World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - Welcoming Committee [Fin]

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Evening of 1 January 2009

Sarah stalked around the base of the live-oak, glancing at her cellphone yet again. 9:56 The mysterious "No Moss" - no, Scott - should be here any minute now... and Ariel should have been here by now, too. Dammit, looks like I might be making this meeting on my own after all.

The whole situation was nothing short of weird. From out of the blue the night before, in the little chatroom where she and Adrian occasionally bantered, a newcomer calling himself No Moss showed up... and in short order, revealled to Sarah that he'd actually found the place while looking for her. By his own word, he was of the People, a Bone Shadow of the Crescent Moon in down making a courier run of some sort. By his own word, he'd heard of Sarah during his travels and decided on her as a likely point of contact.

There was no way that Sarah was going to take a bunch of pixels on the Interet at their word. So a little welcome had been arranged, here on her territory, tonight... and Ariel was supposed to be the other half of the welcoming committee.

So where the hell was she?

[Rorx]

Scott parked up his motorbike at the edge of the park and took the folded up map of the park from the inside of his jacket and quickly orientated himself. With a brief glance at his battered bike he made his way quickly across the park towards the rendezvous tree.

As he approached he could see a figure there.

"Hey, you Sarah?" he called from about 50 yards.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

The feeling of... something - not quite a vampiric beast, but that particular predatory thing that filled all of the People - was just as clear as the voice that called across the park.

OK, I can do this on my own then. And if Ariel shows up later... so much the better.

"That depends. You Scott? If so, c'mon over."

Sarah hadn't made any extra effort tonight; not that a huge effort was needed, all things considered. Long wavy hair that shone faintly red in the waxing crescent moon bespoke an Irish heritage, falling in waves down around her narrow, pale face and across a denim jacket that was so well worn as to be nearly as soft as a cotton shirt. Similarly well-loved jeans were held in place on her wiry form with a two-pronged leather belt that was no fashion and all business. And the small vertical slits in the toes of her rugged combat boots was an ominous sign... one she hoped wouldn't have to be backed up with action tonight.

At least, if he's on the up-and-up.

[Rorx]

The scent of blood reached him just before her words, but then he had been expecting that from the description of what had happend to her.

Well here goes, at least I'll be meeting a legend of the People, or an example thereof.

He carried on towards the tree, 6ft tall and average build, brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in worn, black bike leathers carrying his helmet in his left hand and with a daysack on the other shoulder. As he got closer he opened his jacket, revealing a plain green T under a black leather waistcoat and what appears to be a thick wooden ring on a leather thong around his neck.

"Good to met you Sarah. Nice choice of location as well, good field of view here. Did you want to talk here or move on elsewhere?"

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"Here's fine," the Dead Wolf replied, hopping up onto a huge low-looping branch that might as well have been a bench... and from the multitude of carvings, some over a century old, had long served as exactly that. Not that Sarah sat with legs dangling as so many before had done; a crouch, tight as a coiled spring, suited her much better.

"So, all the formalities an' crap: I'm Sarah O'Neally, childe of Juan Garcia, grandchilde of Juan Colmillo, Dead Wolf. Born to the Wren Clan back in Massachusettes. Became as I am under the a crescent moon about three and a half years ago, and sworn to the Oath of the Moon. No tribe of course, and no pack for now; this is my territory, this park and everything for a few blocks around it.

"So, Scott of the Bone Shadows, welcome to L.A. Tell me 'bout yourself."

[SalmonMax]

When the motorcycle buzzed up and came to a stop, Ariel was already watching it. Not from inside the park, but from her car parked across the street from the main entrance where the wooden sign was. Just another stakeout. Takeout Chinese food and all.

She waited as he went up towards the center of the park until he was out of sight, then got out of the car and went over to the bike to jot down the license number.

Been coming across the country for two weeks, but he bought a motorcycle. Wonder how long he's planning on staying.

Assuming, of course, that the story was true, but she'd give him the benefit of the doubt on that. For now.

She glanced over at the hill in the middle of the park and tucked her pad back into her back pocket. She'd give 'em a couple of minutes, then head up. She didn't really believe Sarah would need her help...though that possibility refused to be completely banished. Mostly Ariel was curious about this new...and apparently either wildly reckless or extremely careless...werewolf in town. It didn't seem like he was very 'in touch' with his human side, but hey...you never knew.

Ariel glanced at her watch, then shrugged and headed up the same direction that the newcomer had gone in.

(OOC - Feel free to notice her whenever you wish. She's not being stealthy.)

[Rorx]

"Fair enough, here it is then."

He walks past Sarah then leaps up on to one end of the same branch, giving Sarah plenty of personal space, and squats down in the manner of tribesmen the world over. From closer up he looks to be in his mid-twenties, but could be younger if all the travelling he talks about has aged him.

As he answers Sarah he carefully scans the park as far as he can see. Sarah glimpses stars in his left eye, now a solid black like something out of a scifi show. (OOC Two world sight)

"Nice park you got here, glad to see there is someone keeping an eye on it." For some reason Sarah isn't 100% certain he was talking to her, until he turns back to her as his eye clears.

"Perhaps we should wait for your friend, so I don't have to repeat myself?" he says looking over her shoulder at the approaching figure.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah gave a smile that would have been pleasant enough but for the slight glint of fangs. A deliberate inhale and a bit of the blessing of Luna was all that was needed to catch the scent; without turning, she said, "C'mon over, Ariel. The newcomer here is about to give a real introduction."

[Rorx]

"Ariel? As in from the chatroom last night? Cool, I get to meet two people I was chatting to for one meeting, and both of the People, in outlook at least? Anybody else from the chat room likely to turn up?"

As Ariel gets closer he jumps back to the ground to meet her standing rather than squatting on a height.

"Hi Ariel, glad you could make it." he says with a closed lip smile.

[SalmonMax]

Ariel nods at the two and maneuvers herself to form the third corner of a triangle with them. She's in blue jeans, a black T-shirt with a big yin-yang on the chest, and wearing her brown windbreaker. The seabreeze coming in makes a mess of her russet-red hair and whips the tail it's gathered back into wildly around.

"Hey," she greets neutrally. Her mouth twists into a wry smile. "So you're the guy who started going off about 'the People' on a public chat. Tch tch." She wags a finger at him. "There's some purists out there who'd be pretty upset about that you know."

[Rorx]

He shrugs at Ariel, then resumes his squatting on the branch.

"Yeah, well, I hadn't had anything to do with the People, or even knew they existed until about 6 months ago. Scott 'No Moss' Erickson, Crescent Moon, Bone Shadow, no Lodge or Pack. So what else do you want to know?"

[SalmonMax]

Ariel shrugged, feeling oddly at peace. She'd expected this to be tense, full of distrust and veiled threats. But she didn't feel that way at all.

Because we're on my territory, she realized like a gunshot. Oh, maybe Sarah's claimed it, but it's in LA...it's on my stomping ground, at least as far as this guy goes.

Now she felt a little discomfited that such a simple little totally irrational thing would have such a big impact on her outlook. What other little instinctual triggers were waiting in her hindbrain to be set off?

"Ariel McKenzie. Half Moon. Iron Masters. And this isn't my show, it's hers." She nods at Sarah.

"I'm just playing goalie."

[Rorx]

Scott looks from one to the other.

"I take it that you ladies have worked together before, but your point was well made."

He turns to face Sarah.

"What else would you like to know. Although I don't guarantee I'll tell you."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

A chuckle escaped Sarah's lips, one without the earlier edge. "Goalie? Been a while since I followed hockey, Ariel," she quipped with a newly easy grin. Even her stance relaxed, the tension visibly washing out of her dead body as her crouch settled into a crosslegged seat on the branch. Only those twin points of white within her smile served as a visible reminder that she was still, when push came to shove, a deadly predator.

"Already gave you my formals, and Ariel's already heard the expanded version, so I think we're solid all 'round." She grinned for a moment at Ariel, then looked back to the Bone Shadow. "Since you're new in town, Scott, how 'bout you tell us your story? Doesn't need to be anything as epic or fancy as a gibbous moon would sing, but it'd be kinda nice to know more of who you are, in the from-there-to-here sense; might help us point you in a useful direction if you're looking for a pack."

[Rorx]

He shrugs and idly rubs around a carving in the tree with one finger before replying.

"Not sure what sort of thing you mean. Do you want the whole life story bit or just since my First Change? I mean since I arrived in the US, I've just been travelling from pack to pack, passing on messages or carrying items and doing chores to pay my way and get a lead on the next pack who might be on my generally westerly course. Some packs I've helped with a spirit problem, some I've just done mundane chores for, others I've helped with a Rite or two, it's varied from pack to pack. Being willing to help and not worried about territory etc I was able to get the name of someone in the right direction who might be willing to give me a place to kip and some food or fuel for some help in return. Doing that it's taken me about 4 weeks to get here from when I landed in NY, and how I heard of you Sarah and that the chatroom might be the best way to contact you. Given the range of reactions I've heard from people about you it was thought that you may not have been well disposed to one of the People just turning up on the edge of your territory."

Pausing to look around the park from his vantage on the branch, but this time Sarah can see that his eye remains clear. Once he had finished he looks at each of the two ladies before continuing.

"As to a pack, well maybe I would be interested for a change. I'm hoping to pick up a bike courier job here in LA for a while, and I've got no ties back in the UK to drag me back, so I can stay as long as I like to learn what I can of the US perspective and ways."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah listened intently to Scott's story. In its own way, it bore a fair semblance to her own: wandering across the country, going from pack to pack to trade help for help, winding up in Los Angeles. The differences were of course apparent - weeks for Steve had been years for Sarah, and her final condition was altogether more grim than his own - but there was still cause for common chord.

"Well, I only know of a couple packs proper in the city. The best established seems to be the Topangas; they're in the hills up north of UCLA. There's another down along the shore in South L.A. - only heard them refered to as the Black Meanies, don't even know yet if they're Forsaken or Pure, still scouting them out. The Death Weavers were killed off by humans with some kind of magic a couple weeks back. And then there's those of us without a pack: Ariel, Declan, Amber, myself, maybe a few others. Likely a few more packs further inland and south, but I've only been here a handful of months myself."

[Rorx]

"Well, not as packed in as some places back home. Do you want any help scouting them out, or finding out who killed off the Death Weavers? It's not like I've got anything pressing to do around here."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

The comment caught Sarah off-guard; she blinked a few times before narrowing those piercing green orbs in an intense focus on the newcomer. Was he serious? Had he just offered to help her scout out a pack? And why?

And could she afford to turn him down?

Wariness tinged her voice when she replied, "I've been trying to scout out the Black Meanies - at least, that's the name I've gotten for them from others - for the past week. I know their territory, I know they do their thing on the beach, and I know they've got some sort of connection to the water... but I can't figure out what they're really about. First Tongue is gibberish to me, and that's what they use when their together. If you're actually willing to help figure out who the hell they are, who their Alpha is, what totem they follow, I'd be in your debt."

[Rorx]

Scott noted the wariness in her voice.

I suppose I should have expected that considering how she must have been treated by most of the People. Yeah, ok a vampire who wants to be a werewolf is pretty freaky, but then the whole deal is freaky to me. If one supernatural creature wants to pretend to be a different one then its still just as whacked to me. Mind you I don't think Sarah would appreciate that point of view, being from a long time werewolf clan and all that.

"Sure, I'll help you with that. I know First Tongue, and I could take a look at the Shadow down there without being too obvious about it, I hope. Perhaps that would give us some idea of the sorts of spirits that are around down there. Similarly with the Death Weavers if you want."

He shifts slightly on the branch as he looks at the two of them again before continuing.

"I know it might be a touchy subject Sarah, as I assume you can't get there on your own, but I had a proposition for Ariel. I know the Rite of Dedication, which helps you take a very limited number of items with you when you change or shift across the Gauntlet, and I'd be willing to perform this for you, if it hasn't been done already. Now, your asking what yourself what I want in return, and quite rightly. For the moment, I could do with some help finding somewhere other than the Y to crash. I don't really care if it's just a squat in an abandoned building or an apartment I might be able to afford when I sort my job out. You see, not knowing the city I don't even know what sort of areas I should be looking in to avoid stepping on peoples toes, whether they be of the People or of any other group."

He looks them straight in the eye one at a time, while still fingering the carvings in the tree.

"So what do you say, do we have a deal, or deals?"

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

For a moment, Sarah wondered what on earth he was talking about. Then she remembered some of the pups back home, how they'd shift forms and wind up in a tangle of clothes that didn't shift with them. There was a mystical thing that avoided that, she knew, and that must be the rite that Scott was offering.

"I appreciate the offer of the rite. My stuff already shifts with me when I change form; something to do with the blood. It just... does. But crossing to the Shadow... I've only been there a few times, dragged over by someone else, and yeah, keeping my clothes would be nice."

"As for some crash space, I could hunt around a bit and see what I can find. You're basically sitting in the middle of mine," she said with a quick inclination of her head that took in much of the surrounding park. "But you'd probably prefer something with a roof. My turf's not exactly known for abandoned buildings - hell, the Playboy Mansion is just a block north - but I think we could find something not too far off. I'm at least willing to help you look."

[Rorx]

Scott turns to Sarah slightly surprised, then smiles.

"Well I'll happily try the Rite of dedication for you, but I'm not sure whether or not it would work on you. I suppose we just try it and see. I was thinking more along the lines of doing that for Ariel in return for her help, and helping you with the scouting for your help, but whatever works."

[SalmonMax]

"I've already had it done for what I'm wearing," Ariel replies to Scott.

"But you could do it for a friend of mine, then I'd be fine with helping you out."

[Dave ST]

"Intel was solid." The voice belonged to Crusader Irons and the beautiful woman broadcast her words across the communications system she and her team were linked to. "Body temperature of sixty degrees."

From their position in an alleyway Crusader Iron's surveillance equipment zoomed in on the three in the park as they had their chat. The shotgun microphone picked up their conversation and two other technicians worked with gear in the back of the dark Hummer. "Give me a background on Scott Erickson, Sarah O'Neally and Ariel McKenzie. I want info on this Wren Clan too, get with our boys in Massachusetts. Looks like we hit the jackpot tonight boys."

The technician clacked away on keys as she continued to peer through a high powered lens.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"All right then," Sarah finally said, "sounds like we have a plan. Find you a place to live, see about figuring out what the Black Meanies are all about, and from the sound of it, getting my cousin's clothes to stay put."

The vampire relaxed a bit, leaning back against the trunk of the massive oak. "We got anything else?"

[Dave ST]

He'd been watching quietly now for the better part of an hour. Sweat dripped down his brow and his hands were shaking as one gripped the the handle of the rifle.

So these are the demons. He though to himself. The Sins of Satan given flesh to stalk the earth and prey on the innocent and the pure.

He was nervous and his breathing became heavy. What if they saw him? What if they found his family? What if they harmed sweet Gabrielle, the love of his life.

A thousand things tumbled through the Crusaders head as he sat there on the rooftop twitching and wanting nothing more to make the earth safer for his family and loved ones.

"Jenkins!" the sound bored into his ear through his comm piece shocking the hell out of the poor young recruit and a gunshot pierced the quiet night air.

The bullet tore through Sarah and the opposite side of the tree exploded outward as the SLAP round exited. There was no blood and barely even a twitch from Sarah. Death came so swift that it wasn't until she fell from the tree that she realized she'd been hit and the hole in her chest was nearly the size of her fist.

"What the fuck was that?!?" Crusader Irons blurted out. "I said no firing unless I gave the word! This is not a hot Op! Stand down Crusaders! Prepare to abort... abort!"

Chaos ensued.

[SalmonMax]

Sarah fell from the tree before the sound of the shot echoed over the three in a prolonged roll, like thunder. Ariel's first reaction was amusement that she'd lost her footing.

Then she saw the tree. Then she heard the shot, and was already dropping down low and running for the slope of the hill. She dropped prone and rolled down it until she couldn't see over the top anymore.

"Scott, Sarah, get down here!" she called. Then realized Sarah probably wasn't in any condition to do that. Could a vampire die from getting shot?

Somehow she doubted Dracula ever got slammed by a sniper round.

"Sarah?!"

[Rorx]

Scott saw Sarah start to fall, and quickly moved to catch her, even before the shot had registered. Slumping to the ground under both her weight and the shock of the sound and damage to the tree, he held her body tight to him and rolled down the hill following the line of the damage of the tree.

Arriving near Ariel he left Sarah to her and shifted into Urshul form, burning Essence for speed. He just hoped that Ariel could understand First Tongue.

"She's all yours, if they can shoot us they can probably hear us, so I'm going to find them."

Then he sprinted away from the tree and hill, approximately at right angles to the shot and towards his bike, looking for any van or vehicle that could hold a stakeout team or snipers spotter, but also looking for where the scent of any propellent might come from.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

By all rights - any rights at all - Sarah should have been dead. As things were however, she had a slight advantage: she already was dead. Once dead, and it's remarkable what one can withstand.

That didn't mean she was anything close to happy. Pushing herself up from the ground hurt, but it was a distant sort of pain, oddly disconnected from her mind. As she did so, Ariel got to see three things happen in rapid sequence.

The first was perhaps the creepiest, as the gaping wound in her chest simply closed in a webwork of crimson, followed quickly by unmarred pale skin - all visible through the ragged hole in her jacket.

The second was a look in her eyes... or more accurately, of her eyes, as they went almost wolflike, reflecting in the darkened park.

The third she had seen once before: ebony claws erupting from fingers and toes, wickedly sharp and meant for painful death.

A half-growl rumbled from her throat as she took up a crouch on the far side of the massive oak from wherever the shot had come. "Get ready, Ariel. This is gonna suck."

[Dave ST]

Headlights hit high beams and Scott instantly knew the location of at least one of the hostiles. Problem was Sarah park was a public area and he was a bear sized wolf tearing through it heading towards the traffic of the L.A. nightlife.

"Lycans!" One of the technicians shouted from inside the Hummer. "Crusader Irons, he have a confirmed Lycan presence."

The wheels of the Hummer squealed as it tore from the alley.

"Damnit! I want to know who fired that shot!" Irons screamed as she cut into the traffic and began making their escape.

The fellow Crusaders she'd left behind in the building across the way were a different matter entirely. The target's had been engaged and the rules were now simple, fight and survive, or flee and die tired.

"Jenkins, you dumb son of a..." his commanding officer shouted over the mic. With another squeeze of the trigger the rifle went off again, this time just close enough to Ariel to warn her that life was a gift that could be over at any moment.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

As the second round tore past, eyes far sharper than normal were already focused back along the line marked out by the hole bored through the tree. They caught the location of a muzzle flash: one of the handful of houses that had been sitting unsold for the past four months.

When the housing crisis swept the nation, Sarah's main concern was simple: that empty houses in her territory would draw squatters and maybe drug dealers. She'd never dreamed of them becoming stakeout locations for hunters. Until now.

"Ariel," Sarah growled, "this'd be a great time for your friends in blue to get a call about a shooting and property invasion. See if you can get Scott to look like something humanish again first, and vector him in on that house," she said, pointing to a lightless 'McMansion' on the south side of Comstock.

Without further words, the Dead Wolf began her careful way - from bushes to trees to dumpsters, with quick dashes between - toward the haven of the hunters. They had the weapons, and maybe the numbers, but this was Sarah's territory. She knew these trees and houses like the back of her cold hands, and would both use it and defend it to the fullest.

[SalmonMax]

Ariel squirmed over behind the tree trunk, trying to get some kind of cover...any kind of cover...from the bullets still flying.

"Easy for you to say," she muttered as she pulled out her cellphone. "Bullets won't kill you."

She dialed dispatch with her thumb, hardly daring to peek out from her cover. "This is Detective McKenzie, I'm at Holmby Park. Reporting shots fired. High caliber rifle. I need backup. Shooter's in one of the houses across the street from my position."

She gave dispatch the street name she'd driven in on, then leaned out just a little to try to spot the shooter if he fired again.

[Rorx]

Scott saw the lights of the Hummer as it started up and ran in that direction.

Damn, stupid thing to do Scott, should have gone wolf, but I didn't think there would be so much traffic about on New Years Day. Oh, well too late now. Gotta get at least the number plate, then I can shift to something less obvious and pay the shooter a visit.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"This is gonna suck", Sarah had said. As she picked her way closer and closer to the vacant house sheltering the hunters, she realized just how true that was. She'd been very, very lucky that the previous shot had missed anything of importance, merely costing her a bit of extraneous flesh for a few moments. If they caught her in the head with something like that, it was likely all over for the Dead Wolf.

But they were in her territory, dammit! And territory needed to be defended....

"Sometimes you can turn one trouble on another." It was something that one of the elders of the Wrens had taught various pups over the years, something that Sarah had overheard while doing errands in the vicinity. Now, those words came ringing back.

Cripes, she thought to herself, Ariel has the cops on the way. I don't need to barrel in there all fangs and claws; the cops are gonna pry them out. Might take a helluva good SWAT team to do it, but at the end of things, they'll be gone.

Maybe her ongoing test for Cunning was good for more than just gaining the Topanga's help, she pondered as she took a carefully position behind a toolshed and waited for the boys in blue to come deal with the murderous trespassers.

[Rorx]

It was clear to Scott that the Hummer would be a difficult vehicle to take on even if he could catch them in the traffic. Damn, it was busy for a New Years Day evening, he'd thought it was going to be a lot quieter than this when they'd arranged the time of the meeting.

Jumping briefly on to the roof of an SUV Scott was able to make a note of any plates or distinguishing markings on the Hummer before leaping for the nearest alleyway. Once out of sight he slowed slightly to make sure their was no-one in sight before bursting into the nearest empty abandoned buiding. Inside he quickly scans his surroundings in both the world and the Shadow, before shifting back to his human form.

Back in his bike leathers he heads quickly through the building and out through an adjacent building before reaching the street. Once there, he quikly returns to his bike to get a notebook and writes down the details he got on the Hummer before strolling in the direction of the small crowd massing to watch the police presence, looking for Ariel to give a copy of the information to.