teeth sinking deeply into her leg and holding.

Mouse's gun vanishes as she returns to her birthform, and with a snarl she lays into the hound still pinning her with teeth and the claws of her unbitten arm, focusing on throat and face. ~Back to back!~ she snaps again. ~Cubs, help the Fury!~

All-in-Stride turns slightly to glance that the Shadow Lord cub will do what Mouse has said, before he charges at the hound that has Shifting Briar, leaping for it to wrap his arms around its neck with as much force as he can muster, and trying to sink his jaws into the hound to tear at it.

Wildfire bursts out of the treeline into the meadow, looking briefly at the situation. Skin thickened and warty, claws glinting in deadly silver, he quickly makes up his mind and charges the one pinning the Walker down. Oddly, though, he strikes at it with an open-handed slap.

Pirate Trader continues to focus her efforts on the hound pinning Mouse, reaching forward to dig claws into muscular shoulders and pull back hard using both strength and weight, almost straddling the hound from behind to bend him back and give Mouse a chance both to escape or to gut it.

Blood dripping from ivory teeth and ebon fur, Masks-the-Storm does not release the leg in her teeth gently, head shaking back and forth as she pulls away to obey the Glass Walker. To make up for the momentary delay, she pours her rage into the speed she needs to cover the distance and to fall into place beside the Fury, lashing out with her claws at the face of the creature biting her.

Shifting Briar screams in pain and anger as her leg is clamped down upon, once more as the cubs come to help. Her claws strike out at the eyes of the head of the hound that is trying to make her lunch.

Warmth and wetness finds Mouse's claws as they shred through flesh and muscle from the hound's ear to its shoulder. Reactively the hound's head gives a shake, tearing the Walker Elder's arm while at the same time freeing it. Owen's slap hits the hound simultaneously with Nieve's clawing, the Theurge managing to hook into muscle only to have the hound collapse on top of her and off of Mouse. Legs flail, slapping into Owen and against the ground.

Flint gains a precarious hold of the hound attacking April. The dog's head and shoulders whip side to side to savage the Fury's leg, likewise shaking the Walker cub so his bite earns more fur than flesh. Alexandra's claws the hound's face entirely, scoring into a shoulder and nearly catching the Galliard's arms in her haste. April is able to land one blow, claws tearing through the hound's ear and eye.

This, to Nieve's mind, is just fine. Grappling the hound, she works to keep it held so that belly and sides are exposed to the claws and other such weapons of those nearby, biting into its scruff and claws gripping hard in wyrmy hide.

First-Strike rolls with the hound. Freed, and with Nieve attempting to hold it, she attempts to tear furiously into the hound's softer undersides, though it's clear her mangled arm is giving her trouble, and there's something less than graceful about her movements.

All-in-Stride eventually plants his feet on the ground again despite the shaking, arms tightening as he tries to dig claws into the beast and perhaps choke it somewhat, get it to let up on the Fury in some way. Teeth and jaws tear with a growl, despite that he's gotten little to hold onto.

Wildfire dives in on the hound now that it's collapsed on something besides Mouse. He dog-piles with the others, smiling now that he's actually bleeding.

Masks-the-Storm apparently realizes the mistake she nearly made in her haste with the first strike, and so moves more cautiously as she continues her attack. A single strike at the creature's neck, though doing her best not to let her blow get too near All-in-Stride.

Shifting Briar reaches down again to strike at the eyes of the hound that has her leg, her anger from the pain growing as she roars down at the beast that is biting her.

The hound wriggles and squirms though it's held fast by Nieve's claws, teeth snapping at air and appendages that come near it. It lands a solid bite in Owen's shoulder when he joins in the fray, tearing into the muscle as a spasm wracks it's body. Between the Walker Elder and the Fenrir Ahroun they do manage to tear the dog to bits, claws cutting through throat and belly, and after that spasm it becomes dead weight upon the Theurge.

The remaining hound releases April's leg to turn on Flint when the Walker cub gains a better hold. While the Galliard still manages to tear little more than fur with his mouth, the dog lands a nasty bite into his side. In a one-two blow, Alexandra then April match rends through the dog's face, flaying flesh from bone and creating a horrific sight.

With 'her' hound dispatched by Mouse and Owen, Nieve squirms out from under the dead body. The other hound looks like it is being handled—and surely will be dead soon when the Get and Walker elders join in. ~Going to scout for others,~ she informs, shrinking down into hispo and heading off following the trail these ones came along.

First-Strike twists away from the hound she's been focusing on as she feels it die, and lunges at the one currently engaged in biting her cub. If she can, she intends to contribute her claws to that one as well, though she's careful about just where she aims her blow, with three others already on it.

When bitten, All-in-Stride loses his grip on the beast with a howl of pain, turning to dig claws at the hound's shoulders with the fury of rage behind the attacks.

When she sees the hound sink it's teeth into her friend, Masks-the-Storm lets out a howl of rage and simply throws herself at the thing, any pretense of planning lost in determination to either get it off of All-in-Stride or kill it before it can do any further damage, her claws a blur of motion across the creature's side.

Wildfire pries himself away from the dead hound with a growl and a mental note to take trophies this time. He turns towards the other hound as First-Strike moves off and simply snarls at the beast.

Shifting Briar feels better once her leg is released though she doesn't think of the wound as the beast turns on the cubs. Stepping in, she strikes at the open flank that the beast turns towards her as she seeks to rend whatever she can reach of the beast.

It's a conjoined effort. Blood sprays as various claws find flesh, some cutting chunks out of the hound while others simply slash through fur and skin. In a flurry it seems to be over without the hound managing to lay into anyone else. And then it hits everyone at once in a concussive force. The hound explodes, throwing everyone backward and leaving a burned patch on the ground, dead grass and bare earth blackened.

Somewhere in the shadows, a laugh filters into the silence immediately following the blast. A laugh as far from human as one can get, like the sound of branches scraping against one another, the rustling of something crawling through dead leaves.

First-Strike drags herself to her feet again with considerably more effort. She's panting, but at the laugh, her ears snap forward, and she sucks in a breath. *Laugh now, little Wyrmling,* she calls, her tone, somehow, in spite of her injuries, still taunting. *You won't have much time for it later. Better servants of the Wyrm than you have failed miserably in the trying. I would tell you to go and ask them about how they failed, but none of them are left to tell you!*

Wildfire stands back up after that blast, a look of 'Really?' on his face as he stares out into the woods.

All-in-Stride presses a hand to the bitten—and now burned as well—part of his side, panting as he sits upright, though doesn't try to stand yet. The galliard cub looks around for the measure of everyone else, a snarl on his lips towards the source of the laughter.

Shifting Briar stares up at the sky for a moment after the beast explodes before struggling back to even sit up a little. First-strike's taunting of the laugher is looked at while she tries to slowly get to her feet, a low growl comes from her.

Masks-the-Storm is thrown onto her back, sliding back across the grass a bit from the force of the blast, fur and flesh charred. She lays dazed for a moment before she's able to roll back to her stomach and pushing back upright, shaking her head in an effort to clear it. While the Shadow Lord may hear the laugh, it's her fellow cub that's her primary concern. A touch unsteady still, she makes her way on four legs to check on All-in-Stride.

A chuckle responds to the Glass Walker Elder's threat, taunting in itself. "You will die," it calls, rasping, rocks on a washboard. "Keep hiding them and you too will fall." In the deepest recesses of the shadows, a glint of something metallic can be seen for just an instant. Closer to the road that mocking laugh comes again, fading, drawing further away.

First-Strike's lips pull away from her teeth, as she answers, louder, *And yet you run away! Run away, little Wyrmling! We will come for you too. You and the ones holding your leash, little Wyrmdog, little pet.* There's something wild and reckless about her now, and she tips her head back and howls. The howl, too, is mocking. On the other hand, the Theurge makes no attempt to follow after that sound.

Shifting Briar takes a deep breath as she looks away from First-Strike when the other continues to taunt the entity that appears to be leaving. She goes to say something but stops and instead whimpers as she shifts down to lupus form. One hind leg still bloody and mangled from the hound.

All-in-Stride gives the other cub a reassuring glance, looking over to see that she, too, is alright, before his gaze goes back to his Elder. There is a hiss of pain nonetheless, but for the moment the Galliard cub is silent.

Masks-the-Storm takes a moment to take stock of how the others are doing, before commenting to All-in-Stride with a measure of pride, ~Now you can get Rite of Wounding, too. Fought well.~

The laughter almost becomes a cackle before it's too far away to be heard. A deafening silence follows for several throbbing seconds, then little by little the normal sounds of the land returns.

First-Strike shrinks down to homid, where she immediately sheds her duster before any (more) blood can leak onto it. The sleeve is fairly shredded, however, and her sweatshirt is in even worse shape. "Fucking asshole. Always my coat." She sounds, now that she's no longer actively taunting Wyrm spirits, considerably winded, and she doesn't look too terribly steady either.

Once down on four legs, Shifting Briar slowly moves back to the place where the last hound exploded to sniff tentatively at the spot. The wounded leg causing her to slightly hop as she moves though she manages to suppress any whimpers.

All-in-Stride offers the other cub a tentative grin, before he pushes himself to his feet. Hand is still pressed against his side, and the cub breathes heavily as he moves towards his Elder, shrinking himself to glabro for the moment. "Mouse-rhya?" the boy voices the tentative question, looking at her with concern.

Mouse jerks a stiff finger toward Flint. "C'mere. April, you too. Alexandra, how bad off are you?"

Masks-the-Storm shifts down to lupus, rather than homid. Given that she left the house barefoot and in short sleeves, it's hardly surprising that she'd be less than eager to return to her birth form in the current weather. She moves with Flint over toward Mouse, though at the same time she's looking to see if there might be anything she can do to help in the aftermath of the battle. To Mouse, the wolf replies: Burned a little. Nothing bad.

Shifting Briar looks up from her examination of the spot to look towards Mouse. After a last glance towards the ground, she turns and starts her way slowly back towards Mouse. Her head is down as she goes, her steps with a limp and a hop.

Flint makes his way all the way to Mouse, hand pressed against his side and shirt increasingly bloody from where the hound had bit him. Still, there's a bit of a grin offered to her. "'S not that bad," the boy says, even though there's a grimace as well.

Mouse inspects Flint with a skeptical eye, though her question is directed toward April. "Do you know the healing gift?"

Shifting Briar shakes her head as she nears Mouse. She lowers herself down to the ground as she looks up at the Theurge, waiting quietly as she waits for the cubs to be seen to first.

Masks-the-Storm approaches Mouse, ears and tail held lowered respectfully. Heal? What about marking the first wound from fighting?

Flint glances between the other cub and his Elder. "Really, Mouse-rhya. 'S not overbad or anything." His brows furrow in evident concern for her, instead.

Mouse grunts at April's answer. Alexandra is briefly eyed. "I don't know that rite. Not an Ahroun." To Flint, "If you want it, wait for Owen to come back, and help with clean-up." She turns to the Fury instead, and reaches out to heal her.

Shifting Briar closes her eyes as Mouse reaches out to heal her before opening them back up to peer up at her and then towards the cubs. She gives a small chuff at the discussion from the younger ones.

Flint mutters, inaudibly, indistinguishably, and distractedly to himself for the moment, before coming up with an answer, aimed mostly towards the other cub, and somewhat towards Mouse. "Gotta think about it," the boy says, watching Mouse and waiting for her to finish, before voicing the half-question. "Cleanup." He stands there, possibly looking for instruction, as he glances towards the remains of the wyrmhounds. "Burn it, or?"

Masks-the-Storm finally just gives up, and takes glabro, weather or not. "Bah. Too many things that it's hard to say as a wolf. Can you wait?" she asks Flint. "The Rite hurts a lot, but you earned it, and it'll make for some good stories later."

Mouse moves away from then now, clutching at her mangled arm to try and make some attempt at staunching the blood flow. "Yes, but right now, just get all of it in a pile."

Shifting Briar looks towards the cubs more as they speak of the rite of wounding and rolls her eyes even as she shifts once more back to her homid form, stumbling a little so that she winds up sitting on the ground. "Thank you Mouse-rhya," she offers the other Theurge. "I'm sorry I cannot return the favor."

The Glass Walker cub nods, though it's uncertain whether he's nodding to the other cub or to Mouse. He moves off to start piling the parts of the hound that exploded over the other hound, talking to himself more as he does so.

Mouse shakes her head very slightly. "It's fine. I'm fine." She does not, however, look fine. She looks rather pale and bloody, and there's something stiff in her movements. Most of the damage, at least, seems confined to her mangled arm. The meadow is probably a wonderful mess. There are two dead Wyrm hounds, though only one of them is intact. The other exploded all over, and the place where it went off is blackened.

It would probably be difficult to spot the Wendigo elder's approach, if she weren't moving so quickly, but even a tree in the midst of a forest is fairly obvious when it runs. The bark covered wolf slows just as she enters the clearing, and then stops, rising smoothly to her birth form as she looks over the scene. Her gaze rests on her packmate for a moment, and then shifts to Mouse. "Ca?"

Alexandra casts her eyes at the extent of the carnage, and sighs. "Going to be a long night." Excusing herself for a moment, she disappears into the house, coming out in homid not long after wearing a jacket, shoes, and carrying whatever tools for yardwork she could find that might be helpful—a shovel and a rake among them.

April shakes her head. "You look anything but fine," she insists towards the Theurge. "We need to get you bandaged and someplace warm." The arrival of her pack leader brings a bit of relief to her as she looks towards the Wendigo. "Jacinta-rhya, she's injured fairly badly and needs attention," she calls out as she motions towards Mouse.

Flint looks over at Mouse a moment, pausing where he is. "She's right, Mouse-rhya," the boy offers with a nod of his head, and a furrow of concern in his brow as he moves back over towards his Elder.

Mouse snorts, faintly amused, under it all. "I promise, I'm not going to bleed to death." She looks up at Jacinta. "That thing hunting the Shadow Lords sent two more of his dogs. Then he taunted us. Said if we didn't stop hiding them, we'd die, which makes me think, maybe, it can't actually find them for whatever reason. …Maybe the rite was more successful than I thought, or maybe it's having other troubles."

Jacinta's eyes narrow at Mouse's explanation, and she glances again to her packmate, taking in her state of health and then the cubs' before returning to the Glass Walker. "Ii-i. If he seeks them, here, then he has only the old scents, and not the new, to follow. Tell me more about what it was, while the cubs return with the kit. I can stitch these wounds."

"Kit?" Alexandra asks, her expression worried, not just for Mouse, but also for her two tribesmates. "Where is it, ma'am? I'll go and get it right away."

April keeps herself near to Mouse's side as she motions towards the house. "Should be one in there. Check the bathroom and the kitchen." she offers before looking back to Jacinta.

When Alexandra offers to go get the kit, Flint presses his hand against his side again, moving back to at least continue piling the carnage. His steps are mostly steady for the moment, at least.

Mouse watches Flint for a moment, as she answers, "I've heard they've been attacked at the scarred forest too, so that might lend some weight to the theory. It should have realized they were there, they were involved in the fight, from what I heard." She looks back to Jacinta. "Unfortunately, we didn't see anything. A voice, a glint of…something shiny, and that was it. I tried to taunt it into the open, but it wasn't having any of that. The dogs were what you can see, if, uh, in less pieces. The saliva burned when it touched me. The first one went down when it died, but the second one exploded. That's when the thing leading them laughed, and I spoke to it."

Jacinta nods once at April's answer, but then gestures toward the house, herself. "Upstairs. The room set aside for the injured." Then her attention is on Mouse, and Mouse alone. "It exploded," she repeats. "Another did the same. Was it in reaction to being hit, or the final act before death?"

Alexandra sprints on her way back to the house. Once again, she disappears inside, returning at an equally fast pace with the kit in hand once she's managed to find it.

April slowly picks herself up form the cold ground so that she's standing once more. She looks away from the two older garou to look at the spot the hound exploded on and then where the other sits. "The skull of that one would be nice to have." she murmurs before starting over towards the corpse.

Flint looks back over as Jacinta asks the question of Mouse, answering although unbidden. "The final act before death, Jacinta-rhya," the boy offers. "It exploded when it died."

Mouse's eyes hood, as she takes a moment to think back. "The final act before death," she says, agreeing with her cub. And then, as a new thought occurs to her, "…You don't know Rite of Wounding, do you?"

The Wendigo is silent for a moment, and the bark along her forehead creases. "Those defending need to be told, and defenses prepared." The question seems as though it may have been missed, but as she rises to survey the carnage, there's a quicker shift above her eyes. "Ii-i," she says aloud. "It was one of the first I learned when I arrived here. Do you wish to learn it?"

April makes her way over to the corpse of the one that didn't explode and sets about looking into a way of removing the head so that she might preserve the skull afterwards. She pays the others little heed for the moment as she works on that.

Flint moves over to stand near Mouse, looking between her and the Warder. The boy's silent for the moment, though, and doesn't move aside from a very brief nod to his Elder.

Mouse shakes her head slightly. "It's not really me, that rite. But Flint's got his first battle wound tonight, and he earned it."

Alexandra returns, panting, holding out the kit to Jacinta. "Sorry. Didn't mean to take so long, ma'am. I hadn't been in there before, so it took me a minute to find it." There's certainly no faulting her for the pace she set to and from the house, at least.

Jacinta stops her survey to look at the Glass Walker cub, tipping her head just a bit to the side as she studies him. Before she can respond, Alexandra returns, and the Wendigo takes the kit. "Ii-i," she says, as she drops down to her knees at Mouse's side. "First you, and then him." Her tone changes slightly, and while she doesn't look up from the elder Glass Walker, it's clear that her next words are for the younger. "Think on if the wound you bear is the scar you wish to keep. Your tribe is not mine and you have more than your glory to think of. We can honor the wound, yet keep the scar smaller than the whole—a symbol of what you have accomplished. The Get of Fenris would open your whole hide to demonstrate your worth, but that is not required."

A brief stink in crinos and a few sickening sounds later before April is back in homid and holding by the ears the head of the hound she sought the skull of. "Disgusting, but worth it after his buddy chewed my leg." she remarks aloud to herself before turning back to the others. "Wicked teeth these have." she adds as she holds the head up closer to her face for a better look.

Flint purses his lips a moment after Jacinta finishes speaking, nodding, and getting that look of not quite talking to himself yet again, before he twists, pulling his shirt up to look at the wound with almost morbid curiosity. 'Right,' he murmurs, a little louder than he needs to.

Mouse eases to the ground herself, though there's a slight wobble and she nearly ends up on the ground in a far less graceful manner. "It's not as bad as it looks," she can't seem to resist saying, though she offers the arm to Jacinta nevertheless—it is, as the rest of her, covered in those spidery scars, even through the mangling the limb has taken. Her attempts to stanch the bleeding mostly seem to have resulted in her getting blood all over her other hand, and her sweatshirt.

Alexandra winces as she gets a look at the extent of Mouse's injuries, and then again when she sees the extent of Flint's. "Don't pull your shirt up," she scolds the latter. "You'll rip off any scabbing that had started to form, and make it start bleeding worse."

At least Jacinta's fingers aren't covered in the rough bark that seems to be her skin everywhere else, though she isn't overly gentle. Her work, however, is thorough, and practiced. Those areas that can be stitched are neatly closed, and the rest is carefully bandaged. As she works, she speaks to the cubs. "Qanga. Take off the shirt, now. Better before it tries to heal around the cloth. Use water to dampen what already sticks. When I am done with First Strike, we will see what scars he wishes to keep, and what we will simply clean."

"You would do well to listen quickly to her." April states as she comes back to join the rest, head still held by the ears in one hand. "You did well in climbing the tree for me that night when I told you, now this is more serious and you should be even more obedient."

Mouse is a decent enough patient, now that the work has started. She holds as still as she can manage, and while she winces at particularly unpleasant moments, she doesn't make any noise or try to pull away.

Flint begins to pull the shirt off before April has even spoken, though after a moment he rips it instead of attempting to pull it over his head. The boy sticks his tongue out slightly at April anyway even as he nods, at the reminder of the tree in the park. "Yes, April-rhya."

Alexandra looks a little sheepish at the correction. To Flint, she offers, "Sorry. It looks like one of the things I need to learn which parts of first aid actually apply to us." At the exchange between Flint and April, she adds, amused, "This sounds like a story I need to hear one day."

Jacinta finishes with Mouse, bandaging in a way that is functional, and leaves the elder as mobile as possible. Without rising, she turns her focus to Flint and gestures for him to move closer with a simple tip of her head. "What have you decided?"

April rolls her eyes at the cub before holding the head she holds up towards Flint. She seems amused as she looks back to Jacinta and Mouse. "So these are the things that have been causing so much trouble?"

Mouse murmurs a low, but heartfelt, "Thanks," to Jacinta. She doesn't seem inclined to stand, though her gaze does shift back toward Flint.

Flint's side where the hound bit him is mangled and burnt, though without having gotten anything major. He moves the few steps to Jacinta, then slowly sitting on the ground, before using his finger to point at his side, at one of the longer gashes, and then at one other, far from the full extent of the injury but significant nonetheless. "These, Jacinta-rhya," he states, quietly. A quick flit of a grin is offered to Lex.

Alexandra has to fight the urge to move closer along with Flint, but she remains where she is, watching silently. A thumbs-up is offered when he looks her way.

Jacinta waits for the Flint to settle in front of her, and then starts to clean around the cub's injuries, studying the gashes he points out. "Bring a bowl. Metal. And a candle, lit." She doesn't look to Alexandra, but it seems likely that is the person to whom she speaks. "Shifting Briar," she says, a moment later. "Is this a ritual you know?"

Mouse tucks her neatly bandaged arm against her side. Her head lowers, though not enough that she can't watch Jacinta's hands. Her eyes remain hooded. All in all, the Walker elder looks rather sleepy.

April shakes her head as she moves a little around the group to come up from behind Jacinta. "I do not, Jacinta-Rhya. I've never thought to learn such a ritual." The head she holds is finally set down on the ground next to her feet.

Wildfire eventually returns from the envined woods in the wolf-form after having left to go scout the area for anything more in the area. The looks of him, and the fact that he's been silent, can attest to the fact that he's found nothing.

Flint sucks in his breath a little bit, but the boy remains very still to let Jacinta work, contemplative, sitting such—half leaned back—so that his arm isn't in the way.

Alexandra moves quickly to get the items in question. Another trip to the house, this one the longest of the three, and she's moving much more slowly as she comes out, carrying a tray with the bowl of water on it in one arm, and keeping her other hand cupped over the flame of the candle to prevent it from going out. There's also a few extra matches on the tray, but she's not taking any chances.

Jacinta gestures to a spot within reach for the cub to set her burden. "Quyana," she says, and returns her focus to Flint. The rest of the wounds are cleaned and dressed, until only what he has indicated remains open, and even that has been cleaned and prepared. "Think on what you have done," she tells the boy. "Think on the deeds you have accomplished and what they mean to Grandmother, to your Tribe, to you." As she speaks, she reaches into the sealskin bag that rests at her hip and withdraws a few items. The first could at a glance be paper, but closer inspection reveals it to be dried skin. The second is a small folding knife, apparently choosing this rather than the long knife at her hip. Finally, she pulls a small pouch of a much more supple skin.

Mouse watches all of this from under hooded lids. She sways a little where she's sitting, her gaze intent on the items Jacinta brings out. For all that she claimed this wasn't a rite that suited her, clearly she's interested in seeing how it's done anyway.

April watches intently from the side of Jacinta, careful to keep herself out of the way of the Wendigo as she does so. The head stays on the ground next to her feet, pointedly pointed away from the group.

Wildfire moves on up to join the rest and to watch the little ceremony in silence. Oddly, it's to Mouse's side he moves to before settling down on his haunches.

Flint winces as the wounds are tended, with a low sound of pain escaping once, but he remains quite still, a good patient really. A nod of assent follows Jacinta's words, though the cub remains silent.

Alexandra places the tray down where she's told, stepping back slightly so that she's out of the way, but where she can still watch, curious about the differences between this version of the rite and the one that she experienced not so long ago.

Jacinta sets each of her items within reach, and then picks up the bowl. She gives it an odd look, and then dumps the contents onto the ground behind her and wipes the inside dry with a corner of her sleeve. That done, she opens the pouch and pours the contents into the bowl. The action produces a slightly minty, somewhat piney, fairly spicey aroma nearby, and as that begins to settle, she reaches out for the boy's hand. "You wear glabro," she says. "The cut will not last long, but we need the blood that will come." She doesn't wait for his acknowledgement, but draws the point of the small knife across his palm, and holds his hand to cup it. As the blood wells, she dips the tip of the knife and uses it to draw three glyphs at the edge of the vellum. Glass Walker. Homid. Galliard. She repeats the process, this time drawing the glyphs for glory and combat. The strip along which the glyphs have been drawn is torn free from the rest and she sets it in the bowl. Looking to April and then to Mouse she says, "His blood. His identity. His deeds. It can be complex, or simple, but it is he who enters the bowl." Then she looks up at the cub once more and says, "Have you given your deeds the thought they deserve?"

April gives a small nod of her head as she watches ever so closely. Her hands move to clasp lightly behind her back, her fingers ticking off each item as Jacinta points it out. She doesn't dare speak for the moment and so keeps her silence.

Mouse nods, though it's more of an extended bow of her head, in practice, because she doesn't lift her head back up. Her lupine eyes flick over the paper, to Flint and then back again.

Flint does not flinch at the cut on his palm, watching but not quite watching what Jacinta does. The glyphs get more attention than the rest, and then finally, the cub gives a nod. "I have," he says, with certainty and a little more volume than his earlier words had carried.

Wildfire watches this intently, his lupine brow furrowed as he watches through narrowed eyes.

Alexandra watches, silent and solemn as the rite is performed.

"Assirtuq," Jacinta says to Flint. There's a slight hesitation as she reaches for the candle, and instead, she brings the strip of vellum to the flame. Once it catches she returns it to the bowl, and the herbs within begin to burn as well. A pungent smoke rises from the bowl and she sets it down in the space between herself and Flint. The words she speaks next are neither English nor Mother Tongue, though her packmate already would recognize several. The word for spirits, for grandmother, and for Wyrm are probably the most obvious to those who have known the Wendigo for some time. The flame soon burns itself out, and Jacinta reaches with two fingers into the ashes that remain and smears these over the cub's open wounds.

Mouse finally seems to notice Wildfire, or at the least, she gives the first sign of acknowledging that he's returned, and that he's sitting next to her. She eyes him for a moment, expression showing nothing more than tiredness, and otherwise guarded, before looking back to the ritual. As Jacinta begins to speak, her hooded eyes close completely, and she inhales. Slow. Deep. There's another slight, involuntary sway from her.

April takes just a tiny step back as Jacinta works with the flame, but she reclaims the spot as the flame burns itself out. She grimaces a little as the wendigo begins to smear the ash into the wound of the cub.

Wildfire, for his part, is a little too focused right now on the rite as it is performed. It's fairly obvious he's mentally comparing it to the way he knows it.

This prompts another hiss of breath and the very slightest pulling back from the cub. However, the expression on Flint's face does not reflect this, instead reflecting some tiny hint of self-confidence and centre. Another faint flit of a grin follows as well, through the pain.

Alexandra's expression remains solemn, but pride sneaks its way to the surface as well as Jacinta smears the ashes over the wound.

Jacinta continues smearing ashes and chanting until the entire injury is coated. Then she rocks back on her heels with a satisfied expression and gives a sharp nod of her head. "Assirpaa!" she says. "It is done! Flint. Takes it All in Stride, galliard cub of the Glass Walkers, you have received your first wound and proven yourself in battle. Bear your scar with pride and all will know your deeds."

Mouse's eyes half open at this, and—with what seems a ridiculous amount of necessary effort—she lifts her head to look up at her cub, expression sharply approving, if nothing else.

April crosses her arms for the moment as she looks from Jacinta, towards the cub. "Way to go, tree climber," she offers, a small smile upon her lips.

Wildfire lets out a little grunt, head bobbing just a touch in a lupine 'hrmph'. It's not a disapproving sound, more of a noise of coming to an understanding. An ear swivels back out into the woods for a moment as he notes the cub is one step closer.

Alexandra breaks into a grin at the final pronouncement. With the rite complete, she moves forward, reaching down to give his shoulder a squeeze.

The grin on Flint's face gets just a little wider. "Thank you Jacinta-rhya," he says, very quiet, before turning to grin at Mouse. The grin, however, turns into a furrowed brow of concern after not long at all, and the cub glances towards the house. "Mouse-rhya…" he starts, lips pulling into a flat line. "Inside?" It's a very gentle suggestion, out of concern for his Elder, and the concern is definitely there.

"Ii-i," Jacinta says to the cub, and then, as she begins clearing the rest of the ritual components, she turns toward Mouse. "First Strike," she says. "My packmate wishes to learn the Rite of Binding. When you are rested, I would like for her to learn from you."

Mouse shakes her head, more to clear it than an actual negative. "I need to get back," she says toward Flint, and then, to Jacinta, she gives a sturdier nod. "I'm around until I get name and location from Elliot, and I'd be happy to. Send her to find me after tomorrow?"

April blinks as she watches her packleader speak to the other theurge on her behalf. She tries to control her surprise as she listens to the reply and carefully stays quiet outside of a soft, "Thank you." She even tries to take a small step back until her foot nudges the head of the dead hound.

Flint nods to Mouse, though the concern doesn't go away. "'s it okay if I stay out here tonight?" comes the question, with a glance towards the other cub.

Wildfire gets back to his feet and gives himself a thorough shake, causing the wounds to his shoulder to seep anew though he seems to pay it little mind. He turns to look towards the Shadow Lord cub with an inquiring look, a question unvoiced.

"Ii-i," Jacinta answers Mouse, and then gives a rather meaningful nod to April. When the remains of the ritual are cleared and her own belongings taken care of, she rises and looks to each of those who remain. "I will be at the caern if I am needed."

Alexandra looks between Flint and Mouse. "I don't mind handling the rest of the clean-up if you need to go back," she tells him. She moves in Wildfire's direction, then, not quite certain what to make of the look he gives her.

April offers a smile towards Jacinta before kneeling down to take up the head on the ground by the ears once more. "I will be back to help clean up once I take care of this." she offers, "Unless you all need me straight away."

Mouse reaches out and pushes herself up with her non-bandaged arm, wincing faintly. She sways a little once she's up, but only a little, and she seems steadier after a moment. "Later, Jacinta," she says toward the Warder, with a faint nod. Flint gets another nod as well, just as faint. "Yeah. Get some rest. Call one of us if anything strange happens tonight."

Wildfire seems to find enough answer in that look. He turns then to regard Jacinta, asking her before she departs if there is anything she wishes of him.

Flint gets a bit of a grin, and nods at Mouse. "'course," the boy says quietly, moving over towards Alexandra after he pushes himself to his feet.

Alexandra takes off the jacket that she's wearing, since it's not dedicated, letting it fall to the ground beside her. She's already starting to shiver by the time she reaches a form with sufficient fur to keep her warm on her path to lupus, matching the Adren Get's form as she starts to approach him…and then pauses, confused, as it seems he's planning to leave.

Jacinta doesn't answer, but does slip down to lupus as she moves off toward the trees, which is probably answer enough.

With head in her hand, April turns from the group once her pack leader has slipped back towards the trees. Her steps though take her down the long drive a good ways as she favors the leg that was bitten earlier, a bit.

Not even so much as a 'No' for the Jarl. Wildfire peers off after the retreating Warder for a time before looking back towards the approaching cub, wondering openly if her elder has been talked to yet.

Mouse moves off toward her car at a slightly uncertain walk, pausing only to retrieve her coat from the ground.

Flint watches Alexandra and Wildfire both, taking a few steps to follow her, falling in slightly behind her and to one side.

Alexandra indicates that she has spoken to him, and that he seemed to approve of the suggestion. She had thought that after the wound was marked, she would be able to begin learning. A few wags of her tail in uncertainty punctuate the thought.

Wildfire grunts, a simple sound. Then, if so, we will begin soon. He then looks to the woods, looking about to depart.

Masks-the-Storm hopes that we do. There is a dash of apprehension in her manner, but predominantly a barely contained eagerness to get underway. She chuffs a farewell to the Adren Get when it becomes clear he is preparing to leave, though her attention does not turn elsewhere until he actually does so.

Flint having watched the conversation with a faint, but piqued interest, the Glass Walker cub offers Masks-the-Storm a grin when she does turn in his direction, some silent indication that he is happy for her in his expression.

Wildfire looks to Flint for a moment, thinking, before noting outwardly that there's now an Ahroun in the Walker tribe. He congratulates him on his scar.

"Kinna complicated right now, Wildfire-rhya," Flint offers with a vague frown in explanation, shrugging his shoulders. Mention of the Walker Ahroun seems to have darkened the boy's mood a little, in any case.

Masks-the-Storm listens to the exchange between the two, then gives a little nip at the other cub's feet. He meant you, not the other. It was praise.

Wildfire accepts that for what it is and says nothing further of it. He then heads off into the woods with only the slightest of limps daring to show.

Flint does offer the Get a faint smile and nod of thanks before he's turned away, attention swinging to Lex. "I know. It's … the Ahroun in our tribe. And me. Complicated," Flint says, expanding the explanation a little bit. "But." He reaches down to ruffle the fur on top of the Ahroun cub's head lightly, the grin returning to his face.

Masks-the-Storm watches as Wildfire goes, only then turning her full attention back to Flint. Or he was referring to your show of the strength of a full moon, part of the praise. There's uncertainty in her posture at that, though. She stays in lupus until she reaches her jacket, at which point she returns to homid, scrambling to get the coat on even as she's passing through glabro. "And I've met him. He was…a little odd."

Flint shivers a good bit in the cold, himself. The boy's not bothered with anything warm since he'd removed his shirt earlier, sweatshirt and jacket both left inside to begin with. "Nah," Flint offers. "Pretty sure he was referring to that we have an Ahroun in our tribe, so. Out-tribe teaching, and all." He shrugs it off, starting to move slowly towards the house now. "Anyway."

Alexandra says, "Anyway, yeah. We need to get you back inside before you freeze. And before I freeze, and I'm wearing a coat. C'mon!" She doesn't actually drag him, given his injuries, but she does at least encourage him to move as fast as he's able to.