Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - Chapter 6: The New Old Dalton

[Sylvia Dorn]

Sylvia listened to Frida's nearly panicked description of what was happening outside. As she did, a visible tension returned to her body, visible as her stance shifted ever so slightly from the calm teacher to something a touch more alive.

She considered her student's words for several long seconds, then came to a decision.

"Alright," she finally said, in a voice that was at once urgent and authoritative. "I want the three of you to get up to the attic, as fast as you can. Close the door. Lock it if you can; bar it with a chair if you can't. I'm going to go deal with this situation." She opened the door of her suite - likely not to be mine for much longer, she rued - and started out, only stopping once to turn and say a single word: "Hurry."

With that, Sylvia ran to face whoever or whatever it was that called itself Constance Pritchard.

[SalmonMax]

"Wait a second," Renata tried to interject...but Sylvia wasn't having any this time.

She signed and shook her head. "Pritchard doesn't even know I'm in on this," she explained to Lucia and Frida. "I'm not sure what she'd think about you, Lucia. But I've kept my nose clean this time."

"You guys go hide out in the attic, I guess. I'll see if I can catch Dorn before she makes a giant ass of herself."

She hurried after Sylvia.

[Ryan Jackson]

Originally Posted By: Sean Cassidy

"Guess you have a guest-room then, Ryan." Sean went and got some blankets and pillows for Jason, then showed the other boys the guest-rooms.

"Cool. Thanks." Ryan looked down at himself and then added, "I could use a shower. If you don't mind I mean. It's been a busy night, be nice to not feel grimy."

Sean nodded, "Yeah, sure. Linen closet is next to the bathroom, just toss the towel into the hamper when you're set."

"Thanks man." Ryan kicked off his shoes and then removed his socks, and shirt. He left his watch, wallet, and such on the bed before heading down to the bathroom to get cleaned up. After a hot shower he made his way back to the guest room and was out like a light in minutes.

[Dawn OOC]

Ravi

“Mr. FitzCoventry,” Mrs. Pritchard said, her voice dropping into a soothing murmur, “let me help you. Something is happening to you, I can feel it, and I think I can help.”

Ravi roared again, though there was no word in the heart of that sound. This time, she bolted. Ravi watched with burning green eyes as his ‘prey’ headed toward the Administration Building, running as if a demon pursued her.

And perhaps, one would be – as soon as it finished taking care of the security guard climbing shakily to his feet.

Sylvia, Lucia, Frida and Renata

Sylvia bolted outside, heading for where Frida said Ravi had been left to face Pritchard alone. Her heart pounded in her chest, demanding that she move faster than she ever had before, trying to protect Ravi. As she raced into the night, she couldn’t know that Ravi wasn’t the one who needed saving.

The other four girls looked at one another after Renata’s announcement; then Ahvia pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head and stood. “If we are to help, then we should go help, yes?” She looked at them expectantly, her dark eyes glittering under the shadow of her hood.

Click to reveal..

I want Ravi to dictate his own actions, Sylvia, so once he’s posted, you can have Sylvia see what he’s doing and Pritchard fleeing.

Those with Sean are getting in bed, so I'll need a bit of patience as I shift things forward. If you think of something you want to do, let me know!

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

Still in his crouch Ravi snarled, head snapping to follow the fleeing Pritchard as his muscles tensed to spring after her- then he hesitated and froze, his eyes widening in sudden panic. The Beast... the Beast was here, it's claws lightly pressing into the skin of his shoulders, it's breath hot on his neck. He heard it's growl, low and triumphant. It was time now. Time for the Beast to be free. It was done waiting. He was aware of deep, hoarse breathing and realised that it was his own. The rumbling growl was within his own chest. He looked at the guard as he got to his feet, staring blankly at Ravi. The emotionless gaze was unaffected by whatever it was that had sent Pritchard running. Ravi knew that whatever was behind those eyes would not be moved by his sudden plight, but his fear was fast overwhelming him. He reached out a hand towards the guard...

"Please-" Pain rippled through his body and he screamed, feeling every nerve-ending vibrating with white-hot sensation that could not truly be called pain, not anymore. He felt his muscles dancing, his whole body spasming as it fell backwards and he screamed again, his voice cutting through the night air. This second cry was not purely of pain or fear, though. There was another note to it, a deeper primal tone of savage exultation that rang out beneath the voice of the man-boy.

"Oh god!" Ravi groaned and doubled up, his body arcing and twisting away from the watching guard, flopping and spasming in a manner which would have been comical to watch were it not for the look of pain and terror twisting his handsome features. It felt as though claws were tearing at his innards, as though something inside wanted out in the fastest, most brutal way. His thoughts were a babble of panicked agony.

Oh godI'mdyingallofthistooyoungwhymewhat... did... I... do...?Uuuuughshitgoddamnit! His mind, seeking some anchor to latch onto, flashed to a conversation he'd had not to long ago with Mari, right there on the quad, her fingers lightly brushing his arm as she earnestly explained “I don’t know what the dream meant either, but I know it felt true. That dream was trying to tell you something—tell us both something.”

"Mari..." Ravi moaned breathlessly as fresh spasms of pain tore at him. The dream had been a message, just like she'd said. He'd met the Beast, and it was him. Pain transcending agony filled every fibre of his being, and then he thought no further.

Loud cracking sounds filled the night air as bone and sinew rearranged itself. This was not a transformation so much as it was a birth, and it showed. Swirls of ether played in the air around Ravi's body as it bulged and contracted. There was a ripping noise as his clothes exploded from his form, dark velvet-like fur spreading like fire where smooth coffee-colored skin had once been. Teeth rearranged themselves, a mouthful of knives replacing the pitiful blunt cutlery that was Man's lot. Clenched hands spasmed, bones popping as they became soft, strong pads with deadly claws flexing from their tips.

Ravi threw back his head and screamed one more time as the last of the Man's conscious control was lost and the Beast that he had become took over. There was nothing human in this cry. It was the roar of a predator-born, ripsawing through the night and causing the monkey in every human hindbrain within earshot to freeze and become small, lest it become prey. Ravi was gone now: in his place was a magnificent black panther the size of a lion, it's eyes the same green-gold his had been but with a luster far more glorious and terrible. Muscle like steel bunched and flowed under soft fur as the great beast's eyes blinked, taking in it's surroundings, then fixed on the guard. The eyes turned to slits and the panther growled.

The guard watched impassively, as though students becoming roughly 400 lbs of killing machine were a daily occurence for him. As Ravi's hind-legs tamped down, the blankly-staring man raised his hands and, insanely, moved to attack.

With a roar, Ravi pounced.

[Sylvia Dorn]

Ravi was writhing on the ground as Sylvia closed the distance, one of Pritchard's goon squad watching as his body convulsed with pain.

He's hurt one of mine! The thought burned through the teacher's mind, hot and angry, a haze across her sight...

...and something just as hot and angry tore through her body, dropping her to the concrete sidewalk in mid-run, still a good thirty yards from her stricken student and the eerily passive guard. Cloth tore and skin was brought red and raw as she slid across the harsh surface, but she didn't notice, for far more pain wracked her from within.

Gasping for air with lungs trapped in a shifting rib-case, something in her tried to scream. Tried, but what came from her throat was a scream of a different sort, a blood-curdling sound no human had ever made. Sylvia's mind, careful and disciplined and honed to a razor's edge, was no match for what was happening to her; rational thought fled like birds from the underbrush startled by a predator, leaving what remained of her alone with the primal undercurrent she'd felt and denied until now. Only now, it was no undercurrent; it was a torrent, a raging flood that washed through her body, scouring away the trappings of a human being and leaving behind what truly lay beneath.

A roar, nearby and full of sheer primal power, caught her sharpened ears as the brutal transformation neared its end.

Moments later - as the guard went down in an unholy hell of Ravi's claws and teeth - that roar was answered by her own. And the sleek black panther that had been Sylvia leapt forward to protect her adoptive young.

[Frida Ricci]

Frida gazed at Renata neutrally as the girl announced her intentions to follow Dorn. Then the strange new girl spoke up, and Frida glanced at her with a startled expression, finally catching up to the strangeness of the feathered girl's appearance before she pulled her hood over her head. She blinked once, the nodded, her gaze flickering to the doorway that Renata had just walked through.

"Very well. It's not what Mrs. Dorn told us to do, but there is safety in numbers so they say. Of course, they could be wrong. It might just make it easier to kill us."

Without waiting for Lucia to make up her mind, she turned and departed out the same door, assuming that the feathered girl at least would be following her. The swiftness of her footsteps, which turned into a quick jog as she started her descent down the long hallway, was the only indication of her impatience.. that and a flicker of worry that creased her delicate brow.

She didn't make it to the door in time to see Ravi's transformation - though she heard the roar from halfway down the hall. At that point all pretense was gone, and the wisp of an artist broke into a run, a small cry of fright slipping out of her lips. That primal roar might have made any other human in the area want to run as far away as possible.. but instead Frida pressed on, reaching the doorway where Renata stood just as Sylvia began to shift. Her breath left her, and the shock of what she was witnessing kept her from drawing it back in for those long, terrifying moments. Then Renata heard her suck in her breath sharply, and a soft, frightened whisper slipped from between her lips.

"Oh god..."

[z022]

Lucia followed the others out, right next to Ahvia and pleased that the run didn't at all wind her. A few weeks ago, she'd've been just a little out of breath.

A shiver went through her at the first howl, but only made her increase her speed. She'd heard plenty of animals hunting in the woods recently, and someone might need help. Her headlong flight came to an abrupt halt as she witnessed Sylvia's transformation; her momentum sent her to her knees as her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my God, what the-?"

She followed "Sylvia's" trajectory to where another black panther was engaged in mauling some poor man. Was the Quad somehow turning people into panthers? And that poor man! She swallowed back her dinner as it attempted to join her on the Quad and shut her eyes tightly in horror. She was trying to stand, to go help the man, but her legs were shaky underneath her. No one should have to see something like that.

And then no one did. The shadows on the Quad deepened beyond black, rising impossibly from where they had lain and oozing up around where the panthers and the man were battling. To the observers, it was darkness incarnate, an impossible cloud of black the pulsed and shifted over the area. To those caught within it, it was far more than mere darkness: there was no sight, no sound, no smell in this abyss. Direction meant nothing, the very air was smothering with the unnatural pitch; only the ground beneath them and the touch of their skin could give them any indication that the world still existed at all.

Click to reveal..

9/10 Power remaining for Lucia. All actions are at a +2 difficulty. All Stamina-based die pools are also reduced by two.

[SalmonMax]

Renata hadn't counted on Sylvia running to meet Pritchard. She stepped up her pace when she heard a weird noise, like a roar. Even so, by the time she'd caught up with her, it was already too late. Dorn was in the quad, heading for Pritchard...except the Trustee wasn't there. Instead, a giant black cat, like a blak cougar, was menacing a guard.

That brought Renata to a confused halt. She wasn't afraid; the situation was too far outside the sphere of her world.

And then Ms Dorn changed, in front of her eyes, into another giant black cat.

Somewhere in the back of her head, a lucid piece of her mind noted that the process of changing did not look easy, or fun. It took several seconds, during which clothes and skin and bone seemed to shred away from the human self, leaving another black cougar (or something) stalking towards the first.

Renata's foot caught as her legs wobbled, and she tumbled to the laid bricks of the quad, banging her knee a good one in the process. She wouldn't feel it for awhile though.

The feeling in her head was as if her mind was made up of free floating islands, all tied together with bungie cord. And now that connective tissue was gone, allowing the pieces of her mind to drift ever farther apart in all directions. Pieces of her were variously screaming incoherently, urging her to flee, hoping tht didn't happen to her, wondering if Pritchard did it, worrying about going mad, demanding that she turn away and forget all this...when a deeper, more powerful voice from her very center.

Wait. Watch.

The rest of her mind fell quiet, if not silent, and Renata did as instructed.

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean settled Swan in Savannah's room, showing her how to use the shower and fill the tub in the bathroom it shared with Cassandra's room. The woman from a different world found the ease of accessing hot and cold water very remarkable and proceeded to fill herself an exceedingly hot bath. He pointed out the terry cloth bathrobe hanging on the door, then pulled out some of the clothes that Savannah had left behind for Swan to pick over - his younger sister was still growing and was still a ways from reaching Cassandra's and Vanessa's impressive height, so her stuff was a close enough fit. After that, he went back downstairs to take care of his most recent guest.

"Well, Brahn... I suppose I could set up you up in the den..." Sean began hesitantly, not really comfortable with having the shadowy-skinned man staying here, especially with his potential animosity towards Swan.

Brahn cocked his head, looking up, in Swan's direction, then shook his head and gave Sean a wry smile. "That is not necessary. I have left my sister in proximity to the Door, and with this... woman haunting the halls of Dalton, I wish to assure myself of her safety. I will be taking my leave, but look forward to speaking again. The Caramines are a danger to us all, whatever the... state of this one. Until next we meet." Brahn glided backwards into a corner of the living-room, the shadows spreading around him like a cloak, and he was gone.

"Okaaaay... I'm too tired and sore right now for this shit," Sean muttered. He turned off the lights, then trudged upstairs, heading for Vanessa's ensuite for his own shower.

The hot water jetting forcefully from the shower head was almost painful as it struck his sore, and surprisingly sensitive flesh. After a long moment, the sensation grew tolerable, the warm heat seeping into his aching muscles. Getting cleaned up, he grinned derisively when all he could find was a plush loufa to lather up with, then scrunched up his nose at the pungent cleaning supplies - the soap smelled too much of flowers and the shampoo too much of fruit, but it was all he had on hand. I should have taken one of the guest rooms, the stuff in the other bathroom is fragrance-free.

Entirely too fragrant for his taste, Sean stepped out of the shower as the water began to cool, the water heater finally being overwhelmed by a bath and several showers in so short a time. With a towel wrapped around his waist and his soiled clothes in his hand, he padded out of the ensuite and down the hall to Cassandra's room. He stepped inside and paused in surprise.

Perched on the edge of the bed was Swan, the bathrobe belted loosely, revealing a long line of firm, feminine flesh as pale as milk. Her inky, black hair contrasted sharply with the paleness of her throat and the white, terrycloth bathrobe. She stood as Sean entered, water still beading his muscular chest, hands tightening at her sides.

"I know I have no right to ask anything more of you, Sean, but I was wishing to ask you... if I could stay in these chambers with you this night." Swan saw the faint colour rising in Sean's cheeks and her mouth tightened, solid black eyes widening slightly. "I am not proposing we share a bed! A place on the floor will be enough. It is just... with this... Lhesk tonight and this entire day... I find your presence... assuring." She finished in a soft, questioning tone, hands pressed to her sides to still their fidgeting.

"Oh. Oh! Sure, that's not a problem, Swan," Sean said, a handing holding his towel to make sure it didn't choose the most embarrassing time to fall off. "But you take the bed, I insist. I'll just go into the other room and grab the mattress and throw on the floor here, okay? Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back."

Sean quickly turned around and swiftly walked back Savannah's room. There, he yanked off the towel and pulled his boxer-briefs back on - they were what he usually wore to bed, and the cleanest thing he had left anyway. He threw the blankets over his shoulder, wrestled the mattress off the bed-frame, then pushed it out door and into Cassandra's room, letting it fall to the floor next to the other bed.

"There we go," Sean said, looking up to give Swan a grin, then swallowing deeply when he saw the bathrobe hanging from a bedpost. Guess she sleeps in the nude, he thought inanely.

Buried in the covers, she looked up at him with grateful, depthless eyes and gave him a small, indebted smile that seemed inexperienced and unfamiliar to her features. "Thank-you, Sean."

Sean gave her an acknowledging shrug and a nod, turned back to turn off the lights, then flopped down face first on his impromptu bed, cushioning his head on his arm. Very soon, he heard the slow, deep breaths of true sleep emanating from the bed above him, but he didn't think sleep would come so easily for him. Not with a naked woman just feet from him - more than just pretty, if very odd, an alien, really, when you thought about it. Not that he was shy or a virgin or anything - he had had a girlfriend in Whistler and they had done it pretty frequently, though she was the only girl he had gone all the way with. It was just that, teenaged boy plus naked woman plus a single room does not equal sleep, or at least, not only that.

But he was wrong. Slumber rolled over him in an inexorable tide, and carried him away on the strangest dreams...

[Atomicweasel]

In room 223 on the second floor of Lancaster Hall, Mari stirred out of sleep. Her bedsheets were in a tangle around her legs and feet, her pretty brow slick with sweat and plastered with the sticky strands of her long hair. Her throat was tight with the lingering fear of her dream. Her nightmare.

She stood up and paced the floor of her room. Across from Mari, Rachel still slept soundly, earphones in place, a spot of drool widening onto the pillow beneath her cheek. The lissome little teen crossed back to the window and looked outside. The dream was not an easy one to shed. The sensations of it were familiar to her now. Running with the sound and fury of some animal in hot pursuit. The certainty that it would catch her thick and heavy in her chest. A solid lump of terror that caught and held her voice.

Mari swallowed. Goosebumps still crept along her slender arms and down her shapely legs. From her window Mari looked out upon the Dalton campus. The Quad was swallowed in darkness so absolute that Mari couldn't even see the pale glimmer of moonlight. That's weird... she thought.

She could still hear the thunderous roar from her dream, could still feel the coiled tension of her body...why couldn't she relax? Just breathe. Mari told herself. But the air she sucked into her lungs seemed thick and heavy and smothering, like the stale hot breath of the beast on her face in the moment before it would snarl and tear into the softness of her throat.

It's not a dream. Mari realized with a start. The roar had been real, it was the ring of it in her ears that had woken her from her sleep. Beneath her window she now saw a small gathering of students, in night shirts and pajamas, all looking towards the Quad and murmuring to one another in low and frightened whispers. Something terrible was happening and with a jolt that started somewhere in her spine and ended in her heart, Mari knew that Ravi was at its center.

It took her only seconds to get dressed. To wiggle herself into an old pair of jeans with torn knees, stomp her feet into her scuffed up Reeboks and yank a skinny threadbare hoodie over her head. She was still trying to wrestle her arms through the sleeves as she bolted down the stairs, three at a time, and exploded out the door onto the front lawn.

Mari turned toward a pale-skinned girl with a proud sharp nose. "What's going on?" she gasped breathlessly at Emily Des Lauriers.

Emily simply pointed at the Quad...

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The Beast was exultant as it leapt on the guard, cruelly-hooked talons flashing like blackened steel as they unsheathed themselves and ripped into flesh and sinew. The man fell to the ground under his attacker, crying out in pain even as he locked his hands around the furred throat. Blood from the immediate, terrible wounding soaked through the uniform shirt, it's scent filling the air, but there was no fear-stink from the mauled man. He kept fighting, trying to choke his opponent whilst keeping those awful jaws from tearing out whatever life remained in his body. Whatever strength or courage allowed him to push past his injuries was not enough to completely stop the Beast that Ravi had become, and the great head bore down inexorably, fangs and eyes gleaming with bestial malice even as the second panther raced in to share in the kill.

Then blackness fell over the Quad. Smothering, clinging, a blanket that deadened the senses that the predators relied upon. Ravi jerked his head back from his kill, momentarily confused and outraged, letting out an ear-splitting roar that was muffled by the unnatural darkness. Another roar followed the first, just as outraged, as the more-focused Sylvia shouldered him aside more by accident than design in the gloom and struck at the wounded guard, her jaws closing on a flailing arm with a crunch of bone.

Ravi snarled, swatting at the other panther blindly and lunging for his kill himself, sinking his teeth into the man's shoulder and growling menacingly at the interloper as he tugged his prey away from the impertinent female. For her part, the angry Sylvia was in no mood to relinquish her grip or to take the grumbling from the male, and her own snarls were less-than-contrite as the two great cats blundered through the gloom playing tug-of-war with the guard's body, life having now departed from that poor individual's form.

A partial-collision with a tree made up Ravi's mind for him. This was no fun: the prey was dead, the female was an unwanted intrusion, and the strange blackness was confusing and frightening. With a sullen snarl that was the equivalent of "Fine, HAVE it then!" he released the flopping corpse and stalked cautiously off, seeking a way out of the shadows.

So it was that the watchers outside the patch of darkness saw the form emerge from it's depths like a shape out of nightmare. He was bigger than any natural panther had a right to be, the dark fur around his still-snarling muzzle wet in the dim lighting. His head was low, tail twitching irritably, his green-gold eyes narrowed and glimmering as he gazed at the assembled students.

Deep within the panther's consciousness, the small spark of Ravi cried out and thrashed against the pressing weight of the beast's instincts. The panther snarled softly, conflicting urges warring within it as the deeply-buried human side of it's soul recognised faces and tried to put names to them. The tableau held: the beast on one side, the vulnerable-appearing teens on the other. The world seemed to hold it's breath.

*Prey*

*Not-Prey*

*Not-Prey?*

The panther half-crouched, as if to spring.

[Sylvia Dorn]

The other panther - *my cub* said something within Sylvia's primal mind - gave up on the prey, leaving it to her tender mercies. Of course, her mercies weren't all that tended when it came to those that threatened her cubs. With careful precision, she took the guard's neck in her jaws and snapped its neck.

Satisfied that it was no longer a threat, a memory came forward in her clouded mind... a memory that there were more of these hunters out there. That overlaid with half-remembered bits of defending a village determined her next action; seeking a way out from the blackness, Sylvia set about an instinctive patrol of what she now - and in all honesty, had for quite some time - considered her territory: House Lancaster.

Emerging from the inky blackness, the panther (slightly smaller than the other, but still clearly a deadly predator) looked over and saw her two-legged cubs standing in the doorway. She gave a warning growl that any cub would recognize as an order to get back inside the den, and waited for them to do so; with so many dangers around, she wouldn't leave them outside to be picked off by other predators.

[Frida Ricci]

Any sane person would have broken and run.. or at least frozen in terror. If none of the young artist's oddities had convinced those nearby of her instability prior till now, there was no longer any question in their minds. Despite the terrifying image the two predatory felines presented, the fierceness of Sylvia's protective growl or Ravi's barely-restrained feral instincts, she didn't freeze.. nor did she run. Instead, eyes wide in shock and locked on the sleek black male with golden eyes the color of her first lover's intense gaze, the young woman stepped forward.. not just one step, but two, before she halted. She spoke only a single word, but it was as if it were pulled from her, a harsh faint whisper that carried on the night air.

"Ravi..?"

[Atomicweasel]

The unnatural darkness spread over the quad like a blanket kept the students from seeing the vicious mauling of the guard. But when the two panthers came strolling out of the deep pools of shadow, growling menacingly at them, the collective curiosity of the few kids gathered in front of the dorm gave way to blood curdling terror. As one, they turned and ran, shoving past one another in their frenzied efforts to pass through the door, to get back inside, to reach safety. In other dorms, some students watched from their windows, alerted to the sounds of panicked screams.

Mari was knocked on her ass, pushed violently aside by a boy named Tim Krause as he fled. When she rose to her knees Mari saw that she was completely alone...but for one another girl who stood staring at the two panthers as if in a trance. Did she say Ravi? That made no sense...

“Hey! Are you crazy!?” Mari shouted at Frida. She covered the distance to the other girl at a full sprint, all but slamming into Frida’s side as she grabbed the young artist’s arm and pulled. “C’mon! Let’s get out of here!” Mari pled urgently.

It wasn’t until she’d turned to run, yanking frantically at Frida, that Mari saw Renata. Just sitting there on the grass, almost next to the panthers, frozen in fear. “Renata!” Mari cried desperately as tugged on Frida. “Get up! Run!” Mari felt her blood running cold. It was like someone had poured ice water into her veins. They were all going to get eaten alive by those panthers, sleek and black and deadly with eyes as green as...Mari blinked in confusion, then renewed her efforts at dragging Frida away. “C’mon, Renata!” she screamed again.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[SalmonMax]

C'mon, Renata!

The voice sounded oddly familiar, but so out of place that she had to think about it for a second. And that broke the spell that confusion, fear, and disbelief had woven around her.

Mari was here. Why in God's name would Mari be here?! Ravi and Ms Dorn had turned into giant black cougars, and Mari was here.

She glanced back and confirmed with her eyes what her ears had assured her of. Then a 'rational' explanation burst on her. "Mari! Frida! Pritchard must have turned them into cougars! We've gotta get out of here!"

Renata got back to her feet and backed away from the unfortunate schoolmates-cum-beasts of prey. "Don't run," she added, remembering a whiff from some Discovery channel show in the past. "It'll just make them charge."

Or was that rhinos? Damnit!

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

Quote:

"Ravi..?"

The large male panther's snarls subsided to a rumble, his head lifting and ears coming forwards as he studied the two-legged female who stood for before him. She smelled of surprise and shock, but not terror, and there was no fear in her voice. Neither was there a threat or challenge. The female was neither predator nor prey, and the Beast's instinctual drive to kill gave way to curiousity. For a moment, Ravi's conscious mind was able to partially-claw it's way out from the red mist of hunting urges.

But only for a moment.

Originally Posted By: Atomicweasel

... blood curdling terror... they turned and ran... panicked screams....

...

"Hey! Are you crazy!?" Mari shouted at Frida. She covered the distance to the other girl at a full sprint, all but slamming into Frida's side as she grabbed the young artist's arm and pulled. "C'mon! Let's get out of here!" Mari pled urgently.

It wasn't until she'd turned to run, yanking frantically at Frida, that Mari saw Renata. Just sitting there on the grass, almost next to the panthers, frozen in fear. "Renata!" Mari cried desperately as tugged on Frida. "Get up! Run!" Mari felt her blood running cold. It was like someone had poured ice water into her veins. They were all going to get eaten alive by those panthers, sleek and black and deadly with eyes as green as... Mari blinked in confusion, then renewed her efforts at dragging Frida away. "C'mon, Renata!" she screamed again.

Fear-stink flooding the air made his nostrils twitch, screams and shouts assaulted sensitive ears which flattened against the sleek skull. Blazing verdant gold eyes slitted as Ravi's jaws opened and he snarled, a deep reverberant sound of untamed menace. The large panther crouched, hind legs tamping down as it focused on Frida and Mari and sprang...

Only to flinch at the moment of takeoff, for all the world as though a spasm had rippled through it's body. The large cat jack-knifed mid-pounce with a yowl of frustrated pain, covering only half the distance to the two girls and landing gracelessly in the dirt, jaws snapping at the air around it as though fighting against an invisible opponent. Or itself.

*No!*

*Prey!*

*Find other prey, you bloody bastard! This is not happening!*

The panther snarled, then yowled again, spinning around several times before roaring in fury and bounding away with terrifying speed, heading away from the buildings and the stink of Man-fear. It's snarls, punctuated by the occasional roar, could be heard fading into the night by those it had left behind.

Click to reveal..

Ravi has spent a WP to direct his predatory attentions elsewhere.

But where...?!?!

Round an' round the kitty goes, where it pounces nobody knows!

[Sylvia Dorn]

Everything was a swirl of activity and motion and scents. Fear wafted from the cubs in a confused wave, only to mix with the raw predatory instincts of the other panther. Then in one horrifying moment, that other panther crouched and leaped toward one of the cubs, only to twist in mid-air and take off yowling in an entirely different direction.

Primal-Sylvia did as any good den-warder would: she chose to protect the bulk of her cubs, with a mind on chasing down the fleeing one later.

Taking care to neither run nor stalk, the great cat paced over to the nearest of her cubs - Renata, who was already slowly backstepping, though not quite in the direction of Lancaster's doors - and gently nudged the cub with the top of her head to move back toward the shelter of the den, reinforcing the effort with a reassuring rumble of a purr.

[z022]

The cloud wavered between the two panthers and whatever was still concealed within it. Lucia looked between the cloud and the panther-that-was-Sylvia, who was currently purring at students and herding them towards Lancaster. The blood-stained muzzle wasn't helping.

She heard a scream from one of the students still standing in the doors of Lancaster. She noticed it over the others because it was a little bit louder, being directed towards hers. "Sh-she's a demon! The president's a demon! Look at her eyes!"

Syvia got her wish; students started rushing back into the building, to the safety of electric lights in the night and doors that could slam and lock. Lucia couldn't see her eyes, but she could see the pitch black veins under her skin and the darkness from the Quad flowing back to her. Comforting her with its total nothingness as it filled her skin and her mind, and then retreated somewhere back into the recesses of her soul. I'm a monster. She refused to look at Ahvia, afraid she's see the same fear and rejection reflected in the avian girl's eyes.

The entire episode took only a few seconds. Some part of Lucia's mind, the part that always kept going no matter how many snide comments or outright insults where hurled her way. Ravi. She remembered Frida saying something about a student in trouble named Ravi; Renata seemed to think the other panther was him. Now he was running loose on the campus. And a panther. A monster. Like her.

The shadows gathered around her this time, flickering in parodies of her and panthers. They ran after her, stretching and snapping away from the objects that cast them as she fled away from the lights and humanity of Dalton's core campus.

Click to reveal..

Power 8/10

[SalmonMax]

When the bigger monster cat had leapt, Renata closed her eyes, certain the next sound she'd hear would be screaming and wet, fleshy ripping. From somewhere in her memory, a British voice commented that big cats, like little ones, killed by biting and crushing the victim's throats. It would sound like a gurgle, she thought. Blood bubbling from the thin whine of air struggling to get between its teeth. Then thrashing when it couldn't. Then silence.

Instead there was yowling and screams and the sound of something hitting the ground and pattering rapidly away...and just as Renata was opening her eyes, something bumped into her stomach. Something warm and...fuzzy? She instinctively grabbed hold of it, discovered whiskers and ears on a cat's head that felt bigger than hers.

Instantly she let go and looked down. Gleaming amber eyes with wicked green-glowing irises looked up at her.

Dear God, was it purring?

"Okay," she whispered, voice cracking slightly from fear as she pushed gently on the cat's oversized head. "I know, I'm awesome and loveable. Please go somewhere else now. I'll let you sit on my homework, I swear."

[Atomicweasel]

With a shriek Mari dove, knocking Frida to the ground with her as one of the panthers pounced at them. She heard the giant cat yowling and spun around, getting her feet back under her in time to see the beast tearing off in the opposite direction. She had not yet recovered from that surprise when she saw Renata talking to the other panther, which was nudging its enormous head into the girl’s midriff.

Is Renata petting it!? Mari could scarcely believe her eyes. Her lips formed a prayer as she shakily rose to her feet, “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name' sake.” Mari’s voice was barely audible as she forced herself to place one foot in front of the other and walk slowly to Renata.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou annointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life... and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.” Mari’s prayer ended just as she closed within grabbing distance of Renata. With a quick jump, Mari seized Renata’s hand. And then she was running, as fast as she could, pulling Renata behind her and racing to the nearest doorway.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Sylvia Dorn]

With most of her cubs heading to the safety of the den, primal-Sylvia's mind turned to those who hadn't. Panther-Cub was one of them, she somehow understood... but another was closer, and like most two-legged cubs was more vulnerable.

As the doors of Lancaster clicked shut behind her, Sylvia took off at a run for what she mentally dubbed the Cub-That-Pulls-Shadows.

[Frida Ricci]

Thought it felt like an eternity that Frida stood gazing at the largest of the sleek black predators, in truth it was only a few moments before chaos interrupted. The panther leaped through the air towards her, but at the last moment it twisted out of the way and raced off in the opposite direction. Frida's only reaction had been a slight widening of the eyes in shock.. she hadn't had time to react in any other way. She heard screams around her, frightened and panicking voices, but she was oblivious to it as she watched Ravi retreat towards the forest. It was only when Mari, one of her Lancaster dorm-mates tackled her, knocking her to the ground, that Frida finally reacted by letting out a sharp cry of pain as she hit the pavement.

Finally, her eyes began to flicker around, taking in the scene. Students ran terrified as shadows flickered behind the retreating Lucia, who was running off in the direction that the first panther had disappeared to. She saw Mari grab Renata and jerk her away, dragging her back to Lancaster, to the uncertain but psychologically reassuring safety of human-built walls. Finally, the last panther watched them go, and then darted after Lucia, who seemed to be pursuing Ravi.

All this happened as Frida sat quietly on the cement, ignoring the torn palms and scraped knees that the shove had inflicted as she watched what was happening around her in a state of shock. Almost too suddenly, the screaming was muted as students were now continuing their frantic reactions behind the safety of locked doors. The area was quiet and abandoned. And Frida sat alone - always alone - abandoned by everyone during their flight from the terrifying incident or pursuit of other students. She looked around silently, her breath shaky, her fingers still trembling slightly as the evening's events began to catch up with her all at once. It was finally sinking in with Frida that something was terribly, horribly different.

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The snarls and roars subsided as Ravi and The Beast moved together through the Colorado night. The Beast was intent on finding prey, it's arrow-sharp mind only really capable of focusing on the Now. Now, it was hungry: the strain of birth had burned the transformed body's store of calories. But there was more to it's urges than simple physical satisfaction. The Beast wanted to kill: it was what it had been made for, the reason it was born. The act of drawing blood was, for The Beast, an affirmation of purpose that it followed without even cognitively being aware of that fact.

Inside the Beast's single-pathed mind composed of instinct and drives, Ravi's thoughts guttered and swirled like tiny shreds of flame dancing in a gale. The young man was terrified; he was exalted. He felt sick at nearly having hurt... someone? Someone important... But he also felt free. Freer than he had ever felt. He could smell and taste the night around him. He felt wonderful. He felt so afraid he wanted to cry. He felt his muscles flow and bunch under velvet fur. He tasted the guard's blood in his mouth, the fear of the others. He wanted to run/fuck/eat/roar/hide... He felt every instinct of the Beast as though it was his own, and the combination of savage predatory consciousness with his own rational 21st century mindset was, unfortunately, producing madness. He wasn't going to give up. To give up was to perish, he understood in some deep-seated fibre of his being. The Beast and he had each other by the throat, and if either of them faltered, both would die. Somehow, they were conjoined. The Beast 'knew' this in the way that animals know: that is to say, it accepted the thoughts that were Ravi's as part of It's consciousness without lamenting the ensuing chaos inside it's mind.

A scent borne on the wind caused the stalking Beast to pause. Inside it Ravi snapped out of his fugue state for a moment, not wanting some student or teacher to be on his menu.

*Not-Man* The Beast felt/thought, and the human part of it was glad. Ravi wasn't sure he could stop It/himself again. He tried to discern what it was exactly that The Beast had found.

*Runners Prey Taste good.* The Beast affirmed, it's urge to kill and eat cresting as it moved towards the scent it had found. Inside it Ravi watched, trying desperately to focus enough to hold his alter-ego back in case some two-legged prey happened across them. It was harder now: The Beast's hunting urges were compelling, catching Ravi up in it's excitement. Their thoughts and instincts were beginning to blur at the edges: to merge.

Why is this happening to me what's going on smells good hungry need help Mari going crazy gone crazy this is a dream Frida ohgod nearly hurt them noise smell fear stink got to eat there building prey inside path blocked frustration hungry!

,,

The stables were cozy, the heat of a dozen or so horses in their stalls creating a not-uncomfortable warm humidity. These were happy, well-fed and contented beasts, cared for by their various owners and well-exercised. Their stalls were kept clean, in accordance with Academy rules. The hay was dry and fragrant, the tack was cleaned and hanging neatly, and the dirt floor was dry and clean, raked over daily. It was a sanctuary for the gentle creatures, a place where their owners would come and groom them, showering them with affection before taking them out to ride. It was Paradise.

One of the horses, a grey mare, raised her head and whickered softly, nervously. From her stall near the bolted doors she had scented something, something that she had never experienced before, but animal instinct was a capable substitute for experience. The scent screamed 'predator'.

Other horses stirred as they too caught the scent, along with the fear of the mare. Something was padding softly around the building, just beyond the wooden walls. Something malevolent and hungry that sniffed at the doors and windows. The horses started to snort and whinny more loudly, one or two kicking nervously at their stall walls. The predator beyond finished it's circle at the bolted main door and stopped. For a moment, all was silent.

Then a paw the size of a man's head slammed into the door with a sound of cracking wood. Horses screamed, a terrifying sound that tore open the night air for hundreds of feet. There was a low, bestial snarl of fury and the paw struck again with the force of a Titan's sledgehammer. Splinters of wood the size of pencils flew from the door's interior and the frame groaned in protest. The horses were all screaming now as, penned in their stalls, they began to kick - trying to free themselves from the haven turned deathtrap. The large panther outside struck one last time, tearing the door free from the hinges before springing into the stable. Prey. Penned, cornered prey. It was all around him, the smell of fear and flesh filling the air.

Outside, in the cool mountain night surrounding the Academy, the screams of frightened horses mingled with the screams of dying ones.

[z022]

Lucia heard the screams, flashes of Aphrodite flowing through her darkened mind. Her run became a reckless flight, the shadows fading, unable to keep up with their mistress. Once in the stable doors she nearly fell to her knees again. The carnage was worse than the guard, worse because these were animals left in Dalton's - in her - care. Two were dead, their glassy eyes attracting flies already. Several more might not make it through the night, especially with the rampaging panther still on the loose.

Monsters. We're both monsters.

But instead of calling on the darkness inside her, instead of smothering the barn in nothingness like she'd done with guard - cowardly, that was a coward's move - she did a very foolish human thing.

She circled the center of the carnage and slammed herself into the panther just as it lept for another of the horses, vainly trying to knock it towards the open doors of the stables.

Click to reveal..

1d10=9 Yay! One success for the completely non-combat character! Of course....I have no idea what Ravi's defence is, but still, I got a success!

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The blood was flowing across the dirt floor, it's scent heavy in the night air as Ravi rose from mauling one horse and began to stalk another. Several more were badly injured, one gelding's injury being self-inflicted when he had tried to jump out of his stall and had gotten caught in the door, tumbling to the floor and breaking his left foreleg. Now he was thrashing around and whinnying pitifully as the noise and motion attracted the cruel attention of the black-furred feline demon. Ravi snarled, a low rumbling sound like thunder as he padded towards the crippled horse.

Only to be interrupted as a slender human female threw herself bodily at him. The big cat flinched instinctively as it detected the attack, lightning-quick muscles more than a match for Lucia's headlong assault as Ravi danced aside then turned on a dime, rounding on the brash female.

Lucia found herself face-to-face with the large, angry panther, it's bloody jaws opening as it roared an enraged challenge, ears flat against the huge skull level with her chest.

*Not prey! Not prey! Attacked me/us/I. Not prey! Challenge! Food! Hungry!* There was no separation now between Ravi's thoughts and the instinct of the Beast: they were mingled, flowing in one stream of consciousness. The immediate bloodlust had faded, but the Beast was still needing to eat. *Take food. Leave. Not-prey!*

The roar subsided to a rumbling snarl of warning as the panther stepped away from Lucia, green-and-gold eyes glaring watchfully as the great head dipped to one of the dead horses. Jaws capable of taking in a man's head closed on the broken neck and the panther started to drag the carcass away from the scene, half-dragging, half-carrying the dead animal towards the open door with inexorable strength, still growling a warning to Lucia around it's mouth-hold.

Click to reveal..

Another WP spent to avoid turning Lucia into steak tartare.

[Atomicweasel]

It wasn’t until Mari was back inside the dorm, having pounded and shouted at the door with Renata, until the other students let her in, that she realized she’d left Frida outside with the panthers. “Shit!” Mari cursed uncharacteristically, straightening up from the wall where she’d stopped to catch her breath. “Oh shit, shit!” she raked her hands through her long hair and spun back to face the door. “I’ve gotta go back out.”

“What?” Renata looked at Mari like she was mental. “No, you don’t.”

“But she’s still out there!” Mari took a step toward the door, but before she could reach for the handle another student, an Asian boy with close cropped hair and a hawkish nose, stepped in front of her and grabbed Mari’s arm.

“Stay here, okay? I’ll go.” Trevor Kim was not a hero. He did not have any particular urge to wind up as chewed up bloody bits in a giant cat’s digestive system. But the look of quiet determination on Mari’s face had touched him. He had looked her up and down, this unlikely little rescuer, with her too long hoodie sleeves and pretty frightened eyes and bruised lip, and tenderness had welled up in him. She was too cute by far to die and the stunned look of gratitude she gave him made him feel like he could do anything. Save the weird art girl, jump kick those panthers in the teeth, or, at the very least, run away, really really fast, if things turned sour.

“Stay here.” He said again, gently pushed Mari back, peeked out the window, and then ventured cautiously outside. A rush of students pressed themselves against the window and cracked open the door. They watched with baited breath as Trevor carefully made his way out to the quad and slowly approached Frida.

“Hey…hey, uh,” Crap, what the hell is this chick’s name? Freddie? Fergie? “are you okay?” Trevor looked anxiously around, half expecting the panthers to come leaping out of a tree or out from behind a bush. He gently put his hand on Frida’s shoulder. “You okay?” he repeated.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[SalmonMax]

Renata was still in a daze, still wrapped in the soft cotton of unreality that came from having a panther big enough to ride purring and playfully butting its head against her like Fluffy wanting dinner. Next to that, being pulled over to Lancaster by the hummingbird-like Mari was just par for the course. It was like a dream...a weird fucking dream brought on by cold pizza and the beginnings of a giant case of pneumonia.

She never asked herself, or anyone else, if it was real though. She knew it was. Things had gone way past questioning the reality of. Now she was being forced to change what reality meant to her. It was being relentlessly widened as things that had been outside now forced their way in, in a kind of psychic equivalent of losing her virginity. It felt like that too...like she had lost all control over what was happening to her, and she was terrified from moving so inexorably fast towards a destination she could only barely imagine, but mostly she was just numb and paralyzed from that pervasive feeling of helplessness.

Her fists clenched, without any decision to do so on Renata's part. She was dimly aware though, that something deep was shifting. Dark continents of the mind, too deep for light ever to reach were rumbling and contorting. Mountains fell into chasms, and new basaltic towers heeled skyward. Cracks appeared in the dull, miles-thick stone...and through those cracks welled thin lines of sullen red-orange light. Something as primal and volcanic as the center of the Earth roiled within, only now able to shine out into the world.

In the hush that had descended over Lancaster Hall's foyer, as everyone gathered there fearfully watched Trevor's act of bravery, there was a sudden, shocking noise...as sharp and loud as a gunshot. A ripple of startled cries came in its wake, along with whispered queries of, "What was that? Did you hear that? What WAS it?!"

"The door," someone in the crowd called with the shrill shakiness of relief high in her voice. "The door behind the desk just slammed shut." There was an anxious patter of too-fast laughter. "It might be because a window's open," someone added, "Someone should go in and check."

An awkward pause followed.

Renata blinked as she slowly surfaced from her state of shock, and looked around. On seeing Mari she reached out to grab the other girl's wrist. "Hey."

At that moment there was a swirl of cold air that wafted across the foyer, and the door behind the reception desk opened again. Not violently this time, but more deliberately.

[z022]

Lucia's eyes narrowed, the whites crawling with black veins until even the iris' were consumed. Her voice was a low-pitched hiss, deep and hollow, "Let. Paladin. Go."

The shadows in the darkened, panicked stables rose up, much as the had in the Quad, covering the panther and it's prey in that same smothering, disorienting piece of pitch nothingness.

Click to reveal..

Power: 7/10

1d10=8, 1d10=9, 1d10=1 2 suxx! Yay!

For Ravi & Syvia: Lucia smells different, not human and not like them.

[Sylvia Dorn]

It came bounding in from nowhere, racing in silence as only one of the great cats can. Cub-That-Pulls-Shadows wasn't far ahead, inside the prey-den... and a scent hit her like a wall. Panther-Cub is in the prey-den...

She raced for the sundered door, seeing the flank of Panther-Cub backing toward her, dragging something, something that even from a dozen yards away smelled of rich blood and torn flesh.

NO! From a place deep within, Sylvia tried to scream, but what emerged was a scream of an entirely different kind. With a burst of speed, she bounded toward Panther-Cub...

...and plunged straight into the shadowy nothingness she'd been in minutes before. Blind, deaf, with even scent gone, the only sensation was a sudden, jarring impact as she collided with something far harder than fur and flesh.

Click to reveal..

She went for barreling into Ravi, but when everthing went black, this went down to a chance die.

(17:16:07) ChatBot: (Sylvia) rolls 1d10 and gets 2.

Miss, with her plowing into the door of a stall instead.

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The two-legged female hissed something threatening, her eyes changing to black... and then suddenly the dulling, deafening blanket of darkness fell over the panther once more. In the blackness Ravi heard/felt the female panther go blundering past him and into something solid. They were trying to take away his kill! The panther felt outraged and aggrieved: he was quitting the field with his food, and the interfering females kept trying to fight. The killing urge rose...

But the panther was not just a panther. Some cunning, a flicker of the human consciousness perhaps, cut in and reasoned with the red-clawed rage of the beast. The blackness couldn't hurt it. The human female could call down this dark, but she hadn't as yet caused harm to him. And the blackness was deadening to the senses, but for a panther's senses this was more inconvenient than crippling.

The female panther, on the other hand, was more of a direct threat. She had twice now tried to take Ravi's kill, but he was in no mood to share. Or, for that matter, fight with her more. He was hungry, and tiring, and some of the horses had kicked at him while he was dragging them down. True, the bruises were fading, but whatever unnatural vitality was healing him was drawing even more from his body's caloric reserves.

The open door was behind him, the prey was in his jaws. With a heave of effort, the large panther lifted almost all the horse's weight, powerful neck and shoulder muscles straining, and trotted out of the stables, the horse's hindquarters dragging a groove in the dirt. The treeline was not far away, and once there the hungry beast could eat.

Click to reveal..

Perception roll =

Wits + Composure + mods

1d10=7, 1d10=1, 1d10=9, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=5

popping 10

1d10=1

2 succs

Strength and Stamina roll to carry the horse.

1d10=7, 1d10=10, 1d10=2, 1d10=6, 1d10=2, 1d10=3, 1d10=9, 1d10=7

poppin' 10

1d10=8

3 succs + Str 6 = Ravi's dragging the horse away.

[Atomicweasel]

Everybody seemed to be talking at once.

“Hey, that door just opened by itself,”

“No, it didn’t”

“I was looking right at it, jerk, it did too.”

“How ‘bout panthers, okay? Crazy fucking panthers eating people on campus and you guys are worried about who shut a fucking door, okay? For real. Okay?”

“Did they actually eat anyone?”

“Look, I’m just saying—“

“—I think I see a body out there!”

“Someone needs to call animal control!”

“Animal control? Fuck that, someone needs to call the cops.”

“Where’s Ms. Dorn?”

“I’ll go get her!”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Why isn’t she moving?”

“I dunno. He’s talking to her.”

Turning to glance over her shoulder, Mari saw a couple of students go running down the hall shouting “Ms. Dorn! Ms. Dorn!” A few others had gathered around the door behind the receptionist’s desk and were slowly pushing it shut and pulling it open and giving the hinges puzzled looks. Most of Mari’s fellow Lancaster residents had gathered by the windows, their faces and cell-phone cameras pressed against the glass to record Trevor Kim’s foolhardy rescue-mission. When Mari turned back, Renata was still holding her wrist and gazing at her fixedly.

Mari looked at Renata expectantly. “Oh. Sorry. I was just...” Renata dropped Mari’s wrist, flustered. “You know, reflex.” She scowled and blushed and looked away to the ceiling.

“No, that’s...” Mari paused and licked her bruised lip. Renata had jammed her hands hard into her pockets and stood with her jaw squared and her eyes steeled into a squint. Renata had probably been scared half to death; she was probably still in shock and trying to process the enormity of what she’d just been through and yet she was standing there trying to look all tough and unaffected. It made Mari’s heart go out to the older girl. Without another word she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Renata in a tight hug. She felt Renata stiffen and then hesitantly and awkwardly return her hug. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay.” Mari said gently as Renata blushed fiercely and tried to still her racing heart.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[SalmonMax]

For a second, Renata was transfixed by the sight and feel of Mari in her arms. She could actually see her look up, with bright eyes and inviting lips, begging her to lean down just a little...

Before the fantasy could complete itself, Renata shredded it in her own mind. She reminded herself of the people all around. Of how anything like that would just chase Mari away. Chase everyone away. Hell, even the hug had gone on too long.

She cleared her throat and patted Mari's back as she let go of the other girl. "I'm fine...I just...did you see, Mari? Did you see where those things came from?" Quickly Renata spared a surreptitious look around before saying quietly, "Professor Dorn and Ravi turned into them. Like...werewolves. Only cats."

[Frida Ricci]

A flash of green and gold flecked eyes peering at her through the forest.. a low growl of pleasure against the side of her neck.. intense predatory eyes gazing at her across the classroom.. Ravi stretched out on an outcropping of rock, the sun filtered through the dense foilage above...

Originally Posted By: Atomicweasel

“Hey…hey, uh,” Crap, what the hell is this chick’s name? Freddie? Fergie? “are you okay?” Trevor looked anxiously around, half expecting the panthers to come leaping out of a tree or out from behind a bush. He gently put his hand on Frida’s shoulder. “You okay?” he repeated.

For a long, terrifying moment there was no answer, even at his second prompt, and the temporarily valiant young Trevor found himself nervously wondering what extremes he might have to go to rescue this girl in Mari's stead. He doubted he was strong enough to pick her up, willowy though she might be - the heaviest thing Trevor was used to carrying around was his backpack. Fear and anxiety crept up his spine as he searched the edge of the quad nervously for any signs of wild animals, and his patience began to slip. The hand resting on her shoulder shook her this time, and he spoke louder, though out of respect for the sharp senses of the deadly wild animals roaming the property, he didn't quite shout at her.

"Hey!! C'mon, snap out of it!"

Suddenly Frida's gaze snapped up, her gaze vacant for only a moment before focusing on the young man hovering over her, looking nervous and scared.

"What? Oh - yes. Yes, I'm fine."

"C'mon, let's go - it's dangerous out here!"

Frida reached up, taking the hand the terrified boy held out to her. As he pulled her up, she winced slightly from the sting of his sweat making contact with the open scrapes she'd received when her palms had hit the cement from Mari's panicked shove. But she nodded gratefully at him, relieved to have not been left behind, and stood up, starting to dust off her skirt.

"Thank you Trevor, I must have- "

Just as Trevor was wondering how she knew his name, even though he couldn't remember hers to save his life, she let out a shriek and jerked away from him. Her dark eyes widened and she stumbled back several steps, her hands covering her mouth to stifle a scream of horror.. for it wasn't only the living who'd gathered to see the madness occurring on the Quad.

A young pioneer child with a disease-rotted leg. An older man with a gaping bullet hole in his stomach, hands covered in the blood that seeped through his fingers where he clutched his wound. A teenage girl, no older than the students of Dalton, her clothing torn and her face beaten like one of the sexually assaulted corpses of a crime drama on television. A sad, haunted looking black man with burns across his face and body, shreds of clothing the only remnants of the worst night of his life...

And so on, and so on, more faces than Frida could possibly count. It was the first time she had ever bemoaned her ability, for she knew each one of those horrifying faces would be forever etched upon her memory, never to fade into blessed obscurity as they would for another. For Trevor's part, the terrified look on the normally emotionless artist's face sent a lance of terror running through him, for he knew that one of the wretched beasts must be directly behind him. He felt a warm trickle down his pants leg as his bladder relieved itself as a result of his fear, and before he could respond, Frida took off in a run, away from the Quad and the forest, in no particular direction at all.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

,,

[Atomicweasel]

The first thing Mari thought of was the wild look in Ravi’s eyes. That flash of something savage that rose up in them and chased away the Ravi she knew, the Ravi she had been drawn to so immediately and powerfully. She pushed that thought away and took Renata’s arm and drew her aside. “What are you talking about?” Though pitched to a whisper, Mari’s voice, usually soft-spoken and sweet, was as stern as she could make it. “That’s crazy. People don’t turn into panthers.” Her throat felt tight. She mirrored Renata’s conspiratorial look around the foyer and dropped her voice lower still. “That’s totally crazy.” Mari had to bite her tongue to keep from adding “are you high?”

And yet it felt to Mari like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Renata. She remembered the panther leaping at her and that other strange girl, twisting in mid-flight and bounding away. Hadn’t that girl said Ravi’s name? A shiver shot up Mari’s spine. The dream. Ravi’s teeth at her throat, his hands like claws, his breath hot on her face...like an animal. No!

“Why would you say that? Why would you even say that?” She demanded of Renata, her grip tightening unconsciously on the other girl’s arm.

* * * * *

Aw fuck. Trevor Kim thought, watching Frida run screaming into the night. First the stream of piss down his leg had been warm. Now it was cold. That crazy stupid bitch. There hadn’t even been a panther behind him. He looked all around the quad, trying to figure out what had spooked her. There wasn’t anything. Was he supposed to go after her? Fuck that. Trevor turned and jogged back to Lancaster, feeling his pant leg wet and sticky as he ran. He hoped against hope that his dark pants would veil his unfortunate...accident. Someone else could track the freaky art chick down. He was done being a superstar.

* * * * *

“Hey, Trevor’s coming back...” one of the students said, shining the faint light of their cell-phone at the window and squinting into the foreboding darkness of the quad. “alone.”

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[z022]

After several silent moments, Lucia heard the sound of paws and something large dragging something larger away from her. She concentrated, the blackness nearly rippling from her eyes, and moved the cloud to follow him. She wanted to run up and hit the big panther again, to pull it away from Paladin, but she couldn't move. The same shadows that chased after her enemy kept her pinned to the ground.

So instead she shouted towards the darkness, "I said let him go! I'll chase you through Hell if I have to, but you're not just going to take him and eat him. He's Kristy's friend; she's had him since she was ten... "

The last was nearly choked out, black tears spilling down her cheeks. Her breath caught, halfway between a sob and an shout of surprise when the pursing cloud revealed an arm, presumably attached to more person still inside the cloud. It was mostly human, except for the claws still tipping each finger and the black fur slowly receding down the hand.

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The blackness deadened sound, reduced shouts to murmurs and growls to hoarse breaths, but Ravi's sensitive ears still heard the defiant challenge of the shadow-smelling-female. The words meant nothing, but the tone was clear as day. His ears flattened slightly and he growled his own defiance around his hold on the carcass. My kill not yours dark female hungry don't attack kill you stay away mine.

The lion-sized panther redoubled it's efforts, dragging the dead horse another thirty-odd yards across the ground towards the woods. The blackness was a hinderance, but not an obstacle, for which the shrinking fragment that was Ravi was grateful. An obstacle would simply provoke an attack, and caught up in the hurricane of drives, bloodlust and fear Ravi was losing his sense of self. It wouldn't be long now: the woods offered safety and security in which the panther could hide and feast.

Click to reveal..

Perception roll

1d10=5, 1d10=9, 1d10=2, 1d10=7, 1d10=2, 1d10=4

1 succ = Ravi can make out what Lucia's saying (not that it makes much sense to him currently) and is still heading in the right direction.

Strength + Stamina roll

1d10=9, 1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=10, 1d10=7, 1d10=6, 1d10=7, 1d10=8

poppin' 10

1d10=5

3 succs + Str 6 = The meal's still on wheels.

[SalmonMax]

"Because I saw it," Renata replied in a hoarse whisper, leaning closer to get in Mari's face. Her eyes were round and bloodshot and shiny with unshed tears. "Dorn was going after Pritchard. I went after her. She got about halfway across the quad and saw Ravi and Pritchard fighting. All of the sudden..." Renata swallowed and faltered, realizing how dumb it sounded. "He turned into this giant black cat. Pritchard ran inside, and Sylvia...she changed too. And then there was this giant black cloud or something that settled over practically everything over there."

She took a breath, tried to calm her heaving stomach. "I think Frida saw it too. She must have followed me out..."

Her hand fell away from Mari's arm, though she made no effort to pull away. Rather, she slumped against the wall and started to slide down it into a sitting position there behind the desk.

"When this all started, I thought it might be kind of cool. I didn't think it'd go this far..."

[Sylvia Dorn]

Consciousness swam in a sea of darkness, reaching for anything resembling control. Something feral was there, too, something that also wanted to regain a foothold, but it was slipping back as human intelligence reasserted itself once more, pushing a primal self to the back of the mind.

Sylvia's eyes fluttered open mere moments before slitted pupils in a sea of green became round once more, and just soon enough to see the claws that graced her fingertips transition to become mere nails.

A shiver ran through her body in the cool evening air, and she tried to push herself up. Only then did she see Lucia, looking up as the world stopped swimming... and let out a gasp. The eyes of her student were solid black. Like Swan, she couldn't help but think.

Her body chose that moment to ripple with yet more shivers in the cold, and practicality won out over shock (or rode it, more likely). Pointing with a shaking hand at a horse-blanket hanging across the barn, she asked - hoping dearly that it was in fact still Lucia she was talking to - "Would you mind bringing me that? Please?" The tremble in her voice stopped short of panic, but not by far.

[z022]

The cloud wasn't working. Someone was talking to her, but it was a small voice in a vast blackness. He's getting away...!

The cloud began to dissipate as Lucia broke into a run, straight for the panther and its intended meal. The shadows broke into a million lesser shadows, most of which faded into the night. Some few, however, clung to the dead horse; Ravi could feel the flesh of the animal begin to heat. First to the temperature of live meat, a pleasant feel that elicited a satisfied if mildly confused purr from the Beast. The heat continued, though, well past the point of a warm meal and quickly approaching the feel of fire between his teeth.

Lucia continued her headlong dash towards the panther, heedless of anyone else in the tug-of-war between her and the panther.

Click to reveal..

7/10 Power

The heat effect is only sensory. The animal is not actually getting any hotter and their is no damage being done to Ravi.