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flint_garouThis regardless.
27 July, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (61% full).
The monitors flicker through an apparently endless series of images, the machines themselves whirring with the effort involved in keeping them cool. Kavi paces nearby, not really watching the images passing by, but aware of them, nonetheless.
Flint comes into the breakroom, teeshirt and loose cotton pants and socks with a cup and a plate in his hand. The teen's quiet, and pretending to be oblivious of the fact that he's in shortsleeves, or at least doing nothing else to draw attention to the bandage on his left arm, as he heads for the kitchen.
Kavi glances over as Flint enters, eyes narrowing briefly at what he sees. He doesn't comment, however, and soon turns his attention back to the computers, and the windows beyond.
For his part, the cliath moves to wash his dishes mostly in silence, with a nod of acknowledgement for the elder galliard. "Nieve-rhya was with me," is all that Flint offers, aloud.
Holland was as angry as Kavi had every heard him on the phone, and judging by the occasional squeal of brakes or honking horn, he was in a car and not traveling slowly. It's a state that's still reflected in the Walker Philodox as he paces impatiently in front of the elevator after coming in, and he's moving quite briskly as he enters the breakroom. A between Flint and Kavi, "Is this everyone that's here? Because Riley's still alive right now, but I've got no idea what it plans to do with him."
Kavi turns from the monitors to the doorway and holds up a hand. The moon sits heavily with him, already, and the tension that runs through his form is significant. "Start at the beginning."
Flint manages not to drop what he's busy washing in the sink, and twists to look at Holland. There's a deep breath that the teen takes, clearly on edge. "Wait, what?" Flint manages to ask.
Holland takes a moment, visibly composing himself before continuing. "Devon and I were in the Umbra, and met up with Riley. She was recruiting us to shunt some banes out of the city for Cheese Doodle, when a Griffin spirit screamed and dropped out of the sky. We tried to talk, it completely ignored us. Riley went lupus and submissive, and it just grabbed her. Once it was clear that it wasn't talking and was planning to carry her off, we—and a third Garou I didn't know, and didn't have time to introduce myself to afterward—attacked. We managed to hurt it, but it still carried Riley off."
"Masao," Kavi says, the word nearly a whisper, his voice almost absent with the strain. He glances to Flint, just a darting look, and then back to the philodox, taking a step in his direction. "Where did it go?"
Flint furrows his brow, palm to forehead, and doesn't say anything else, finishing washing his dishes in silence and then moving over to the table.
Holland says, "It was headed east when it flew off. There was no way for us to keep up with it from the ground." Not something Holland is at all happy about, clearly.
"Questing Stone?" Kavi asks, and takes another step, this one less clearly toward the philodox, it may simply be taking him toward the doorway.
Holland falls into step with Kavi, assuming he continues for the doorway. "That was my thought as well, but we'll need more Garou if we're going to get her back."
The cliath frowns. "I can't go, can I," Flint murmurs, leaning against the table and looking at his tribemates.
Kavi stops and turns around, looking from one to the other. "No," he says to Flint, finality in the sound, but then his gaze turns to Holland, the sound of his voice almost impatient. "Did you try it?"
Holland answers, "I don't know it. I was trained to do negotiations and make business deals, so I never needed it."
Flint's shoulders fall a little, impatience and restlessness in the way he shoves his hands in his pockets. "This… has could have to, about," Flint says, clearly thinking about something but not quite making the words go together right. "With, Finds Death, and?"
Kavi nods once, and turns again to make his way down the hall. He doesn't stop until he reaches the door to the ritual room, when he turns back to face the others. "Flint," he says, that clear tone re-emerging, only faltering briefly, at the end. "Stay here. Make sure Rina doesn't— Make sure she's okay." Then he opens the door and steps inside.
Flint swallows and nods, looking after Kavi for a long moment and then looking back to Holland. "I. I will." Not that it's necessarily clear who Flint's speaking to.
Holland offers Flint a quick nod before moving down the hall after Kavi, though he'll give a questioning glance to the Adren before entering the ritual room, in case what he needs is actually freedom from interruption.
Kavi steps through the main room, and into the bathroom, where the light clicks on and almost immediately, the galliard looks into his own reflection.
Holland crosses the room, though he waits just outside the bathroom until the Galliard has vanished before moving to do likewise.
Flint takes a deep, steadying breath, looking after them. "Promised," he reminds himself, before going to check on Rina briefly.
The city gauntlet is thick, though not so thick here in the Tenement as even directly outside. It takes the galliard over a full minute to cross, but once he has, he pulls a small compass and focuses on the face.
Holland is by no means swift to cross, himself, but eventually he does appear. Since Kavi has no apparent need of assistance with the rite, the Philodox settles in to act as additional security, even if they are still in the Tenement.
There are advantages to being in a room already designed for rituals, but even so, even as focused as the galliard seems to be, the needle of the compass never seems to settle. It turns, occasionally jerking backward, but then turns again in a slow rotation. Kavi continues to watch the glass encased pin, continues to murmur softly, giving the compass his entire focus.
Holland waits and watches, silent and alert as the Galliard continues the ritual.
It goes on for several minutes before the galliard lets out a harsh breath, underscored with the sound of frustration, and pockets the compass. He shakes his head, that same sense of frustration in the gesture, and looks to the philodox. "She's too far. Or. Or it's too— Or she's somewhere else— We can try in the realm, in case she managed to cross."
Holland frowns, but dips his head in acknowledgement. "I'll ask Flint to get you something of hers from her apartment, as well, since that might strengthen the resonance."
Kavi nods, his own lips turned downward. He turns back to the mirror and focuses, once again, on crossing the gauntlet.
Holland does the same, as before waiting until Kavi crosses before he follows. Leaving the Galliard to his preparations, he moves back down the hall to the breakroom. "Flint? I need you to bring us something that belongs to Riley. A few strands of hair from her hairbrush, if you can find it, or perhaps a piece of jewelry that she particularly likes."
Flint is in the doorway of the breakroom, now, and nods. Though apparently the cliath can't quite keep from laughing when Holland says 'jewelry', and that manages to break even Flint's currently dark mood. "I. Okay. I think, she has a hairbrush here…" and the cliath heads down the hall, into one of the spare apartments, and comes out with a comb, hair and all, to hand to Holland.
Holland looks a little puzzled at Flint's mirth, but it's not something that he's going to ask about just at the moment. Upon Flint's return, he takes the comb. "Thank you. This should do very well." And with that, he turns and heads back to the ritual room, to offer it to Kavi.
Standing now in the center of the room, Kavi catches his lower lip between his teeth, gaze falling to the comb. "We can try," he says, but he doesn't sound as hopeful as he might.
Flint paces to follow and watch, though from the hallway, swallowing once.
Holland's jaw clenches, his knuckles whitening as he clenches he clenches his hands into tight fists. A few long, slow breaths, before he replies softly, "We have to." A hint of guilt there, oh yes.
Kavi takes the comb and retrieves the compass. He looks at the first, brows drawn downward, and then slides it into the other hand, under the compass. Once again, his focus goes to the glass, to the needle just beneath, and once again it begins the slow, sometimes halting rotation.
Flint paces back down the hall towards the breakroom, after a bit.
Holland waits—if not patiently, at least quietly—in the hopes that the rite will prove more successful this time.
Once again, time passes with no advancement, and eventually Kavi shakes his head, his frown growing more pronounced. "Not in the realm," he says. "At least… not close enough." He looks at the comb as he shifts it back to his other hand. "We need to find her packmates. Ishmael. Slug. They… They might be able to— to feel her. To find her that way. And Ish is a theurge."
Flint paces in the hallway still, and he doesn't get as far as the elevator before he turns back towards Kavi and Holland. There's another murmur of reminder to himself, 'promised', and he goes back into the breakroom.
Holland says, "Damn it." He reaches up to rubs his forehead with his thumb and middle finger. "I'll try contacting them, since they're often at Terminus. Another avenue to consider is finding a Ragabash who knows her and has Sense of the Prey."
Kavi draws in a breath. "Lefty," Kavi says as they head back toward the break room. "She would. But… She's still in Yakima. I don't. Masao hasn't learned it yet."
Holland considers. "There's also the question of the Red Talons, since they have a presence here."
Kavi turns his frown to Holland, questioning. "To ask them for help?"
Holland says "If inter-tribal relations are good enough, yes. It involves their tribal totem, so they're likely to have some insight that could be of use."
Flint looks up as the two other Glass Walkers get back into the breakroom, now sitting at the couch, furthest from the door to the breakroom.
Kavi looks at Holland, and the frown turns into an expression of submerged anger, though not, apparently, directed at the philodox. "She killed one. A Red Talon. I don't know what happened. Not exactly. I know that the Talon was killing people. Not… Indiscriminately. When it was discovered, the Alpha, Silvertip, he kicked her out of his pack, out of the Sept. She was leaving. And Riley went after her. Riley killed her. She didn't challenge, she just killed her." It's clear that Kavi isn't happy about the situation, though it isn't clear from his telling in which of the participants he is more disappointed.
Holland says, "That explains a great deal. Riley's reaction when she saw it, a griffin being willing to venture so far into the Weaver's domain…but it's still unusual that a tribal totem would intervene so directly. And I assume Riley was judged by a Philodox and punished for what she did?"
Flint purses his lips. "Riley-rhya talked to Melodie-rhya at some point?" Flint offers. "And was. I don't know, I know she… talked to the Talon's elder and, their Philodox. But. I don't know what." And then the cliath's distracted again, hand looping around the bandages on his arm, gaze dropping to his lap.
Kavi looks across to Flint at his response, and then returns to the philodox with a shake of his head. "A mediation. I think. Between Riley and the Red Talons. But… But I don't know. I don't know, beyond that."
Holland says, "Then we also need to look into the specific terms that were involved. A punishment rite is normally sufficient to appease the spirits, at least enough to keep them from a direct attack like this."
Flint shrugs his shoulders, glancing at the others once.
"Monkey Brain is the Red Talon. And." Kavi pauses, drawing in a breath, working for a moment to keep his fingers from clenching into fists. "Melodie is a Black Fury."
Holland says, "I can try to contact the Black Fury, if you'd like me to. I should speak with April about Flint's challenge, in any event. While I'm also willing to try to seek out the Red Talon, I've no idea where to even begin looking, and I've never dealt with the tribe before, so another might be better suited."
There's a quick, easily perceptible rising of anger in the younger galliard, then, enough to drive him to his feet and towards the door of the breakroom, his free hand clenching into a fist and other hand tight and white-knuckled around his arm, eyes a little too wide and lips in a tight line.
Standing not far from the couch, Kavi nods once to Holland, but his gaze is on the cliath, watching as the younger galliard makes his way toward the hall. His own posture is tight, though perhaps not quite so tight as Flint's.
Rina comes to an abrupt halt, right inside the door—posture and expression going just a little guarded, when she sees the state Flint is in. "Deep breaths," she says quietly. "Deep and slow, into the heart and the belly." The Kin also puts herself out of Flint's direct path to the door, turning at a right angle to his course.
It's the doorframe that Flint eventually makes his way to, kicking it once and then leaning his head against it, hands still clenched, shoulders in a line that shows their rise and fall as Rina's words sink in enough to get him to breathe.
Holland keeps an eye on the Cliath as well, given the moon, once he realizes Rina is present. The Philodox is probably the most composed of the three of them at this point, although he's significantly more tense than the last time she saw him.
Kavi gives his attention to Rina as she enters, and her proximity to the cliath does nothing for his own sense of calm. His breathing deepens, slows, his own training keeping him present. "Go see— Talk to Melodie," he says to Holland, though his gaze remains on the other two. "After. You can decide if you want to talk to the Red Talon. And if. If there's someone better to do it. Let me know if. Let me know when you reach Ishmael."
Rina steps back, to give Flint space; she's quite calm, a point of rage-free steadiness in the room, only that look of awareness betraying her readiness to move or act. She watches the boy for a moment longer, and then turns her attention to Kavi, and last to Altimari. "Everything's fine, here, yeah?" Her voice is an instrument, soothing, soft. "Flint's got it," she says with a glance to Kavi.
Flint doesn't quite seem to have it yet, though there's no more kicking the doorframe, and he doesn't look back at anyone, either. When he speaks, his voice is tense, monotone, each word forced out. "Challenge to April stands," Flint says. "This regardless." And then Flint glances to Kavi, to Holland, and to the floor. "Need to do it. If. Otherwise, she'll just. Use this to make it so, she wins by, proxy." And then Flint kicks the doorframe with his heel again, visibly struggling for composure.
"I will," Holland agrees. "And we'll find her," he insists, though it may be as much to persuade himself as to reassure Kavi." He starts for the door, before Flint's words give him pause. "Of course it stands. But she hasn't contacted me about the form it will take, and there's still the matter of when it will take place." Both true enough, even if he's likely to encourage that it be later rather than sooner, under the circumstances.
Kavi nods, once, just a slight movement, an acceptance of Rina's words, despite the demonstration by the younger galliard, and then again, more clearly, in answer to Holland.
Rina's brow furrows, and she looks over to Holland. "You're Master of the Challenge?" she asks.
Flint doesn't look up again, half-twisting his hand around his arm, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Flint actually begins to calm down. "Salem-rhya's still Master of the Challenge," Flint adds, distractedly and words a little short.
Kavi pushes his fingers back through his hair and lets out a pent breath before he crosses toward Rina.
Rina gives Holland a nod. "Thanks, then," she says simply.
Flint takes another deep breath and leans against the wall next to the doorway, and eventually, his gaze flicks to Rina, quiet, uncertain. "Thanks mom," he says, quietly, most of the anger having simmered down to the usual tension of the moon and not much more.
Holland says, "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start looking for my business partner. Gentlemen. Ms. Vencenzo." With that, the Philodox steps around Flint and Rina and starts for the elevator.
"Night," Rina offers, as the man passes.
Kavi gives the philodox another nod. "Tell me when you do," he says. He turns his gaze to Rina, and finds a small smile, tense, tight.
Flint crosses over to sit down at the table, and eventually he looks up at Rina again, and over to Kavi. "Nieve-rhya did like, you… like you suggested, this morning. She said, it. It worked, but don't know if it, helped yet."
Rina follows Flint, concern in her eyes as she lets a hand settles lightly on the back of his shoulder. "When the moon gets down past half… find time to come and see me. Got some things we can work on, to help you with… things."
Nodding to Flint, Kavi moves to stand across from him, but his gaze turns to the kin. "Rina," he says, his voice quiet, but the tension keeps it from achieving the softness he attempts.
Further tension eases out of the boy's shoulders, breathing steadies further. "Alright, yeah," Flint murmurs. Finally, his hand unclenches from around his arm, and he frowns down at it, for a long moment.
Rina looks across to Kavi, letting the contact slide from Flint's shoulder after giving a brief squeeze, a transmission of strength.
The older galliard pulls in a long breath and holds it. His gaze dips downward, and then rises again, and he works to keep his hands from forming fists. "Riley's gone." He swallows, and pulls in another breath before he continues.
The Kin tenses, a tangible change in the air around her.
Flint doesn't have anything to add, though tension returns to his shoulder and his brow furrows.
"A Griffin spirit came, when she was in the park. In the umbra. Masao and Holland. The others. They tried to stop it. But it took her." His eyes pinch shut and his efforts to stop the fists from forming fails. "We tried Questing Stone. In the umbra and here, and. And she's either too far, or—"
Rina's voice is low. "So she's too far. So you figure out where to go, to look."
The cliath nods, glancing up, then silently pushing his chair out from the table and going to the kitchen, pulling down three cups and getting water. Two are placed on the table, near Kavi and Rina, before Flint returns for his own.
Kavi nods, the gestures as slow and measured as his breathing. "Holland is looking for Ishmael. Masao is looking for Slug. They're her packmates. They— They should be able to feel her." He swallows once more and his hands find the back of the chair in front of him and grip it, tight. "There's more." His gaze turns, just briefly, to Flint, before returning.
Rina shakes her head. "Waitasec. What happened to Ish, and Baz?"
Flint comes back to the table, takes a long sip of water, and puts his down on the table. "Slug's been around, he. He, found me the other week, and all?" Flint says, kinda uncertain. "Ishmael-rhya'd been, working a lot. I think."
Kavi shakes his head. "Nothing," he adds to Flint's response. "I just— We didn't. I can't leave to talk to them. I. I asked them to do it." He gives another shake of his head. "But—"
Rina watches Kavi steadily.
Kavi swallows, and looks back toward where the monitors continue to flicker through images. "She knows we know," he says, and for a second it seems like he may not explain. "That's… That's what I was trying to talk to Devon about. Last night. Rose. Or whatever her name is. She knows that we know about her."
"How?" Rina asks hoarsely. "How the hell does she know?"
Flint swallows, guilt and anxiety lining his features as Kavi speaks again, hands clenching, and then Flint finally turns away, a very quiet and murmured apology voiced, and giving way to some garbled, choked sound that materialises into a word. "What," Flint says, after Rina speaks. "How in the. What the."
Kavi pries his hands from the back of the chair and rakes one back through his hair. "I—" He breaks off, turning his gaze to the ceiling as he swallows again. "Someone must have told her. Someone… Someone who knows about us, who is here, or at Edgewood. Or one of the kin. Someone told her."
"Then we gotta find out who that is, 'cause if they're already bound—" Rina's voice is low, taut.
The younger galliard paces, looking at the door of the breakroom. "I could go find her," Flint says, voice… off. He clearly wants to, and his hand twists at the cuts on his arm. "Could go find her, you could, kill her, then."
"No!" comes the immediate answer, from both kin and adren. "No, Flint," Kavi says again, only slightly more gently. "No. You need to stay here." His gaze shifts back to Rina, though. "I'm trying. I. There are some. There are people who might have… But I don't know, yet."
Flint winces, and does turn away from the door. "I. Okay," the boy says quietly, and then looks at Kavi, and nods once. "Promised," he reaffirms, tone gaining depth, returning to normal, although still shaky. "Promised."
Rina comes to Flint, stepping right into his path and putting both hands on his shoulders. "You are not gonna go to her," she says, low and serious. "You will not. Or you're gonna end up—" She can't put it into words, and her gaze slides away as she swallows. Then she looks back up to him, setting her chin with a fierce little movement of the head. "You wanna go to her, you're gonna have to go through me."
Flint bows his head to rest it on Rina's arm, a moment, letting himself be halted, breathing steadying again. "I promised," he repeats. "But part've me still wants to. It. I…" Attempt to express it fails, and he just draws in a deep breath. "And all of this is. So hard, and that… makes it worse."
"I know." The words are almost spoken, but come out as a forceful whisper. Rina stays there, her hands clasping his shoulders.
Kavi turns away, perhaps only to look at the monitors.
The teen focuses on Rina, breathing steady now, and several times he tries to say something more only to not, pause, swallow again. "I'm sorry mom," he whispers, pulling back a little bit.
Rina's gaze meets his, the dark eyes intense. "It's aright," she says quietly, letting go only to give him a swift hug.
There's a moment long pause before Flint hugs back, tension giving way to wracking, voiceless sobs that he nonetheless tries to control, now.
"It's aright," Rina whispers again. "Let go." Her arms are stronger, as if to make up the difference when he collapses. "Let go of it. Not your fault. Let it go."
Kavi takes his time, examining each of the computers, his back turned to the others.
Flint cries silently, as silently as he ever does, and then finally lifts his head, one hand moving to use his sleeve to wipe his eyes and then hugging Rina tightly again for a moment. There's a nod, a mute nod of acceptance, and the boy takes a breath, straightens, calmer now.
Kavi doesn't return right away, but eventually he does turn back to the others. "We'll find out who it is," he says, a forcefulness building in his words. "And we'll find her. We'll destroy her."
Rina tucks a stray lock behind Flint's ear, and gives a little nod, as if to say she's satisfied. Then she turns to look to Kavi. "I gotta crash, caro. You comin' to bed?"
Kavi swallows and glances back to the monitors before he nods and moves toward the door.
27 July, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (61% full).
The monitors flicker through an apparently endless series of images, the machines themselves whirring with the effort involved in keeping them cool. Kavi paces nearby, not really watching the images passing by, but aware of them, nonetheless.
Flint comes into the breakroom, teeshirt and loose cotton pants and socks with a cup and a plate in his hand. The teen's quiet, and pretending to be oblivious of the fact that he's in shortsleeves, or at least doing nothing else to draw attention to the bandage on his left arm, as he heads for the kitchen.
Kavi glances over as Flint enters, eyes narrowing briefly at what he sees. He doesn't comment, however, and soon turns his attention back to the computers, and the windows beyond.
For his part, the cliath moves to wash his dishes mostly in silence, with a nod of acknowledgement for the elder galliard. "Nieve-rhya was with me," is all that Flint offers, aloud.
Holland was as angry as Kavi had every heard him on the phone, and judging by the occasional squeal of brakes or honking horn, he was in a car and not traveling slowly. It's a state that's still reflected in the Walker Philodox as he paces impatiently in front of the elevator after coming in, and he's moving quite briskly as he enters the breakroom. A between Flint and Kavi, "Is this everyone that's here? Because Riley's still alive right now, but I've got no idea what it plans to do with him."
Kavi turns from the monitors to the doorway and holds up a hand. The moon sits heavily with him, already, and the tension that runs through his form is significant. "Start at the beginning."
Flint manages not to drop what he's busy washing in the sink, and twists to look at Holland. There's a deep breath that the teen takes, clearly on edge. "Wait, what?" Flint manages to ask.
Holland takes a moment, visibly composing himself before continuing. "Devon and I were in the Umbra, and met up with Riley. She was recruiting us to shunt some banes out of the city for Cheese Doodle, when a Griffin spirit screamed and dropped out of the sky. We tried to talk, it completely ignored us. Riley went lupus and submissive, and it just grabbed her. Once it was clear that it wasn't talking and was planning to carry her off, we—and a third Garou I didn't know, and didn't have time to introduce myself to afterward—attacked. We managed to hurt it, but it still carried Riley off."
"Masao," Kavi says, the word nearly a whisper, his voice almost absent with the strain. He glances to Flint, just a darting look, and then back to the philodox, taking a step in his direction. "Where did it go?"
Flint furrows his brow, palm to forehead, and doesn't say anything else, finishing washing his dishes in silence and then moving over to the table.
Holland says, "It was headed east when it flew off. There was no way for us to keep up with it from the ground." Not something Holland is at all happy about, clearly.
"Questing Stone?" Kavi asks, and takes another step, this one less clearly toward the philodox, it may simply be taking him toward the doorway.
Holland falls into step with Kavi, assuming he continues for the doorway. "That was my thought as well, but we'll need more Garou if we're going to get her back."
The cliath frowns. "I can't go, can I," Flint murmurs, leaning against the table and looking at his tribemates.
Kavi stops and turns around, looking from one to the other. "No," he says to Flint, finality in the sound, but then his gaze turns to Holland, the sound of his voice almost impatient. "Did you try it?"
Holland answers, "I don't know it. I was trained to do negotiations and make business deals, so I never needed it."
Flint's shoulders fall a little, impatience and restlessness in the way he shoves his hands in his pockets. "This… has could have to, about," Flint says, clearly thinking about something but not quite making the words go together right. "With, Finds Death, and?"
Kavi nods once, and turns again to make his way down the hall. He doesn't stop until he reaches the door to the ritual room, when he turns back to face the others. "Flint," he says, that clear tone re-emerging, only faltering briefly, at the end. "Stay here. Make sure Rina doesn't— Make sure she's okay." Then he opens the door and steps inside.
Flint swallows and nods, looking after Kavi for a long moment and then looking back to Holland. "I. I will." Not that it's necessarily clear who Flint's speaking to.
Holland offers Flint a quick nod before moving down the hall after Kavi, though he'll give a questioning glance to the Adren before entering the ritual room, in case what he needs is actually freedom from interruption.
Kavi steps through the main room, and into the bathroom, where the light clicks on and almost immediately, the galliard looks into his own reflection.
Holland crosses the room, though he waits just outside the bathroom until the Galliard has vanished before moving to do likewise.
Flint takes a deep, steadying breath, looking after them. "Promised," he reminds himself, before going to check on Rina briefly.
The city gauntlet is thick, though not so thick here in the Tenement as even directly outside. It takes the galliard over a full minute to cross, but once he has, he pulls a small compass and focuses on the face.
Holland is by no means swift to cross, himself, but eventually he does appear. Since Kavi has no apparent need of assistance with the rite, the Philodox settles in to act as additional security, even if they are still in the Tenement.
There are advantages to being in a room already designed for rituals, but even so, even as focused as the galliard seems to be, the needle of the compass never seems to settle. It turns, occasionally jerking backward, but then turns again in a slow rotation. Kavi continues to watch the glass encased pin, continues to murmur softly, giving the compass his entire focus.
Holland waits and watches, silent and alert as the Galliard continues the ritual.
It goes on for several minutes before the galliard lets out a harsh breath, underscored with the sound of frustration, and pockets the compass. He shakes his head, that same sense of frustration in the gesture, and looks to the philodox. "She's too far. Or. Or it's too— Or she's somewhere else— We can try in the realm, in case she managed to cross."
Holland frowns, but dips his head in acknowledgement. "I'll ask Flint to get you something of hers from her apartment, as well, since that might strengthen the resonance."
Kavi nods, his own lips turned downward. He turns back to the mirror and focuses, once again, on crossing the gauntlet.
Holland does the same, as before waiting until Kavi crosses before he follows. Leaving the Galliard to his preparations, he moves back down the hall to the breakroom. "Flint? I need you to bring us something that belongs to Riley. A few strands of hair from her hairbrush, if you can find it, or perhaps a piece of jewelry that she particularly likes."
Flint is in the doorway of the breakroom, now, and nods. Though apparently the cliath can't quite keep from laughing when Holland says 'jewelry', and that manages to break even Flint's currently dark mood. "I. Okay. I think, she has a hairbrush here…" and the cliath heads down the hall, into one of the spare apartments, and comes out with a comb, hair and all, to hand to Holland.
Holland looks a little puzzled at Flint's mirth, but it's not something that he's going to ask about just at the moment. Upon Flint's return, he takes the comb. "Thank you. This should do very well." And with that, he turns and heads back to the ritual room, to offer it to Kavi.
Standing now in the center of the room, Kavi catches his lower lip between his teeth, gaze falling to the comb. "We can try," he says, but he doesn't sound as hopeful as he might.
Flint paces to follow and watch, though from the hallway, swallowing once.
Holland's jaw clenches, his knuckles whitening as he clenches he clenches his hands into tight fists. A few long, slow breaths, before he replies softly, "We have to." A hint of guilt there, oh yes.
Kavi takes the comb and retrieves the compass. He looks at the first, brows drawn downward, and then slides it into the other hand, under the compass. Once again, his focus goes to the glass, to the needle just beneath, and once again it begins the slow, sometimes halting rotation.
Flint paces back down the hall towards the breakroom, after a bit.
Holland waits—if not patiently, at least quietly—in the hopes that the rite will prove more successful this time.
Once again, time passes with no advancement, and eventually Kavi shakes his head, his frown growing more pronounced. "Not in the realm," he says. "At least… not close enough." He looks at the comb as he shifts it back to his other hand. "We need to find her packmates. Ishmael. Slug. They… They might be able to— to feel her. To find her that way. And Ish is a theurge."
Flint paces in the hallway still, and he doesn't get as far as the elevator before he turns back towards Kavi and Holland. There's another murmur of reminder to himself, 'promised', and he goes back into the breakroom.
Holland says, "Damn it." He reaches up to rubs his forehead with his thumb and middle finger. "I'll try contacting them, since they're often at Terminus. Another avenue to consider is finding a Ragabash who knows her and has Sense of the Prey."
Kavi draws in a breath. "Lefty," Kavi says as they head back toward the break room. "She would. But… She's still in Yakima. I don't. Masao hasn't learned it yet."
Holland considers. "There's also the question of the Red Talons, since they have a presence here."
Kavi turns his frown to Holland, questioning. "To ask them for help?"
Holland says "If inter-tribal relations are good enough, yes. It involves their tribal totem, so they're likely to have some insight that could be of use."
Flint looks up as the two other Glass Walkers get back into the breakroom, now sitting at the couch, furthest from the door to the breakroom.
Kavi looks at Holland, and the frown turns into an expression of submerged anger, though not, apparently, directed at the philodox. "She killed one. A Red Talon. I don't know what happened. Not exactly. I know that the Talon was killing people. Not… Indiscriminately. When it was discovered, the Alpha, Silvertip, he kicked her out of his pack, out of the Sept. She was leaving. And Riley went after her. Riley killed her. She didn't challenge, she just killed her." It's clear that Kavi isn't happy about the situation, though it isn't clear from his telling in which of the participants he is more disappointed.
Holland says, "That explains a great deal. Riley's reaction when she saw it, a griffin being willing to venture so far into the Weaver's domain…but it's still unusual that a tribal totem would intervene so directly. And I assume Riley was judged by a Philodox and punished for what she did?"
Flint purses his lips. "Riley-rhya talked to Melodie-rhya at some point?" Flint offers. "And was. I don't know, I know she… talked to the Talon's elder and, their Philodox. But. I don't know what." And then the cliath's distracted again, hand looping around the bandages on his arm, gaze dropping to his lap.
Kavi looks across to Flint at his response, and then returns to the philodox with a shake of his head. "A mediation. I think. Between Riley and the Red Talons. But… But I don't know. I don't know, beyond that."
Holland says, "Then we also need to look into the specific terms that were involved. A punishment rite is normally sufficient to appease the spirits, at least enough to keep them from a direct attack like this."
Flint shrugs his shoulders, glancing at the others once.
"Monkey Brain is the Red Talon. And." Kavi pauses, drawing in a breath, working for a moment to keep his fingers from clenching into fists. "Melodie is a Black Fury."
Holland says, "I can try to contact the Black Fury, if you'd like me to. I should speak with April about Flint's challenge, in any event. While I'm also willing to try to seek out the Red Talon, I've no idea where to even begin looking, and I've never dealt with the tribe before, so another might be better suited."
There's a quick, easily perceptible rising of anger in the younger galliard, then, enough to drive him to his feet and towards the door of the breakroom, his free hand clenching into a fist and other hand tight and white-knuckled around his arm, eyes a little too wide and lips in a tight line.
Standing not far from the couch, Kavi nods once to Holland, but his gaze is on the cliath, watching as the younger galliard makes his way toward the hall. His own posture is tight, though perhaps not quite so tight as Flint's.
Rina comes to an abrupt halt, right inside the door—posture and expression going just a little guarded, when she sees the state Flint is in. "Deep breaths," she says quietly. "Deep and slow, into the heart and the belly." The Kin also puts herself out of Flint's direct path to the door, turning at a right angle to his course.
It's the doorframe that Flint eventually makes his way to, kicking it once and then leaning his head against it, hands still clenched, shoulders in a line that shows their rise and fall as Rina's words sink in enough to get him to breathe.
Holland keeps an eye on the Cliath as well, given the moon, once he realizes Rina is present. The Philodox is probably the most composed of the three of them at this point, although he's significantly more tense than the last time she saw him.
Kavi gives his attention to Rina as she enters, and her proximity to the cliath does nothing for his own sense of calm. His breathing deepens, slows, his own training keeping him present. "Go see— Talk to Melodie," he says to Holland, though his gaze remains on the other two. "After. You can decide if you want to talk to the Red Talon. And if. If there's someone better to do it. Let me know if. Let me know when you reach Ishmael."
Rina steps back, to give Flint space; she's quite calm, a point of rage-free steadiness in the room, only that look of awareness betraying her readiness to move or act. She watches the boy for a moment longer, and then turns her attention to Kavi, and last to Altimari. "Everything's fine, here, yeah?" Her voice is an instrument, soothing, soft. "Flint's got it," she says with a glance to Kavi.
Flint doesn't quite seem to have it yet, though there's no more kicking the doorframe, and he doesn't look back at anyone, either. When he speaks, his voice is tense, monotone, each word forced out. "Challenge to April stands," Flint says. "This regardless." And then Flint glances to Kavi, to Holland, and to the floor. "Need to do it. If. Otherwise, she'll just. Use this to make it so, she wins by, proxy." And then Flint kicks the doorframe with his heel again, visibly struggling for composure.
"I will," Holland agrees. "And we'll find her," he insists, though it may be as much to persuade himself as to reassure Kavi." He starts for the door, before Flint's words give him pause. "Of course it stands. But she hasn't contacted me about the form it will take, and there's still the matter of when it will take place." Both true enough, even if he's likely to encourage that it be later rather than sooner, under the circumstances.
Kavi nods, once, just a slight movement, an acceptance of Rina's words, despite the demonstration by the younger galliard, and then again, more clearly, in answer to Holland.
Rina's brow furrows, and she looks over to Holland. "You're Master of the Challenge?" she asks.
Flint doesn't look up again, half-twisting his hand around his arm, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Flint actually begins to calm down. "Salem-rhya's still Master of the Challenge," Flint adds, distractedly and words a little short.
Kavi pushes his fingers back through his hair and lets out a pent breath before he crosses toward Rina.
Rina gives Holland a nod. "Thanks, then," she says simply.
Flint takes another deep breath and leans against the wall next to the doorway, and eventually, his gaze flicks to Rina, quiet, uncertain. "Thanks mom," he says, quietly, most of the anger having simmered down to the usual tension of the moon and not much more.
Holland says, "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start looking for my business partner. Gentlemen. Ms. Vencenzo." With that, the Philodox steps around Flint and Rina and starts for the elevator.
"Night," Rina offers, as the man passes.
Kavi gives the philodox another nod. "Tell me when you do," he says. He turns his gaze to Rina, and finds a small smile, tense, tight.
Flint crosses over to sit down at the table, and eventually he looks up at Rina again, and over to Kavi. "Nieve-rhya did like, you… like you suggested, this morning. She said, it. It worked, but don't know if it, helped yet."
Rina follows Flint, concern in her eyes as she lets a hand settles lightly on the back of his shoulder. "When the moon gets down past half… find time to come and see me. Got some things we can work on, to help you with… things."
Nodding to Flint, Kavi moves to stand across from him, but his gaze turns to the kin. "Rina," he says, his voice quiet, but the tension keeps it from achieving the softness he attempts.
Further tension eases out of the boy's shoulders, breathing steadies further. "Alright, yeah," Flint murmurs. Finally, his hand unclenches from around his arm, and he frowns down at it, for a long moment.
Rina looks across to Kavi, letting the contact slide from Flint's shoulder after giving a brief squeeze, a transmission of strength.
The older galliard pulls in a long breath and holds it. His gaze dips downward, and then rises again, and he works to keep his hands from forming fists. "Riley's gone." He swallows, and pulls in another breath before he continues.
The Kin tenses, a tangible change in the air around her.
Flint doesn't have anything to add, though tension returns to his shoulder and his brow furrows.
"A Griffin spirit came, when she was in the park. In the umbra. Masao and Holland. The others. They tried to stop it. But it took her." His eyes pinch shut and his efforts to stop the fists from forming fails. "We tried Questing Stone. In the umbra and here, and. And she's either too far, or—"
Rina's voice is low. "So she's too far. So you figure out where to go, to look."
The cliath nods, glancing up, then silently pushing his chair out from the table and going to the kitchen, pulling down three cups and getting water. Two are placed on the table, near Kavi and Rina, before Flint returns for his own.
Kavi nods, the gestures as slow and measured as his breathing. "Holland is looking for Ishmael. Masao is looking for Slug. They're her packmates. They— They should be able to feel her." He swallows once more and his hands find the back of the chair in front of him and grip it, tight. "There's more." His gaze turns, just briefly, to Flint, before returning.
Rina shakes her head. "Waitasec. What happened to Ish, and Baz?"
Flint comes back to the table, takes a long sip of water, and puts his down on the table. "Slug's been around, he. He, found me the other week, and all?" Flint says, kinda uncertain. "Ishmael-rhya'd been, working a lot. I think."
Kavi shakes his head. "Nothing," he adds to Flint's response. "I just— We didn't. I can't leave to talk to them. I. I asked them to do it." He gives another shake of his head. "But—"
Rina watches Kavi steadily.
Kavi swallows, and looks back toward where the monitors continue to flicker through images. "She knows we know," he says, and for a second it seems like he may not explain. "That's… That's what I was trying to talk to Devon about. Last night. Rose. Or whatever her name is. She knows that we know about her."
"How?" Rina asks hoarsely. "How the hell does she know?"
Flint swallows, guilt and anxiety lining his features as Kavi speaks again, hands clenching, and then Flint finally turns away, a very quiet and murmured apology voiced, and giving way to some garbled, choked sound that materialises into a word. "What," Flint says, after Rina speaks. "How in the. What the."
Kavi pries his hands from the back of the chair and rakes one back through his hair. "I—" He breaks off, turning his gaze to the ceiling as he swallows again. "Someone must have told her. Someone… Someone who knows about us, who is here, or at Edgewood. Or one of the kin. Someone told her."
"Then we gotta find out who that is, 'cause if they're already bound—" Rina's voice is low, taut.
The younger galliard paces, looking at the door of the breakroom. "I could go find her," Flint says, voice… off. He clearly wants to, and his hand twists at the cuts on his arm. "Could go find her, you could, kill her, then."
"No!" comes the immediate answer, from both kin and adren. "No, Flint," Kavi says again, only slightly more gently. "No. You need to stay here." His gaze shifts back to Rina, though. "I'm trying. I. There are some. There are people who might have… But I don't know, yet."
Flint winces, and does turn away from the door. "I. Okay," the boy says quietly, and then looks at Kavi, and nods once. "Promised," he reaffirms, tone gaining depth, returning to normal, although still shaky. "Promised."
Rina comes to Flint, stepping right into his path and putting both hands on his shoulders. "You are not gonna go to her," she says, low and serious. "You will not. Or you're gonna end up—" She can't put it into words, and her gaze slides away as she swallows. Then she looks back up to him, setting her chin with a fierce little movement of the head. "You wanna go to her, you're gonna have to go through me."
Flint bows his head to rest it on Rina's arm, a moment, letting himself be halted, breathing steadying again. "I promised," he repeats. "But part've me still wants to. It. I…" Attempt to express it fails, and he just draws in a deep breath. "And all of this is. So hard, and that… makes it worse."
"I know." The words are almost spoken, but come out as a forceful whisper. Rina stays there, her hands clasping his shoulders.
Kavi turns away, perhaps only to look at the monitors.
The teen focuses on Rina, breathing steady now, and several times he tries to say something more only to not, pause, swallow again. "I'm sorry mom," he whispers, pulling back a little bit.
Rina's gaze meets his, the dark eyes intense. "It's aright," she says quietly, letting go only to give him a swift hug.
There's a moment long pause before Flint hugs back, tension giving way to wracking, voiceless sobs that he nonetheless tries to control, now.
"It's aright," Rina whispers again. "Let go." Her arms are stronger, as if to make up the difference when he collapses. "Let go of it. Not your fault. Let it go."
Kavi takes his time, examining each of the computers, his back turned to the others.
Flint cries silently, as silently as he ever does, and then finally lifts his head, one hand moving to use his sleeve to wipe his eyes and then hugging Rina tightly again for a moment. There's a nod, a mute nod of acceptance, and the boy takes a breath, straightens, calmer now.
Kavi doesn't return right away, but eventually he does turn back to the others. "We'll find out who it is," he says, a forcefulness building in his words. "And we'll find her. We'll destroy her."
Rina tucks a stray lock behind Flint's ear, and gives a little nod, as if to say she's satisfied. Then she turns to look to Kavi. "I gotta crash, caro. You comin' to bed?"
Kavi swallows and glances back to the monitors before he nods and moves toward the door.