the first fight [Pack-Andrew-Carmen]

[Andrew Black] Andrew shrugged off Ben, looking back to Linnea and listening to her as best that he could. It was hard, because she started losing that coherency again. But he got what she was trying to say, sorta. Apparently it was some sort of cycle and a part of it was out of wack. Simple enough.

"Find my wolf? I thought I was the wolf.." He was obviously a little confused, but then again he was a cub. He didn't have a clue what the hell was going on half the time, "If I learn how to do this.. can I keep it from happening when I don't want it to?"

[Benjamin Keyes] Ben just sort of...stares.

"Oh Glorious Fuckin' Gaia..."

The knife vanishes once more in his sleeve, breath puffing free of the cowl and an eye tossed in Severina's direction, annoyance or irritation or some form of' This kid's hopeless', running over those hooded features.

Exhasperation evident, the Rotagar goes hopskotching across several large chunks of uneven terrain, hardtoe boots refuted any reverberation sound as the solid obsidian and alabaster statutes remained immobile. He caught hold of an outstretched arm and it's glittering Klaive, swung up onto the back of a downed and snarlin' BSD and planted himself there to watch the 'Funny' from a small distance.

"If the Kid is too scared to Change 'Nea, he's not going to be much use to anyone in this War. Might as well let him piss on the ground and expect folks not to walk across it, for all the good he'll do us."

Asshole. Yes. The description was accurate to a 'T' and for all intensive purposes, what Ben sought to portray in all regards and measures.

[Atropos] …crack.crack.crack. the sound begins fill the area like a sickening echo. Thick cords of muscle, well-defined and tone ripple underneath the black pelt as tendons and joints cave in and reshape. The wolf half-risen up on her forepaws, head bowed until her nose almost touched her paws. Her back lifted up in a perfect arch as the vertebrae along her spine pops loudly.

The lupus grows larger, in body mass and height, taken on the more vicious dire wolf form called Hispo. Atropos appears a little more nightmarish, less cuddly than her lupine form. The thick ruff along her spine spokes out as her hackles rise. Yellow eyes pinpoint on the Cub, the upper lip curling back as she snarls at Andrew, and then snaps her jaws in a loud bark

The Hispo erects herself up onto her paws, stalking forward until she perches on the edge of the obsidian head. Her massive body lowers to her belly, legs gathering up as her tail whips back and forth. Her attention directed on Andrew alone.

[Linnea Bartlett] "Control your wolf. Find it, embrace it - wolf. Beast. Words." The Glabro's voice is still low, darker and deeper than her girlish human voice, and her English sounds choppy and gutteral. "They are words. Call it what you want. Find it inside you and change." She snorts, her nostrils flaring with a prodigious snort, her now broad shoulders and chest expanding at she takes in another breath. "The more you control it, the less it controls you."

Linnea turns and shoots Ben a glowering look, which she then turns again upon Andrew. "Show him. You are a Silver Fang. Show him your aren't afraid of your wolf. Show him. Change." The pure breed undergirds her words, with an aura of command. She snorts again, crosses her muscled arms firmly over her chest.

[Andrew Black] Andrew crouched down, looking at both Ben and Atropos. Growling right back before closing his eyes. He focused inward, looking for the anger he had felt before. Though it was easy to find, considering the fuckers who were pestering him now. He wasn't scared! He wasn't useless!

He clenced his fists, his anger rising inside him. Those bastards! How dare they?! They had no right to talk about him like that! His teeth ground together, as he felt drums pound inside his skull. His breathing grew heavy and ragged as his blood boiled inside of him. He wasn't feeling anger any more, it was Rage, so pure, powerful, and strong.

He let out a growl again, his body twisting and changing. It was like the first time, as all his power filled him and came screaming out. It felt like his skin was burning and tearing from the inside out, his jaws swelling and growing outward into a snout, his body growing beyond the bonds of his clothing, constricting it tightly before ripping it apart.

It all seemed like an eternity but it was an almost instant transformation. There on the ground was Andrew in his War Form. A powerful beast covered in shimmering white fur. His wolven eyes turned on Atropos and Ben, and a new, powerful growl erupted from his threat. He snapped his jaws back at Atropos with a threatening bark before he stood, breathing heavilly.

( Spent temp Rage to instantly shift. )

[Benjamin Keyes] As the growling receded into loud breathes and billows, the still human Ben, cradled inside his voluminous street robes, cowled and crouched atop that fallen BSD, is laughing, the sound rising into the midst of the power and stroke, a hand clapping along his thigh in sharp contrast to the reverberating primal-nature one could nearly taste on the air around the four.

"Well well, looks like the Kid's not so gunshy afterall." The Rotagar draws the hoody back, revealing those normal features and a classic forgettable smirk, hair bunched into a tight crop near the back, slicked and kept away from his brow and eyes.

"I wonder if he can fight, eh 'Rina?" A flicker of those eyes directed in the Black Fury's direction, almost a baiting of sorts, that seems suggestive as he climbs into a straightened position all sorts of If you don't, I will, Toots, in that grin of his.

[Atropos] The Hispo Black Fury seemed to have read the Rotager’s thoughts, as if the puny Silver Fang Cub could really make her quake in her fur. Despite his pure blood, riveting through the now Crinos Andrew, the fact that he was male, young and impetuous, unskilled, sifted through her feral mind.

It was time for Andrew’s first lesson of combat.

”Insufferable little whelp… ya think yar so proud.. so full of shit. Pitiful excuse for a Silver Fang.” her growls echo out, badgering and scolding, malice lashed like a snake’s forked tongue upon her mocking howls. With her limbs gathered beneath her, Atropos moves suddenly, pouncing from her perch on the obsidian bane’s head to another.

One after the other, the Hispo hop scotched her way towards Andrew until she lands on the backs of two dueling Garou. Obsidian and Alabaster.. Spiral and Gaian, interlocked in fight to the death as the earth cracked and spiked under their paws in attempts to swallow them.

The Black Fury leers downward, hackles raised and snapping her jaws at the Cub, saliva dripping from her maw, nostrils flared out as she breathes in and out in heavy cuffs. ”Come then, pathetic little shit. Sonuva mule.”

[Linnea Bartlett] "You found it." Linnea is intent on Andrew. When he shifts - instantenously - she flashes a savage version of her usual smile - a vibrant, bestial celebration of his accomplishment. It splits her mouth wide, exposing her maw full of sharpened teeth. Her biceps clench and bulge. "And you are in control."

"Feel that, cub. She is taunting you. Feel your rage. Your furnace. You are in control. You harnessed it once. Harness it again. The beast serves you, it fuels you. Hold its reins. Find yourself and answer the challenge. You are no whelp, you are a Silver Fang and Garou." Severina taunts Andrew, tempting his Beast; Linnea stands there, savage and Glabro, her body bright with the purity of her blood, her constant commentary an anchor for his mind and his beast. "Your beast serves you."

[Benjamin Keyes] -beast serves you.

The Rotagar is cracking up, clutching at his stomach and ribs, trying hard to keep from busting bones as his mirth pitches to the ceiling above, adding that haurranging tone of derision to this sudden conflict. What the No-moon is laughing at is anyone's guess, but he seems to be enjoying a large 'bout of guffawing at Andrew's expense in all this.

[Andrew Black] Andrew didn't give a damn about who served who and who's reins were whos! This bitch, too afraid to come down and face him could taunt him all she wanted but Andrew was resolute. His rage filled him, threatening to turn his blood to steam. She was going to be taught the lesson, and Andrew wouldn't back down until he shut her mouth. Maybe ripping it apart would do the trick!

He lumbered towards Atropos, his eyes darting towards Ben as if to say, 'When I'm done with her, you're next'. Then he lunged, climbing up the statue toward the Black Fury. His mind filled only with images of himself slaughtering her, the need to bring her pain, and the fantasy of standing over her bloody form, which would beg to be pardoned for her words.

[Atropos] The Cub took the bait and Atropos only offers him a feral grin as the young Silver Fang starts to climb up towards her. She bunches up on her haunches and prepares to launch herself at him in a counter-pounce.

[Andrew Black]
Dice Rolled: [ 1 d10 ] 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Atropos] Intiative Roll. 8 + ...
Dice Rolled: [ 1 d10 ] 6

[Andrew Black] (( Err.. I mean 17, forgot to add the +1 dex for being in Crinos ))

[Linnea Bartlett] Initiative: Dex (4) + Wits (3) +
Dice Rolled: [ 1 d10 ] 5


[Benjamin Keyes] Initiative: 8 + ...
Dice Rolled: [ 1 d10 ] 9

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Order is as follows. Ben/Andrew, Severina, Linnea. If yer char ain't doin' anything but watching, don't post about it heh. Let's get this done quick.))

[Carmen Losada] PMing you the Flaw roll so I have a witness:
Please, please, PLEASE DON'T FAIL!!!1
Dice Rolled: [ 5 d10 ] 4, 6, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 4 at target 6)
PMed to: Linnea Bartlett

[Atropos]
The Cub took the bait and Atropos only offers him a feral grin as the young Silver Fang starts to climb up towards her. She bunches up on her haunches and prepares to launch herself at him in a counter-pounce.

[Andrew Black] Andrew was making his way to the top, growling as he pulled back, ready to lunge at her. He bunched up, and then released the energy, launching himself straight at Atropos.

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Alright. This is going to be a Body Tackle from Andrew. Need him to roll Dex + Ath. diff. 6.

Once that's determined, Severina do the Same, roll. Diff of 6 + Andrew's Sux.))

[Andrew Black]
Dice Rolled: [ 6 d10 ] 4, 4, 4, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) [WP]

[Carmen Losada] ooc: Er.. am I allowed to have Carmen try to interupt? Because she's about to. Heh.

[Benjamin Keyes] ((After the First 'Round is finished Miche.))

[Atropos] Body tackle.
Dice Rolled: [ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 10 (Failure at target 10)

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Andrew, Str + 3 for Damage Diff. 6. Severina, Soak Roll please. Diff. 6))

[Andrew Black]
Dice Rolled: [ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Atropos] Soak Rolls.
Dice Rolled: [ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Alrighty, gimme just one sec. Miche you can post right after me if you like.))

[Benjamin Keyes] ((*smacks head* Nevermind sorry, Severina's still got an action.))

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Alright. Same rolls as Before, except Reversed. Severina Dex + Ath. Diff. 6.

After that, Andrew, Dex + Ath. Diff 6 + Severina's Sux.))

[Atropos] Body Tackle
Dice Rolled: [ 5 d10 ] 3, 4, 7, 7, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Andrew Black]
Dice Rolled: [ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 9) [WP]

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Severina Str + 1 Damage. Andrew Soak Roll. Both Diff. 6.))

[Andrew Black] Soak
Dice Rolled: [ 4 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 8 (Failure at target 6)

[Atropos] Damage roll
Dice Rolled: [ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Benjamin Keyes] The sudden silence that follows the pair leap-frogging towards one another is momentary, as growls rush from throats to collide in the air mere split-seconds before fur, body and muscle rush to meet one another. The thunder of the roars and snarls that erupt is deafening at this distance, echoing far into the cavernous depths, something that forces a wince out of Ben for any lurking above hearing battle noises from this particular area of the Caern.

The sudden collision is thunderous, black and white fur, meshing as shoulders find guts and limbs sail into hardened muscle. The pair plummet backwards as Andrew's initial lunge carries him hard into Atropos, enough to pitch them over several of the statues nearby, thankfully askew of any sharp or destructive points that might 'cause more damage then is necessary.

As the pair Land, the concussive thrum of more then a ton of weight, fails to shake the Gardens around them, even as bruises ride through Atropos' fleshy ribcage. The landing goes worse on Andrew however, as Atropos' shoulder drives hard into his sternum the creak of bones and jostle of internals forcing a fracture through one of the Ribs, that digs white hot lances of pain through the Cub's torso.

[Carmen Losada] The Record Keeper [half the time, she still feels like a damned fraud calling herself that] was absent for several days, off to New York with one of her prospective packmates to go dredge up more information pertaining to Grecco. She's recently arrived with more questions in her hands and her eyes and upon her tounge than she has any answers to give.
Such is life.
Sebastian went off to either get some much needed sleep at the flat or to do whatever it is Theurges do. And Carmen had steered her harley not for home and food and sleep, but for the church and then down below, to the Records. A few hours spent there and then it's off to see if she can scrounge up the WyrmFoe [she wonders sometimes if Linnea gets that same feeling of being a fraud, unworthy to fill the shoes of those who held the position before them... do Fangs ever feel that way? Curious.] to devliver her [frustrating] report. It brings her towards the place of the Statues. Effectively a burial ground filled with foes and heroes alike, filled with those she sang a rather exaustive rite for in the last moot.

...filled now with the low sound of battles beginnings.
It raises her hackles, so to speak. The bitter taste of adrenaline fills her mouth, a memory of the battle there. The rising of fine hairs along her form. The narrowing of amber eyes and the taut tension of her petite, svelte form...
Those eyes widen as she takes in the scene... narrow again.
And then, without warning, the Uktena Galliard comes to an abrupt stop at the edge of this effective shrine.
She shifts. Immediately. Burning with Rage, she all but pulses disgusted disbelief, the normally soft-spoken woman now a beast, her muzzle curling in a vicious, enraged, indignant rictus as she call out sharply.
As she snarls in the High Tongue.
"Black Fury! And you, Unknown-to-Me!...just what do you think you are doing!? Stop immediately or I swear I'll shout your dishonour over the span of a moon-cycle, you fools."

[Xeno Chavez] *Hearing the sounds echoing up though the tunnels the dark wolf turns and heads downwards. Twisting and turning, following his ears as well as his nose he finally spills out into the Battlefield. Pausing by the tunnel there. Furry ears flicker and he glances to Carmen and then back to the fight. Standing in his lupus form, the green eyes taking in the combatants. Shifting slightly, almost instinctively to find the shadow there by the entrance, the Shadow Lord watches*

[Benjamin Keyes] "Uh oh. Mama's home." The chuckling is deep and still filled with unbridled mirth, Ben stepping down from his perch on the BSD he'd been crouching on, flickers of fingertips running over a knife appeared once more in his grasp, hare-toe boot settling on the obsidian and alabaster ground that runs into one another like some warped version of the Yin and Yang.

His eyes are cast in Carmen's direction, the half-grin suggestive of his mood, even as he dances around the nearest tall-standing statue to near a place next to Linnea. Pack solidarity.

"S'not like they were aiming to break any of the fine China."

[Linnea Bartlett] Linnea changes instantly to Crinos - a massive white-silver beast, sweeping in Andrew's wake - stopping on the periphery. The Crinos' jaws snap open to taste the cold wet air, the scents of her pack and tribemates on the air, the sharp undercurrent of rage. She finds within her the spark of rage and spends it on her gifts, trembling with the strength necessary to hold herself back, so that she may act, if and as necessary.

They do not fight, the Crinos Silver Fang huffs, its voice reverberating over the field of battle, the massive head and pale, clear gaze lowering briefly on the Uktena. they spar. The cub has found his wolf, here - with the dead to remind him of that against which we forever strive. Let the dead see that - after their sacrifice - we yet live. Perhaps Ben's irreverant attitude toward the holy ground has infected Vanguard of the Dawn. Perhaps - to Linnea - there is a deeper meaning in the setting.

[OOC: Linnea follows, spends a rage to shift to Crinos, and spends a rage on Falcon's Grasp so that she can intervene if it becomes necessary. Those are her actions last round.]

[Atropos] Pounce. Tackle.SLAM!!

They collided, Hispo and Crinos, toppling over several of the statues, living obsidian and alabaster forms crashing hard into each other and onto the blackened earth, dumped unceremoniously. The Black Fury can feel her muscles tense under the pressure of the Cub’s blow to her ribcage. Fire and ice of pain shooting up briefly to constrict the Hispo’s breathing.

Modern-day Atropos can hear the rattling of Carmen’s voice ringing out across the twisted garden of statues to heat her ears. Laying the flat against her skull as the Hispo rolls up to all four paws, shaking out her fur vigorously, a loud rush of hot air cuffs from her nostrils.

Yellow eyes turn to level on the Silver Fang Cub next to her, silently anticipating his ire and his next actions. Whether he listened to or not, is up to Andrew. The Black Fury stands still as the statues surrounding her, waiting.

[Andrew Black] BAM!!!

It was like a thunderclap when they hit, and for a moment Andrew feared he was the weaker of the two. But he overpowered her in that split second, and he surged with pride as he knocked the bitch with him to the floor. Though his pride did diminish when he felt the pain roar through his body.

Slowly, Andrew pushed himself to his feet, holding his hands out to his sides and showing his claws. And then he curled his wolven lips back to reveal his fangs. He merely ignored the noise box that was shouting something about dishonoring them. What was dishonor to him? Besides, being dishonorable was worth the price if he was able to hurt Atropos just a bit more.

[Benjamin Keyes] ((Linnea Make yer Falcon's Grasp Roll.))

[Xeno Chavez] *Watching them tumble and then get up, the black lupus tilts his head, scenting the air his ears rotate a bit and fold back in mild displeasure but he continues to watch. He was a late comer to this scene. One or the other might well deserve an asswhupping, but Xeno didn’t know which. Only knowing Atro a bit more that the others, he silently cheers for her. She made him smile. Well, in forms that smiling didn’t invite fights.*

[Linnea Bartlett] Grapple: Strength (3) + Crinos (4) + FG (3) + Brawl (3) = 13
Dice Rolled: [ 13 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6) [WP]

[Benjamin Keyes] Andrew's snarls and tauntings towards Severina are Halted a moment Later as Linnea's arms suddenly seize him beneath the jaw, clapping it shut and under one arm, a half-nelson applied with pathetic ease as the Strength of Falcon flows through one of his favoured children. The Wyrmfoe seems utterly at ease throughout the entire process, the hold pushing Andrew forcefully towards the ground, his free arm left to flail uselessly out at one side.

[Carmen Losada] The Ragabash makes his witty quips. The cub and the Fury continue to spar and the Silver Fang Approves their actions...

...the Uktena snarls right back at the Fang, amber eyes narrowing all the more.
"The words of an Ahroun, WyrmFoe. And fitting for its purpose. But this. Is. A. SHRINE. Cease now, by Gaia, or the cub will find its first lesson in the ways of renown to be harsh and the rest of you will fare no better. I spent my blood, my sweat, and my marrow sining your deeds do not for a moment think I will hesitate to strike down your names if you do not cease the distrbance of this sacred place.
TAKE IT ELSEWHERE. NOW."

[Benjamin Keyes] Ben's gaze suddenly narrows at Carmen, the flash of something beneath beginning to call. Like to Like, Beast to Beast. The dance of the fingers ceases suddenly, the dagger vanishing once more into the length of his sleeve, where it belongs, even as he pulls up off the statute he'd been leaning on, jaw clacking askew and holding at an awkward angle.

Those eyes travel Carmen's form and state, eyeing her up and down with a slow and steady sort of gauge, something that speaks of hidden words and phrases best not uttered at this particular moment. Ben was an asshole but he wasn't looking to angle a Galliard in the right direction to run headlong into a frenzy especially with the Nigh Full Moon threatening above them. Right now it would be much too easy.

"...Settle down there, Gibbous. The Kids have stopped and your precious Shrine is safe and sound. No ones going to spit chips and the statues aren't going to break. So settle your fool ass down and quit drawin' all the gods in human heaven down here with your bellowing."

Ok. Maybe just a little poking.

[Xeno Chavez] *Flicker of a dark furry ear and the Deep black Lupus shifts back into the shadows from which he came.*

[Linnea Bartlett] Breathing heavily, focused on holding the cub - attuned in a primal way to the tension lancing through Andrew's Crinos' frame - Linnea does not reply to Carmen. She simply holds Andrew, firmly - Falcon's gift magnifying her considerable strength to an unmatched level - until she feels the tension leave his frame, or until he shifts down.

With difficulty, she snarls out a few human words into his ear, her voice a quiet growl. "Shift down, human-skin. Fought well."

[Atropos] Nostrils flare outward, snorting in a loud cuff as the Black Fury had been standing there the entire time as the Cub tries to make a grab for her. A flickerflash of Rage burns in the Black Fury and she makes that instant jump between all her forms until she straightens up, tall and erect, in her war form. There is a wicked glimmer of steel that suddenly materializes in the left palm of her hand as the dedicated labrys appears.

She swings the bat-winged doubled edge blade upward to rest it in the crook of her shoulder. Yellow eyes burning through the silver-white fur mask against black on her lupine features, like... an executioner’s headdress. Her massive body swings around to face Carmen, starting at her through yellow slitted eyes.

Her voice ringing out in the High Tongue, addressing Carmen, ”Know th’ fact before committin’ irrational judgment an start singin’ of ill deeds, Swallows th’ Sun-yuf. Th’ fight is halted. Th’ Cub’s contained an’ no more fightin’ will persist.”

[Carmen Losada] "My precious Shrine? MY precious shrine?"
Snarling low, a gutteral growl that seems to ripple along her very pelt [oddly enough the typical reddish-brown hues of her tribe is streaked with sun-kissed gold just as her dark hair is in her birth form] her voice goes as dangerously low as a crinos-form is capable... She takes a step towards the Ragabash, teeth shown as her muzzle flexes in a very real sneer.
"Fool. No Moon. Your Tribe once showed far more honour to such things than you do now. If the Shrine holds no meaning to you, Slays-Before-The-Warcry," No. No suffix there to denote them as equals. "Then do not disgrace it with your ungreatful presence."

Turning away from him she shifts down to Homid, her lovely features now drawn and flushed with her still burning ire. She watches Linnea congradulate the Cub, and takes in the Furies comments with a slow arched eyebrow. "Ahh... tell me then, Modern-Day-Atropos-Yuf. What was the cub doing here? What happened to make him shift? He simply found the ability to do so without counsel, without egging, without any interferance on the part of any gathered? Go on then. Tell me he shifted entirely out of his own volition in sheer ignorance of the place on which he stood. Tell me so and I will retract my harsh words."

[Andrew Black] Finally, Andrew gave up. He had pull all his strength into fighting off Linnea's grasp, but to no effect. Releasing his Rage and returning to his human form. He hunkered down, doing his best to hide his nudity with an embarrased frown. Still, he felt pretty good about himself. He did pretty good against that moldy old crone. But, hopefully, the next time wouldn't be so easily interefered in.

He just turned his attention to Carmen, Ben, and Atropos, smirking as they both got a verbal beating which was no less then they deserved. This chick at least understood what happened here, and he was glad he had a few on his side.

[Linnea Bartlett] Ancestors roll - leadership.
Dice Rolled: [ 4 d10 ] 2, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 8) [WP]

[Atropos] The Black Fury is the last to shift down into her birth form, the axe remaining in her hand and against her shoulder. She continues to watch Carmen, arching slender eyebrows as aquamarine eyes regard the Gibbous moon. She lets her vision slide back towards Linnea and Andrew, and then back to Carmen.

Her throat clears, “Th’ Wyrmfoe brought Andrew on a tour of th’ tunnels an’ ended up here at th’ Caern’s heart. Ben was already here as usual an’ I came deliverin’ a gift. Th’ Wyrmfoe was in th’ amidst of lessons, she wanted to see if th’ Cub could get a feel for his wolf.”

She keeps her eyes on Carmen, her voice grows calm, distant as it takes on it’s stern, husky drawl. “Andrew shifted out of his own violation when a need for survival provided itself. We all face oppositions in life, Swallows th’ Sun-yuf. Th’ lessons we learn in life, as Garou an’ before our Rite of Passages are never easy. There’ll be those that’ll push an’ pull, until our resolve breaks us or makes us. Andrew has shown th’ temperament for survival an’ what it takes to become a Warrior of th’ Sacred Mother. I gave him a focus for his first lesson to shift. Nothin’ more nothin’ less. We had it under control.”

[Atropos] (Rolling for persuasion)

[Atropos] persuasion roll
Dice Rolled: [ 4 d10 ] 1, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Linnea Bartlett] With an instinctual concern for Andrew's shame at his nudity - Vanguard of the Dawn releases him and steps in front of him, shielding him from sight, if he wishes to remain behind her massive Crinos form. She snorts and levels her gaze at Atropos, watching the Black Fury as she speaks. Her mind is open to her ancestors, here at the heart of the battlefield, in the burial ground where so many of their bones have been laid. She takes heed of their counsel, and following the example of her soon-to-be packmate, returns at last to her homid form.

"We fight for our sacred ground," the skinny girl says quietly, reaching up and stripping off her oversized SWARTHMORE tee-shirt, down to her dirty long-sleeved thermal, dedicated as well, nearly always worn beneath the tee in the wintertime. Her words are as much for Andrew as they are for the Galliard, she utters them over the curve of her now-skinny shoulder. "We aren't humans. Warriors died here, warriors are laid here. The cub honored them when he found his wolf here." With a faint flush, Linnea turns and tosses Andrew her t-shirt, to cover himself, meeting his eyes briefly, a twinge of a smile curling across her mouth, pointedly not looking down.

[Atropos]
Dice Rolled: [ 4 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 10 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Carmen Losada] She listens. Irritated [to put it mildly] though she is, when the Fury explains the situation, the Galliard watches her with an intense gaze, that soaks in each word, each small motion of the face, each shift of the body.

And when she finishes, the Galliard does and says nothing for a long moment. Until, finally, husky voice low and careful. Rage still highly present but reigned in with taut precision.

"'Out of his own volition when a need for survival provided itself'... and what was that need for survival. What was it, Philodox of the Black Furies. What was it Ahroun of the Silver Fangs that he so needed to survive?"

She says nothing else for the time being, her gaze steady, her expression taut, closed, and stern. She feels the sway of the Furies word. And she feels the pull of the Silver Fangs sheer breeding. But the strength of the Galliards own beliefs drives her on, undaunted.

"What action was made to urge on his reaction. What did you - any of you - do"


ooc: WP spent to continue on her course. She feels very strongly about driving her point home.

[Andrew Black] Andrew stayed where he was behind Linnea, pulling the sweater on and ruffling his hair after he got his head out. He blushed it back, coughing and whispering softly, "Don't worry. I'll try and tuck it back."

[Benjamin Keyes] He'd listened quite intently, calmly even as Carmen 'explained' herself to him with all the regard and respect one might offer a Mud puddle. Granted, he'd been expecting such but that didn't mean it was polite or kind to deliver on your obvious Rage born mannerisms.

When Carmen turns to regard the three, he's taken a brief step back to allow her room to piss and rage. The Rotagar watches, his face that same semblance of apathetic demand and regard, eyes watching the Galliard's movements as the others deal with her words. Persuasive yes, but her Rage and the overabundance of Pure breeding she was fighting against was making this a pitched battle. It is allowed to continue only long enough for Carmen to get incensed and fully commited to berating the Cubling, The Wyrmfoe and the Executioner, her attention rivetted...

Providing him all the chance and moment he had waited for...

...The Blade was out before the light could gleam against it's edge, his steps as smooth and effortless as one might expect in a situation like this, nary a strong enough light in the Vast cavern or pebbles beneath his steps, to be heard or seen in those motions.

[Carmen Losada] And while she's awaiting a response...
...the Ragabash moves up behind her.
Moves up behind her.
To Cut. Her. Throat.
[at least, such is how she percieves it when...]
...she feels him. At the last moment, she feels him, just before the blade would find it's resting spot right againts her throat. She stiffens, her eyes flashing wide, her lips parting. Every cell of her being focusing ont he twin blade of the phsycial knife.
And his cowardly treachery.
It is low, the snarl from her throat...
...she turns.
Slowly.
Slowly.
To face him.
That previous disgust back again, three-fold in her gaze, a burning despise.

"Coward." Quiet. Low. "Go ahead, No Moon. Dishonourable coward. Attack me. Once again show your absolute lack of wisdom. Once again show you have no regard for this place. Attack me here and risk the sanctity of this place which so obviously means so little to you. I'm facing you now, Fenrir. Attack me now with some modicum of honour. Face to face. Face to fucking face." A hoarse, whispered snarl.

[Atropos] Severina lets out a slow sigh, “…Himself.” The single phrase came out in low voice, a slight turn of her head as she glanced back at the younger pair of Garou behind her, catching the trickle of Andrew’s comment to Linnea.

She shakes her head, turning back to face Carmen, “Tickled ‘is ego. What does a drill sergeant do in th’ army to his cadets, Carmen? Send ‘em out for tea an’ crumpets?” she snorts, “I didn’t think so. He presses their resolve.”

From the corner of her peripheral, she can just catch the moving figure of the Rotagar, shifting her weight on her feet. Her eyebrows drawing into a dark scowl as the labrys lowers from shoulder to her side, all eyes on Ben now.

"Ben..." she growls out in a low tone, "...fuckin' Fenrir."

[Linnea Bartlett] Linnea's shoulders go rigid and her mouth flattens. Her attention is momentarily drawn from the brewing confrontation between the Uktena and her soon-to-be-pack, back to cub behind her, and for the second time this evening, her cheeks burn with hot color. Her jaw juts forward, and she casts a furious, bug-eyed glance over her shoulder at Andrew, not quite meeting his eyes. "You don't have to say things like that." she whispers, furiously, quietly, her face stark white, except for her reddened cheeks. "I don't need to know that," she finishes, her arms crossing defensively over her flat stomach, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

God, she has to focus. Fuck. She shifts uncomfortably again, trying to ram her suddenly scattered thoughts back into the funnel of conviction she felt earlier. She expells a long whistling breath, reaching for her ancestors, the reminder of who she is and why she is here. It takes time, to find that deep pool within herself, and for several moments she must continue to trust Atropos, her Philodox, to speak for her as she draws herself back together, taut with embarassment.

Then the axis of the world shifts again, and draws her back to herself.

"Ben." The Silver Fang calls out, her voice harsh and low. "Enough."

[Linnea Bartlett] Leadership 1 + Ancestors 1 + Charisma 3 + Pure Breed 4 = 9
Dice Rolled: [ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Benjamin Keyes] The smile is pleasant. Pleasant and swimming with condescending tones, long before any words reach his lips.

"Challenge circle is upstairs and I'm getting tired of your lip. We'll talk about this more when I've beaten some of that pissiness out of your system. For now though..." The knife shakes infront of her features, half a foot without the threat to suggest it's going anywhere but back into the sleeve, vanishing much like that grin does, replaced smoothly by the flash of a sneer "...get the fuck up the stairs."

A glance is tossed over Carmen's shoulder at Linnea, the eyes drifting from Carmen. It's subtle, that kind of motion, but profound. A Fenrir that plucks his eyes from his opponent is a Fenrir that feels he's not facing an opponent at all, but then...He's already challenged and Carmen's got the directions. Linnea is found though, his sneer fading into a flat line, eyes peering from beneath the brow.

"I have and will Linnea. I promise. Once this is done."

[Andrew Black] Andrew felt a little embarrased, maybe he said more than he should have. Peeking out from behind Linnea to watch this. Wow, it seemed incredibly stupid that Ben would do something like this. Not that Andrew minded, though; a part of him was looking forward to seeing that a-hole get stomped.

[Carmen Losada] The Galliard laughs, a low, rumbling thing without humour.
"A formal challenge, No Moon? Very well." Her smirk is low and she moves, sleek and slow, away from him. Away from his pack. She stands aside and lets them proceed, because after a stunt like that there is no way in hell she is letting them go after her, turning her back to them once more.
"But, remember, my dear, dear Benjamin. I, the challenged, choose the form the challenge takes."
Yeah.
How about them apples?
When - and only when they go up [and finally away from the damned burial grounds] - will she follow.


[Atropos] Severina begins muttering and cursing under her breath, she turns to look back at Linnea and Andrew, her facial expressions neutral and glacier. “Take Andrew back to th’ Guardian’s quarters, Linnea an’ fetch ‘im clothes.”

She doesn’t say another word, starting to exit the cavern to head for the challenging circle.

[Linnea Bartlett] "C'mon." Linnea turns to Andrew, intent now, following in their wake to the challenge circle above. "Ben challenged Carmen, formally - you should see a challenge, but you need some clothes. Let's go." Her voice is quiet, firm. She clambers back into the tunnel and leads the cub back through the tunnels, setting a fast pace through the winding dark.

[Benjamin Keyes] "...I'm not scared of what challenge you might set, Sunny. Just make sure it's a fight so you and that little coward word you like to throw around so much aren't made personal friends."

He turns to look at Linnea and the rest, his eyes narrowed and his gaze rapt on his Alpha. A brief nod towards Severina's mentions and then he's heading towards the Stairwell, hoody pulled up and a click on his tongue.

[Andrew Black] Andrew hurried along as fast as he could, hoping to quickly get into some clothes. The thought of clothes brought up a question in his mind which he quickly asked, "How come my clothes got torn up.. but yours didn't?"

[Linnea Bartlett] "My clothes are dedicated. One of the Guardians performed a rite, so that they change with me. They're part spirit, like you and I are," the girl explains, quickly as they move - her eyes following Ben and Severina as the tunnels and their paths split. "I can step between the worlds in them, too - they come with me." Her jaw works a line of tension, but the exercise is good for her. As they walk, she gestures ruefully down at the hem of her pants, which once fit her, but are now an inch or two too short. "I - I need to have it done again, too. I've grown since my first change."

[Andrew Black] He nodded a bit, grinning, "Well, whenever someone gets the chance maybe they could give me some spirit pants so that doesn't happen again."

[Linnea Bartlett] "Yeah - " Linnea says, her cheeks coloring once more. "Someone should do that for you, that's kinda.. important. Though I don't know who knows the rite. We lost - " she shoots a glance back through the tunnel, in the direction of the battlefield and graveyard. " - we lost alot in that battle. Andrew - " her voice takes in a stronger tone as they reach, at last, the steps leading up to the Guardian quarters. " - you know why they talked to you like that, don't you?"

[Carmen Losada] "Wyrmfoe." She calls before she dissapears with the cub. "Soon we must speak about the matter I was recently away over. Also, the cub - he needs to learn of the history and ways of the Sept and the Nation. Send him to me for it. Soon."

As for the Ragabash extrodinaire, she merely smirks, a fluid roll of her eyes, a molten chukle. She says nothing.

When at last they reach the challenge circle, she takes her place in its centre, eyeing him slowly. "We will not fight. I will not fight with one who only engages such acts by approaches one would reserve for an enemy, for one who is lesser and worthty of no respect. If that is how you view me, so be it. You are ungrateful untop of all your other faults, No Moon. This, Fenrir, is the challenge: We will give tales of cowardice and folly and disrespect and their outcomes. We will see what each one knows of the matter. It cannot be mere invention, it must draw on specific knowledge of specific explains of that which we are explaining. Do you accept or will you retract your challenge and face dishonor? Your choice, I have all the time in the world.[/i]"

And with that...
...she drops down to her haunches, settling herself down, her eyes remaining on him.

[Atropos] Severina followed the challengers up to the circle. Her mood darkening like a thunderstorm brewing on the horizon, she keeps her voice to herself. Not one comment uttered in regards to what they say. She lowers herself to a crouch, resting easily on the balls of her feet. The labrys resting against her thigh.

She is here to watch and to judge and to provide a witness as a Philodox. Nothing more.

[Benjamin Keyes] The wandering up the flights of Stairs is slow going, taking his time with his hands in his pockets, eyes and features shadowed under that cowl as the procession continues upwards. When Linnea and Andrew continue on to see to the Cub's clothing and continued education, he offers a nod and a smile in her direction before proceeding into the circle. When Carmen takes a seat and Severina settles to a knee, he is stripping out of the thick Hoody and setting it to one side. The turtleneck is next to go, leaving behind a white Wife-beater and a lean torso, over a pair of cargos and hard toe boots.

He walks across the edge of the Circle's border, regarding Carmen with that same half-smile, clapping his hands together as she recites the challenge. When she's finished, he offers a quick snap-glance at Severina, before those eyes fall once more on Carmen.

"...It figures. Next time you call me Coward, Yellow belly I'll just sock you one instead of giving you such an opportunity, but yes. I accept. I ain't scared of you or your know-how and I'll face up to my words at least, Little girl."

He settles into place, one knee and an elbow to his other, peering at Carmen with tilted head and flickering digits, roaming that maddening dance they do, item or not between them.

"You want to go first chump? Homefield advantage afterall."

[Carmen Losada] She yawns when he speaks, broad and wide, then shakes her head.
"Next time you decide to show everyone what a big, strong, brave little boy you are I suggest you choose tactics that back up your delusions of impeccable honour. And, no, by all means, go first." A brief motion, the waving of her hand. "The best is always saved for last, [i]chapito, get used to it.[/i]"

[Atropos] The Black Fury clears her throat, tilting an eyebrow at them. She shakes her head and shifts her weight, tilting back to sit on her ass. This was going to take awhile. Her arms drape across her bent up knees, steeples fingers together.

[Linnea Bartlett] Linnea pauses long enough to meet the Uktena's gaze. She nods in response to the Galliard's first statement, a tense frown curving her mouth downward for the moment. The second statement, however, shoots through her like lightening. Her hair stands out on the back of her neck and her spine stiffens. She has called to her ancestors, and still they live in her and through her, as she provides instruction and commentary to Andrew. It is DeathWatch's voice in her mind's ear, a sibilant and seductive hiss of no-sound in the tone and manner of the long-dead Fang, born under the waning crescent moon, overproud, arrogant, accustomed to command. It dares order you.

She shakes her fair head, half-enthralled, half-sickened by the ancestor stark and livid in her mind, and is withdrawn and furious, troubled and distant and for the rest of the trip back to the guardians' quarters.

[Scene frozen for resolution of the challenge.]