Flint Madden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flint_garou) wrote2012-03-25 12:00 pm
flint_garou) wrote2012-03-25 12:00 pm
(no subject)
His spleen is broken!
25 March, 2012
The moon is in the waxing New (Ragabash) Moon phase (19% full).
It's a bit chilly out, but at least it's sunny. And, thus, the metis ahroun is out enjoying the day—which means working. He's fluidly going through what looks like martial arts forms out by the pond, pretty much ignoring anything else going on around him.
Tim is relaxing on the front porch with a mug of hot, fragrant tea. He looks freshly showered, and has left his jacket and hoodie somewhere else in favor of a simple, red-brown, long-sleeve teeshirt. He watches Keir as the other moves with the eye of someone trying to learn something from observation alone.
A falcon materialises in mid-air over the meadow, screaming out- in the Mother Tongue. *~Finally! Gaia's flesh and Gaia's spirit! You are needed, quickly! She is coming! Everything is running away. Everything. And some of them won't care if they cross the Gauntlet to escape Her, no matter where they are! Go! Go, go, it is more than I can deal with! How fast can you travel? Those fast, like I, will stay in the Umbra, except to give warning. Most are probably still back where the humans keep the wolves- do you know it?~*
From the drive that joins Edgewood to Sunrise Road appears two other figures moving at an easy jog. One slightly taller and older than the other, both with the lanky appearance of those more accustomed to city life. Devon stops dead at something, a hand thrust out to stop Flint beside him. His eyes scan the area until they stop on the screaming frantic falcon in the middle of the meadow.
Slug strides out of the front door with a lazy look on his face, sipping from a cup of coffee. The wet Ragabash looks as though he's just come out of the shower, and doesn't seem all that bothered by the cold. He turns his head to look at nothing, as though he were listening to the wind, then whips about to turn upon the panicked bird spirit.
Flint looks up at Devon, skidding as he stops, and there's a low murmur of 'what the…' that fades up as he watches the meadow. And then Flint's glance catches Slug, and Tim, and then Keir, and the young Galliard shifts uneasily from one foot to the other.
Keir's almost meditative quiet is broken by the screaming spirit, and the Stargazer starts, straightening and breathing only a little unevenly for all the work he's been doing. And, he looks rather Concerned. "Thank you for your warning, brother! I know the place."
Tim goes perfectly still, then sets his tea aside and gets to his feet, heading out into the meadow. He mouths, 'Where the humans keep the wolves,' then shifts to lupus. Scanning the Garou there, he grunts about something, and shifts to lupus. We need spirit speakers, to guide them. And then he's off, moving south at a pace which must come from a Gift.
Suddenly in wolf form, Wrath bursts out from the undergrowth, coming down from the denser forest and into Edgewood's meadows. She is in full run but skids to a stop when she sees the others. Her body twitches and her tail whips around as she asks them if they had seen it too. As soon as Tim shifts and bolts, Wrath follows suit at a slower pace.
Shifting to lupus, the metis just heads after Golden—plainly following his nose to keep up with the ragabash.
Devon watches Tim and Keir before directing a look at Flint. He shifts into lupus as well, bolting after the elder Garou with indications the Galliard should keep up.
Wrong Way seems far more at home in the umbra than she usually does in the realm, and even the hobbling step of her three-legged gait seems more steady as she makes her way toward the commotion.
The Walker Galliard shifts abruptly back up to his birthform as they arrive, digging out the switchblade from his pocket for use as a reflective surface, and there's a moment of frustration as he reaches to cross over, shifting back down once he's done so.
Once on the other side, Sightless-Faith seems at least mostly at ease. The blind garou is in his birthform, and the metis drifts closer to those he knows: mostly Golden, Devon, Flint. His nose quivers and his ears are forward and he seems very aware, but there's not much visible tension.
Golden finds a small patch of water to use in crossing over; it's the only time he stops, though all this distance later he's finally let go of his Gift and slowed down such that the others from Edgewood have had more than enough time to catch up to him.
Red-Hands follows Flint's example, switching to birth form to pull free his own butterfly knife. It lacks practiced ease, but there's no squeamish hesitation when he crosses over. The knife, on the other side, is pushed back into a pocket and he returns to lupus. A nose prods at Flint before a look angles toward Keir and Tim in askance.
Wrath is on all fours all the way, even as they approach the edges. She keeps a steady but fast pace for an incredible amount of time. Her claws dig into the soil at the falcon-spirit's encouragement and she continues onwards. It seems like she is itching to shift up to Hispo but for now she keeps to her form.
Slug is content to let others cross the gauntlet first, but he's quick to follow. He uses a plastic compact in his pocket as his focusing point, and immediately shifts into Crinos once he hits the other side. The wary Ragabash looks around himself, looking decidedly unhappy with the whole situation.
Reaching arrives into the Umbral area, slipping into the spirit lands like there was no trick to it. Silvertip tosses himself off, and rises up into crinos as he scents the umbral winds. ~Which direction?~ He asks his packmate. When Earth Whisperer indicates the direction, Silvertip shoulders his weapon and begins lumbering that direction.
Wildfire treads heavily through the lands, following the warning cries of some apparently spirit messenger. He steps sideways along the way from the bawn, using a local watering hole to do so.
It's nearly a crescent moon, but it hasn't quite grown large enough to get there just yet, and the Umbra is very dark. Very dark, but not completely so. As the various Garou begin to reach the area and step sideways into the Umbra a lune slips past, flying fast, then another. Other small lune gafflings can be spotted here and there, all across Wolf Woods, in the general direction of the Bawn, (or Kent Crossing, or St. Claire, they're all more or less the same way). Tiny bright dots skim through the trees up ahead, a whole swarm of them. And there is sound, like a gathering storm, like a distant waterfall… like a million tiny wings beating desperately for speed, and a thousand tiny feet and hooves and paws belting along at a dead run. And the sound is getting louder.
Thunder's-Heart joins the general pilgrimage into the Umbra, emitting a chuff of surprise at the sound of on oncoming… ~Stampede?~ the Hispo wonders.
Seeks-Raging-Water is close behind Wildfire, having been with him when the strange spirit wolf appeared. Trusting to the Adren Get's greater knowledge of the bawn and its environs, she follows his lead. Her shift to the Umbra is not a quick one, but thankfully the Gauntlet is reasonably thin, so she eventually does pass through it, at which point she puts on greater speed to close back up the distance between them.
Keir shifts his stance a little bit, looking concerned. He can't see the gathering swarm, but he can certainly hear it. ~We should get out of their way,~ he says, lowly.
Wrath struggles to go through and into the Umbra, but eventually she manages and the Ahroun Shadow Lord does not look comfortable. At the sight and sound of panicking animals, she lets out a soft growl before shifting up to Crinos.
Red-Hands watches the tiny, glowing spirits move, ears twisting and angling toward the various sounds. He shifts to hispo after a moment. ~Who is the 'she' the falcon was talking about,~ he wonders aloud.
~Nothing good.~ Black-Light murmurs in response. The Crinos lifts up on his toes to sniff at the air, then hunches down. His ears swivel from side to side as he listens intently to his surroundings, his hackles rising.
Requiem flicks his tail out behind him, slightly agitated as he notes that Sightless-Faith is right and that Mouse had said that when the wasps come, get out of the way, fast, and shifts up to crinos himself, sticking relatively close to the other Glass Walker. ~The wasps,~ he offers again, somewhat uncertain.
Little Silvertip crouches down, running his claws along a rock on the ground. At first, Earth-Whisperer remains in lupus, making confused faces in his own way. Little Silvertip notices the form of his pack, and rumbles, ~Take a form for battle. Wasps.~ This prompts Earth-Whisperer to take the hispo form.
~Wasps,~ Red-Hands agrees with a growl. He glances at the others then takes Crinos as well. ~Do not fight them,~ is offered generally, giving a look to Flint and others around. ~No way to win. First-Strike-rhya found information, another Caern had these wasps come. The caern and everyone in it was destroyed when they stood against them.~
Golden hesitates, and shifts to Hispo. ~If we try to fight the wasps it will go poorly,~ he adds to Red-Hands' words. He blows a breath when Sightless-Faith gives his suggestion. ~It would be better to protect the spirits who are fleeing—guide them to new homes, and make sure they don't leave the Shadow.~
Wildfire forces his way though until he catches up with the rest. He hears the Alpha's words and is soon shifting upwards, his skin becoming thicker, calloused and warty, as he takes a position nearby the Uktena.
Now the front of the stampede seems to come into view, and tendrils of panic sweep before it with a palpable aura. Through the gloom and the shadows, eerily lit in the greenish light of flying fireflies, come the spirits. The air fills with the sounds of wings- the high-pitched keen of mosquitos and midges, the rumble of bees and (normal sized) wasps, the base drone of beetles. Prey and predator run together, equally wild-eyed- hare and bear, wolf and mouse. Between them ooze the corrupt and deformed shapes of banes. There's even a 'beep' and the sound of wheels, and a quad-bike spirit can be seen veering through the undergrowth.
Seeks-Raging-Water splits away from Wildfire as they catch up with the rest of the group. Growing from lupus to the warform, she aims a look over toward Requiem, but falls into place beside Wrath. The young Ahroun gapes at the oncoming rush of spirits, so unlike anything that she's ever seen before.
~Leave the wasps! Go for the banes!~ Silvertip howls, noticing that he and his packmate are not alone.~ The Uktena crouches, as the banes come their direction. Lifting his paws, he gestures like lifting something up, and then throwing it forward.
Thunder's-Heart also falls in along with his tribemates, Wrath and Seeks-Water. The hispo answers the call of attack, zeroing in on the closest bane to gnash with his teeth.
Quite aware that he is not the warrior's warrior, Earth-Whisperer sticks close to Silvertip, choosing instead to stealthily flank the nearest vulnerable bane (who is likely Distracted) with vicious claws rather than taking it head on.
Red-Hands bolts into the oncoming stampede at Silvertip's direction. Claws and teeth shoot out as he lunges at a bane, trying to grab hold and drag it past the thronging spirits.
Sightless-Faith's ears flick back. Still, though, the Stargazer drops onto all fours, following the other nearby garou in to tangle with the banes.
Black-Light might have been uneasy before, but he's now the very embodiment of unease. The Crinos bolts straight up when the tidal wave of spirits comes rushing in their direction, pacing a few feet over to the left. The banes draw his attention, though, and so do the words of the other Garou. He starts to speak himself, but his lips never quite form the words and he's left to hesitantly follow the other Garou into the fray.
Requiem turns on the spot and waits a moment, and then with a little more care than his tribesmate charges for one of the banes. The galliard growls, teeth and claws seeking a target amongst the banes.
Golden shifts to hispo and aims for the bane closest to him, calling to Silvertip, ~The Falcon said some are panicking and crossing into the Realm! The Veil is at risk—humans wander in these woods!~
It seems as if a tidal-wave of leaf-mold starts to rise, releasing its hold on a dead tree-trunk. The log flies free of the ground and hurtles into a giant snakelike bane, knocking it back. Thunder's Heart's teeth strike a bearlike-thing with scales, and it bleeds blackness. Red-Hands manages to grasp a ferrety bane thing with glowing insect eyes, that bites and claws frantically (and mostly ineffectually) in its attempts to escape the grab. Requiem and others too manage to claw at a bane- none of them seem to be really avoiding the attacks, they all seem to be intent on being somewhere else.
At Silvertip's command, Wrath's body begins to glow a soft silverish hue that resembles luna's light. She flicks her tail at the sight and sound of Thunder's-Heart and Seeks-Raging-Water before moving to take a stance in front of them a bit. When it becomes apparent that the banes are not intent on attacking, Wrath blinks before she suddenly roars, ~They are fleeing as well!~
He is a little late to the party but Lionheart eventually makes it to the group. He is almost running on all-fours as he approaches. His ears are acute to the sound of commands being given as he nears. His eyes dart around, looking for an opportunity to attack.
~Weak homids to the realm! Deal with it! Howl for the sept!~ Silvertip calls out. The Uktena tanks forward, clawing a at bane as it passes, trying to do damage to the fleeing spirits. Earth Whisperer moves in to flank it and to a single attack, the two working in coordination.
Black-Light might ordinarily resent being called weak, but he's merely grateful for an excuse to exit the spiritual madness. He's quick to turn tail and shoot out from the spirit horde as soon as he hears the order, dropping down to run on all fours. He shakes out his coat as soon as he's well clear of it all, then retrieves his mirror to slip sideways as quick as he can.
Wildfire steps forward at the Alpha's call, slashing away at any bane that's within reach, striking them to weaken them as they move, allowing others to fell them if need be.
Golden looks out over the group, and whines even as he slashes at a bane. ~Without a spirit speaker they will have no way to guide the spirits.~
Wrath is one of those who is all too willing to head back to the physical side of things. A quick glance is given to her alpha to make sure he knows what she plans on doing before moving to shift to some place a bit more… concrete.
Sightless-Faith stops before attacking, raising his head a little (and nearly getting clocked by a fleeing bird). Reflexively ducking after the fact, the Stargazer shouts: ~Alpha! It all comes from one place! An eye to the storm!~ He seems to be seeking this metaphorical (or perhaps literal, who knows) 'eye of the storm' out.
By the time Riley steps into the umbra—later than most—she immediately regrets it. A moment is blinked away as she stares, dumbfounded at the sheer extent of the insanity of the situation. Whatever she sees, it's obvious that she doesn't much like it. The instant people start stepping back to the realm, she whips out the mirror from her coat pocket and slips back toward reality as abruptly as she arrived. Umbra? Nope.
Requiem moves over, no longer trying to claw the banes but trying to just move, pushing through things to go and join the younger Shadow Lord Ahroun. ~C'mon,~ he states, as Wrath moves over, and the Glass Walker Galliard also goes to reach back to the realm. ~We'll figure it out,~ he calls, in the direction of the Strider, though he sounds rather uncertain.
Thunder's-Heart releases the Bane he was attacking, whirling away to stalk back towards his tribe. Reaching back to the Realm with them, he leaves the injured bane to whoever is staying.
It is relatively quiet here compared to the chaos on the other side. A bear-spirit does come through, almost falling in its haste, its eyes and manner frantic. Then, even as it's scrabbling to its feet and lumbering into a canter, it pauses in confusion, and finally spots the Garou.
Thunder's-Heart pops out of the umbra, just barely having gotten away from that Bane. He shifts into crinos, very grouchy looking, as he peers about for the ones that have gotten through. When all he sees is the bear spirit, he merely returns its look.
Once she is back into the physical side of things as well, Wrath shrinks down to hispo before she notices the bear spirit. She blinks owlishly at him and slowly tilts her head to the side, ears twitching.
Red-Hands shakes himself out after returning to the Realm. He postures nonaggressive when he sees the bear, remaining in Crinos. ~Go back over,~ he says calmly, ears twisting, swiveling. ~No place for you here, your brothers need you on the other side.~
Black-Light looks decidedly happier to be back in the realm of flesh and blood, though his hackles are still risen and his fur bristles like a frightened cat. The Gnawer hunches down near a tree and mumbles to himself, looking back and fourth, searching for his packmate. The bear almost escapes his notice, but it's near fall creates enough noise to draw his attention.
Lionheart takes the advice heard among the party and crosses back over into the realm. He shakes himself and follows several others down into hispo form. He looks up as Red-Hands is seen trying to speak to the bear spirit.
Riley scarcely has time to get over the change in color-palette and lighting before the spirit comes lumbering. She instinctively reaches for the her pocket, but hesitates. "Damn," She hisses, "Gun. Probably not." With that, she gives a quick look about, gauging who of her brothers and sisters are about, then—upon spotting Black-light well across the way, she drops down to Hispo herself, her hackles raised, muscles wound tight and ready to run if the spirit decides against stepping back to its home plane.
Seeks-Raging-Water passes through the Gauntlet slowly, but upon materializing, she tells Red-Hands, ~We should keep them here, instead, so that they're safe until the danger passes. We just need to keep any humans away and keep them calm if we can.~
The bear shies back from the assorted reactions and the voice, and tries to move away from the Garou.
The galliard grumbles a little, shifting down to homid as he steps away from Alexandra, nodding to her. "It's okay," he tries, voice pitched quietly and calm, in the direction of the bear, words tinged with the gift to speak to animals. Though something says that he doesn't think this is going to work.
~Keep it contained,~ Red-Hands calls out. He keeps his eyes on the bear but points to the Garou. ~Spread out! Form a ring and don't let it get past you. We'll adjust for others that come out, keep them in the circle until we can get them back across. Defend, but do not attack!~
~Still getting used to your scent.~ Black-Light rumbles to his packmate, giving Riley a quick shoulder-bump. He rises up and stretches out, taking a few short moments to loosen up his limbs and shoulders. His attention remains on the bear, but he nods at Red-Hands.
Lionheart circles around behind the group to enclose around the bear-spirit. He still looks a little confused by what is going on. For now he is simply following someones lead, if there is such a Garou doing so.
Thunder's-Heart merely waits, keeping eyes and ears open for whatever else might come about. He peers at Red-Hands as he gives orders, amused.
Evac's lips curl back in a small growl, more bared teeth than an actual utterance. Black-Light's shoulder-bump is immediately returned. ~What, smell too pretty? Must be all the flowery shampoo. You noticed.~ Her eyes never wander from the bear spirit, in spite of the moment's levity. She's all business after the moment's exchange.
Wildfire steps through and looks around, seeing naught but a lone bear. To this he peers at the rest of the assembled Garou, and growls out a simple, ~What the fuck?~
Lionheart moves over towards Wildfire. What is going on? The Gnawer isn't exactly sure of the situation, he just followed everyone out of the umbra.
Seeks-Raging-Water keeps to the warform, and will help in forming a perimeter if others are doing so. ~Did anyone with Spirit Speech cross back over with us?~ she asks.
~Familiar, but different. Changed. Does something weird in the wolf brain.~ Black-Light mumbles, still eying the bear, drifting towards it should it come in his general direction. Wildfire's arrival makes the Gnawer turn his head and wriggle his ears, head listing to one side.
Thunder's-Heart draws one of his knives, idly picking his teeth with it. ~Don't think so,~ he tells the Cliath Shadow Lord. ~Everyone good with spirits stayed.~
Flint shoves his hands in his pockets and sighs, looking around at the goings-on for a moment. "Owen-rhya, Aaron-rhya…" the Galliard starts. "You should go back, we've got enough here…" It's a very polite suggestion, but the cliath seems to have considered his words well. And then he looks at Alexandra. "No, no one has it, unless…" and then the teen waves his hand, remaining in homid for the moment with a slight question to the gesture.
Wrath lets out a lion of a yawn before stretching out her limbs and flexing her claws. She then lowers herself down and thumps her tail lightly against the ground.
Red-Hands glances toward Wildfire, a frown furrowing the thin fur between his nose and down his muzzle. He doesn't answer, though something about his posture implies he agrees with Flint. A second later, his attention is back on the bear, keeping his attention roaming enough to watch the others and surrounding woods as well.
There's a long whistle overhead, and the shape of a falcon circles in from above. *~What are you doing here? Never mind. If you've already got enough in the Umbra, trying to put some sense back into them, then someone should try to stop the Weaver-spirit that went that way.~* the bird indicates the direction of Highway 22.
Wildfire damn well spits out his frustration for a second, before barking orders for the Galliard here to howl as the Alpha commanded. He then quickly works to return back to the otherside.
Evac's brows twitch at the falcon's out of place cry, and she quickly looks about for clarification from anyone that understood it.
Thunder's-Heart glances up at the shape of the Falcon, baring his teeth in a half grin. ~Oh good.~ With that the crinos lopes off in the direction indicated, not seeming to care who stays or goes.
Since you said it nicely, Lionheart replies to Flint. He glances towards the Get of Fenris expectantly. After you, he wags his tail.
Evac may as well be a loaded gun for how swiftly she whirls on her heels and shoots off in the direction that the Falcon indicates. It's obvious that the bear-spirit is well tended, and she appears to mislike all the standing about.
Red-Hands looks up at the Falcon then in the direction of the highway. Like Nik, he takes off after it, eschewing his own instruction.
Black-Light looks up at the falcon spirit, then mumbles something beneath his breath and wheels about when Riley does. The Gnawer takes off after his packmate, running side by side with her.
Flint makes a face and shifts up to glabro and then crinos, drawing in a deep breath and taking off at a run, the howl going up as he does so.
From WWNP: South Forest, Requiem can be heard to howl, ~The wasps come!~
Seeks-Raging-Water looks between her two tribesmates, the departing Ragabash and the Ahroun staying behind. A glance to Requiem as well, and she says, ~I'll stay to help keep the spirits contained, and deal with any banes that may come through.~
In response to the howl, Follows-the-Tradewinds comes as quickly as she can manage. She's easy enough to see coming, as her bright plumage tends to stand out against the natural colours of the forest and the brambles.
Those remaining behind find themselves with a bear-spirit to look after, which is not amused by the Garou presence. After several minutes, a fleeing rabbit dives across the Gauntlet and tries to make a break for it. They also have time to explain to Trade-Winds. Thos running for the highway soon find what the falcon was talking about- a car-spirit, clearly not a normal car, a mishmash of police lights and sirens wailing and flashing around it as it rolls, wolf-speed along the road. A tailback of normal cars is forming behind it, and a few horns are sounding at it.
Thunder's-Heart immediately shifts down to homid as he sees the people-filled cars. He glances towards the others. "Freaking spirits… has anyone tried to drive one before?" He grins, half-joking as he gestures. "Maybe we can steer it?"
Evac reels herself in well short of the road, shying back a step at the mere sight of all that's going on down there. She twitches for a few moments, hanging back for a moment as though uncertain of how best to handle things. Her massive paws stamp a few times in indecision while she's still out of sight of the road. ~There goes the fucking veil.~ She rumbles. She too pops up to homid for now, snapping immediately to Thunders'-Heart, "Whatever we do, we do it fast, or people die." She's clearly not thrilled with the joke in his tone.
Red-Hands hits homid a beat after Nik, looking at the cars and then the siren and lights thing. "Well, maybe we'll meet Optimus Prime," he mutters before looking at Nik and Riley. "No time like the present to find out." He follows his words with running for the car, every intention of trying to get into the patrol vehicle to try and drive it.
There is another howl from the Galliard, this one shorter and more of an announcement of their current location than anything else, before Flint shifts down to homid, taking off after Devon although the younger teen doesn't try to get into the car.
Seeks-Raging-Water looks to Sera, ~Hopefully you can calm the Gaian spirits down. So far there haven't been very many…and no banes yet, but several of the others went off to deal with a Weaver spirit that we were told was over that way.~
There is another howl from the Galliard, this one shorter and more of an announcement of their current location—but with a faint note of urgency in it—than anything else, before Flint too shifts down to homid, taking off after Devon although the younger teen doesn't try to get into the car. "Damn it where's…" but the words don't lead into any real thought.
Nik lets the Glasswalker take care of the spirit. "I'll try to stall the rest of them." He breaks from the trees at a jog, heading for the car right behind the spirit. With a little jump, he attempts to crash onto the hood and windshield, hard, feigning being hit.
Black-Light looks at the cars with a flat expression of 'Oh', the Crinos looking less than thrilled about the spirit's presence and that of the other cars. ~I wish I could smoke in Crinos. Anyone have a clever plan?~ He asks, taking a quick glance at Riley. When his packmate shifts to Homid, he shifts to Lupus and darts off down the road.
Tradewinds flows in to the form of her birth, as she reaches the location of the bear spirit. *Children of Gaia. Great Spirit of the bear and swift spirit of the rabbit,* she says, holding her staff slightly aloft. *If you come with me, I will lead you somewhere safe and see that you are kept comfortable.*
With Sera not needing backup in handling the Gaian spirits and no additional incursions apparent, Seeks-Raging-Water drops to all fours, starting off in the direction that the others left in.
Nik has to flat-out run to even catch up to the cars once he's on two legs and not four, and his play-act would be completely unconvincing in daylight. At night? He's just an unexpected 'thump' on a windshield, and a couple of very sad little squishy bumps as the Ragabash slips off the front of the hood and goes under the wheels. The driver slamps on the brakes, face white, swearing. The tailback concertina-s up behind, the next vehicle on stopping with its front wheels nudging up against Nik's unconscious form. The other Garou, coming up to the same point also in Homid, can see only the shadowed lump of him beneath the beams of the headlamps, the road having no streetlamps.
Meanwhile, Tradewinds manages to find and calm the two spirits.
Riley cringes at the loud 'thump' that Nik makes as he crunches against the car, and then immediately starts cursing with eyes wide as he goes beneath the car's wheels. She runs out into traffic, immediately grabbing the downed Garou by the hands and starts forcibly yanking him out of the path of any further oncoming vehicles.
A little way in front, the two younger Garou find that the spirit-car doesn't seem to have any real doors. It's car-shaped, more or less, but that is only its outward appearance. As it rolls out of the glare of the headlamps of the cars behind, though, its sirens calm somewhat, and it slows enough that the Garou- who were starting to get left behind- can catch up and even, if they want, overtake it.
Devon snaps into Crinos when the headlights from behind fade, sprinting the last of the distance before he tries to jump in front of the car and stop it physically.
Black-Light doesn't seem entirely sure what to do with the car once he's caught it- A typical dog dilemma. The wolf stares at it as he runs along, seemingly concentrating upon the spirit for a second or two.
Nik makes a show of groaning and clutching at his middle as Riley drags him out, writhing, probably trailing a good amount of blood. Everyone loves a good, bloody show, after all.
The Galliard shifts up into crinos as he runs and not long after Devon does, moving about to possibly cut off the car spirit from behind, although his ears twist back towards the commotion behind them, laying flat somewhat.
The two car-chasers have an oncoming vehicle to contend with, its lights closing in and sending the car-spirit into another spurt of speed. This sends it smack into the waiting Crinos, who flies up and over the hood and roof. The oncoming driver swerves wildly, off the road and spinning into a ditch. The car-spirit swerves too, the other way, off the road, slowed by the rough ground but not as hindered as a real car.
Riley isn't the beefiest chick, and trying to haul Nik with her own meager body weight is a lengthy process. "I'm sorry," She hisses down, "Be still." She's distractedly looking in both directions. On the one hand, the carnage of the car spirit—on the other, trying to ensure that traffic isn't coming in to make two ragabash pancakes. Finally, finally, she hauls him off of the road and into the ditch on the side of the shoulder.
Seeks-Raging-Water comes to the edge of the woods near the scene of the accident, though given her form, doesn't emerge from them fully or move to help Riley and Nik. Instead, trusting the two of them to have things under control here, she sniffs, the wind bringing the scents of the Garou further up the road to her, and starts after them.
Red-Hands tumbles and rolls on the ground, half crawling in hopes maybe, in the twilight, he'll look like a bear as he lumbers after the weaver car. Once outside of the headlights he bursts into more of a run, leaping at the side of the car and trying to shoulder it hard enough to push it further off the road and into something solid that will stop it.
Black-Light cuts across the road when the Weaver spirit veers off-road, hopefully into a more secluded area. The Gnawer hits the proverbial gas once he feels as though there is less danger of being spotted, doing his best to catch up to it. As the chase continues, little bits and pieces of discarded trash begin attaching themselves to various parts of the car, but seemingly do nothing to slow it down.
Requiem startles for a moment, turning from the road to continue chasing after the car spirit.
Seeks-Raging-Water runs as fast as she can, moving on all fours as the Crinos attempts to catch up to the three Garou ahead of her so she can actually be of some help to them.
Car windows and doors are opening. Voices are calling out questions and offers of help. A flashlight probes from the line of stopped-and-rapidly-coming-to-a-stop cars, into the darkness beside the road. The car-spirit is not helped by being bumped, but once more in darkness it seems to be meandering more anyway, as though confused.
Riley awkwardly casts a glance between the downed Nik and groans to herself as some of the better pedestrians from the backup of traffic have started to approach. She hesitates, casts a frustrated glance toward the direction the car-spirit went, and resolves herself to doing damage control, and keeping the stopped traffic stopped. She throws her head back and starts to bawl, franticly pointing at the down Nik. "He hit him! He hit him!" She forces herself to hyperventilate, and screams, "Somebody, he needs a doctor!" She starts to fake bawling, standing on the yellow line. With luck, the traffic will stay jammed. It's the best she can do to help right now.
Red-Hands, when the spirit car slows again, lunges himself at the car. Claws are sharp and can cut through most things, the Walker Ahroun tries to cut through the hood of the car in order to hit something vital and stop it.
Nik groans again, writhing in the ditch. "I think my… oh god my spleen is broken…" says the Ragabash, seemingly in and out of consciousness as he clutches at his stomach. An eye opens and looks down the road, but he can't seem to determine how the others fare with the spirit.
Riley wails, "His spleen is broken!"
Seeks-Raging-Water finally catches up with Garou and the Weaver spirit. Seeing one Glass Walker attacking the thing, she focuses her concentration on locating its weaknesses, and then leaps at it from behind, claws slashing for somewhere they're likely to find greater purchase than they would just scraping off steel.
There's a whine of torn metal from the car-spirit, like some giant, miserable metallic dog. It zigzags, dribbling some sort of liquid, and then turns insubstantial- blue-and-red flashing smoke that fades into darkness and nothingness.
Red-Hands readies another attack, prepared to tear back the hood to get to the innards, when the spirit fades away. His hand slowly drops and a beat later he shifts to homid, looking past the zigzags on the ground to Alexandra, Slug, and Flint.
The Galliard shifts back to his birth form as well, and Flint looks from Devon to Slug, and then to Alexandra. "C'mon," he states, quietly, turning at a jog towards the accident.
Black-Light skids to a halt not far from Red-Hands, panting, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He takes Devon's lead and shifts up into Homid when he does, then turns and heads off with the others towards the road. "That was less disastrous than I thought it would be!"
Traffic is slowly beginning to circle around the mass of stopped cars, and though they slow to press their faces to the windows, they are obviously deciding the problem has enough people to take care of it, and begin speeding down the road towards the gathered Garou.
Nik looks in ugly shape, but nothing that can't be healed with a shift. However, the passengers of the cars are shining flashlights and cellphone lights over him, trying to get a picture or a good look. The business-man looking time whose car Nik hits starts barking at Riley. "You know him? Well I hope you guys have insurance, because I'm calling the cops!" He's already dialing on his cellphone. Another woman chimes in. "Calling the ambulance right now, hun, don't you fret."
Doing her best to play up her hysterics, Riley takes several frothing steps toward the business-man, "Fuck you! Fuck you! We were just trying to cross the road and you sped up!" She casts a terrified look to the helpful woman, and covers her face in her hands. "He sped up! He was trying to hit both of us!"
Seeks-Raging-Water shifts back down to homid as well. "Could have been a lot worse, yeah. And I don't hear sirens yet, either, which is also a good sign, though there were already quite a few cars backed up a few minutes ago."
"We're not out of the woods yet," Devon mutters. His brow pulls into a frown as he looks toward the not too distant glow of headlights. "One of the drivers might've seen me." He indicates the nearest car swerved to the other side of the road with a tip of his head before he starts jogging toward the first accident sight.
"I think we'd hear more screaming if they did." Slug replies, waving his hand in Devon's general direction. "Accident's probably getting most of the attention. You're forgotten."
The business man's face reddens as he lowers his phone. "Now just a minute, young lady, you kids shouldn't have been…—hello? Yes I'd like to report a…" He steps away, ducking into his cellphone call. The larger woman with the ambulance call nods. "They'll figure that all out when they get here, honey," she drawls, trying to be soothing. Another woman is yelling at her children to get back into the car, deciding it might be best if she moved on, and joins the traffic leaving the area. The big woman covers her cellphone for a moment. "There any more of you kids around? Were ya' out with friends?"
The traffic's definitely back into full gear, that is… until they see the second accident. Nik's still a mess of broken bones in the ditch. From the sound of things he's beginning to find it unpleasant.
Riley scrubs at her face with the heels of her palms, as though trying to force her manufactured tears back from falling. Now that there's a sufficient crowd forming, she's able to move off toward Nik and tearily grab hold of his hand, her fingers patting the back of his. "Oh please, oh hang in there…" She glances back to the kindly woman to whimperingly shake her head. "No, it was just us. We were just—" She sniffles, and hangs her head, going back to consoling Nik.
Alexandra says, "I think I'm just going to cut back into the woods and disappear, so there's no chance you have to explain having some kid out in the middle of nowhere. Unless you need my help with something?"
Devon slows when he crosses into the headlights, doing his best to appear out of breath and as if he'd been jogging for a while. "Oh man," he breathes, taking in the sight. It's not hard to sound surprised and worried at the mess and mass of cars. He raises a hand to block off the glare from the lights, looking for the missing members of their quasi-group amongst all the normal people.
Flint looks over at Lex, then glances to Devon, before he nods. "Yeah, better, I'd probably go too," he adds, pursing his lips. "C'mon," is said in Lex's direction.
Black-Light waves at Alexandra, then cuts to the left of the road before he gets too close, remaining off to the side wherever the shadows are thickest. He glances back at the road to make sure no one is really looking in his direction, then he reaches into his hoodie.
Nik groans again, then seems to murmur something to Riley. It sounds a little desperate. The red-faced man has retreated to his car, but everyone else seems to be reluctant to get too close, and in fact are skirting the blood on the pavement as well. The large woman with the cellphone is nodding, giving directions, and sure enough in a few moments there are sirens in the distance. She frowns a little as she sees Devon. "Are ya sure? Because more of you are coming out of the trees…" she asks Riley.
Alexandra nods to Flint, heading over toward the treeline. "Let's head back to Edgewood. We might be able to find out how things went on the other side if we wait there."
Riley cries, "We… we don't have the money to pay for a hospital. N-not even the ambulance. I…" She sniffs, "I just need to get him out of here." She casts an ashamed look toward the woman, taking special care not to indulge the woman's insistence that there are more 'of them' coming. She pauses for a moment and then looks at the woman straight on. "Miss… are you scared?"
Slug doesn't seem happy to be waiting on the edge of the roadway, especially not with the sirens coming. He spares a glance at the sky, then looks back at the scene unfolding on the road.
Devon looks in Riley and Nik's direction when he finally hears the Walker Ragabash's voice. Rather than pay immediate attention to the woman, he scrambles over to the pair in the ditch, almost frantic. "Oh, man," he says again, looking up at Riley then to the woman over his shoulder. "Oh, Dad's gonna be pissed. Mom's about to have puppies she's so worried when she found you two sneaked out!"
Flint moves over and slips into step with Alexandra, though there's the furrow of worry to his brow. "Edgewood, yeah," he agrees, dropping into lupus once they're well into the trees.
25 March, 2012
The moon is in the waxing New (Ragabash) Moon phase (19% full).
It's a bit chilly out, but at least it's sunny. And, thus, the metis ahroun is out enjoying the day—which means working. He's fluidly going through what looks like martial arts forms out by the pond, pretty much ignoring anything else going on around him.
Tim is relaxing on the front porch with a mug of hot, fragrant tea. He looks freshly showered, and has left his jacket and hoodie somewhere else in favor of a simple, red-brown, long-sleeve teeshirt. He watches Keir as the other moves with the eye of someone trying to learn something from observation alone.
A falcon materialises in mid-air over the meadow, screaming out- in the Mother Tongue. *~Finally! Gaia's flesh and Gaia's spirit! You are needed, quickly! She is coming! Everything is running away. Everything. And some of them won't care if they cross the Gauntlet to escape Her, no matter where they are! Go! Go, go, it is more than I can deal with! How fast can you travel? Those fast, like I, will stay in the Umbra, except to give warning. Most are probably still back where the humans keep the wolves- do you know it?~*
From the drive that joins Edgewood to Sunrise Road appears two other figures moving at an easy jog. One slightly taller and older than the other, both with the lanky appearance of those more accustomed to city life. Devon stops dead at something, a hand thrust out to stop Flint beside him. His eyes scan the area until they stop on the screaming frantic falcon in the middle of the meadow.
Slug strides out of the front door with a lazy look on his face, sipping from a cup of coffee. The wet Ragabash looks as though he's just come out of the shower, and doesn't seem all that bothered by the cold. He turns his head to look at nothing, as though he were listening to the wind, then whips about to turn upon the panicked bird spirit.
Flint looks up at Devon, skidding as he stops, and there's a low murmur of 'what the…' that fades up as he watches the meadow. And then Flint's glance catches Slug, and Tim, and then Keir, and the young Galliard shifts uneasily from one foot to the other.
Keir's almost meditative quiet is broken by the screaming spirit, and the Stargazer starts, straightening and breathing only a little unevenly for all the work he's been doing. And, he looks rather Concerned. "Thank you for your warning, brother! I know the place."
Tim goes perfectly still, then sets his tea aside and gets to his feet, heading out into the meadow. He mouths, 'Where the humans keep the wolves,' then shifts to lupus. Scanning the Garou there, he grunts about something, and shifts to lupus. We need spirit speakers, to guide them. And then he's off, moving south at a pace which must come from a Gift.
Suddenly in wolf form, Wrath bursts out from the undergrowth, coming down from the denser forest and into Edgewood's meadows. She is in full run but skids to a stop when she sees the others. Her body twitches and her tail whips around as she asks them if they had seen it too. As soon as Tim shifts and bolts, Wrath follows suit at a slower pace.
Shifting to lupus, the metis just heads after Golden—plainly following his nose to keep up with the ragabash.
Devon watches Tim and Keir before directing a look at Flint. He shifts into lupus as well, bolting after the elder Garou with indications the Galliard should keep up.
Wrong Way seems far more at home in the umbra than she usually does in the realm, and even the hobbling step of her three-legged gait seems more steady as she makes her way toward the commotion.
The Walker Galliard shifts abruptly back up to his birthform as they arrive, digging out the switchblade from his pocket for use as a reflective surface, and there's a moment of frustration as he reaches to cross over, shifting back down once he's done so.
Once on the other side, Sightless-Faith seems at least mostly at ease. The blind garou is in his birthform, and the metis drifts closer to those he knows: mostly Golden, Devon, Flint. His nose quivers and his ears are forward and he seems very aware, but there's not much visible tension.
Golden finds a small patch of water to use in crossing over; it's the only time he stops, though all this distance later he's finally let go of his Gift and slowed down such that the others from Edgewood have had more than enough time to catch up to him.
Red-Hands follows Flint's example, switching to birth form to pull free his own butterfly knife. It lacks practiced ease, but there's no squeamish hesitation when he crosses over. The knife, on the other side, is pushed back into a pocket and he returns to lupus. A nose prods at Flint before a look angles toward Keir and Tim in askance.
Wrath is on all fours all the way, even as they approach the edges. She keeps a steady but fast pace for an incredible amount of time. Her claws dig into the soil at the falcon-spirit's encouragement and she continues onwards. It seems like she is itching to shift up to Hispo but for now she keeps to her form.
Slug is content to let others cross the gauntlet first, but he's quick to follow. He uses a plastic compact in his pocket as his focusing point, and immediately shifts into Crinos once he hits the other side. The wary Ragabash looks around himself, looking decidedly unhappy with the whole situation.
Reaching arrives into the Umbral area, slipping into the spirit lands like there was no trick to it. Silvertip tosses himself off, and rises up into crinos as he scents the umbral winds. ~Which direction?~ He asks his packmate. When Earth Whisperer indicates the direction, Silvertip shoulders his weapon and begins lumbering that direction.
Wildfire treads heavily through the lands, following the warning cries of some apparently spirit messenger. He steps sideways along the way from the bawn, using a local watering hole to do so.
It's nearly a crescent moon, but it hasn't quite grown large enough to get there just yet, and the Umbra is very dark. Very dark, but not completely so. As the various Garou begin to reach the area and step sideways into the Umbra a lune slips past, flying fast, then another. Other small lune gafflings can be spotted here and there, all across Wolf Woods, in the general direction of the Bawn, (or Kent Crossing, or St. Claire, they're all more or less the same way). Tiny bright dots skim through the trees up ahead, a whole swarm of them. And there is sound, like a gathering storm, like a distant waterfall… like a million tiny wings beating desperately for speed, and a thousand tiny feet and hooves and paws belting along at a dead run. And the sound is getting louder.
Thunder's-Heart joins the general pilgrimage into the Umbra, emitting a chuff of surprise at the sound of on oncoming… ~Stampede?~ the Hispo wonders.
Seeks-Raging-Water is close behind Wildfire, having been with him when the strange spirit wolf appeared. Trusting to the Adren Get's greater knowledge of the bawn and its environs, she follows his lead. Her shift to the Umbra is not a quick one, but thankfully the Gauntlet is reasonably thin, so she eventually does pass through it, at which point she puts on greater speed to close back up the distance between them.
Keir shifts his stance a little bit, looking concerned. He can't see the gathering swarm, but he can certainly hear it. ~We should get out of their way,~ he says, lowly.
Wrath struggles to go through and into the Umbra, but eventually she manages and the Ahroun Shadow Lord does not look comfortable. At the sight and sound of panicking animals, she lets out a soft growl before shifting up to Crinos.
Red-Hands watches the tiny, glowing spirits move, ears twisting and angling toward the various sounds. He shifts to hispo after a moment. ~Who is the 'she' the falcon was talking about,~ he wonders aloud.
~Nothing good.~ Black-Light murmurs in response. The Crinos lifts up on his toes to sniff at the air, then hunches down. His ears swivel from side to side as he listens intently to his surroundings, his hackles rising.
Requiem flicks his tail out behind him, slightly agitated as he notes that Sightless-Faith is right and that Mouse had said that when the wasps come, get out of the way, fast, and shifts up to crinos himself, sticking relatively close to the other Glass Walker. ~The wasps,~ he offers again, somewhat uncertain.
Little Silvertip crouches down, running his claws along a rock on the ground. At first, Earth-Whisperer remains in lupus, making confused faces in his own way. Little Silvertip notices the form of his pack, and rumbles, ~Take a form for battle. Wasps.~ This prompts Earth-Whisperer to take the hispo form.
~Wasps,~ Red-Hands agrees with a growl. He glances at the others then takes Crinos as well. ~Do not fight them,~ is offered generally, giving a look to Flint and others around. ~No way to win. First-Strike-rhya found information, another Caern had these wasps come. The caern and everyone in it was destroyed when they stood against them.~
Golden hesitates, and shifts to Hispo. ~If we try to fight the wasps it will go poorly,~ he adds to Red-Hands' words. He blows a breath when Sightless-Faith gives his suggestion. ~It would be better to protect the spirits who are fleeing—guide them to new homes, and make sure they don't leave the Shadow.~
Wildfire forces his way though until he catches up with the rest. He hears the Alpha's words and is soon shifting upwards, his skin becoming thicker, calloused and warty, as he takes a position nearby the Uktena.
Now the front of the stampede seems to come into view, and tendrils of panic sweep before it with a palpable aura. Through the gloom and the shadows, eerily lit in the greenish light of flying fireflies, come the spirits. The air fills with the sounds of wings- the high-pitched keen of mosquitos and midges, the rumble of bees and (normal sized) wasps, the base drone of beetles. Prey and predator run together, equally wild-eyed- hare and bear, wolf and mouse. Between them ooze the corrupt and deformed shapes of banes. There's even a 'beep' and the sound of wheels, and a quad-bike spirit can be seen veering through the undergrowth.
Seeks-Raging-Water splits away from Wildfire as they catch up with the rest of the group. Growing from lupus to the warform, she aims a look over toward Requiem, but falls into place beside Wrath. The young Ahroun gapes at the oncoming rush of spirits, so unlike anything that she's ever seen before.
~Leave the wasps! Go for the banes!~ Silvertip howls, noticing that he and his packmate are not alone.~ The Uktena crouches, as the banes come their direction. Lifting his paws, he gestures like lifting something up, and then throwing it forward.
Thunder's-Heart also falls in along with his tribemates, Wrath and Seeks-Water. The hispo answers the call of attack, zeroing in on the closest bane to gnash with his teeth.
Quite aware that he is not the warrior's warrior, Earth-Whisperer sticks close to Silvertip, choosing instead to stealthily flank the nearest vulnerable bane (who is likely Distracted) with vicious claws rather than taking it head on.
Red-Hands bolts into the oncoming stampede at Silvertip's direction. Claws and teeth shoot out as he lunges at a bane, trying to grab hold and drag it past the thronging spirits.
Sightless-Faith's ears flick back. Still, though, the Stargazer drops onto all fours, following the other nearby garou in to tangle with the banes.
Black-Light might have been uneasy before, but he's now the very embodiment of unease. The Crinos bolts straight up when the tidal wave of spirits comes rushing in their direction, pacing a few feet over to the left. The banes draw his attention, though, and so do the words of the other Garou. He starts to speak himself, but his lips never quite form the words and he's left to hesitantly follow the other Garou into the fray.
Requiem turns on the spot and waits a moment, and then with a little more care than his tribesmate charges for one of the banes. The galliard growls, teeth and claws seeking a target amongst the banes.
Golden shifts to hispo and aims for the bane closest to him, calling to Silvertip, ~The Falcon said some are panicking and crossing into the Realm! The Veil is at risk—humans wander in these woods!~
It seems as if a tidal-wave of leaf-mold starts to rise, releasing its hold on a dead tree-trunk. The log flies free of the ground and hurtles into a giant snakelike bane, knocking it back. Thunder's Heart's teeth strike a bearlike-thing with scales, and it bleeds blackness. Red-Hands manages to grasp a ferrety bane thing with glowing insect eyes, that bites and claws frantically (and mostly ineffectually) in its attempts to escape the grab. Requiem and others too manage to claw at a bane- none of them seem to be really avoiding the attacks, they all seem to be intent on being somewhere else.
At Silvertip's command, Wrath's body begins to glow a soft silverish hue that resembles luna's light. She flicks her tail at the sight and sound of Thunder's-Heart and Seeks-Raging-Water before moving to take a stance in front of them a bit. When it becomes apparent that the banes are not intent on attacking, Wrath blinks before she suddenly roars, ~They are fleeing as well!~
He is a little late to the party but Lionheart eventually makes it to the group. He is almost running on all-fours as he approaches. His ears are acute to the sound of commands being given as he nears. His eyes dart around, looking for an opportunity to attack.
~Weak homids to the realm! Deal with it! Howl for the sept!~ Silvertip calls out. The Uktena tanks forward, clawing a at bane as it passes, trying to do damage to the fleeing spirits. Earth Whisperer moves in to flank it and to a single attack, the two working in coordination.
Black-Light might ordinarily resent being called weak, but he's merely grateful for an excuse to exit the spiritual madness. He's quick to turn tail and shoot out from the spirit horde as soon as he hears the order, dropping down to run on all fours. He shakes out his coat as soon as he's well clear of it all, then retrieves his mirror to slip sideways as quick as he can.
Wildfire steps forward at the Alpha's call, slashing away at any bane that's within reach, striking them to weaken them as they move, allowing others to fell them if need be.
Golden looks out over the group, and whines even as he slashes at a bane. ~Without a spirit speaker they will have no way to guide the spirits.~
Wrath is one of those who is all too willing to head back to the physical side of things. A quick glance is given to her alpha to make sure he knows what she plans on doing before moving to shift to some place a bit more… concrete.
Sightless-Faith stops before attacking, raising his head a little (and nearly getting clocked by a fleeing bird). Reflexively ducking after the fact, the Stargazer shouts: ~Alpha! It all comes from one place! An eye to the storm!~ He seems to be seeking this metaphorical (or perhaps literal, who knows) 'eye of the storm' out.
By the time Riley steps into the umbra—later than most—she immediately regrets it. A moment is blinked away as she stares, dumbfounded at the sheer extent of the insanity of the situation. Whatever she sees, it's obvious that she doesn't much like it. The instant people start stepping back to the realm, she whips out the mirror from her coat pocket and slips back toward reality as abruptly as she arrived. Umbra? Nope.
Requiem moves over, no longer trying to claw the banes but trying to just move, pushing through things to go and join the younger Shadow Lord Ahroun. ~C'mon,~ he states, as Wrath moves over, and the Glass Walker Galliard also goes to reach back to the realm. ~We'll figure it out,~ he calls, in the direction of the Strider, though he sounds rather uncertain.
Thunder's-Heart releases the Bane he was attacking, whirling away to stalk back towards his tribe. Reaching back to the Realm with them, he leaves the injured bane to whoever is staying.
It is relatively quiet here compared to the chaos on the other side. A bear-spirit does come through, almost falling in its haste, its eyes and manner frantic. Then, even as it's scrabbling to its feet and lumbering into a canter, it pauses in confusion, and finally spots the Garou.
Thunder's-Heart pops out of the umbra, just barely having gotten away from that Bane. He shifts into crinos, very grouchy looking, as he peers about for the ones that have gotten through. When all he sees is the bear spirit, he merely returns its look.
Once she is back into the physical side of things as well, Wrath shrinks down to hispo before she notices the bear spirit. She blinks owlishly at him and slowly tilts her head to the side, ears twitching.
Red-Hands shakes himself out after returning to the Realm. He postures nonaggressive when he sees the bear, remaining in Crinos. ~Go back over,~ he says calmly, ears twisting, swiveling. ~No place for you here, your brothers need you on the other side.~
Black-Light looks decidedly happier to be back in the realm of flesh and blood, though his hackles are still risen and his fur bristles like a frightened cat. The Gnawer hunches down near a tree and mumbles to himself, looking back and fourth, searching for his packmate. The bear almost escapes his notice, but it's near fall creates enough noise to draw his attention.
Lionheart takes the advice heard among the party and crosses back over into the realm. He shakes himself and follows several others down into hispo form. He looks up as Red-Hands is seen trying to speak to the bear spirit.
Riley scarcely has time to get over the change in color-palette and lighting before the spirit comes lumbering. She instinctively reaches for the her pocket, but hesitates. "Damn," She hisses, "Gun. Probably not." With that, she gives a quick look about, gauging who of her brothers and sisters are about, then—upon spotting Black-light well across the way, she drops down to Hispo herself, her hackles raised, muscles wound tight and ready to run if the spirit decides against stepping back to its home plane.
Seeks-Raging-Water passes through the Gauntlet slowly, but upon materializing, she tells Red-Hands, ~We should keep them here, instead, so that they're safe until the danger passes. We just need to keep any humans away and keep them calm if we can.~
The bear shies back from the assorted reactions and the voice, and tries to move away from the Garou.
The galliard grumbles a little, shifting down to homid as he steps away from Alexandra, nodding to her. "It's okay," he tries, voice pitched quietly and calm, in the direction of the bear, words tinged with the gift to speak to animals. Though something says that he doesn't think this is going to work.
~Keep it contained,~ Red-Hands calls out. He keeps his eyes on the bear but points to the Garou. ~Spread out! Form a ring and don't let it get past you. We'll adjust for others that come out, keep them in the circle until we can get them back across. Defend, but do not attack!~
~Still getting used to your scent.~ Black-Light rumbles to his packmate, giving Riley a quick shoulder-bump. He rises up and stretches out, taking a few short moments to loosen up his limbs and shoulders. His attention remains on the bear, but he nods at Red-Hands.
Lionheart circles around behind the group to enclose around the bear-spirit. He still looks a little confused by what is going on. For now he is simply following someones lead, if there is such a Garou doing so.
Thunder's-Heart merely waits, keeping eyes and ears open for whatever else might come about. He peers at Red-Hands as he gives orders, amused.
Evac's lips curl back in a small growl, more bared teeth than an actual utterance. Black-Light's shoulder-bump is immediately returned. ~What, smell too pretty? Must be all the flowery shampoo. You noticed.~ Her eyes never wander from the bear spirit, in spite of the moment's levity. She's all business after the moment's exchange.
Wildfire steps through and looks around, seeing naught but a lone bear. To this he peers at the rest of the assembled Garou, and growls out a simple, ~What the fuck?~
Lionheart moves over towards Wildfire. What is going on? The Gnawer isn't exactly sure of the situation, he just followed everyone out of the umbra.
Seeks-Raging-Water keeps to the warform, and will help in forming a perimeter if others are doing so. ~Did anyone with Spirit Speech cross back over with us?~ she asks.
~Familiar, but different. Changed. Does something weird in the wolf brain.~ Black-Light mumbles, still eying the bear, drifting towards it should it come in his general direction. Wildfire's arrival makes the Gnawer turn his head and wriggle his ears, head listing to one side.
Thunder's-Heart draws one of his knives, idly picking his teeth with it. ~Don't think so,~ he tells the Cliath Shadow Lord. ~Everyone good with spirits stayed.~
Flint shoves his hands in his pockets and sighs, looking around at the goings-on for a moment. "Owen-rhya, Aaron-rhya…" the Galliard starts. "You should go back, we've got enough here…" It's a very polite suggestion, but the cliath seems to have considered his words well. And then he looks at Alexandra. "No, no one has it, unless…" and then the teen waves his hand, remaining in homid for the moment with a slight question to the gesture.
Wrath lets out a lion of a yawn before stretching out her limbs and flexing her claws. She then lowers herself down and thumps her tail lightly against the ground.
Red-Hands glances toward Wildfire, a frown furrowing the thin fur between his nose and down his muzzle. He doesn't answer, though something about his posture implies he agrees with Flint. A second later, his attention is back on the bear, keeping his attention roaming enough to watch the others and surrounding woods as well.
There's a long whistle overhead, and the shape of a falcon circles in from above. *~What are you doing here? Never mind. If you've already got enough in the Umbra, trying to put some sense back into them, then someone should try to stop the Weaver-spirit that went that way.~* the bird indicates the direction of Highway 22.
Wildfire damn well spits out his frustration for a second, before barking orders for the Galliard here to howl as the Alpha commanded. He then quickly works to return back to the otherside.
Evac's brows twitch at the falcon's out of place cry, and she quickly looks about for clarification from anyone that understood it.
Thunder's-Heart glances up at the shape of the Falcon, baring his teeth in a half grin. ~Oh good.~ With that the crinos lopes off in the direction indicated, not seeming to care who stays or goes.
Since you said it nicely, Lionheart replies to Flint. He glances towards the Get of Fenris expectantly. After you, he wags his tail.
Evac may as well be a loaded gun for how swiftly she whirls on her heels and shoots off in the direction that the Falcon indicates. It's obvious that the bear-spirit is well tended, and she appears to mislike all the standing about.
Red-Hands looks up at the Falcon then in the direction of the highway. Like Nik, he takes off after it, eschewing his own instruction.
Black-Light looks up at the falcon spirit, then mumbles something beneath his breath and wheels about when Riley does. The Gnawer takes off after his packmate, running side by side with her.
Flint makes a face and shifts up to glabro and then crinos, drawing in a deep breath and taking off at a run, the howl going up as he does so.
From WWNP: South Forest, Requiem can be heard to howl, ~The wasps come!~
Seeks-Raging-Water looks between her two tribesmates, the departing Ragabash and the Ahroun staying behind. A glance to Requiem as well, and she says, ~I'll stay to help keep the spirits contained, and deal with any banes that may come through.~
In response to the howl, Follows-the-Tradewinds comes as quickly as she can manage. She's easy enough to see coming, as her bright plumage tends to stand out against the natural colours of the forest and the brambles.
Those remaining behind find themselves with a bear-spirit to look after, which is not amused by the Garou presence. After several minutes, a fleeing rabbit dives across the Gauntlet and tries to make a break for it. They also have time to explain to Trade-Winds. Thos running for the highway soon find what the falcon was talking about- a car-spirit, clearly not a normal car, a mishmash of police lights and sirens wailing and flashing around it as it rolls, wolf-speed along the road. A tailback of normal cars is forming behind it, and a few horns are sounding at it.
Thunder's-Heart immediately shifts down to homid as he sees the people-filled cars. He glances towards the others. "Freaking spirits… has anyone tried to drive one before?" He grins, half-joking as he gestures. "Maybe we can steer it?"
Evac reels herself in well short of the road, shying back a step at the mere sight of all that's going on down there. She twitches for a few moments, hanging back for a moment as though uncertain of how best to handle things. Her massive paws stamp a few times in indecision while she's still out of sight of the road. ~There goes the fucking veil.~ She rumbles. She too pops up to homid for now, snapping immediately to Thunders'-Heart, "Whatever we do, we do it fast, or people die." She's clearly not thrilled with the joke in his tone.
Red-Hands hits homid a beat after Nik, looking at the cars and then the siren and lights thing. "Well, maybe we'll meet Optimus Prime," he mutters before looking at Nik and Riley. "No time like the present to find out." He follows his words with running for the car, every intention of trying to get into the patrol vehicle to try and drive it.
There is another howl from the Galliard, this one shorter and more of an announcement of their current location than anything else, before Flint shifts down to homid, taking off after Devon although the younger teen doesn't try to get into the car.
Seeks-Raging-Water looks to Sera, ~Hopefully you can calm the Gaian spirits down. So far there haven't been very many…and no banes yet, but several of the others went off to deal with a Weaver spirit that we were told was over that way.~
There is another howl from the Galliard, this one shorter and more of an announcement of their current location—but with a faint note of urgency in it—than anything else, before Flint too shifts down to homid, taking off after Devon although the younger teen doesn't try to get into the car. "Damn it where's…" but the words don't lead into any real thought.
Nik lets the Glasswalker take care of the spirit. "I'll try to stall the rest of them." He breaks from the trees at a jog, heading for the car right behind the spirit. With a little jump, he attempts to crash onto the hood and windshield, hard, feigning being hit.
Black-Light looks at the cars with a flat expression of 'Oh', the Crinos looking less than thrilled about the spirit's presence and that of the other cars. ~I wish I could smoke in Crinos. Anyone have a clever plan?~ He asks, taking a quick glance at Riley. When his packmate shifts to Homid, he shifts to Lupus and darts off down the road.
Tradewinds flows in to the form of her birth, as she reaches the location of the bear spirit. *Children of Gaia. Great Spirit of the bear and swift spirit of the rabbit,* she says, holding her staff slightly aloft. *If you come with me, I will lead you somewhere safe and see that you are kept comfortable.*
With Sera not needing backup in handling the Gaian spirits and no additional incursions apparent, Seeks-Raging-Water drops to all fours, starting off in the direction that the others left in.
Nik has to flat-out run to even catch up to the cars once he's on two legs and not four, and his play-act would be completely unconvincing in daylight. At night? He's just an unexpected 'thump' on a windshield, and a couple of very sad little squishy bumps as the Ragabash slips off the front of the hood and goes under the wheels. The driver slamps on the brakes, face white, swearing. The tailback concertina-s up behind, the next vehicle on stopping with its front wheels nudging up against Nik's unconscious form. The other Garou, coming up to the same point also in Homid, can see only the shadowed lump of him beneath the beams of the headlamps, the road having no streetlamps.
Meanwhile, Tradewinds manages to find and calm the two spirits.
Riley cringes at the loud 'thump' that Nik makes as he crunches against the car, and then immediately starts cursing with eyes wide as he goes beneath the car's wheels. She runs out into traffic, immediately grabbing the downed Garou by the hands and starts forcibly yanking him out of the path of any further oncoming vehicles.
A little way in front, the two younger Garou find that the spirit-car doesn't seem to have any real doors. It's car-shaped, more or less, but that is only its outward appearance. As it rolls out of the glare of the headlamps of the cars behind, though, its sirens calm somewhat, and it slows enough that the Garou- who were starting to get left behind- can catch up and even, if they want, overtake it.
Devon snaps into Crinos when the headlights from behind fade, sprinting the last of the distance before he tries to jump in front of the car and stop it physically.
Black-Light doesn't seem entirely sure what to do with the car once he's caught it- A typical dog dilemma. The wolf stares at it as he runs along, seemingly concentrating upon the spirit for a second or two.
Nik makes a show of groaning and clutching at his middle as Riley drags him out, writhing, probably trailing a good amount of blood. Everyone loves a good, bloody show, after all.
The Galliard shifts up into crinos as he runs and not long after Devon does, moving about to possibly cut off the car spirit from behind, although his ears twist back towards the commotion behind them, laying flat somewhat.
The two car-chasers have an oncoming vehicle to contend with, its lights closing in and sending the car-spirit into another spurt of speed. This sends it smack into the waiting Crinos, who flies up and over the hood and roof. The oncoming driver swerves wildly, off the road and spinning into a ditch. The car-spirit swerves too, the other way, off the road, slowed by the rough ground but not as hindered as a real car.
Riley isn't the beefiest chick, and trying to haul Nik with her own meager body weight is a lengthy process. "I'm sorry," She hisses down, "Be still." She's distractedly looking in both directions. On the one hand, the carnage of the car spirit—on the other, trying to ensure that traffic isn't coming in to make two ragabash pancakes. Finally, finally, she hauls him off of the road and into the ditch on the side of the shoulder.
Seeks-Raging-Water comes to the edge of the woods near the scene of the accident, though given her form, doesn't emerge from them fully or move to help Riley and Nik. Instead, trusting the two of them to have things under control here, she sniffs, the wind bringing the scents of the Garou further up the road to her, and starts after them.
Red-Hands tumbles and rolls on the ground, half crawling in hopes maybe, in the twilight, he'll look like a bear as he lumbers after the weaver car. Once outside of the headlights he bursts into more of a run, leaping at the side of the car and trying to shoulder it hard enough to push it further off the road and into something solid that will stop it.
Black-Light cuts across the road when the Weaver spirit veers off-road, hopefully into a more secluded area. The Gnawer hits the proverbial gas once he feels as though there is less danger of being spotted, doing his best to catch up to it. As the chase continues, little bits and pieces of discarded trash begin attaching themselves to various parts of the car, but seemingly do nothing to slow it down.
Requiem startles for a moment, turning from the road to continue chasing after the car spirit.
Seeks-Raging-Water runs as fast as she can, moving on all fours as the Crinos attempts to catch up to the three Garou ahead of her so she can actually be of some help to them.
Car windows and doors are opening. Voices are calling out questions and offers of help. A flashlight probes from the line of stopped-and-rapidly-coming-to-a-stop cars, into the darkness beside the road. The car-spirit is not helped by being bumped, but once more in darkness it seems to be meandering more anyway, as though confused.
Riley awkwardly casts a glance between the downed Nik and groans to herself as some of the better pedestrians from the backup of traffic have started to approach. She hesitates, casts a frustrated glance toward the direction the car-spirit went, and resolves herself to doing damage control, and keeping the stopped traffic stopped. She throws her head back and starts to bawl, franticly pointing at the down Nik. "He hit him! He hit him!" She forces herself to hyperventilate, and screams, "Somebody, he needs a doctor!" She starts to fake bawling, standing on the yellow line. With luck, the traffic will stay jammed. It's the best she can do to help right now.
Red-Hands, when the spirit car slows again, lunges himself at the car. Claws are sharp and can cut through most things, the Walker Ahroun tries to cut through the hood of the car in order to hit something vital and stop it.
Nik groans again, writhing in the ditch. "I think my… oh god my spleen is broken…" says the Ragabash, seemingly in and out of consciousness as he clutches at his stomach. An eye opens and looks down the road, but he can't seem to determine how the others fare with the spirit.
Riley wails, "His spleen is broken!"
Seeks-Raging-Water finally catches up with Garou and the Weaver spirit. Seeing one Glass Walker attacking the thing, she focuses her concentration on locating its weaknesses, and then leaps at it from behind, claws slashing for somewhere they're likely to find greater purchase than they would just scraping off steel.
There's a whine of torn metal from the car-spirit, like some giant, miserable metallic dog. It zigzags, dribbling some sort of liquid, and then turns insubstantial- blue-and-red flashing smoke that fades into darkness and nothingness.
Red-Hands readies another attack, prepared to tear back the hood to get to the innards, when the spirit fades away. His hand slowly drops and a beat later he shifts to homid, looking past the zigzags on the ground to Alexandra, Slug, and Flint.
The Galliard shifts back to his birth form as well, and Flint looks from Devon to Slug, and then to Alexandra. "C'mon," he states, quietly, turning at a jog towards the accident.
Black-Light skids to a halt not far from Red-Hands, panting, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He takes Devon's lead and shifts up into Homid when he does, then turns and heads off with the others towards the road. "That was less disastrous than I thought it would be!"
Traffic is slowly beginning to circle around the mass of stopped cars, and though they slow to press their faces to the windows, they are obviously deciding the problem has enough people to take care of it, and begin speeding down the road towards the gathered Garou.
Nik looks in ugly shape, but nothing that can't be healed with a shift. However, the passengers of the cars are shining flashlights and cellphone lights over him, trying to get a picture or a good look. The business-man looking time whose car Nik hits starts barking at Riley. "You know him? Well I hope you guys have insurance, because I'm calling the cops!" He's already dialing on his cellphone. Another woman chimes in. "Calling the ambulance right now, hun, don't you fret."
Doing her best to play up her hysterics, Riley takes several frothing steps toward the business-man, "Fuck you! Fuck you! We were just trying to cross the road and you sped up!" She casts a terrified look to the helpful woman, and covers her face in her hands. "He sped up! He was trying to hit both of us!"
Seeks-Raging-Water shifts back down to homid as well. "Could have been a lot worse, yeah. And I don't hear sirens yet, either, which is also a good sign, though there were already quite a few cars backed up a few minutes ago."
"We're not out of the woods yet," Devon mutters. His brow pulls into a frown as he looks toward the not too distant glow of headlights. "One of the drivers might've seen me." He indicates the nearest car swerved to the other side of the road with a tip of his head before he starts jogging toward the first accident sight.
"I think we'd hear more screaming if they did." Slug replies, waving his hand in Devon's general direction. "Accident's probably getting most of the attention. You're forgotten."
The business man's face reddens as he lowers his phone. "Now just a minute, young lady, you kids shouldn't have been…—hello? Yes I'd like to report a…" He steps away, ducking into his cellphone call. The larger woman with the ambulance call nods. "They'll figure that all out when they get here, honey," she drawls, trying to be soothing. Another woman is yelling at her children to get back into the car, deciding it might be best if she moved on, and joins the traffic leaving the area. The big woman covers her cellphone for a moment. "There any more of you kids around? Were ya' out with friends?"
The traffic's definitely back into full gear, that is… until they see the second accident. Nik's still a mess of broken bones in the ditch. From the sound of things he's beginning to find it unpleasant.
Riley scrubs at her face with the heels of her palms, as though trying to force her manufactured tears back from falling. Now that there's a sufficient crowd forming, she's able to move off toward Nik and tearily grab hold of his hand, her fingers patting the back of his. "Oh please, oh hang in there…" She glances back to the kindly woman to whimperingly shake her head. "No, it was just us. We were just—" She sniffles, and hangs her head, going back to consoling Nik.
Alexandra says, "I think I'm just going to cut back into the woods and disappear, so there's no chance you have to explain having some kid out in the middle of nowhere. Unless you need my help with something?"
Devon slows when he crosses into the headlights, doing his best to appear out of breath and as if he'd been jogging for a while. "Oh man," he breathes, taking in the sight. It's not hard to sound surprised and worried at the mess and mass of cars. He raises a hand to block off the glare from the lights, looking for the missing members of their quasi-group amongst all the normal people.
Flint looks over at Lex, then glances to Devon, before he nods. "Yeah, better, I'd probably go too," he adds, pursing his lips. "C'mon," is said in Lex's direction.
Black-Light waves at Alexandra, then cuts to the left of the road before he gets too close, remaining off to the side wherever the shadows are thickest. He glances back at the road to make sure no one is really looking in his direction, then he reaches into his hoodie.
Nik groans again, then seems to murmur something to Riley. It sounds a little desperate. The red-faced man has retreated to his car, but everyone else seems to be reluctant to get too close, and in fact are skirting the blood on the pavement as well. The large woman with the cellphone is nodding, giving directions, and sure enough in a few moments there are sirens in the distance. She frowns a little as she sees Devon. "Are ya sure? Because more of you are coming out of the trees…" she asks Riley.
Alexandra nods to Flint, heading over toward the treeline. "Let's head back to Edgewood. We might be able to find out how things went on the other side if we wait there."
Riley cries, "We… we don't have the money to pay for a hospital. N-not even the ambulance. I…" She sniffs, "I just need to get him out of here." She casts an ashamed look toward the woman, taking special care not to indulge the woman's insistence that there are more 'of them' coming. She pauses for a moment and then looks at the woman straight on. "Miss… are you scared?"
Slug doesn't seem happy to be waiting on the edge of the roadway, especially not with the sirens coming. He spares a glance at the sky, then looks back at the scene unfolding on the road.
Devon looks in Riley and Nik's direction when he finally hears the Walker Ragabash's voice. Rather than pay immediate attention to the woman, he scrambles over to the pair in the ditch, almost frantic. "Oh, man," he says again, looking up at Riley then to the woman over his shoulder. "Oh, Dad's gonna be pissed. Mom's about to have puppies she's so worried when she found you two sneaked out!"
Flint moves over and slips into step with Alexandra, though there's the furrow of worry to his brow. "Edgewood, yeah," he agrees, dropping into lupus once they're well into the trees.