Sepdet smiles tightly. "I think you'd better. This is none of my business, of course. But I don't like the idea of a madman running your tribe. Besides which..." she gives Rik a close look, "Lucca's earned my respect. She's...exciteable? Yes. But she's got sense, and ideas, and might help make the Glass Walkers a tribe again. I'm sure she'd be glad for your advice -or- leadership, whichever you felt like giving."
Rik runs his tongue along his teeth, and taps his fingertips on his thigh. "You're trying to drag me back too, huh?" he says wryly.
Sepdet straightens and clasps her hands behind her back. "No harm in trying."
Padre pages to Rik and Sepdet: From the east, you briefly hear the noise of a train whistle.
Rik lifts his head and wrinkles his brow, then checks his watch absently.
Long distance to Rik and Padre: Sepdet peers. The trains haven't run in years here, right?
Padre pages to Rik and Sepdet: Right.
Sepdet looks puzzled. "Since when did that start?"
Padre pages to Rik and Sepdet: About ten minutes later, the whistle sounds again.Rik shakes his head. "Not since I've lived here." He moves to one knee, and then rises.
Sepdet looks faintly curious, but weavertech isn't really her area of expertise.
Long distance to Allie and Sky: Sepdet emails you directions, phone #, so you have it all in one place.
From afar, to Padre and Sepdet, Rik is gonna head that direction. Is it getting closer? Stationary? Further?
Padre pages to Rik and Sepdet: The second whistle does seem somewhat closer, yes.
Sepdet shoots a look at him and follows, when he starts moving. But she dwindles down to a rather doggy shape to tag at his heels.
Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Lupus form.
You paged Rik and Padre with 'So we're following. Yes?'.
Rik heads north on the narrow road.
Rik has left.
You head northward on the old road, and the crumbling pavement gradually widens to two lanes. After quite some time, you see a few faded buildings up ahead, and the road approaches a railroad crossing.
County Line Road, Railroad Crossing
Contents:
Rik
Obvious exits:
Southeast on the Tracks Northwest on the Tracks North Into Town South on the Road
Rik trots up the road, frowning as thoughtfully as he can manage.
Rik pages to Padre and Hope-Star: We've moved up the road to where the tracks cross it.
Padre pages to Rik and Hope-Star: A third time, you hear the whistle. It's closer, but from the south and east.
Rik pages to Padre and Hope-Star: Is it a steam whistle, or a modern horn? Rik wanders a little way down the track into the wood, trying to spot it.
Long distance to Rik and Padre: Hope-Star scoots into the trees on the northwest side of the road, and hunkers down a few yards from the edge of the tracks, sizing up barriers as she prepares to break into a run and parallel the train as it shoots by.
You paged Rik and Padre with 'If it's a train, anyway. '.
Padre pages to Rik and Hope-Star: It's a steam whistle. From down the tracks, in the distance, you can see a light.
You paged Padre with 'Dangit, it's that timewarp mage plot I ran a few years ago comin' back to haunt me!'.
Rik grunts. "Something... some touristy thing...."
Padre pages: Mwahaha!
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star had Thorn riding down the tracks on a tricycle. I forget why.
Hope-Star's ears flatten against her skull and she breaks into a trot, tail whisking behind her. Bet I'm faster, she boasts, starting to move before it arrives.
Padre pages to Rik and Hope-Star: Come into the next room... the action is here. ;)
You paged Rik and Padre with 'Which way?'.
You travel along the old tracks as they go southeast, and then turn straight eastward.
Highway 22, Railroad Crossing
Contents:
Quick(#3084PJOUceq)
Padre
Obvious exits:
East on the Tracks Northwest on the Tracks North Southeast
From afar, Rik snorts. "Than it? Hell yeah. Than me? I don't think so." With a second snort, he shifts down.
Cujo approaches from the northwest, traveling along the old railroad tracks.
Cujo has arrived.
Quick is in the process of leaping wildly from the train tracks, near the road.
Hope-Star is actually waiting by the road just northwest of here for the train, or whatever it is, to arrive; in fact, she's breaking into a trot in anticipation, preparing to race it.
Cujo is pretty much doing that too, preparing to race Hope.
Time seems to slow down somehow for him as the Shadow Lord new moon leaps out of the way. It is, indeed, a train. A shiny silver steam locomotive barelling down the disused tracks towards the northwest. As Quick rolls out of the way, he spies a human face peering out of the engine at him. Resuming normal speed, the train continues to move down the tracks, quickly approaching the other two Garou.
Long distance to the room: Hope-Star hms. Wonder what the average windspeed of a north African swallow, I mean jackal, is? :)
Hope-Star stays in the bushes along the traintracks, tail skipping as she launches into a run just as any regular dog might do tailing a car. But she doesn't go up onto the tracks. She's been run over by water buffalo in her cub days, and this thing is a lot bigger.
Quick twists as he lands, snarling in challenge towards the train's driver, and he digs for purchase in the layers of fallen leaves to sprint to catch back up with the train.
It's not as fast as, say, a car on a highway, but the train keeps on chugging down the tracks. As it approaches Hope-Star and Cujo, they, too, can see the shiny silver locomotive, it's headlamp lighting the dark, cloudy night. It soon leaves Quick in the dust, and then Cujo. Only the extra-fast Strider is able to keep up as it crosses the highway and moves towards County Line Road.
Cujo valiantly attempts to keep up, but falls further and further behind.
Hope-Star doesn't really have any goal in mind beyond the sheer exuberance of the chase: the vehicle piques her curiosity, but only mildly, since she's no expert on trains and wouldn't know a steam engine from a monorail. She stretches out in a sprint, enjoying the chance to test herself against something fleeter than she is.
You paged Padre with 'Speed of thought, but I still can't keep that up forever, of course.'.
Quick doggedly keeps up his chase, although he's certainly not faster than a speeding train, but the train might stop. One never knows.
From afar, Padre nods.
Not long after the train passes the highway, and just about when Sepdet is about to run out of gas, the train simply vanishes into the darkness of the night. Once more it is silent.
From afar, to the room, Padre has more, just a sec.
Padre pages: Just before it disappears, time seems to slow for you as well. You, too, catch a glimpse of the man in the train - and notice a look of worry and despair on his face - as if you were standing next to him. You also notice the words on the engine's side - "Spokane & Portland Railway," and beneath that, in script, the words "White Stag".
Hope-Star gives a startled yelp and spins head over heels as she pulls up short, tumbling into the bushes.
You paged Padre with '2+2 = paradox. Aha. :)'.
Cujo pulls up short, tongue lolling, and stares at the empty space.
Quick still has some distance to go to catch up to where the Strider lost the prey, and eventually he catches up, out of breath from the fast run, so he spares only one word for the wolf performing acrobatics. Where?
You paged Padre with 'And sep's one of the few Garou who has some experience with Chloe's little problems.'.
From afar, Padre just smiles.
Hope-Star picks herself up raggedly. Vanished! she growls, as if it were a personal insult to her honor. Without explanation, she takes off into the bushes again at a ragged jog, heading northwards like a bloodhound on a scent. They should be able to tail her now, or at least follow her trail, and she pauses before breaking cover in Kent Crossing to shift back to human shape.
Hope-Star contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Homid form.
[...]
Kent Crossing, East Side
Sepdet takes a careful survey of the sleepy village before heading across the street purposefully towards the pub, head down and hands thrust in her pockets.
Rik quietly follows, like the good thick-necked Beta.
Squarish, nearly stocky, this wolf is built low to the ground, where his perked ears and alert eyes track nearly inaudible sounds and the drifting of scents. His muzzle twitches busily, making it seem shorter than it is, already on the short side. The crisscrossing stripes, the agouti, transforms his coat into a play of black on near-black grey.
The Lord, after his total lack of success, stalks after the other two to find their part in all of this, and he shifts to homid before entering town, tagging after the other two like a thug wanting money.
You step into the lobby.
White Stag: Lobby(#3056RJ$)
Obvious exits:
Pub Stairs Up Out
You head north, into the tavern.
White Stag: Pub(#3123RJ$)
The pub takes up the vast majority of the first floor of the building and is partitioned into two sections by the long, mahogany-finished bar that runs along both sides of the seperating wall. On the one side, the place has a more restaurantish feel: booths occupy the spaces beneath the windows, and tables with sturdy chairs are arranged in a pattern that allows waitstaff easy access. On the other, the place has a more typical pubbish feel: the tables are closer together, more stools belly up to the bar, and the usual barroom diversions -- color television mounted in a corner near the ceiling and canted down to provide a clear view to most patrons, a billiard table, and a few dartboards -- are present.
The decor of the place is much as one would expect. There is the obligatory Irish flag hung over the door that leads back into the lobby and a couple of neon signs and mirrors proclaiming this or that particular beer, while the mirrored partitioning wall behind the bar is laden with just about every liquor imaginable. Of note, however, is a particular painting that holds a place of honor near the bar rather than being comingled with other, more mundane paintings and photographs of Irish cities and landscapes -- it depicts in exquisite detail the last stand of a mortally wounded warrior who has lashed himself to a stone dolmen in order to continue to fight on, alone, against an onrushing army. Atop the dolmen, watching the warrior's courage in the face of death while spreading her blue-black wings as if in anticipation, is a large raven.
In addition to the archway that leads back out into the lobby, there's a pair of swinging doors marked 'Employees Only' that lead from behind the bar back into the kitchen and beyond.
Contents:
Chloe
Dante
Brian
Obvious exits:
Lobby
Rik comes in from the Inn's lobby.
Rik has arrived.
Padre pages: You notice nothing.
Sepdet, huddled in her jeans jacket with hands thrust into her pockets, slouches into the bar... or starts to, pulling up short right in the doorway.
Chloe pages: Aw. They just kissed too. :>
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet awwwws.:)
Rik, shuffling along behind, doesn't quite run into her as she stops suddenly.
Dante sits at the booth in the back with Brian and Chloe, not noticing the Garou appearing at the doorway.
Sepdet mutters something to the Glass Walker that sounds like it's meant to be an apology but comes out as a growl.
You whisper "STUPID mirrors. Sorry. The train said 'White Stag' on it. So." to Rik.
Rik shakes his head dismissively, and scans the public room.
From afar, Quick hunts.
Long distance to Quick: Sepdet apologizes. We went into the pub. Sepdet got as far as the doorway before noticing mirrors, which don't get along well with her metis flaw.
You paged Quick with 'The reason for all this is that Sepdet saw the White Stag pub's logo on the side of the front car just before it vanished.'.
Quick pages: Ah.
Brian reaches out to touch Chloe's cheek once more, and then begins withdrawing from the pub room. On his way out, his eyes fall on the diminuitive Strider and her Glass Walker companion, and his expression darkens into a scowl. He mutters something angrily as he passes them, on his way to the door.
From afar, Rik grins. Four foot Strider, Eight foot Walker behind her.
Sepdet searches the ordinary-looking establishment with a sour expression, scanning for something. She seems a little surprised to spot Dante across the room, and then her brows draw together sharply, noticing Brian first and the woman beside him a moment later. Her expression turns faintly accusing. But she ducks her eyes quickly as Brian glares at them.
Chloe's gaze follows the Fianna, and her brow furrows a little at his reaction to Sepdet; her expression grows shadowed, troubled. She doesn't speak.
Dante turns around as Brian leaves and looks at Sepdet and Rik, surprised to see them. He murmurs, "Excuse me," to Chloe, and approaches the Strider. "What's up?" His demeanor is pleasant enough, in a what-exactly-do-you-want-on-our-territory sort of way.
Sepdet gives Chloe a rather dubious glance as well, but it's not angry, only bemused. "I think someone was playing games," she mutters, eyes following the mage out.
From afar, to the room, Chloe ain't going anywhere. Brian left, not me.
From afar, to Rik and Sepdet, Brian's words, muted, are along lines of, "I'm trying to profit from this place, which I can't do if Garou scare all the customers away."
Brian leaves for the main part of the inn.
Brian has left.
Chloe's raven eyebrows climb another fraction at Dante's behavior, and her head tilts a little in a birdlike pose of observation. She stands by the now-empty table, and watches.
Long distance to the room: Sepdet wells. I'm staring at Chloe anyway.
You paged Brian with 'Heh. Like Sepdet's ever set foot across the threshold in her life before. (But Brian's quite right.)'.
Rik leaves for the main part of the inn.
Rik has left.
Dante glances between the Strider and the mage. "I'm detecting some sort of... tension here?"
Rik comes in from the Inn's lobby.
Rik has arrived.
From afar, Brian grins.
Rik pages: Okay, I have no idea where he went.
You paged Rik with 'It's a dark door to his and Chloe's apartment in the back, I think. Tell him you're following?'.
Rik pages: He says 'hi what's going on' and then vanishes.
Sepdet stays planted in the entryway, not venturing into the room. "Oh, good grief, Dante. Why don't you go interrogate Brian." She shakes her head. "I'm leaving."
Padre pages: Let me know if you want to do anything else about the spectre. :)
Long distance to Quick: Sepdet will bet you a dead moose that was Chloe's paradox.
Chloe's brow furrows. "Hope..." She paces across the room, studying the Strider with guarded eyes. "What's going on?"
Chloe pages: It's kind of like, 'What did I do?'
Dante frowns at the theurge's harsh words, sighing softly.
Sepdet hesitates as she turns to go, and gives a dry chuckle. "Were you doing anything...creative... about half an hour ago, Chloe?"
Chloe shakes her head minutely. "No," she says, "no, I wasn't." Her voice holds a trace of impatience.
Sepdet lowers her voice so it won't carry, tone slightly teasing. "Weird-lookin' train popped out of nowhere and I chased it about half a mile and it vanished back -into- nowhere, and it says the 'White Stag Express' right down the side. Don't tell me that has nothing to do with you."
Alec comes in from the Inn's lobby.
Alec has arrived.
Dante listens intently, the frown remaining on his face.
Sepdet and Chloe and Dante and Rik are all clustered near or in the doorway to the lobby, apparently in conversation. Or rather, the two women seem to be talking, and the gents are observing.
Chloe cocks her head again, bemused. "Ah. Of course. Clearly *I* was the driver of the mystery train." There's an odd, confused note to the sarcasm.
Sepdet peers at Chloe, expression changing from amusement to concern as she mutters, "Well if that wasn't some side effect from your line of work, then what the hell was it?" She looks up as Alec comes in. "Anyway, I'd better get out of here before I get bounced," she amends with a subtle shift in inflection. "Brian don't like my gang comin' in here, y'know."
It's not at all late, and it's a good time for a drink... like there's a bad one. With large backpack slung on his back the man walk into the bar with a wide grin on his face. There's a simple joy about him, an easy flash of teeth and a jaunty bounce to his step. A look to the gaggle of people and to the rest of the bar as he makes his way towards the tender. Eyes drag slowly past Dante... yes, well, indeed. Alec then turns to towards the tender and orders joyfully large glass.
l alec
Really? There isn't anything special about the man you're looking at right now. He's just sort of... average. He's close to six feet tall, maybe two hundred pounds? Really, if you were to see his face in a crowd he would blend in and not stick out in any way. That's the way he'd like it to be however for all of that it is rarely the case.
Forest casual is the name of the dress, and that's what he's in. Black jeans, seem to just be there, yet they match the black longsleeve shirt that he wears. Utilitarian and fetsooned with pockets he is, one wonders what he could keep in all of those pockets. Buttoned up it works well for the fall-winter afternoons. Makes quite a show of himself in the end, though he'd still rather just blend in.
Dante follows Sepdet's glance to Alec. He offers the kin a bemused smile, then returns to listening to Sepdet and Chloe.
Chloe wets her lips and nods, slowly. "Yes. Well. We should talk. Soonish."
Sepdet ducks her eyes. "Think we'd better," she agrees with a hint of apology, and then makes her escape, giving Rik's elbow a nudge as she skitters out of the building.
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet looks a LOT saner than last time, anyhow.
You can't leave.
You leave for the main part of the inn.
White Stag: Lobby(#3056RJ$)
Obvious exits:
Pub Stairs Up Out
You push through the brass-handed front door and back out onto the street.
Kent Crossing, East Side
Contents:
Padre
Obvious exits:
North Small Cottage Women's SHelter White Stag County Line Road West East
Rik comes out of the White Stag.
Rik has arrived.
Long distance to Quick: Sepdet and rik came back out after about ten minutes. That was odd.
After again checking the street for observers, Sepdet starts a wary circuit around the old building, examining it closely as if expecting it to sprout wheels and gout steam. "She wasn't the driver," she mutters to Rik. "Some old guy. I saw his face. He looked upset about something. Donno if that was a glimpse of the past, a warning from the spirits, or just her magic burping."
Rik nods uncertainly. "Um. Anything I can do?"
Quick pages: No onion beer to be found?
Sepdet shakes her head. "Haven't the foggiest idea," she says cheerfully. "Leave a bowl of milk by the tracks in case the spirit comes back? Flag 'em down and ask for a ride?"
Rik shakes his head. "Huh uh. That thing smelled like it was silver. I don't wanna ride."
Sepdet blinks, having missed that. "Ugh. Guess it wouldn't hurt to check the umbra down there," she says, heading back the way they came. "Got a mirror in your house?"
Long distance to the room: Sepdet pauses: Padre, anything weird about the White Stag?
Rik says "Hell yeah. Full length one in the bathroom. Want to come over?"
Sepdet nods to Rik. "Just in case," she murmurs.
Sepdet follows him back at a more sedate pace. It's a good thing she's used to a lot of foot travel; she's got to take two or three steps to every one of his.
You follow County Line Road southward, entering the sparse woods that surround Kent Crossing. Along the way, you pass a few buildings of faded grey wood, but as you head south they grow farther and farther apart.
County Line Road, Railroad Crossing
Padre pages to the room: Okay, so we are in the Umbra now?
You paged the room with 'Yes please. I'm a little impatient tonight. L)'.
You have shifted to Hispo form.
Alias removed.
Name set.
Alias set.
Set.
Long distance to the room: Hope-Star doesn't think there -is- an umbral room for the tracks, so.
From afar, to the room, Padre hehs.
Hope-Star once again shrinks down on all fours when she's safely away from human eyes to investigate the area, apparently not put off by the thin sliver of the moon.
The Shadow is dark, most Gaian spirits well hidden away under the thin moon. All is silent.
Rik frowns and glares at the world around him.
Hope-Star puts her wyrm-o-meter on full alert. She's travelled the moondark plenty of times, but she's also been attacked plenty of times. Now then. Where exactly was the spot where it disappeared? Down that way, I think...
Hope-Star starts towards the tracks, intending to retrace the path of the phantom train as best she can estimate.
Padre pages: In your mind's eye, you see the train again.
Hope-Star blinks and stops, staring at the tracks fixedly. *Stop for us,* she commands. *Show yourself.*
In the distance, the train appears. It's not moving, but the engine is still chugging away in place, smoke billowing from the stack.
Rik looks to Hope, uncertain.
Hope-Star shoots Rik an excited look. Hey! It worked. She trots towards the light fearlessly, tail raised high.
Rik shrugs and follows along behind, watching the umbra suspiciously.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star -does- continue checking for wyrm along the way. Getting run over by a spirit-train driven by a nephandi would be most vexing.
The train's headlight cuts through the Umbral night, reflecting off of the bright skin of the machine, but it remains in place as the Garou approach.
Padre pages: You don't detect any Wyrm.
Hope-Star ambles towards the engine and the door where she saw the driver before, nose wrinkled against the faintly acrid smell of silver and, possibly, whatever's burning to make the steam. She squints into the light as she looks over the alien contraption.
Hope-Star contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Homid form.
Long distance to the room: Sepdet okays. That's more shifting than I really need to be doing in a week, but oh well. :)
Padre pages to the room: It actually isn't silver. Just shiny /like/ silver.
Long distance to the room: Sepdet ohs. Well, better safe than singed. ;)
Sepdet looks for a door-handle or a way to climb up into the engineer's box. "Heya," she calls in a friendly tone of voice. "Can we help you, mister?"
Rik frowns sternly at the machine, eyeing it cautiously.
The engineer once more looks down upon the Strider. He is a white male, bearded and wearing clothes a hundred years old. His gaze is haunted. He doesn't answer, but merely points forward along the track, then sounds the whistle. At this distance, it's almost deafening.
You paged Padre with 'Any visible way to climb aboard?'.
Padre pages: Yes. It looks like a normal steam locomotive, except the color.
Sepdet's instincts--or curiosity-- occasionally override wisdom, and this is definitely one of those times. With a light spring, she leaps for the step and reaches for the door-handle, swinging herself inside as it opens.
Rik growls in annoyance and leaps up after her protectively.
From the inside, the spectral locomotive looks like a perfect vintage 1890s steam engine, complete with controls and burning coal fire. The engineer continues to watch silently.
Sepdet squeezes in on the other side of the engineer, careful not to get too close to the fire. "If you need to go," she tells the man over the hiss of steam and burning coal, "Just drop us off before we get too far out of town. Now, tell us what's wrong."
You paged the room with 'As per the new wiz posting on Spirit Speech, Sepdet -is- using Spirit Speech to convey the meaning of what she's saying here.'.
The engineer once more makes no sound. He simply points down the tracks, his eyes still haunted and maybe... afraid.
From afar, to Padre and Sepdet, Rik gives 30 minutes notice.
Sepdet peers out into the night, using the light of the train's spotlight to try and see. "You need us to get something off the tracks?" she asks softly.
The engineer pulls the whistle again, and removes the brake, starting the engine moving, slowly at first. He shakes his head.
Rik scowls around the inside of the engine uncomfortably.
Sepdet grabs onto the windowsill to hang on, teeth bright against the glare of the coalbox. "Never gotten to ride in one of these things before," she confides to the poor Glass Walker, as if they were merely taking a spin round a pond in a canoe. She exudes confidence, but the gaze she fixes out the front is intent and wary as she tries to see where they're headed.
Rik grunts. "Uh huh," he says distractedly, failing to enjoy the experience.
Sepdet leans over to Rik and half clambers up the wall to reach his ear, growling something into it that's not spoken with the spirit in mind. "Be ready to grab the brake, just in case."
Quick pages: Have fun trainspotting.
Rik eyes the brake, and nods. "Uh huh," he grunts again.
You paged Padre with 'If I'd known you were doing this, maybe my +learn for Umbral Tether would've gone through. Nemo rejected it saying I needed a GM to run me through the umbra for practice. :}'.
From afar, Padre hehs.
You paged Quick with 'HOpefully we'll be able to get -back-. Sepdet hopped onboard.'.
You paged Quick with 'Poor Rik, like an idjot, followed.'.
Quick pages: It's one way for a Strider to take a trip.
The locomotive begins to accelerate down the tracks, the fire in the iron horse's belly rising as it moves down the tracks. After a few minutes, the train nears the point where it disappeared previously. When the light shines upon that point, an explosion from in front of the engine lights up the Umbral sky. The engineers reaches for the brake - afraid, but as if he'd done this a thousand times before.
Pack> Sepdet's voice drifts out across the mental tether. -In case anyone cares,- she calls, -I've been picked up by a train in the umbra. Hope I can get off.- She doesn't sound particularly worried, oddly enough.
Pack> Steven transmits a sensation of extreme annoyance. Not quite a "shut up" in so many verbal words, but more like a "tell someone who cares, crazy crescent mule."
Pack> Sepdet hopes OOCly that Steven's not the last voice Sepdet ever hears. ;)
Sepdet just hangs on, blindly confident that if it's repeated once, it'll keep repeating, and that at least this will help them get to the bottom of the mystery. Unfortunately, she doesn't explain her reasons to Rik, and is too busy looking out to see what's coming next.
Rik looks at Sepdet uncertainly, then at the brake, hands clenching.
Rik pages the room: Ack. Remove one of those uncertain things.
Padre pages: Your Wyrm-o-meter starts to go off.
It doesn't appear as if the tain is going to stop in time, even as the engineer leans hard on the brake.
Sepdet growls and flings open the door. "Bail!" she tells Rik, giving him a shove to push him out before herself.
Rik growls and shifts up as he grabs the tiny Strider and leaps out of the train.
Rik contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Rik shifts into Crinos form.
Sepdet takes as casual an approach to non-aggravated damage as she does to umbral travel: it's a miracle she's survived as long as she has. Blind instinct or the luck of idiots and little children? Either way, she braces to roll, if she can, giving a yell so that there's no wind in her to get knocked out on impact.
The two Garou tumble out of the moving train with little or no actual damage. The wonderful thing about old trains is that they really don't move /that/ fast. The specrtal locomotive is not so lucky, however. It hits the missing part of the track and derails, tumbling down into a gully and exploding spectacularly. At about the same time, three men on horseback - or something similar, ride out of the Umbral woods, whooping and hollaring.
Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Hispo form.
Hope-Star shifts after lying there stunned for a few seconds, taking mental inventory of aches and pains. Then she tells Rik softly, ~Wyrm. Let's rock.~
The three riders come, perhaps unexpectedly, straight at the Garou, rather than the train.
Cujo snarls and dips his head, pausing a moment to activate his fetish.
Padre pages to the room: Neat Feitsh, Rik.
Cujo pages the room: Better be. I paid four points for it. (:
Hope-Star zigs and zags like mad, barking and taunting and drawing their attention as she tries to barrel in and trip one of their "horses". More importantly, she's trying to lure their attention away from Rik.
You paged the room with 'Bad pose, no biscuit. But you get the idea. Mosquito tactics activated.'.
Cujo pages the room: Holy Hell. Beth in a Lum costume. Hope? Play Rik--he's a great big brick.
Long distance to the room: Hope-Star hokays and hugs Cujo apologetically.
Sepdet's ruse works, for the most part. Two of them ride towards the Strider. The first, however, goes straight for the Walker. Upon closer examination, it's obvious that these spirits only kind of look like men on horseback - they are actually one creature, melded together. Cujo's assailant has an unusual attack. He rides up next to the Walker and simply explodes, like a stick of dynamite.
Padre pages: It shouldn't take too long.
You paged Padre with 'OW.'.
You paged the room with 'Well that's gonna need stitches.'.
Cujo pages: My fetish lets me qttack twice in a round (OW!).
No matching attributes found.
You paged Cujo with 'Ahha.'.
Cujo has disconnected.
Padre pages: He takes 2 Agg.
Cujo yelps in pain as the blast tears into his side. When he's gotten his breath back, he tears off after Sepdet to try to keep the little mule from getting herself killed. Hope-star, meanwhile, has missed the source of the explosion, and attempts to barrel right under the legs of one of her two attackers, on the theory it will be harder for them to reach her there. She hurls herself with jaws wide at a rear leg, trying to break it.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star burns two rage to attack faster and do more damage than I normally would.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star notes that right now Wolverine gives each of us 1 rage to burn every round, and doesn't let us run out. Quite alarming .:P
Cujo and Hope-Star make short work of one of the spirits, the two Garou tearing it into little tiny pieces of ephemera before it can even react. The last spirit, however, is intact when it, too, explodes, but this time upon the Strider. And then... all is silent.
Padre pages: You soak all the damage. Praise your mighty Gnosis.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star howls for joy!
Hope-Star throws back her head and howls out a war-cry, a salute to Wolverine, then trots over to check on Rik before heading back to the tracks to observe the result of their victory.
The Walker is slightly wounded, but will be fine soon enough. In the wreckage of the engine, the man crawls out, smiles, and the iron horse begins to fade away.
Hope-Star's tail thumps against the dirt beside the track as the man emerges. *Aalll cleeaar!* she howls to him, pitching her voice to the timbre of the train whistle. *Good journey, old one!*
In a few moments, the tracks are once again dark and silent.
Hope-Star licks the grumpy Walker and sees him home, then sets off again on her prowling.
You paged Dante with 'Heh. Thanks. That was interesting.'.
You paged Dante with 'And thanks for not squashing Sepdet like a bug. She does things because she -thinks- they're the right thing to do. But I'm not a Harbinger, and I don't have her foresight or wisdom. :)'.
After Rik has been dropped off, however, the Strider gets a feeling at the back of her neck that something is ... not right.
Padre pages to the room: I'm not done yet. ;)
Hope-Star scowls and heads back to the tracks. What now?
Silence. Darkness.
Hope-Star sits down to sniff the air, again checking for Wyrm.
You paged Padre with 'In particular, towards the area where the tracks "blew up".'.
There is, indeed, Wyrminess still present. With the others gone, the source of it is easier to locate. Up, on a hill, overlooking the tracks.
Hope-Star stalks towards the source warily this time, since she's alone and doesn't have a tank backing her up.
The small source of Wyrm taint is easily found. A small, hunched spirit, huddled in a shallow cave. It does not move, but as you approach, it looks at you straight in the eyes. *Cease your resisting. You have destroyed my minions, but you will be my vessel.*
Hope-Star bares her teeth in a snarl. *In your DREAMS, little mouse.*
Padre pages: Yeah, it's been working on it for some time.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star might get a Chloe coming after me, so feel free to do your worst. Is it attempting to take my mind over? If so, I burn WP.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star eeps.
Padre pages: If you didn't have Sight from Beyond, you'd be in deep doo doo. :)
You paged Padre with 'Oooooh.'.
You paged Padre with 'So. Am I still resisting?'.
Padre pages: Yup.
The spirit hisses and launches itself at the Strider.
Hope-Star rears off the ground to meet it with her jaws, snarling curses and defiance.
The nasty little thing latches itself to your muzzle even as you snap at it angrily, tearing spirit-stuff from it's small form. As the thing touches you, you feel your mind fill with hate, anger and bile.
Long distance to Chloe and Padre: Hope-Star invites Chloe on down, if the GM doesn't mind. Sepdet -did- say traintracks, earlier, after all.
You paged Padre with 'Although I may well attack Chloe in this state of mind! Mayhem and destruction, woo hoo.'.
From afar, to Chloe and Hope-Star, Padre doesn't mind at all.
Padre pages: Are you familiar with the Blighted Touch?
You paged Padre with 'Ugh. I think I know what it is, but refresh my mind.'.
Padre pages: Basically, your negative characteristic dominate your personality for the next few hours.
You paged Padre with 'Oh good!'.
Coupled with recent temper problems and her current pack totem, it doesn't really take that much to push the Strider over the edge. Madness takes her, and she grapples furiously with her assailant, rage-fueled attacks as vicious and bloodthirsty as a Get's. Vermin! Filth! Pus of Gaia!
The spirit is weak from the use of its power, and is quickly destroyed by the mad Strider - and just in time, apparently, as the spirit almost overwhelms her mind as it is destroyed. Once again, the land is silent.
Hope-Star whirls around looking for something else to fight, Wolverine's rage still making her heart boil, egged on by the annoying little spirit.
Nothing. Emptyness.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star assumes a) I smell faintly of Wyrm til it wears off and b) are there any gifts (or mage-tricks) that would affect the Blight? Because Chloe will probably try, assuming I don't lash out at her.
From afar, Padre checks on that.
Chloe pages to Padre and Hope-Star: Where do I go?
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star peers at the book. Doesn't really say.
You paged Chloe with 'One room south of Kent Crossing East Side.'.
From afar, Padre asked Lys. He says yes. Any sort of cleansing thing would work. I'm not a mage expert... but I'd think some sort of mind/spirit combination may help.
Long distance to Padre: Hope-Star yeps. No biggie, but I -know- my Chloe. She'll try and fix it.
Padre pages to Chloe and Hope-Star: South of town. Seppie's in the Umbra.
You paged Chloe and Padre with 'She'll be coming out.'.
Chloe comes into sight from the north, heading out of Kent Crossing.
Chloe has arrived.
Hope-Star prowls around restlessly from sometime, but finding nothing to rend other than a few brambles that snag her fur, she eventually seeks a stream or something to reach across.
Chloe walks southward toward the tracks, alert, searching for signs of anything strange.
Hope-Star is stalking back along the tracks towards the bawn, still coolling down from the fight. She lifts her head and growls as she spots the mage up ahead. You're too late. I killed it.
Chloe stops as soon as she sees the Garou. Her hands come up, palm-out. "Easy there," she murmurs. "It's just me. I wanted to see if... you know. If anything was here."
You paged Padre with 'Annoying Sepdet trait #542: cryptic and uninformative poses.'.
From afar, Padre hehs.
Chloe wets her lips. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it sooner," she says quietly. "Are you... are you all right?"
Hope-Star shakes herself with a jerk. Fine. Rik's hurt, a bit, she says carelessly. But he should heal.
The mage takes a breath, and nods. She takes several steps forward, holding out one hand. "Will you... will you shift, and... and maybe talk to me? Tell me?"
Hope-Star twists around, nose testing the air edgily. For a moment it seems like she's going to just stalk off. Then she changes upwards, face flushed.
Hope-Star contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Homid form.
Chloe pages: Does she seem OK?
You paged Chloe with 'Unwounded, visibly, but Chloe's probably feeling an odd creepy sensation.'.
Chloe studies her with guarded eyes, and takes a careful step closer. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Sepdet stares down at her hands, flexing them. "Never felt better," she says with an edgy smile, and suddenly lifts her head with a jerk, taking a step closer to the woman. "It was just a few old ghosts. Train. Some bad guys blew up the tracks. Train. Some bad guys blew up the tracks. Over and over. A lovely little dance. Almost a pity Rik and I interrupted it."
Chloe takes a careful breath. "Why would you want to watch the dance?" she asks softly, closing the distance between them. A hand reaches out to touch one of Sepdet's.
Sepdet twists her hand over and grabs Chloe's wrist in a sudden movement, leaning back to spin her around. "Symmetry!" she laughs. "Perfect symmetry!"
Chloe cries out, startled giving the Garou a sharp look. "What happened, Sepdet? *Tell* me."
Sepdet keeps her grip tight, expression giddy as she reaches for Chloe's other hand. "We jumped on the train and we rode the wind and the tracks blew up and we leapt to the ground and the Wyrm came on hooves of fire and we fought and tore and rent and -now- it's gone!" she crows. "All gone. I went back by myself to be sure of it. You should've seen. I can fight like Wolverine now!"
Chloe jerks her free hand back. "I'm -- I'm glad for you, Hope. But you need to breathe, now. Steady yourself."
Sepdet dances away laughing. "I'm fine," she repeats, eying the woman furtively out of the corner of her eye. "You're the one with the long face."
Chloe rubs at her wrist.
"You don't seem fine," she murmurs, watching the Garou warily. "Sepdet, come here. Let me look at you."
There's a flash of belligerence in the Strider's eye, and she starts to melt back in the shadows. "Catch me," she taunts. "Just try."
Chloe's brow furrows. "Sepdet--" Then she darts forward, anxiety winning out over caution.
Sepdet backpedals and turns as if she's about to bolt, but it's a feint. She twists around to grab the mage around the waist as the human catches up to her.
Chloe fights, trying to wrench herself free. An indignant cry comes from her throat.
Sepdet wrestles gleefully with her, trying to pull the woman down. "We can dance too," she growls.
"I don't-- want-- to dance--" the mage grates out as they wrestle. Her muscled arms fight the Garou's strength.
Probably a good thing Sepdet's in homid. For the moment, anyway. The Strider jerks away again, spinning on her feet and panting. "Damn you. Not you, not Robin, just Collin and my own dear brother and the Dancers in the tomb. You want to look at me? Take a good look." She grabs at a sleeve and shakes out of her jacket, then reaches for the thongs binding her top on. "Take a fucking good look."
"What-- what are you talking about--?" Chloe shakes her head, breathless from the brief struggle, regaining her feet with a lithe movement.
Sepdet makes a strangled sound of bitter laughter in the back of her throat and drops to the ground in a heap, haltertop open now as she curls her fingers like claws and digs at her eyes, squeezing them shut. "You know quite well," she whispers bitterly. "Go away."
The mage drops to a crouch beside her, quickly, reaching out with one hand. "Hope, please," she says softly. "Look at me."
Chloe pages: How does she look on Spirit?
Sepdet snarls at her. "I can't. You've got clothes on." She's curled into a knot now, knees tucked into her chest and head down with her hands still clenched against her eyes. But from the tightening in the bare muscles of her calves it's clear she's still tensed to spring.
You paged Chloe with 'Black tendrils like some sort of fungus covering her head and upper body. Something's stuck to her.'.
You paged Chloe with 'In other words, yeah, there's some sort of nasty spirit goop on her. It's not very powerful, but it's definitely wyrmy.'.
Chloe lets out a breath through her teeth, and snarls. "Leave her /alone/," she growls, the force of her will behind the words. Her hands settle on the Strider's head. "/Leave/!"
Sepdet isn't very helpful. As Chloe starts peeling off the threads of taint, the Strider twists her head violently and lunges to bite at one of Chloe's forearms.
You paged Chloe with 'It'll come off, though, as long as Chloe works on it for a bit.'.
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet er. The taint will. Not Chloe's forearm. (I hope.)
Chloe tackles the Strider forcefully, straddling her waist and pinning both of her wrists to the ground with her full weight. "/Go/, minion' a'had! Pozhar!"
Long distance to the room: Sepdet swoons at that pose. Ahem. Let me fetch my brain from the corner.
Sepdet struggles against her for a few seconds longer, then goes limp, head flopping back against the earth with an escaping sigh. The last traces of foul tendrils curl and dissipate to nothingness, leaving the real Strider's spirit clean and clear again. She whines softly under the mage, a confused anxious noise.
"Go," Chloe says in a breathless voice. Her head bows, and she sags exhausted on the support of her arms.
Sepdet is silent and still for some time, her breathing still rather ragged. Finally she stirs and lifts a hand to touch Chloe's elbow mutely.
Chloe releases the Strider, one hand moving to stroke Sepdet's hair. She swallows. "I--I'm sorry."
Sepdet blinks and moves her hand up to lace fingers with the human's. "Isn't that what I should say?" she rasps faintly, nose twitching as she tries to get a look at the bite. "You okay?"
Chloe nods minutely, regardless of the blood. "Yes. I'm okay." Her voice is soft, as if in deference to the night. "I'm okay." She searches the girl's face.
Sepdet sits up gingerly and gives her head one final shake, rubbing tiredly at the back of her skull. "Ugh. It seemed like such a -tiny- little spirit. Poisoned bite, I guess." She bares her teeth again, but it's just a grimace now, leftover nerves. "Thanks."
Sepdet holds out her open hand mutely towards the wrist of Chloe's that she injured, silently begging this time instead of grabbing.
Chloe wets her lips, looking into Sepdet's face; then she settles back onto her heels, and offers her bleeding wrist.
Sepdet cups the hand gently and closes her eyes, stroking the skin above the wound until she can settle her own breathing enough to attempt a more elementary sort of healing.
Sekhmet pages: 1 2 8 8 6
Chloe closes her eyes, and tips her head back. A shiver courses through her, and her breathing deepens.
Sepdet is a little shaken, to judge by the effort it takes even to seal up that gash and coax away the accompanying bruises she inflicted. Luckily, the wounds aren't serious enough to need more, and eventually she lifts Chloe's hand to her kips, kisses her knuckles softly, and then sets it down gently. She steals a wistful glance at the human before reaching for the laces of her shirt and pulling her clothes back on. .
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet rolled a 1 in that string. Why is it Sepdet always messes up MT on Chloe? :)
Chloe pages: Saright.
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet chalks it up to "distracted".
Chloe looks down at her for a long moment, searching her face. One hand reaches for Sepdet's cheek, tracing the line of it; she still straddles the girl, and that fact comes back in abundant sensation.
Sepdet bites her lip hard and shivers. "Oh stop. I can't blame it on that thing if I slip," she says with a pained taut smile, rubbing her face against Chloe's hand. "Go home to Brian." There's no anger behind the gentle dismissal this time. "I'll be all right."
Chloe nods minutely. "You're sure?" she asks, her voice a little unsteady.
Sepdet's laughter is a little choked, as she presses her face against Chloe's neck and takes in her scent. "'Course not. But mustn't. I'm in challenge with Brian right now, so it's even more wrong."
Chloe leans down, taking a deep breath and kissing the girl's cheek. "Shh."
Then she pulls away and stands up, a fluid movement marred only by a slight stiffness. She turns away to look up at the sky.
Sepdet flinches slightly at the kiss, and can't help but watch with too much want as the woman moves away. But she's tired herself, and only draws her knees into her chest with a sigh.
"I wouldn't sleep down here," Chloe says softly. "Get back to the woods of the bawn, you'll be safer." There is a flicker of something in her eyes as she turns away--regret? sadness?
Sepdet nods meekly at the advice and scrabbles to her feet. "Back to Robin's," she amends softly. "I sleep there now. I'll walk you home."
Chloe ducks her head, half-hiding a smile. "No, that's all right. I don't want you and Brian tearing up the apartment."
Sepdet's protest of denial dies in her eyes, and she claps her mouth shut with a rueful expression. "Or...what was it...the sofa?" she muses, and from her tone of voice it's probably another of those times when her dark complexion hides a particularly becoming blush. "I'll walk you -halfway- home," she amends. "Come on." She reaches for the woman's hand.
Chloe glances over to her, and the dark eyes soften with a smile. "Sure." She laces fingers with the Strider's own, and walks silently beside her. An alert gaze takes in everything around them; she is always in motion, always searching.
Sepdet swings the hand between them and moves with a little skip in her stride, in spite of being somewhat drained from the night's adventures. She makes of the walk a quieter sort of dance, taking a silent pleasure in molding her movements to match the human's, ducking a branch here or sidestepping a root there, losing herself in the night air and simple companionship.
Chloe glances over to her now and then, reassuring herself that all is well--but for the most part, her attention is on the night, and the woods. "You can walk east once we hit the road, or the tracks. Easy path into the woods."
Sepdet gives her hand a squeeze. "My head's clear now," she murmurs. "I know the paths." And so it goes. When they reach the outskirts of Kent Crossing, she rises up on the balls of her feet to plant a kiss in front of Chloe's ear before slipping away.
Chloe stands for a moment, watching the diminutive girl walk away. "Luna guide you," she murmurs, almost too soft to hear. Then she turns away and continues toward the inn.
Long distance to Chloe: Sepdet sniffles. Ah, the price one pays for always being good. :) But the dance of frustration is nearly much as fun.