Flint Madden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flint_garou) wrote2012-11-25 02:30 pm
flint_garou) wrote2012-11-25 02:30 pm
Cleansing, and Arrangements.
Look, you can stay here if you need to.
25 November, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (79% full).
It's Flint's shift for watching Ky, now that the galliard's gotten a few hours of sleep after he got back to the library. He's got a book from upstairs, and is settled on the outside of the security cage on which Ky is on the inside. The Walker is within conversational distance, but not much of that has been happening, and so, he's got music on, iPhone and headphones on rather than inflict the music on his packmate. Flint also has a few slices of pizza on a paper plate on a stack of crates that's serving as a table at the moment, and he's alert, attentive.
Ky hasn't been much for conversation in any sense of the word. And interestingly, he hasn't spent any time trying to get out either. He has, however, crammed himself into a corner as far from the Walker as he can, looking torn and angry, guilty and lost all at once. Unlike his packmates, he hasn't slept all night. Nor has he made any effort to clean himself up after the excitement from the evening before. His head rests against the wall farthest from the door, eyes searching unseen things for answers while one hand grips at the back of his neck.
Bad-Boy wanders down into the basement with an old, well-worn bone in mouth. He plops down next to Flint silently and starts to worry the bone with his teeth, all the while with one eye on Ky.
Finally, there is a Nieve. She's got a heavily laden satchel with her, and a hint of tiredness about her eyes, though determination is the overall expression there. "Cliaths," she greets the trio, her voice unusually quiet and sober.
Flint drops one hand to the side in order to scratch at Bad-Boy's ears, and then when Nieve comes in, the book is set aside. "Nieve-rhya," Flint says, sounding relieved to see her. "Hey Ky, visitor."
Ky turns to face the wall further instead of the door and the other Garou. The hood to his hoodie is drawn up over his head with no words spent.
Bad-Boy looks up and woofs a greeting to Nieve, and points a nose over to a stack of pizza boxes invitingly. Help yourself.
"No thank you, I came on business," Nieve tells the Gnawer with a faint nod, placing her bag down beside the cage. "Ky." She addresses the Shadow Lord directly now, one hand stuffed into her jeans pocket, the other idly tugging on one of her dreadlocks. "Do you want this?"
Flint watches Nieve for a moment, and gets up, things aside, to stand behind her, looking to see what his packmate says. Though from the younger Walker's manner, he's not entirely interested in the answer. "We need to, re— regardless," he points out.
"Why," Ky grates out, quiet but with pangs of loss. "It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore."
"Be quiet, Requiem." Nieve's voice is soft, but has an undertone of command to it, his words unwanted. "Kyler. You feel alone. You feel that you have lost a dearly loved one, or a part of your family. Am I correct?"
Bad-Boy watches Ky with keen interest. Uncomprehending interest, to be sure, but still keen.
"It's my fault," comes out vehemently, nearly shouting. Ky drags himself into a tighter ball. Whatever words he has left to say come out muffled and incomprehensible.
"Yes, it is." Nieve agrees blandly, motioning for Flint to open the cage. "Nothing will fix the fact that he is dead. But, I can help you move beyond, in time."
Flint bites back something that he clearly wants to say, and simply digs out the key from his pocket, moving to open and unlock the cage area.
Pack> Ky exudes a large wave of loss and regret and guilt and other such things. Very unhappy ragabash.
Pack> Flint snaps, but it's forceful out of kindness and caring. "You're still in there, Kyler."
Ky wraps his arms more tightly around himself, fingers grasping his hood to hold it in place. There's more murmuring against his knees, words so muffled they can't be discerned but his tone sounds pained.
"I will carry you out if needs be," Nieve tells the Shadow Lord, glancing back as Flint restrains himself, one brow raising and a nod, though she motions for it to be -quietly- with one finger against her lips.
Bad-Boy just watches the interplay between the other Garou with curiosity, all the while chewing on the bone between his paws.
Flint steps back, and for a moment just looks at his packmate now that the door to the cage area is open. And then the brunt of the galliard's residual anger is directed at the floor.
"Go away," Ky whines, just loud enough to be heard from the confines of his arms and knees. "You can't bring him back."
Without further comment, Nieve shifts up slightly into Glabro, reaching down to scoop Ky up. This assumes of course that he remains foetally-curled and doesn't lash out. She did warn him, at least.
Flint just gives Nieve a bit of a glance, waiting for the moment, for instruction as to what comes next.
Ky goes absolutely limp when he's picked up, as if that might allow him to ooze back onto the floor. It's no match for Glabro-sized hands, however hard he tries. He looks pleadingly at Bad-Boy for rescue from his torments, physical and otherwise, but makes no effort to call out.
Ky's pleading gaze is met with Bad-Boys own sympathetic, but ultimately, guileless gaze back. Clearly he's not going to move from his spot next to Flint at this point in time.
Bringing Ky out into the middle of the floor, Nieve deposits him down gently, so he can curl back up into a ball. She motions for Flint to cover the door leading up, while she closes the cage back up. "Flint, you are familiar with cleansing. Are you?" That latter is directed to BB, since she doesn't know his name.
Flint remains in his birth form, moving over towards the door of the stair up, and nods, breathing slowing and steadying for now.
Bad-Boy does not know the rite, he informs the elder Garou sadly.
Ky crumples into a pile as he's set down. If not for his skin showing, he could be a few pieces of discarded clothes. After a moment, his eyes squeeze closed and he turns his face into the floor, and forces out a slow, tight breath.
"As it happens, I have been gathering tools for a powerful cleansing. They were not needed for the original purpose, but I have them still," Nieve voices, moving to her backpack. "You do not need to know the rite to participate but it helps if you have seen it done. If you have not, would you please cover the door to the stairs so Flint can assist me directly?" she then requests politely of BB.
Flint nods again, moving over towards Nieve. The galliard pauses at one point to lean his head against the wall and compose himself, but then it seems that he's ready to do whatever is necessary to assist.
Bad-Boy has seen it done, he states as he trots over to the door and lays down directly in front of it, making it impossible to open without dislodging the wolfdog. But it seems each theurge does it differently. I will watch, from here, to see how you do it.
"Alright." Pulling out a large ziplocl bag full of grey powder, Nieve opens it a little bit and begins to pour, forming an unbroken circle around Ky. "Ash from Mount Saint Helens, mixed with salt from the Devil's Golf Course," she explains, mostly to BB at his expressed interest. "To contain the taint, so it cannot escape." Her hand is steady and even as she forms the circle, tracing around twice to avoid any gaps.
Ky pulls himself inward, finally showing some real intention to keep away from the circle himself. Beyond that, he makes no move to lift himself up off the floor or even sit up.
Flint watches as Nieve does this, standing at something that's nearly military attention, waiting for further instruction from Nieve.
Bad-Boy watches with keen interest, bone all but forgotten.
Once she is certain the circle is complete, and having checked for smudges when Ky moved, Nieve closes the ziplock bag and tucks it away. Next to come out is a small stick—a twig, really, barely as long as her hand. "A donation from a birch Glade Child in Birch Bay," she continues, and finally a water bottle follows. Not her usual 'Evian', but a beat-up trail bottle that clearly has been in there a while.
Flint's attention is on his packmate, alert for any signs that the ragabash is going to at some point decide to resist, on projecting calm and reassuring thoughts over their link.
Opening the canteen, Nieve uses the short twig to dip into the water, and then flick this over Ky. Not drenching, it's symbolic rather than a physical cleansing, but as she does so she's muttering to herself in her native tongue. Once she's been around the circle like that, she bulks up into Crinos and beckons to Flint and BB. ~We must scare the taint out of Ky,~ she informs them, beginning a low, menacing growl into the circle, which slowly builds on itself.
That doesn't come difficult for Flint. The growl in his throat begins even before he's left homid, and then continues through glabro and once the galliard is in crinos. There is a grim determination to the tone as well as the backing of fully controlled anger.
Ky wraps himself up more tightly with his arms, chin and knees tucked up against his chest. He flinches with each flick of water, though only a pleading whine comes from him.
Bad-Boy puts the bone down and obediently shifts into Crinos himself as he approaches Ky. If anything can scare the taint out of anything it would be Bad-Boy in Crinos.
The combined growls rise to a terrifying crescendo, which Nieve finishes with an imperious command. ~Out! Leave him! Out!~ And then, there is silence. She takes a slow breath, before swiping a clawed hand through the air above Ky, and then using her foot to break the circle. ~It is done.~ And with that, she shifts down to her breed form and begins to pack her bag. So anticlimactic.
Requiem silences, and then crouches down next to Ky, not to move his packmate just yet, just to be there. Soon, Flint's shifted down to glabro, and then down to homid.
Ky grasps his head, knuckles going white under the tension, though it's all he can do to hide from the sounds and life in general. But as soon as it's over, as soon as the rite ends, there's immediate relaxation in his form, as if a great weight were just suddenly gone. He's slow to move again, relief mixed with caution and curiosity in his expression as he first pushes back his hood and then begins sitting up.
The rite's abrupt end causes the Lupus to blink in surprise at it's suddenness. ~Hrm,~ Bad-Boy says as he shifts back down into Lupus (but not before taking a piece of pizza out of one of the boxes while he still has thumbs). ~That was interesting.~
Her stuff bagged up, Nieve shoulders the satchel and lets herself out.
Flint nods to his tribemate as she leaves, and gently brings one hand to rub Ky's shoulder, reassuring. "There, 'sokay, 's over," Flint murmurs, barely above a whisper. "You want some water?" There's a glance, and Flint moves over to grab a water bottle, bringing it back to Ky. "The rest's gonna suck but you'll get through this. C'mon, Ky," Flint continues, encouraging.
Ky flicks a glance toward Nieve's departure, then to Flint and Bad-Boy. There's still confusion riddled in his expression, but for his packmate he musters a grin. His usual grin, faint it might be. He sits up and rubs his head before accepting the water. "The whole thing's sucked already," he jokes before draining half the bottle.
Pizza will make it better, offers Bad-Boy, as he chews on his own slice. Sure the pizza is old, and cold, but to the Gnawer, pizza is pizza.
Flint makes a sympathetic sound, wordless, and sits down, knees to chest, against Ky. "'sokay," Flint repeats. "Nieve-rhya helped. And you might want some pizza, you're. Probably, hungry. But. Only a little, right now."
Ky looks toward the Gnawer and then the pizza. He doesn't quite make a face, but his lack of interest is obvious. "He's… You guys got him. The vampire." It's not a question seeking confirmation, really. "I wouldn't have taken that step, but alone, against twelve ghouls… My options weren't good."
Bad-Boy finishes his slice, and heads towards the door, nosing it open. I will be upstairs, he announces, and then departs.
Flint nods. "Thank you, Bad-Boy," the galliard says, quietly, and then turns his attention back to his packmate. "I know," he tells Ky. "We got there as soon as we could. And we did. I shot it," Flint says, and there's a moment of sheer desperation in the Walker's voice, distance. "I shot it, and it burned, a-and it's gone now."
Ky nods to Flint's vague recounting of what happened, his own experiences a little conflicted. But none of the pains of loss and remorse are evident. He's relieved, actually, proud of the accomplishment overall. "Can I go home now?"
There's a pause, pursed lips, and Flint shakes his head. "Probably not," he says, quietly. "We need to, ask. Elliot-rhya, and Kavi-rhya. They. There's still… everything, and all," Flint says. "You need to be somewhere, with. People. Somewhere secure in case, for. At some point it's still going to—" The Walker chokes on his words, composure kept. "Remember when Mouse had to, when. I was in the basement? That was, after. By a while. We don't know, when it'll. Get bad. I'm sorry." And then Flint just hugs Ky tightly for a moment.
Ky shakes his head, dismissing whatever sympathy there might be offered. He doesn't return the hug, either, but neither does he push Flint away. "How much trouble am I in," he asks after a moment.
Flint hugs Ky for a moment longer, and shrugs his shoulders. "Not your fault," Flint says, "you didn't kill anyone, or. Or." That finishes, and Flint gets up to start to pace, grumbling to himself.
"None of my options were good ones," Ky says again. He picks himself up off the floor and takes a couple of steps through the room, finishing off the bottle of water. "Where am I?"
"The Library," Flint responds, quietly. "Gnawer's place. We needed the— the." Flint jerks a head at the cage area. "Tenement has banes in the fifth floor. Vault doesn't have enough people around in case something went— south."
Lefty might be an answer to that. The door to upstairs opens, and the Gnawer shuffles her way down the wooden slatted staircase. She peeks over the rail before making the last few steps. She doesn't seem exactly pleased.
"There's…" Ky begins, but lets the idea die when Lefty appears. He can explain the Vault's nuances later. He meets the elder Ragabash's unhappy look with an apologetic one of his own. "Lefty-rhya," he offers, with none of his normal joking manner. Humility is in this one, it seems.
"Lefty-rhya," Flint greets the Gnawer, much alike his packmate's manner, and steps forward towards her, throat momentarily bared. Even that doesn't do much to help the coiled angry spring impression that the galliard's trying to shove down and aside. It's been a long two days. Then, the Walker takes a deep breath, such that he clearly is working to speak the words that follow. "Whatever I can do to make up for my intrusion on your h-hospitality, I offer to you and to the Gnawers. I— there wasn't— the. The bane at the— it would have— nothing, else, there—" The second sentence doesn't get kept together nearly as well as the first, and Flint just silences rather than try and finish what it.
Lefty doesn't say anything at first. She takes in the expressions of the two cliaths, and their manner goes a long way to placate her own dark mood. "You mean the banes at the tenement?" she begins, nodding to that part of Flint's fractured speech. "Yeah, I get that. And BB told me it was… something of an emergency." Here, her eyes linger specifically on Ky. It's several seconds before she continues. "But I'd think he'd be more… comfortable at home, now, wouldn't he? At the Vault?"
It isn't a subtle thing, Ky's shifting posture from neutral to submissive. He doesn't get quite so far as groveling, but he does twist his head to offer his throat to Lefty in what might be a little more than ceremonial observances. The younger Ragabash is entirely deferring to the elder's decisions in the matter.
Flint nods and starts to pace, clearly conflicted on the issue. "Yes, Lefty-rhya," Flint says, and then pauses. "And. A-and no. I…" The Galliard looks at Kyler, looks at Lefty. "Nieve-rhya did Cleansing, just… a bit ago. That helps. It doesn't solve things, it… I know the Vault has…" This, Flint just looks to Ky, at the certainty that the Vault has holding facilities, but clearly Flint doesn't like them in the slightest. "Will, in a week, or less, or more, get bad. Worse." The tension shows Flint's own clear recollection. "It won't matter what, and I… worry about then."
Lefty doesn't quite parse what Flint says, and after a shake of her head she turns her full attention on the Shadow Lord, himself. "What happened?" she asks, and it's clear she's asking for details on the entire incident as well as the specifics to why Ky might need watching.
"The gang organized a party," Ky states simply. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I got the message. My pack knew I was going and I kept them informed of things inside the warehouse. I was shown who their president was, and where he was, and that we were going to have drinks again. All that I told to Flint and Lex." He pauses briefly, brows drawing together slightly. "Long story short, I got the details out to my pack who acted when I drank. My other options weren't any better."
Lefty's good arm folds in against her bad one, her frown proving she's still not pleased—or perhaps still a little confused. "Drink again? When did you first drink?" Either she hadn't heard, or she wants all the specifics straight from Ky.
"And we got there as soon— as. As soon as possible," Flint says, but then he shuts up, watching his packmate with a tiny encouraging nod. Clearly, the entire thing is a tense subject for the Galliard still.
"The night I earned my jacket," Ky answers, honestly. He's not hiding anything. "A couple weeks ago. "A week later, I had the second and was given a bike. Third was last night, two weeks since the first."
"And the unintentional one, you killed," Flint points out, voice quiet, and grim.
Lefty looks between Flint and Ky, frowning. "Unintentional? Killed?" She shakes her head again. "Pretend I'm an idiot," Lefty says, and her glare dares them to make a joke. "And lay it out for me, exactly. Who got unintentionally killed? And what happened with the gang? I take it their president was a vampire?"
Ky nods slightly, flicking a look toward Flint. "That one was entirely accidental, and the vampire that I got it from is dead. One of my kin attacked a leech in an alley. She thought it was dead, pulled a stake from its heart and it came back to life. I reacted."
Lefty mutters. "Lots of vampires in town, it seems." The comment is offered without intention of followup. She otherwise just nods and lets Ky continue.
"The president of the gang was a vampire, Lefty-rhya," Flint manages, taking a turn to let Ky catch his breath. "When we got Ky out, we killed it. I killed it. Shot it. Then we burned it. Elliot-rhya and Kavi-rhya saw."
"I think I attacked the other Garou," Ky says, apprehensive. "When the vampire was under attack. Now… Nieve came and did a Cleansing. And… I don't feel it anymore. The loss is… I can't figure out why I'd have felt that way, except that I wasn't in my right mind."
"You weren't," is Lefty's sullen, gruff response, and it seems to carry a tinge of sympathy. The Gnawer takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Look, you can stay here if you need to," she adds, glancing briefly at Flint.
Flint looks over at Ky, and shakes his head. "No one got, seriously hurt," Flint says, quietly, and nods to Lefty. "Thank you, Lefty-rhya. I… remember, what, when I. And, even if now's okay, when… I'd rather we're somewhere, here, with. Others, the Vault's… empty, a lot. Alexandra's around to keep Ky company too, she. Went to go get some sleep and clean up." There's another pause, and Flint repeats the earlier offer. "Anything I can do around here, f-for. For. For here," the Galliard says, a little of the simmering rage bleeding off now that he's relaxing slightly, and wryly he tacks on. "Harder the better."
"Me too," Ky adds quietly, looking thanks toward the elder ragabash. "Anything I can offer for bringing this to your place, Lefty-rhya."
Lefty smirks. "Well, there's always dishes. And cleaning up after yourselves. Other than that… well, we'll play it by ear. See how things go."
Flint nods, and offers a grateful, tired smile. "Anything I can go hit for a while?" comes the next question, expression resolving to a tight, tense line that betrays just how much Flint's working to keep it together as well. "Ky, if, you're okay for a bit?"
Lefty notes with a gesture upstairs, "We don't have a gym or anything. Least not yet. But, there's plenty of stuff to throw around on the third floor. Some of the walls need knocking down, anyway, before we renovate. Just be careful. Hit the wrong one and you'll pull half the ceiling down on you in some places." Nodding Ky's way, she adds, "I'll sit with him for a bit."
"Yes, Lefty-rhya," Ky replies amicably. He gives Flint a nod and then takes in the scenery again. "At least I'm confined indoors this time," he says with a touch of his usual humor. He grins at the Walker and Galliard, definitely normal there, then wanders off to the caged area to sit on a bunk.
25 November, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (79% full).
It's Flint's shift for watching Ky, now that the galliard's gotten a few hours of sleep after he got back to the library. He's got a book from upstairs, and is settled on the outside of the security cage on which Ky is on the inside. The Walker is within conversational distance, but not much of that has been happening, and so, he's got music on, iPhone and headphones on rather than inflict the music on his packmate. Flint also has a few slices of pizza on a paper plate on a stack of crates that's serving as a table at the moment, and he's alert, attentive.
Ky hasn't been much for conversation in any sense of the word. And interestingly, he hasn't spent any time trying to get out either. He has, however, crammed himself into a corner as far from the Walker as he can, looking torn and angry, guilty and lost all at once. Unlike his packmates, he hasn't slept all night. Nor has he made any effort to clean himself up after the excitement from the evening before. His head rests against the wall farthest from the door, eyes searching unseen things for answers while one hand grips at the back of his neck.
Bad-Boy wanders down into the basement with an old, well-worn bone in mouth. He plops down next to Flint silently and starts to worry the bone with his teeth, all the while with one eye on Ky.
Finally, there is a Nieve. She's got a heavily laden satchel with her, and a hint of tiredness about her eyes, though determination is the overall expression there. "Cliaths," she greets the trio, her voice unusually quiet and sober.
Flint drops one hand to the side in order to scratch at Bad-Boy's ears, and then when Nieve comes in, the book is set aside. "Nieve-rhya," Flint says, sounding relieved to see her. "Hey Ky, visitor."
Ky turns to face the wall further instead of the door and the other Garou. The hood to his hoodie is drawn up over his head with no words spent.
Bad-Boy looks up and woofs a greeting to Nieve, and points a nose over to a stack of pizza boxes invitingly. Help yourself.
"No thank you, I came on business," Nieve tells the Gnawer with a faint nod, placing her bag down beside the cage. "Ky." She addresses the Shadow Lord directly now, one hand stuffed into her jeans pocket, the other idly tugging on one of her dreadlocks. "Do you want this?"
Flint watches Nieve for a moment, and gets up, things aside, to stand behind her, looking to see what his packmate says. Though from the younger Walker's manner, he's not entirely interested in the answer. "We need to, re— regardless," he points out.
"Why," Ky grates out, quiet but with pangs of loss. "It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters anymore."
"Be quiet, Requiem." Nieve's voice is soft, but has an undertone of command to it, his words unwanted. "Kyler. You feel alone. You feel that you have lost a dearly loved one, or a part of your family. Am I correct?"
Bad-Boy watches Ky with keen interest. Uncomprehending interest, to be sure, but still keen.
"It's my fault," comes out vehemently, nearly shouting. Ky drags himself into a tighter ball. Whatever words he has left to say come out muffled and incomprehensible.
"Yes, it is." Nieve agrees blandly, motioning for Flint to open the cage. "Nothing will fix the fact that he is dead. But, I can help you move beyond, in time."
Flint bites back something that he clearly wants to say, and simply digs out the key from his pocket, moving to open and unlock the cage area.
Pack> Ky exudes a large wave of loss and regret and guilt and other such things. Very unhappy ragabash.
Pack> Flint snaps, but it's forceful out of kindness and caring. "You're still in there, Kyler."
Ky wraps his arms more tightly around himself, fingers grasping his hood to hold it in place. There's more murmuring against his knees, words so muffled they can't be discerned but his tone sounds pained.
"I will carry you out if needs be," Nieve tells the Shadow Lord, glancing back as Flint restrains himself, one brow raising and a nod, though she motions for it to be -quietly- with one finger against her lips.
Bad-Boy just watches the interplay between the other Garou with curiosity, all the while chewing on the bone between his paws.
Flint steps back, and for a moment just looks at his packmate now that the door to the cage area is open. And then the brunt of the galliard's residual anger is directed at the floor.
"Go away," Ky whines, just loud enough to be heard from the confines of his arms and knees. "You can't bring him back."
Without further comment, Nieve shifts up slightly into Glabro, reaching down to scoop Ky up. This assumes of course that he remains foetally-curled and doesn't lash out. She did warn him, at least.
Flint just gives Nieve a bit of a glance, waiting for the moment, for instruction as to what comes next.
Ky goes absolutely limp when he's picked up, as if that might allow him to ooze back onto the floor. It's no match for Glabro-sized hands, however hard he tries. He looks pleadingly at Bad-Boy for rescue from his torments, physical and otherwise, but makes no effort to call out.
Ky's pleading gaze is met with Bad-Boys own sympathetic, but ultimately, guileless gaze back. Clearly he's not going to move from his spot next to Flint at this point in time.
Bringing Ky out into the middle of the floor, Nieve deposits him down gently, so he can curl back up into a ball. She motions for Flint to cover the door leading up, while she closes the cage back up. "Flint, you are familiar with cleansing. Are you?" That latter is directed to BB, since she doesn't know his name.
Flint remains in his birth form, moving over towards the door of the stair up, and nods, breathing slowing and steadying for now.
Bad-Boy does not know the rite, he informs the elder Garou sadly.
Ky crumples into a pile as he's set down. If not for his skin showing, he could be a few pieces of discarded clothes. After a moment, his eyes squeeze closed and he turns his face into the floor, and forces out a slow, tight breath.
"As it happens, I have been gathering tools for a powerful cleansing. They were not needed for the original purpose, but I have them still," Nieve voices, moving to her backpack. "You do not need to know the rite to participate but it helps if you have seen it done. If you have not, would you please cover the door to the stairs so Flint can assist me directly?" she then requests politely of BB.
Flint nods again, moving over towards Nieve. The galliard pauses at one point to lean his head against the wall and compose himself, but then it seems that he's ready to do whatever is necessary to assist.
Bad-Boy has seen it done, he states as he trots over to the door and lays down directly in front of it, making it impossible to open without dislodging the wolfdog. But it seems each theurge does it differently. I will watch, from here, to see how you do it.
"Alright." Pulling out a large ziplocl bag full of grey powder, Nieve opens it a little bit and begins to pour, forming an unbroken circle around Ky. "Ash from Mount Saint Helens, mixed with salt from the Devil's Golf Course," she explains, mostly to BB at his expressed interest. "To contain the taint, so it cannot escape." Her hand is steady and even as she forms the circle, tracing around twice to avoid any gaps.
Ky pulls himself inward, finally showing some real intention to keep away from the circle himself. Beyond that, he makes no move to lift himself up off the floor or even sit up.
Flint watches as Nieve does this, standing at something that's nearly military attention, waiting for further instruction from Nieve.
Bad-Boy watches with keen interest, bone all but forgotten.
Once she is certain the circle is complete, and having checked for smudges when Ky moved, Nieve closes the ziplock bag and tucks it away. Next to come out is a small stick—a twig, really, barely as long as her hand. "A donation from a birch Glade Child in Birch Bay," she continues, and finally a water bottle follows. Not her usual 'Evian', but a beat-up trail bottle that clearly has been in there a while.
Flint's attention is on his packmate, alert for any signs that the ragabash is going to at some point decide to resist, on projecting calm and reassuring thoughts over their link.
Opening the canteen, Nieve uses the short twig to dip into the water, and then flick this over Ky. Not drenching, it's symbolic rather than a physical cleansing, but as she does so she's muttering to herself in her native tongue. Once she's been around the circle like that, she bulks up into Crinos and beckons to Flint and BB. ~We must scare the taint out of Ky,~ she informs them, beginning a low, menacing growl into the circle, which slowly builds on itself.
That doesn't come difficult for Flint. The growl in his throat begins even before he's left homid, and then continues through glabro and once the galliard is in crinos. There is a grim determination to the tone as well as the backing of fully controlled anger.
Ky wraps himself up more tightly with his arms, chin and knees tucked up against his chest. He flinches with each flick of water, though only a pleading whine comes from him.
Bad-Boy puts the bone down and obediently shifts into Crinos himself as he approaches Ky. If anything can scare the taint out of anything it would be Bad-Boy in Crinos.
The combined growls rise to a terrifying crescendo, which Nieve finishes with an imperious command. ~Out! Leave him! Out!~ And then, there is silence. She takes a slow breath, before swiping a clawed hand through the air above Ky, and then using her foot to break the circle. ~It is done.~ And with that, she shifts down to her breed form and begins to pack her bag. So anticlimactic.
Requiem silences, and then crouches down next to Ky, not to move his packmate just yet, just to be there. Soon, Flint's shifted down to glabro, and then down to homid.
Ky grasps his head, knuckles going white under the tension, though it's all he can do to hide from the sounds and life in general. But as soon as it's over, as soon as the rite ends, there's immediate relaxation in his form, as if a great weight were just suddenly gone. He's slow to move again, relief mixed with caution and curiosity in his expression as he first pushes back his hood and then begins sitting up.
The rite's abrupt end causes the Lupus to blink in surprise at it's suddenness. ~Hrm,~ Bad-Boy says as he shifts back down into Lupus (but not before taking a piece of pizza out of one of the boxes while he still has thumbs). ~That was interesting.~
Her stuff bagged up, Nieve shoulders the satchel and lets herself out.
Flint nods to his tribemate as she leaves, and gently brings one hand to rub Ky's shoulder, reassuring. "There, 'sokay, 's over," Flint murmurs, barely above a whisper. "You want some water?" There's a glance, and Flint moves over to grab a water bottle, bringing it back to Ky. "The rest's gonna suck but you'll get through this. C'mon, Ky," Flint continues, encouraging.
Ky flicks a glance toward Nieve's departure, then to Flint and Bad-Boy. There's still confusion riddled in his expression, but for his packmate he musters a grin. His usual grin, faint it might be. He sits up and rubs his head before accepting the water. "The whole thing's sucked already," he jokes before draining half the bottle.
Pizza will make it better, offers Bad-Boy, as he chews on his own slice. Sure the pizza is old, and cold, but to the Gnawer, pizza is pizza.
Flint makes a sympathetic sound, wordless, and sits down, knees to chest, against Ky. "'sokay," Flint repeats. "Nieve-rhya helped. And you might want some pizza, you're. Probably, hungry. But. Only a little, right now."
Ky looks toward the Gnawer and then the pizza. He doesn't quite make a face, but his lack of interest is obvious. "He's… You guys got him. The vampire." It's not a question seeking confirmation, really. "I wouldn't have taken that step, but alone, against twelve ghouls… My options weren't good."
Bad-Boy finishes his slice, and heads towards the door, nosing it open. I will be upstairs, he announces, and then departs.
Flint nods. "Thank you, Bad-Boy," the galliard says, quietly, and then turns his attention back to his packmate. "I know," he tells Ky. "We got there as soon as we could. And we did. I shot it," Flint says, and there's a moment of sheer desperation in the Walker's voice, distance. "I shot it, and it burned, a-and it's gone now."
Ky nods to Flint's vague recounting of what happened, his own experiences a little conflicted. But none of the pains of loss and remorse are evident. He's relieved, actually, proud of the accomplishment overall. "Can I go home now?"
There's a pause, pursed lips, and Flint shakes his head. "Probably not," he says, quietly. "We need to, ask. Elliot-rhya, and Kavi-rhya. They. There's still… everything, and all," Flint says. "You need to be somewhere, with. People. Somewhere secure in case, for. At some point it's still going to—" The Walker chokes on his words, composure kept. "Remember when Mouse had to, when. I was in the basement? That was, after. By a while. We don't know, when it'll. Get bad. I'm sorry." And then Flint just hugs Ky tightly for a moment.
Ky shakes his head, dismissing whatever sympathy there might be offered. He doesn't return the hug, either, but neither does he push Flint away. "How much trouble am I in," he asks after a moment.
Flint hugs Ky for a moment longer, and shrugs his shoulders. "Not your fault," Flint says, "you didn't kill anyone, or. Or." That finishes, and Flint gets up to start to pace, grumbling to himself.
"None of my options were good ones," Ky says again. He picks himself up off the floor and takes a couple of steps through the room, finishing off the bottle of water. "Where am I?"
"The Library," Flint responds, quietly. "Gnawer's place. We needed the— the." Flint jerks a head at the cage area. "Tenement has banes in the fifth floor. Vault doesn't have enough people around in case something went— south."
Lefty might be an answer to that. The door to upstairs opens, and the Gnawer shuffles her way down the wooden slatted staircase. She peeks over the rail before making the last few steps. She doesn't seem exactly pleased.
"There's…" Ky begins, but lets the idea die when Lefty appears. He can explain the Vault's nuances later. He meets the elder Ragabash's unhappy look with an apologetic one of his own. "Lefty-rhya," he offers, with none of his normal joking manner. Humility is in this one, it seems.
"Lefty-rhya," Flint greets the Gnawer, much alike his packmate's manner, and steps forward towards her, throat momentarily bared. Even that doesn't do much to help the coiled angry spring impression that the galliard's trying to shove down and aside. It's been a long two days. Then, the Walker takes a deep breath, such that he clearly is working to speak the words that follow. "Whatever I can do to make up for my intrusion on your h-hospitality, I offer to you and to the Gnawers. I— there wasn't— the. The bane at the— it would have— nothing, else, there—" The second sentence doesn't get kept together nearly as well as the first, and Flint just silences rather than try and finish what it.
Lefty doesn't say anything at first. She takes in the expressions of the two cliaths, and their manner goes a long way to placate her own dark mood. "You mean the banes at the tenement?" she begins, nodding to that part of Flint's fractured speech. "Yeah, I get that. And BB told me it was… something of an emergency." Here, her eyes linger specifically on Ky. It's several seconds before she continues. "But I'd think he'd be more… comfortable at home, now, wouldn't he? At the Vault?"
It isn't a subtle thing, Ky's shifting posture from neutral to submissive. He doesn't get quite so far as groveling, but he does twist his head to offer his throat to Lefty in what might be a little more than ceremonial observances. The younger Ragabash is entirely deferring to the elder's decisions in the matter.
Flint nods and starts to pace, clearly conflicted on the issue. "Yes, Lefty-rhya," Flint says, and then pauses. "And. A-and no. I…" The Galliard looks at Kyler, looks at Lefty. "Nieve-rhya did Cleansing, just… a bit ago. That helps. It doesn't solve things, it… I know the Vault has…" This, Flint just looks to Ky, at the certainty that the Vault has holding facilities, but clearly Flint doesn't like them in the slightest. "Will, in a week, or less, or more, get bad. Worse." The tension shows Flint's own clear recollection. "It won't matter what, and I… worry about then."
Lefty doesn't quite parse what Flint says, and after a shake of her head she turns her full attention on the Shadow Lord, himself. "What happened?" she asks, and it's clear she's asking for details on the entire incident as well as the specifics to why Ky might need watching.
"The gang organized a party," Ky states simply. "I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I got the message. My pack knew I was going and I kept them informed of things inside the warehouse. I was shown who their president was, and where he was, and that we were going to have drinks again. All that I told to Flint and Lex." He pauses briefly, brows drawing together slightly. "Long story short, I got the details out to my pack who acted when I drank. My other options weren't any better."
Lefty's good arm folds in against her bad one, her frown proving she's still not pleased—or perhaps still a little confused. "Drink again? When did you first drink?" Either she hadn't heard, or she wants all the specifics straight from Ky.
"And we got there as soon— as. As soon as possible," Flint says, but then he shuts up, watching his packmate with a tiny encouraging nod. Clearly, the entire thing is a tense subject for the Galliard still.
"The night I earned my jacket," Ky answers, honestly. He's not hiding anything. "A couple weeks ago. "A week later, I had the second and was given a bike. Third was last night, two weeks since the first."
"And the unintentional one, you killed," Flint points out, voice quiet, and grim.
Lefty looks between Flint and Ky, frowning. "Unintentional? Killed?" She shakes her head again. "Pretend I'm an idiot," Lefty says, and her glare dares them to make a joke. "And lay it out for me, exactly. Who got unintentionally killed? And what happened with the gang? I take it their president was a vampire?"
Ky nods slightly, flicking a look toward Flint. "That one was entirely accidental, and the vampire that I got it from is dead. One of my kin attacked a leech in an alley. She thought it was dead, pulled a stake from its heart and it came back to life. I reacted."
Lefty mutters. "Lots of vampires in town, it seems." The comment is offered without intention of followup. She otherwise just nods and lets Ky continue.
"The president of the gang was a vampire, Lefty-rhya," Flint manages, taking a turn to let Ky catch his breath. "When we got Ky out, we killed it. I killed it. Shot it. Then we burned it. Elliot-rhya and Kavi-rhya saw."
"I think I attacked the other Garou," Ky says, apprehensive. "When the vampire was under attack. Now… Nieve came and did a Cleansing. And… I don't feel it anymore. The loss is… I can't figure out why I'd have felt that way, except that I wasn't in my right mind."
"You weren't," is Lefty's sullen, gruff response, and it seems to carry a tinge of sympathy. The Gnawer takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Look, you can stay here if you need to," she adds, glancing briefly at Flint.
Flint looks over at Ky, and shakes his head. "No one got, seriously hurt," Flint says, quietly, and nods to Lefty. "Thank you, Lefty-rhya. I… remember, what, when I. And, even if now's okay, when… I'd rather we're somewhere, here, with. Others, the Vault's… empty, a lot. Alexandra's around to keep Ky company too, she. Went to go get some sleep and clean up." There's another pause, and Flint repeats the earlier offer. "Anything I can do around here, f-for. For. For here," the Galliard says, a little of the simmering rage bleeding off now that he's relaxing slightly, and wryly he tacks on. "Harder the better."
"Me too," Ky adds quietly, looking thanks toward the elder ragabash. "Anything I can offer for bringing this to your place, Lefty-rhya."
Lefty smirks. "Well, there's always dishes. And cleaning up after yourselves. Other than that… well, we'll play it by ear. See how things go."
Flint nods, and offers a grateful, tired smile. "Anything I can go hit for a while?" comes the next question, expression resolving to a tight, tense line that betrays just how much Flint's working to keep it together as well. "Ky, if, you're okay for a bit?"
Lefty notes with a gesture upstairs, "We don't have a gym or anything. Least not yet. But, there's plenty of stuff to throw around on the third floor. Some of the walls need knocking down, anyway, before we renovate. Just be careful. Hit the wrong one and you'll pull half the ceiling down on you in some places." Nodding Ky's way, she adds, "I'll sit with him for a bit."
"Yes, Lefty-rhya," Ky replies amicably. He gives Flint a nod and then takes in the scenery again. "At least I'm confined indoors this time," he says with a touch of his usual humor. He grins at the Walker and Galliard, definitely normal there, then wanders off to the caged area to sit on a bunk.