Room of Doom(#3975RFJU)
Typical of GM rooms, this is a bland place until it's bludgeoned into shape by poses and @emits.
Contents:
[Garou, and lots of them.]

Lion's-Roar twitches for a moment, like theres an itch that there's just no hope of scratching. Screw this. We are going in, Stonebreakers. We have them. He starts forward.

A shadowy-grey form slinks out of the canyon entrance, coming back toward them. Eventually she resolves somewhat, and she shifts into Homid near Nightflash, crouching easily. The t-shirt might have been white once, the jeans indigo; both are stained with blood.

Chaser snarls a soft command to Lion's Roar, as she meets him on her way back.

Fights-For-Hope steps to follow his alpha and pack, but falls back a bit to grab rear guard, eyes everwatchful for flanking and rear attacks.

Nightflash's nostrils twitch at the scent of blood. What did you encounter?

Song-of-Fury follows Lion's-Roar closely, ready to attack what he attacks.

One-Rage slinks along near Song-Of-Fury's side, ebon filled orbs glistening brightly as he flickers his ears forward, scenting the air.

((Chaser pages to the room: Hold up, here... I didn't see Owen's pose before hitting enter, I have lag here. Chas is NOT going to let Stonebreakers go in there precipitously.))

Balancer glances over her shoulder, her enhanced senses detecting Chaser's return even if the other two members of her pack do not. Firewatcher's gaze roves the rocks and trees she's watching restlessly; the Glass Walker splits her attention with the sky as well as occasional glances to the bikes.

Pack> Elan says, "How goes?"

Pack> Ears, ICly, grunts. ~We got a fuckin' ravine filled with gasoline. Hello, nurse, you wanna nice char broiled Garou with that fight? That Get chick wants to fire it up now. I'm like, lure 'em out.~// In an OOC sense, my GOD this is SLOW.

Finds-the-Lost is in a holding pattern, and once the older ragabash has returned he slips past Rides-Fire and in her direction.

Lion's-Roar gives Chaser a hard, cold stare. How much longer you want us to decide to shit or piss? We are going.

Heart-of-Fury seperates himself from his pack and chuffs softly. There is no point in waiting any longer. We go to earn Glory for our sept. Let us act like Garou and not like cowards. The Fianna growls at Nightflash. Let us go in as one group and overwhelm them now.

The Stonebreakers move forward, beginning the engagement as their rage and impatience grow too great to control.

Chaser stops in front of Lion's Roar, facing him down. She shifts silently to Crinos, meeting his gaze with a cold authority in her own. ~There are things you need to know. Stop. Or you will die.~

Nightflash snaps his jaws at Heart-of-Fury. ~We are hear to end a threat. Wisdom dictates that we listen to what she discovered.~ He turns back to Chaser. ~What did you encounter?~ he repeats.

((Long distance to One-Rage, Mist-Walker, Fights-For-Hope, Shadow-of-Blood, and Lion's-Roar: Ears is, actually, afraid Kaz wouldn't do that ICly -- not right into a freakin' trap. Hm. Should I pose something?
Fights-For-Hope pages to Ears, One-Rage, Song-of-Fury, Mist-Walker, Shadow-of-Blood, and Lion's-Roar: I was thinking about that trap too... Don't need to become Garou Flambe.
From afar, to Ears, Song-of-Fury, Mist-Walker, Fights-For-Hope, Shadow-of-Blood, and Lion's-Roar, One-Rage doesn't think Jay would either. hrmm.... Long distance to One-Rage, Mist-Walker, Fights-For-Hope, Shadow-of-Blood, and Lion's-Roar: Ears oks. Please pose Kaz hanging back warily, next time you pose, Jar?))

Song-of-Fury says, ~Then speak, for the Mother's sake, before we grow too old and decrepit to fight.~

Rides-Fire grumbles, for all he is not a ragabash, ~Will we kill each other for the Betrayers?~ Other than a tightening of his body, he seems to still be in waiting mode.

((Chaser pages to the room: ARGH. Let me 'splain. Owen and Stonebreakers are trying to advance and attack. Chaser is trying to keep them from getting themselves killed. There's kind of an immediate need to stop Owen, before Chas can come all the way back to the group and tell them stuff.))

Shadow-of-Blood snaps at the rest of the pack. She is ~Fostern~. She knows what is ahead. Listen or die.

Heart-of-Fury shifts up into a thicker hispo form. ~Come Lion's-Roar. If my pack will not stand with you, then I will fight with you.~ He starts to move past the Get ragabash. ~What more is there to know?~ he asks her. ~We have our prey, we have a vow to Wolverine to finish this. No quarter. No mercy.~ Then he is moving past her. ~Follow me to Glory, Stonebreakers. I will lead you there.~

Nightflash snarls and leaps after Heart-of-Fury. ~Stand down,~ he growls. Lion's-Roar seethes, but he doesn't go forward, not if it means going against a direct order. Steven is pulling at his whim, though.

Fights-For-Hope stops his pace and looks to Chaser. ~We need to listen... did you not smell the gas?~ he growls out. ~Damn it, Wolverine is with us to fuel our rage, not stupidity.~

Finds-the-Lost is as impatient of anyone, but he of all people understands the need for scouting. ~Why do we have ragabash if no one will listen to us? We may as well all be full moons. The fight will not be lost in the space of a few words.~ But for all that, he looks only too willing to follow Heart-of-Fury.

Chaser brings up a clawed hand, holding it at the level of Heart-of-Fury's chest as he steps toward her. ~Stop,~ she snarls softly, in unison with Nightflash.

One-Rage grumbles loudly to himself as he watches them. Fighting between ourselves is stupid, listen to the Ragabash, then act. He crosses his arms and glances to his friend, flicking an ear.

Song-of-Fury bellows, ~THEN SPEAK, and tell us what lies ahead, or we'll move in and discover it for ourselves. Wolverine claws from within us at this delay.~

Heart-of-Fury snarls back at the ahroun. ~Now is not the time for hesitation, Nightflash.~ He looks at the other Garou. ~Who is with me?~ He looks fiercely at the others once more. ~Let us go together against this foe. When our claws strike first blood, it will be the sweetest strike for our sept and for Gaia.~ He looks at Ethan, and then Lion's-Roar. ~Do not be cowards, my septmates, do not fear death, though we can already smell the scent of blood, do not hesitate now when victory is at hand.~

Rides-Fire glares at Heart-of-Fury, daring a steady look despite the differences in ranks. His thick ruff flares as his scent sharpens with agitation.

Chaser snarls, fury lighting in her eyes. ~Ground is soaked with gas, all the way in.~ Her cold anger cuts through rhetoric. ~Go and /burn/ if you wish to burn.~ She backs off a step, contemptuous, and crouches to claw an oval in the earth. ~Canyon. Good ambush points from slope. Ground soaked with fuel where we stand. If they are alerted to us, they light fire. They are 200 yards down. Here.~

Song-of-Fury says, ~At last.~

Rides-Fire turns his irritated glare to the bickering Shadow Lord.

Finds-the-Lost plays out a minor war of indecision, the ragabash in him at odds against the Get. It's Wolverine that tips the scale, that and the words of the Fianna. He distances himself from Rides-Fire, moving toward the Fianna with effort made to avoid Nightflash if possible. ~And now we know. So now we can strike. Waiting will not make it go away.~

Song-of-Fury lumbers toward Heart-of-Fury. ~I'll follow.~

Fights-For-Hope looks at then back to the others and even as he feels rage pulling at his very core he listens to Chaser's words and throws a growl at Heart-of-Fury. ~What do we do then, damnit? If we don't strike, we do what instead?~

Chaser marks an 'x' in the rude map. ~Went in /this/ far.~ She marks a spot some fifteen yards into her crude map of the canyon. ~No cover inside. Cover above.~ She faces off with the Fianna still, hard eyes, teeth bared in a snarl. ~Go in that way and /die/ if you want to be remembered as an idiot.~

One-Rage glances to them, flickering an ear back and forth. The idea of being burned alive unappealing to him. But willing to follow the Sept.

Nightflash snarls at Heart-of-Fury. ~I lead. You challenge me in the middle of a war party. If you die tonight, you die in dishonor.~ He turns to Chaser. ~Is there another way in, or only forward?~

From within the canyon bubbles forth a long, ululating howl of challenge. The noise is eerie, and is quickly joined by a number of other voices -- though the distance and the echo from the canyon walls make it difficult to determine exactly how many.

Chaser crouches back down, snarling a soft command to Finds-the-Lost. ~We go from above. Circle to the walls. Attack from both sides. Coming in this way, over the gas, suicide.~

Nightflash snaps at the howl. ~Everyone back.~ The ahroun draws himself up into the crinos form. ~Heart-of-Fury. Call them out. Force them to us. Then we fight. And we kill. Now.~

Fights-For-Hope leans forward and looks at the ground with heavy breathing, ready to attack anything... anything at all and as soon as he hears the howl he reflexivly returns a quick yelp of a challenge howl back.

One-Rage lifts his head upwards at the sound of challenge, rumbling loudly in his throat as black talons flash forward, flexing as he prepares himself.

Finds-the-Lost moves up toward Heart-of-Fury, impatience at the forefront. The howl causes a low rumble, anticipatory rumble from the young Get. He's cast his lot in with the Fianna, the only one who actually seems eager to do what they came to do, to fight what they came to fight.

Chaser snarls softly, and nods agreement to Nightflash. With a growl, she lifts a clawed hand again before Heart-of-Fury. ~BACK. Get off the gas-soaked ground.~

Rides-Fire snarls at the howls, drool dripping from his retracted lips. Finds-the-Lost doesn't get a look, nor does the Stargazer move to close the distance with his packmate.

Lion's-Roar only keeps a few steps between himself and Chaser, moving with her even as he shifts to crinos, taking a moment when he can to catch his claws on a rock to sharpen them. At the moment, he's actually foaming at the mouth. Song-of-Fury says, ~Why don't we step back and ignite the fires now? Then we could go in this way.~

Heart-of-Fury snorts at Chaser and at Nightflash, although there's a slight pause. ~We go in,~ he says. ~Follow if you dare.~ He snarls as he moves forward. ~Those who go, we will be over the dangerous ground in a flash. Move with the gift of Rage and there will be no danger.~

Firewatcher snarls not in anticipation or challenge, but in disgust. She chuffs to her packmates, and the three philodox retreat well out of reach of gas-soaked ground, following Balancer's indications, and coincidentally away from the disintegrating Wolverine packs.

Soulcatcher's hackles are up, tension coiling his body as he looks between the various snapping garou. He remains with the stone in one hand, somewhere near Nightflash.

One-Rage doesn't move an inch, staying near Song-Of-Fury's side as he slightly shakes his head in frustration. Glowering at all, he simply waits for one of the three higher up's to make a decsion and stick with it.

Fights-For-Hope snaps over at Chaser now and lumbers back a few steps. ~This is stupid.~ he growls out towards Lion's-Roar. ~We need to end this soon.~ Fights looks between his pack and Chaser and his pack again, intelligence colliding with rage. ~Idiots! We cannot run faster then fire. Chaser has a plan, and what he need is a fucking plan!~

A faint glow begins to surround the Gaian ahroun. ~Ears,~ he rumbles. ~Ignite the fuel.~

Mist-Walker watches as Megan's group moves off the gas soaked ground, shakes her head and follows them. Muttering something about pin headed males, with more testosterone then brains.

Chaser stands her ground, her clawed hand still upraised. ~We get off the gasoline ground,~ she snarls. ~She is going to light it. Back, or you burn.~ Song-of-Fury moves back off the gas-soaked ground, at long last hearing reason.

((Long distance to Lysander: Ears asks you, who is theoretically keeping track -- anyone on the gassed area?))

~What we need is to -fight-,~ Finds-the-Lost growls impatiently. The Fianna has convinced at least one Garou of that, and the young Get looks well-prepared to follow him at his charge. He's not backing up, either. Rides-Fire retreats back, toward Balancer's pack. Mist-Walker becomes the new recipient of his glare.

((Lysander pages: I think maybe Steven and his crew are going, but that's it.))

Fights-For-Hope is quick to listen and leaps back off the gasolined ground, soon rubbing his feet on the ground to get the feeling of gas off his paws. Ears starts moving forward slightly, from her position firmly behind Jarred. She's eyeing Steven warily, waiting for him to get off the ground before she lights it -- or, at least, waiting for a few moments.

One-Rage follows after Song-Of-Fury, nearly staying in his shadow as he falls to all fours, flickering his tail in lumbering strides.

Mist-Walker meets Ride-Fire's glare with bared teeth. ~If you have a problem, Challenge me over it /later/.~

Rides-Fire's irritation deepens. ~I don't have a problem, female.~ That last word is laced with more irony than a lupus usually indulges in.

Mist-Walker's ears flatten as she bares her teeth a final time, then turns her attention to the main conflict. What ever happened, to the 12th law of the Litany?

Ears mutters, quietly, watching Steven, ~I ain't fryin' no Septmates.~

Song-of-Fury rumbles to Ears. ~Ignite the ground at the mouth of the cave. They'll move away from the fire quickly enough...~

Rides-Fire turns his attention back to the front of the group. Finally giving voice to his growing anger, Rides-Fire thunders, ~Finds-the-Lost, come back here or I will knock you over and carry you back by scruff of your neck!~

Heart-of-Fury stays on the dangerous zone, pawing at the ground. Only the fact that Chaser has her claws out held against him seems to restrain him, for now. The Galliard's resolve to charge wavers for a moment, as he looks curiously back at Nightflash, and then firms, once more. He snarls restlessly. ~We should charge in now,~ he snaps.

Fights-For-Hope roars at Heart-of-Fury in a manner he hasn't displayed yet tonight. ~You idiot. Fool! How you let even us Cliath's make you look like a cub!~

Chaser snarls at the Cliath. ~Silence.~

Finds-the-Lost gives a disgusted snort at the needless delays here. ~Do we follow Wolverine, or do we follow Rabbit?~ he growls. He's a few steps behind Heart-of-Fury, and though Rides-Fire's words don't draw him back, they do keep him from advancing further. He's restless, on the edge of the gas-soaked ground.

Nightflash thunders at Heart-of-Fury. ~Call them out!~

Ears glares at Steven, tells Chaser, ~Look out,~ and, a few moments later, finally gouts a burst of flame out. As far away as she can get it from Steven and the Get.

[For folks that don't know, Metis Gift: Create Element.]

One-Rage sighs heavily and continues to pace, feeding off the moon. Shakes his head in frustration, snorting, nudging SoF as he passes by, glancing to the Shadow Lord.

Fights-For-Hope bows his head and steps back, dark eyes still fighting to rise towards the two as the fire erupts.

Chaser barrels into Heart-of-Fury, pushing him back by main strength.

Shadow-of-Blood paces restlessly, allowing the fostern to resolve this as the flames leap up.

Rides-Fire springs forward toward Finds-the-Lost, more urged by Chaser's attack than the flames.

The instant the flame conjured by Ears kisses the edge of the ground soaked in gasoline, a sheet of fire springs up. There's a concussion from the sudden intake of oxygen. However, the fire doesn't last especially long, consuming its fuel in just a few seconds.

Lion's-Roar raises his muzzle to the air, howling out his own challenge, no doubt not having the weight the Fianna's Gifted call would have. ~ Ha! Gonna cook ya first! Then kill ya! Then eat ya and shit ya off a cliff!~

Getting 'attacked' by allies and packmates is starting to become old hat to Finds-the-Lost; first the Strider mule, and now the Gnawer mule. A curious pattern. At the sheet of flames he scrambles instinctively backwards. ~What are you doing?~ he snaps, an undirected question at the moment.

Fights-For-Hope moves over to stand next to his pack alpha and listens to the challenge, heart almost beating out of his chest. ~We go?~

Nightflash turns once the flames are dead. ~For Wolverine, for Gaia, and for our Sept!~ And the ahroun is charging up the valley.

The Stonebreakers also move forward as the flames die out.

Chaser follows behind Nightflash, dropping into Lupus for speed, racing through the danger of the canyon opening. Still Blurred, she heads immediately for the steep walls and the darkness there.

Dyes-Hair-Often barks abruptly, leapting to her feet and starting the shift upwards at the fire burns out quickly. ~She broke the trap!~ Balancer straightens, and moves a bit forward, watching her Septmates intently--but does not, as yet, rush forward. Perhaps she thinks of her pack as rearguards. Firewatcher does nothing to disabuse the Fury of this notion. Although she shift up into hispo, she seems slow comparatively while following. She lets the double children of Wolverine rush in, while those following Raven follow more cautiously.

((Lysander pages to the room: I'd like you guys to pose first. Nightflash is leading the charge, with Chaser right behind, and Chiaro is hanging back a bit. I'd like to see what everyone else is doing.))

Heart-of-Fury is thrown backwards; he resists the Get ragabash, but he struggles less as the flames erupt across the canyon floor. Then he tries to manuever to his feet, rolling up onto his paws, his ears canted forward. Some kind of thought pierces the Fianna's head, perhaps the last shouted command from his alpha. His mouth opens and he roars out a mighty challenge, it's words echoing for miles into the night. ~Taste death at our claws, know its cold embrace as our howls. We are coming for you; we are warriors of Wolverine and our sept.~ Then he's after his alpha. Finds-the-Lost needs no further urging, having burned up all his patience in the waiting. Blurring up into a more familiar crinos form he gives a wordless howl that marks his charge. Rides-Fire, surging toward Finds-the-Lost, finds himself caught up in the rolling charge. The Stargazer howls defiantly as the pack again runs together. Soulcatcher drops the stone, surges back up into the war form, and takes his spear in hand as he follows after Nightflash. His own war cry echoes the ahroun's. Unlike the others, Chaser moves along the edge of the canyon, sticking to the shadows, attempting to flank the enemy.

In the Stonebreakers pack, Lion's-Roar manages to restrain himself for another moment, not bothering to wipe the foam that has gathered around his maw. As soon as the word is given, he takes the pack forward, again trying to have them go outside just to the right of the others. Song-of-Fury follows very close behind. Ears sticks to the walls, trying to take advantage of shadows while watching for Dancers warily. She is, clearly, not quite as eager as the Wolverine children to dive heedless into the fray. Jamethon about blasts forward with the pack, but holds himself barly at Owen's side. He makes the quick shift to Lupus for the speed and weight difference, moving forward as his pack alpha does. One-Rage travels forward with the others, shifting down to his hispo form slowly as he creeps along on all fours, his ears twitching this way and that, cautious, but prepared to attack when necessary. Mist-Walker's claws flex, as her teeth snap togther in anticipation. Finally, the battle has begun! The Talon theurge moves with his pack towards the flank, snarling incoherently as the Rage sings in his blood, watching for the Dancers to show.

The canyon is fairly narrow, perhaps twenty-five or thirty yards across at its widest point, but long -- maybe two football fields to the far end, where a light, perhaps a fire, flickers. The canyon floor is almost wide open -- a few bold outcroppings of rock poke up from the ground here and there, but nothing that offers serious cover. The canyon walls, however, are a different story: there are steep-sloped, which would make traversing them difficult, and afford plenty of cover behind trees and large rocks.

The gasoline fire has dwindled to a point where it wouldn't pose a threat even to a human, never mind a Garou wearing the war-shape. As the wall of Garou surges over the brink, insane laughter greets them, perhaps in response to Heart-of-Fury's bold howl. The sharp report of a couple of rifle shots punctures the din.

Nightflash howls, ~Silver!~ and stumbles as his chest erupts in blood.

Among the Stonebreakers, Song-of-Fury drops to all fours, though he is still in Crinos. His dark eyes burn with intensity as he searches for the origin of the shots. Lion's-Roar catches himself at Nightflash's warning and the sound of the rifle. He lets his pack continue as they would as he shifts down to homid and starts to look for the sniper. "I'm right here, you dick! Can't you hit me?". One-Rage ducks away to the side, ears flattening as ebon filled eyes widen. He crouches low to the ground, digging his talons forward into the ground as he moves as one with the pack. Fights-for-Hope's ears perk up at the shots and the call of silver as he suddenly rolls over quickly for the cover of shadow. Still moving forward there he shifts to the hispo form and keeps his eyes open for signs of the shooters. Shadow-of-Blood's ears prick up at the sharp report, then flatten at Nightflash's call. He sniffs the air, perhaps trying to catch a touch of the Dancers' scent along the walls. Ears, closer to the walls anyway, starts trying to scramble up a less sheer part of it, using claws, to find /some/ cover. If and when she gets up, she shifts into homid. Mist-Walker snarls, and heads toward the cliff face. Diving behind the first sign of cover. Moving between one source of cover to the next, as she tries to make her way up the cliff. Trying to locate the sniper.

On the side, Chaser's slowing to a much stealthier pace, climbing a little up the steep sides of the canyon, seeking cover and hunting out the snipers with a sharp Lupus nose. Heart-of-Fury snarls as Nightflash gets bloodied and pitches forward. He veers off to one side, also trying to find some cover. He's bold, reckless, but not apparently /wildly/ suicidal. Finds-the-Lost's charge is cut short as a bullet tears through his pelvis mid-stride. No pain, but the sharp flow of blow and staggered step as muscles give is clue enough. He gives a sharp, panicked howl and then hobbles quickly toward the cover of the canyon walls, thinking to slide back into his birthform of homid as he does. He's going for cover. Also looking for cover, Soulcatcher continues moving, the silver warning making him zig zag instead of bearing down on the enemy in a straight line. Unlike the others, Rides-Fire turns from the charge. Not yet noticing Ethan's plight, the tall Stargazer shrinks as he reverts! to birth form. As Nightflash also shrinks, the two lupus come almost nose to nose as Rides-Fire thrusts his face toward the sucking chest wound.

Chiaroscuro has similar intentions to Stonebreakers, it seems, but further back, they are less likely to be targets. They stick together, and look around for one of the snipers. Selecting the nearest one, they will take the more difficult path, up through the rocks, to get to it.

As the Garou scatter to avoid the gunfire, four shapes begin stalking confidently along the floor of the canyon towards its mouth. Backlit by a suddenly-much-brighter-and-larger blaze of angry orange that seems to travel with them, they are in absolutely no hurry.

Just then, the mouth of the canyon behind Chiaroscuro erupts in a conflagration. The sheet of fire seems to leap up out of the very ground, fuelled by nothing, and cuts off the only retreat from the canyon. Two more rifle shots ring out. Garou who are looking for the snipers catch one of the muzzle flashes: high up on the wall that Mist-Walker and Chaser are both already trying to climb, shielded behind rocks, in a position that commands the entire canyon floor.

Among the Stonebreakers, as the shots ring out a second time, Mist-Walker is able to find reasonable cover, but the stone wall proves to be too much for the Fury to climb and she doesn't get to far. Snarling and begining to foam at the mouth, she tries to use what cover she can to get deeper into canyon. If she's lucky, she'll find a area with easier climbing. Song-of-Fury continues is low growling, thankful for his black-as-night fur, for once. One-Rage keeps to the walls, edging forward, but snarls loudly as the figures begin to approach near the mouth. ~We got company!~ He calls out in warning to the others, digging his claws into the ground, preparing himself. Shadow-of-Blood barks sharply, trying to get the attention of his pack and possibly anyone else. There! There! With each bark, his nose points high on the canyon walls, towards rocky outcroppings, places the homids would note could be excellent sniping positions. As the barks of his pack mates turn his attention to t! he sniping points, Fights-For-Hope starts to go for cover and speed rather then power, making yet another shift to lupus as he picks his way though the outcropping of the rocks, nose working overtime. Ears looks down briefly, but once the conflagration begins, she keeps climbing, though without the benefit of Crinos. Evidently, she's trying to get to the top, even if that's unlikely.

Owen keeps to where he is, keeping the homid form and letting himself be a target for the snipers for at least as long as the room between him and the four figures remains comfortable.

Ethan holes up behind some rubble, keeping his form as obscured as possible with his gift, and makes a cursory inspection of the wound. That's followed by a visual sweep of the canyon floor and the search for his packmates. Already searching, Chaser spots that muzzle flash, and now has a target. She moves from shadow to shadow, trying to climb to a level above the sniper's perch, to approach without being seen. Soulcatcher gets across a decent patch of the ground, but despite his attempt at dodging one of those bullets catch him. Blood flies from the Wendigo's head, and the warrior hits the ground hard, unmoving. ~Cowards,~ the fostern Galliard howls toward the orange limned forms, ~Shadowskulkers. Betrayers to Gaia!~ He darts forward as he says this, a touch paranoid about the gunfire, but refuses to stop his advance forward. Rides-Fire now takes his own bullet, one probably meant to finish off the lupus Gaian. His lower back explodes in a gesyer of blood, spattering the already-bloody Nightflash with still more. The Stargazer staggers, but still remains up and alert after the strike, probably due to his birth form. Nightflash, also now in lupus form, brushes against Rides-Fire and then begins heading for some cover. His wounds have stopped bleeding, but he still isn't moving at full speed.

Chiaroscuro ducks off to the side of the canyon the visible muzzle blast came from. Dyes-Fur-Often calls out, ~Wait,~ and unslings her backpack, to retrieve an item. She pulls the cork out it, brandishes it rather dramatically, then hurls it towards the nearest part of the wall of fire trapping the Garou in the canyon, while Firewatcher and Balancer begin picking there way carefully up the wall.

The Glass Walker's talen douses a section of the inferno, opening up a path back through which an intrepid Garou might hope to run without being burned too badly. Two more rifle-shots ring out, and this time the muzzle flash from the second gun can also be seen -- equally high up on the other canyon wall, hidden between a boulder and a tree, in a perfect crossfire position.

The four crinos -- all wear the war-shape -- continue to advance, arrogantly, towards the Garou. One of them, clothed in a leather tunic, unlimbers what appears to be a bullwhip from a belt he wears.

The orange blaze behind the Dancers momentarily adopts a vaguely lizard-like shape; in that instant, a huge gout of fire leaps from its jaws, engulfing the entire area of cliff wall where Chaser, Ears, and Mist-Walker struggle to climb towards the sniper.

Chiaroscuro sees what happens to those further up ahead, but continues picking their way up as carefully as they can and yet still get there sometime this year, trying to stick to the shadows and behind cover from the view of the Dancers and Salamander on the ground. Firewatcher seems to be slower than the two cliaths, sniffing a little as she goes.

In Stonebreakers, Mist-Walker howls in pain as she nearly falls off the cliff face. Burned to a near cinder, she pulls herself behind a boulder in an attempt to find shelter from further attacks. She tries to catch Kaz's attention, after finding shelter. Waving a glass bottle at the Metis. ~Water Talen!~ ... Song-of-Fury sets his baleful gaze on the Dancer unlimbering the whip, concentrating carefully in an attempt to divine his weaknesses. Ears falls into her breed form and continues to try and climb upwards, movements blurring slightly in speed. She yells to Mist-Walker, ~I'm going /up/. Fire's /down/.~ ... Owen still waits out in the open for the BSDs, in Homid form. One-Rage waits on the ground, still near the wall, his eyes intent and focused upon the sprials which approach them. Digging his talons in the ground, he holds himself, waiting, ready to rush ahead and taste blood. Shadow-of-Blood starts clamboring up the opposite wall, towards the other sniper he had noticed. Once he starts moving, he doesn't pick his way up quickly, but instead is moving side to side as much as the wall will allow, still making better headway as his movement speeds beyond normal. Fights-for-Hope would howl out right about now, but instead a hole opens up in his throat and bloods gouts out of it in the front and back as the bullet seems to have passed right through. He gargles in his own liquids as he burns his inner rage to heal the wound he just recieved. He forgets moving forward towards the sniper for now and just looks for cover to take, running and diving if nessisary to be properly covered from further wounds.

Nightflash starts up the side opposite Chaser's group, relying less on climbing and more on leaping, relatively safe from the silver in his birthform. ~Fire. Follow.~ The glowing ahroun climbs rapidly, making use of his rage, trying to get to the one with the rifle and making an obvious target of himself. Rides-Fire tries to make less of a target of himself, but he lunges in the same direction as his long-time alpha. His ears lie slicked to his head as both Garou blur with the speed of rage. Ethan hollers loudly, "Joseph's down!" And there's not a damn thing he can do about it so he's moving, hopefully before his location is pegged from the shout. Blurred and seeking out shadows and covers as much as he can he climbs, opposite from Chaser's group as well. Soulcatcher slips back down to his breed form. There's blood in his eyes, but he nonetheless is awake and crawling. He moves slowly toward where he thinks Nightflash and the others are. On the other side, Chaser darts upward on the slope, ducking behind an outcropping; then she continues her stalking, moving from shadow to shadow to search out the sniper. In the valley itself, Another howl comes from Heart-of-Fury, but this time it's because he's grazed by one of the gunshots. Bits of his leg tendon and muscle evaporate. He limps onward, gamely.

Chaser is first to reach one of the snipers: the human is busy drawing a bead as the Get no-moon, still in lupus, shifts up to the war-form and descends upon him. Strangely, her claws are unable to find much purchase in his flesh, though she rends his clothing to tatters and spoils his aim; his gun discharges, but the bullet flies harmlessly wide of any combatants.

Across the canyon, Shadow-of-Blood scrambles up towards the other sniper, followed by Rides-Fire and Nightflash. The sniper has not yet seen the Talon, and instead fires down at the other pair of Wolverine's children.

The Dancers continue to advance at their leisurely pace, closing to within about forty or fifty yards of the Garou. Other features of the foursome can be made out: one bears that whip, another has a hunched back, a third carries something that looks like a bolo, and the fourth's flesh is warty and pustulent. Behind them lies Salamander, still manifest.

Balancer continues climbing towards the Get and her opponent, snarling lowly, but the Fianna and Glass Walker pull up. Dyes-Hair-Often pulls another glass bottle out of her backpack, but holds on to it, waiting for something, her gaze down at the approaching Dancers and their infernal totem. Firewatcher crouches down low, then growls out in an low, insisten voice, carried more by will and power than her voice, ~Spirits of the forest, come to my aid. Attack what you can of these, our opponents, in Realm or in Umbra.~

In Stonebreakers, Fights-for-Hope maintains his cover and shifts to the homid form, he rips a piece of cloth from his shirt and ties it around the bullethole in his throat. "Nee a eala!" he screams out from his cover as he scans the area about him for even better cover, if he sees it he goes for it as quickly as possible. Ears keeps climbing, grimly, heading for her former Talon packmate with all the energy she can muster. Owen gives the signal to attack, moving in Homid until he's closer to the Spirals, then shifting to the War-Form. Song-of-Fury, unable to contain his rage any longer, takes off across the field of battle, The Talon continues making his way up towards the sniper, picking his way along th canyon wall carefully, but his form still blurred slightly as he moves faster than normal. With a primal snarl, he leaps at the Betrayer sniper, teeth and claws flashing as he leaps for the Dancer's face and all the vulnerable parts there. One-Rage races forward, using his heightend hispo strength and speed to dance zig zag's across the terrain. The Ahroun, fueled by the full moon pushes himself hard, narrowing his ebon filled orbs as a rumble of thunder echos in his chest. ~DIE!~ The Gnawer screams out, running straight for the one with the whip. He's nothing more then a blur across the ground as he races. Mist-Walker doesn't move from her sheltered position, too badly injured to rejoin the battle.

Nightflash takes a grazing shot that draws a grunt of pain from the Gaian, but not much more. He continues to climb, howling for the sniper's blood, trying to distract it from the climbing Red Talon. Rides-Fire doesn't howl, but he also leaps from stone to stone as he pushes toward the sniper. Pebbles scatter behind his feet. Ethan pauses briefly in mid-ascent as he catches not one, but three other Garou moving in toward the sniper. Then he's quickly moving again, not the pellmell climb of Nightflash but a stealthier approach, distanced from the others. Joseph continues his crawl toward the sides, trying to pull himself into whatever cover can be found and hunkering down to wait for the calvary. Also down in the valley, Heart-of-Fury continues to offer verbal taunts as he breaks from cover. ~Your time is over, Defilers. We have broken your spirits allies that intrude on our land. We have extinguished the fires you set to harrass us. Your stench will be cleansed, your foulness expelled. More from our sept wait outside for our call. They will descend on you like the wrath of Gaia Herself.~ The Galliard's muzzle turns and he howls off in the distance, out of the canyon. Moments later, an answering howl echoes back, full of fury and impatience. Already in combat on the other wall, the Get ragabash presses her attack. When her claws fail to pierce the sniper's skin, Chaser changes tactics--clawing for the sniper's eyes, her strike fueled by rage and frustration.

The Gnawer metis finally reaches the top, and, spitting a curse into the wind, dives for the thing's nether regions, attempting, at least, not to bowl Chaser over.

((Lysander pages to the room: Sanity check: Shadow-of-Blood attacking one sniper. Nightflash and RF one round behind him, and Ethan one round behind them. Chaser fighting a sniper. Ears just joining into that fight. Chiaroscuro a round behind Ears. Mist-Walker, Jamethon, and Joe are all badly hurt and trying to stay under cover, while Heart-of-Fury is making a nuisance of himself on the canyon floor without actually engaging the Dancers. One-Rage, Song-of-Fury, and Owen have all advanced to fight the Dancers themselves. Four Dancers -- one guy with a whip, one guy with a hunchback, one guy with a bolo, one guy with warty skin. Salamander behind them.))

Chaser makes an attempt to rip her sniper's eyes from his head as he struggles to keep away from her, and to bring his rifle to bear on her. Ears arrives as backup just as the no-moon claws a piece out of the struggling man's shoulder, and his finger tightens on the trigger of his gun. Ears delivers the coup de grace, and is the only witness to the results of the gunshot.

On the other side of the canyon, Shadow-of-Blood engages the other sniper as Nightflash, Rides-Fire, and Ethan continue to scramble up the hill. The sniper screams in pain as the Talon bites a chunk from his right thigh, and attempts to pull his rifle around to bring it to bear on his attacker.

Down in the canyon, only one of the Dancers seems remotely concerned that Heart-of-Fury's howl may bring reinforcements; the one carrying the bolo pauses even as his three packmates continue to advance to meet Lion's-Roar, One-Rage, and Song-of-Fury.

The sniper fires, and the muzzle flash is muffled against the Crinos's belly, blackening fur. Chaser's eyes widen, as blood and gore splatter the rocks behind her. She stumbles to her knees, staring for a moment, hands pressed to the bloody hole in her midsection. Baring her teeth, she lets loose a snarl of fury--and the sound gains in volume and strength. Still holding a clawed hand to the wound, she hauls herself to one knee, then to her feet, snarling incoherently.

With a primal roar, Song-of-Fury lights into the whip-carrying Dancer with everything he has, striking with both claw and fang, every features a blur of motion. He seems to know just where to attack, despite the frenzied appearence of his movements. One-Rage drives himself harder as the stench of fear from the bolo weilding Spiral dancer causes him to grin sadisticly. Hispo claws carry him faster as he moves along the ground. Narrowing optics match the whip bearing spiral, then quickly ducks back behind Song-Of-Fury as the Shadow Lord takes point. Going in second, he focuses upon his warrior's gift and calls upon his will, lashing out with his claws, aiming for the nether regions. Lion's-Roar charges behind the Shadow Lord and One-Rage, coming after them with noting but death in his eyes. Ears gives Chaser an extremely worried look, but being neither a healer nor a battlefield first aid technician, she instead picks up the gun, peers at it for a moment or three, and then aims carefully at the distracted Dancer. Jamethon raises his head to look at the sniper situation and seeing Kaz with the gun now makes a breakneck pace run towards Kaz to take the point with the rifle and perhaps see about what happened to Chaser. Shadow-of-Blood continues attacking the sniper, but he seems to have a purpose to his Rage-fed attacks, as he struggles to get the sniper out and over the cliff, shifting instantly up into the warform as he grabs for the sniper and attempts to throw him down onto the canyon floor.

Firewatcher begins travelling again, attempting to catch up with Balancer, who is still moving towards Kaz, Chaser, and the sniper, after her brief, and for all anyone can tell, completely ineffectual pause. Dyes-Hair-Often begins falling behind her other packmates, as half of her attention is going to the Salamander, the glass-bottle talen balanced in her hand while she waits for it to come just in the right range to throw--or it looks as if it might be repeating its firebreathing trick.

The Get shifts to Homid, features contorted in fury, her face splattered with her own blood. "All right," she snarls softly, "/now/ I'm /pissed/." She rips a wide strip from the hem of her t-shirt, tying it around her waist to keep her vital organs where they belong. The green eyes shift to Ears, and she growls, "Give me the /gun/."

Nightflash howls, ~Throw him off the cliff!~ to Shadow of Blood. Ethan's own cry quickly follows Nightflash's: "But keep the gun!" Ethan is up in range of the sniper, but doesn't immediately enter the fray. He leaves for that the lupus here, and instead keeps hidden and a watch on the rifle. He wants that rifle. Rides-Fire doesn't show the restraint of the other two. Still in lupus form, he springs toward the man strugging with the Red Talon and attemps to bite him in the ass. Below, Joseph remains in cover. Heart-of-Fury looks eager to join the melee against the Dancers, but he's still waiting impatiently for his pack to finish off the snipers before he charges. The Galliard advances forward a short ways, even so; he's wary of the bolo slinger, ready to try something defensive, if necessary.

The warty-skinned Dancer strikes first, his movements coming with the speed and elegance characteristic of many full-moons who have reached at least the Fostern rank. He slashes at the biggest of his three targets -- Lion's-Roar -- first, casually disembowelling the full-moon with two swipes of his claws -- claws that glint silver in the firelight -- before moving on to One-Rage and very nearly repeating the performance. The whip-wielding Dancer stands firm in the face of all three Garou, each of them slashing at his body with claws, and simply *glares* at Song-of-Fury. The hunchback also steps into the fray, delivering the coup-de-grace to One-Rage just after the Gnawer unleashes his second attack and sends the whip-wielding Dancer sprawling to the ground. Song-of-Fury seems rooted to the spot, unable to slash more than once at the whip-wielder, despite the fact that his target has been knocked ass-over-teakettle.

Shadow-of-Blood's sniper struggles to bring his rifle to bear on his own assailant, but fails to do so before he is tossed bodily over the precipice. He bounces off a few rocks and trees on his way down to the canyon floor, and ends up not too terribly far from Joseph. Despite a horribly mangled leg and injuries sustained from the fall, the man is, incredibly, still moving, still clutching his rifle.

The bolo-wielding Dancer seems more than happy to square off with Heart-of-Fury; in a quick motion, he throws the weapon in the Galliard's direction. The thing wraps around its target with startling aggression, holding Heart-of-Fury's arms fast to his sides.

The Salamander spirit turns and unleashes another powerful blast of flames, this time at First Strike plus Shadow-of-Blood. The makeshift foxhole affords the four some cover, but all are nonetheless singed.

((Lysander pages to the room: Okay. Let me deal with results, now. Patience, patience.))

Only lightly touched by the fire and moving with the unnatural quick reflexes of a fostern ahroun, Nightflash leaps from the cliff, planning to come down on top of the fallen sniper and finishing it off once and for all. Joseph flinches as the man comes crashing down the side of the cliff. Seeing he's still alive, the Wendigo pulls his knife, summoning what strength and will he can muster, and aiming it at the enemy's heart. Ethan isn't looking so good after that blast from Salamander, and he's not moving as quick either. Going for cover, he tries to find a deeper hole in the ground to take shelter under in case there's another blast. As poor as Ethan looks, he bears up under the blast better than the Stargazer who takes fire as his namesake. His flesh crisped and melted under the blash, Rides-Fire throws back his head and voices a call of enraged agony. As rage floods his body, his wounds close just enough to keep him on his feet. Spending that rage, he returns to hispo form and hunkers down, trying to let his original injuries heal. Down below, Heart-of-Fury makes a short-term tactical retreat from the Dancers since he's twisted up in the bolo. The hispo shifts into lupus, trying to get some slack and then tries to find some cover for whatever else might start flying from the hands of the Dancers so he can start to work his way out of the restraint.

As Salamander draws even to where Chiaroscuro is with the dead sniper, Kaz, and Chaser, Dyes-Hair-Often finally gets her chance. With a called "Squirtle, Squirtle!" She lobs the last of her glass bottles with crinos-speeded strength towards the Salamander. Firewatcher gets a chance to take stock, and notices, from her perch, there aren't many Garou moving at this point. She tags Balancer, pointing her to the Fury, and at the top of her Fianna trained lungs lifts her muzzle back to give voice to the age-old howl calling for retreat to the Gaian Garou.

Ears' rifle shot strikes the bolo-owning Dancer in the back just after he releases the weapon at Steven. The Dancer actually yelps in pain and staggers, clutching a shoulder burned by the kiss of silver.

Song-of-Fury wails in anguish, a high, keening howl as the power of the Dancer's gaze washes over him and his friends are brought down to either side. The gibbering and clawing of the beast wells within the Shadow Lord and with a roar of panic and frenzy, he falls back, scrabbling away from the melee towards the rocks as fast as he is able. All semblence of reason and control is gone. One-Rage cries out in pain as his gift sends the whip bearer stumbling to the ground. For all of a moment, there's nothing but numbness, dark, inky black confines which shround his opaque orbs. ~Nevada...~ He says absently to himself as the world begins to spin, blood and gore dripping down his mid section, hot tears springing to his eyes. ~Sorry....I Fucked up....~ Down he goes, to the ground, his body shuddering once as he lies in a pool of hot blood. His chest slowly stopping in mid breath, eyes glistening, then finally fall shut before he reverts his his breed form. Fur singed, the crinos Shadow-of-Blood stands up with a defiant snarl of rage and leaps from the foxhole towards the large Salamander at the bottom of the canyon, claws extended and ready to rip into the materialized spirt as soon as he lands on it. James sees his Pack elder go down as well as Jay and suddenly shifts to the Crinos form as he barrel runs forward towards Lion's-Roar to scoop him up and continues running towards the opening to the Canyon, attempting the Mother's Touch on him if he can get his hands on his Elder.

Ears grins in delight, ignores Chaser /and/ Megan, and takes aim again, firing at the warty dancer, since it seems to be doing troubling things to people.

Fights-for-Hope, sprinting as though his life depends on it, jumps out to try to pick up Lion's-Roar. He doesn't get far before the hunchbacked Dancer draws a deep breath and spits out a gout of fire, not altogether unlike the larger gouts thrown by Salamander from time to time. The flame strikes Fights-for-Hope in the back, singing him around the edges but doing no real damage. Together, Nightflash and Joseph have absolutely no difficulty dispatching the badly-wounded human sniper. Shadow-of-Blood bounds down the steep wall of the canyon, joining them, and Heart-of-Fury, below, ready to charge the Salamander spirit. Heart-of-Fury shifts to lupus to try to disentangle himself from his bonds, but he's unable to completely free himself -- the bolo constricts around his legs, now, hampering his movements.

Dyes-Hair-Often's grenade actually arcs down upon the Salamander spirit, momentarily muting its flame. The thing screams in pain and levels another blast of fire towards her position. The fire, however, is slower than Ears' next gunshot, which strikes the wart-skinned Dancer in the right leg. He gives a hoarse cry of fury, but, after the whip-wielder gets back to his feet, advances along with the rest of his packmates towards the few Garou on the canyon floor.

((Lysander pages to the room: Okay, this is what I have. Three of the four Dancers are injured -- bolo-boy and wart-skin from Ears' gunshots, and whip-lad from Pickett's, er, Stonebreakers' Charge. Salamander is still hanging in here. Both snipers are toast. Ethan and RF are hunkered down trying to heal. FFH is trying to drag Owen out of the fight. NF, SoB, and HF are near the badly-injured Joe, and the Dancers are heading their way. Chaser's climbing down the side of the canyon, with the intention of reprising Stonebreakers' Charge, apparently. Chiaro plus Ears have just been scorched, but are still kicking in the first sniper's foxhole. I think that covers everyone.
Lysander pages to the room: Jarred's fled the battle. Jamethon is retreating, carrying Owen.))

Lion's-Roar spits, yelling at Fights-For-Hope as he is carried, ~Just fucking heal me, you twit! I can run fine.~ ... Fights-for-Hope would roar out, but is so focused on his goal that the pain from the fire is all but a moot point in the back of his mind. He ignores the older Get's vitriol, and as soon as he gets as much distance as he thinks he can he kneels upon the ground and lays his hands on Owen's wound, using the gift of the Mother's Touch on him and useing his own gigantic body as cover for Lion's-Roar against him getting killed all over again. ~Too important to die!~ he growls out as the blue light shines forth from his hands. ~Live! Don't die tonight!~ ... Ears snarls in pain and ducks behind any cover she can get -- but then pops out of it to shoot again at the Dancers, specifically the whip-dancer. After shooting, the metis retreats back under cover. With another incoherent snarl of defiance, Shadow-of-Blood launches himself at the Salamander spirit, face twisted as he moves with the speed of Rage granted by Wolverine, twisting to try to avoid incoming attacks.

A smoking trio of Chiaroscuro backs away from the edge of the canyon walls, trying to get behind cover for protection against any further gouts of flaming chili breath from Salamander as they begin tryign to pick their way back to the only source of the retreat Firewatcher called, the opening in the sheet of flame at the mouth of the canyon, a tactic that will take almost as long to accomplish as it did the first time, more than likely.

The Fianna Galliard frenetically tries to free himself from the infernal bolo. He shifts up to the Crinos if he can, then down to the Glabro, hoping that digits and opposable thumbs will help while he tries to work his arms, or at least one hand, free. He keeps an eye on the Dancers, he's in no shape to tangle with enemies he can't even fight. Nightflash doesn't retreat. Howling with fury and outrage, the Gaian turns to face the incoming dancers. ~Someone help Fury,~ he calls, to no one in particular, then throws himself into the fray. Joseph hears Nightflash's call and crawls his way toward Heart of Fury, pulling at the bolo to try and unwrap it from the Fianna's arms. Ethan waits a few seconds while the carnage on the canyon floor continues, long enough to realize that yes, he is alive, for the moment at least. He really shouldn't be moving in the state he is, but he is, such is the gift of the Get of Fenris. He shifts back to hispo with a blur of rage and, reluctantly relinquishing cover, descends, again under the cover of Blur. He still wants that damn gun. Rides-Fire also comes out of his hiding hole, flattening to the ground as he picks his way down. On the other wall, Chaser runs along the canyon wall, until she has flanked the brawl. Then she charges, without a sound, for the one armed with the bolo. The attack is fueled by rage, a single fast claw-strike to her target's throat, and then she is dashing out of range again. Long distance to Lysander: Ears nods. Ducking behind cover, but popping out to fire. And trying to get back into cover after. I forget who I said I shot at though, so feel free to pick one.

When Fights-for-Hope finally sets Owen down and attempts healing, he finds he's actually too seriously injured to do the Get Ahroun any good. Nonetheless, both are out of any immediate danger.

Nightflash seems to momentarily cow the wart-skinned Dancer; rather than meet the Gaian's attacks, he simply dodges them, as if fearful of what might happen if the Gaian's claws actually touch him. He manages to evade all but the lightest touch of Nightflash's claws, suffering only further cosmetic damage to an already disgusting body.

Between Joseph and Heart-of-Fury, the Galliard finally manages to pull free of the bolo-thing. The hunchback and the bolo's owner both dive in to attack Heart-of-Fury, though only the hunchback manages to score a damaging hit, opening a light gash across Heart-of-Fury's left arm. Ears, meanwhile, gamely plugs away with her purloined rifle, but this time -- perhaps due to her injuries -- misses her shot. Chaser's run-by maneuver is more effective; darting in, the no-moon delivers a vicious claw-blow that takes out a chunk of the bolo-weapon's owner's throat. He falls, twitches once, and then is still.

Shadow-of-Blood leaps not for any of the Dancers, but at the Salamander spirit itself. The spirit meets the attack, lashing out, but the Talon manages to jump aside at the last moment. Then Shadow-of-Blood strikes back: his powerful blow elicits a keening wail from the spirit incarna, which abruptly vanishes from sight.

The Dancer with the whip steps forward; rather than attack, he hurls a barrage of insults at Nightflash. ~Weak, feeble, useless! We are more than you! Even if we fall here, our kind will devour yours!~

The Chiaroscurans split somewhat, the fairly injured Lucca making her way over to the cavern mouth, Tec and Megan scrambling down as best they can down the cavern walls.

Chaser flanks the fight again at a stumbling run, looking for an opportunity to blindside one of the Dancers, a clawed hand still clutched to her bloodied middle.

The Stonebreaks are hurt, but not out just yet. Ears growls, ducks out from under cover, and shoots again, this time at the broader and more visible hunchback. Lion's-Roar swears to himself as his would-be healer can't muster the Touch. Staying low for the nonce, he gives the place a thorough looking over. Fights-For-Hope nods slowly and turns his head towards the battle, looking to see who could use healing and if one of the BSDs are weak enough for him to jump in on.

Finds-the-Lost arrives at the sniper in time to notice that Heart-of-Fury is already extricated. He shifts to his birthform of homid in a snap, snags the rifle, and is immediately moving for foxhole-like cover nearby. Nightflash snarls again, this time in frustration. The Gaian falters briefly, the Spiral's words apparently having had a profound effect on him. He presses on, but not as ferociously as one might expect, mustering one last effort to kill the Spiral ahroun before he loses the benefit of his gift and it begins attacking with its silver claws. Heart-of-Fury yelps as the Wyrm twisted Garou's claws tear away his skin. He turns, rage-shifts into hispo, and then unleashes all of his pent up fury on the hunchbacked Spiral, his talons ripping and shredding, his jaws angling to find the thing's throat. Rides-Fire, still wounded, reaches the ground just as Heart-of-Fury lunches at the hunchbacked Black Spiral. As if the motion breaks something open in the Stargazer, he launches himself at the Betrayer's back and cuts loose with teeth and claws. The two packmates blur with the speed of frustrated anger, as they seek to tear the enemy to pieces between them.

Kaz hesitates as First Strike unleashes its arsenal, and instead of shooting for the hunchback, shoots for the whipped Dancer -- but making sure not to hit Nightflash as she does so. This tends to affect aim.

Shadow-of-Blood, renewed now that the Salamander was forced into the umbra, spins on the whip-carrying Black Spiral Dancer. Charging forward with rage enhanced speed for a double claw swipe towards it's spine at the back of it's neck as he runs by it.

The whip-wielding Dancer steps forward to help his silver-clawed packmate deal with Nightflash, but just an instant too late: both Ahrouns slash at each other with the last vestiges of rage, the last bits of will, and both score telling hits -- Gaian claws rend Dancer abdomen and shoulders, while Dancer claws hew Gaian face and chest. Locked in a death grip with one another, both warriors fall.

Meanwhile, both Rides-Fire and Steven tear furiously at the hunchbacked Dancer, who likewise expends Rage in an effort to, at least, try to take one of the Hidden Walk's warriors down with him. Rides-Fire draws first blood, opening a deep gouge in the Dancer's leg. The hunchback then manages to tear open Heart-of-Fury's arm to the bone, dropping the Galliard. Rides-Fire's remaining attacks, however, are the coup-de-grace.

As Shadow-of-Blood springs in to swipe at the back of the whip-wielder's head, Ears fires again. Her shot just barely grazes the side of the Dancer's head, digging a bloody furrow through flesh. Then the Talon falls upon the fallen Garou, rending the back of its throat open. It, too, falls.

Nightflash falls over, his head bleeding profusely where the silver claws tore through flesh and bone to reveal the grey tissue underneath.

Fights-For-Hope growls and runs over from his place to kneel by Nightflash to see if the Fostern is still saveable. If so, he concentrates a moment, takes a breath, and places his hands on the Gaian's head for a Mother's Touch.

Joseph makes his way over to Rides Fire and Heart of Fury, checking both for signs of life.

Lion's-Roar can tell the sudden change in the mood in the area from one kind of tension to another. He starts to get to his feet, carefully as he can now 'feel it', and looks over all the carnage.

Kaz, warily, lets the gun fall, watching from her position -- she certainly can't hit anything during this sort of combat.

The Chiaroscurans make it down the mountain to tread their way warily over towards Nightflash and his opponent, ready to jump at a moment's notice.

Chaser stumbles back toward the fray, seconds too late, limping and still clutching her wounded side. ~Anyone who can, see to the wounded,~ she growls softly. She methodically cuts the throats of the dead, making sure of them.

Ethan has just rolled behind some rubble, and peeks his head out to look for targets, rifle barrel swung out at the ready. Nothing much seems to be moving much, friend -or- foe. He scrambles to his feet and slowly advances, waiting for some Dancer to twitch.

Nightflash's eyes snap open suddenly and he unleashes a howl of pure agony. The strength of his fury causes the blood vessels in his eyes and nose to burst, but the ahroun breathes.

The fostern Galliard goes down painfully, stiffly, landing on his ruined arm. He is still; without motion or movement for painful seconds, then he unleashes a mighty bellow, his body jerking with a sudden heat of Rage. Somehow, someway, he still has faint signs of life in him, as the fit passes.

Kaz winces slightly at Nightflash's howl, and then edges backwards to start searching the body and surroundings.

Both Megan and Tec wince backwards slightly, Tec moreso than Megan -- it seems to hurt her ears. Megan heads off to help Lucca out.

Ethan swings the barrel of the rifle around toward Nightflash with the howl, but his finger's actually not on the trigger and it lowers as soon as his brain classifies this as friend, not foe. "They dead, Chase?" he asks tensely. "The Dancers?"

Rides-Fire staggers as the foe finally falls under his claws. Lurching forward, he pulls back as the rage seems to radiate off Heart-of-Fury's form. Only when he falls back again in an unconscious slump does Rides-Fire purposely rest his nose on his packmate.

Joseph's face, still masked with his own blood, contorts with angry frustration. He looks to Rides, who still stands, and then Steven and Nightflash, both down but alive. He thun mutters something in his own language.

Chaser snarls a quick affirmative to Ethan. ~Dead. Save the silver. We'll take it back. Whatever they have.~

Lion's-Roar takes a second as the others, all but One-Rage, shows signs of life. He then lifts his muzzle high to howl out a victory in the name of Gaia, shortened by his own wounds which soon keep him down near the ground.

Kaz pockets some silver surreptitiously.

Fights-For-Hope looks down at NF and growls deeply, knowing the results will not be perfect. He is however, alive, and so he almost coldly stands and moves off over to Joseph, shuddering as the other Garou spasms to life. ~I ca try uce more... who eeds?~

Rides-Fire limps toward Nightflash, not even responding to Fights-For-Hope as he makes his way to his mortally-wounded alpha. Once more, the ahroun lowers his muzzle to touch the fur of a packmate. This time, he grunts with effort as he again calls on his last remaining tie with his previous totem.

Ethan lowers the rifle barrel and keeps it lowered, moving back to where the one sniper fell to search for more ammo. When he gets there he collapses himself down on the ground next to the guy for an inspection.

Joseph stands unsteadily, shrugging the Get off. He points at Steven, alive but still down.

Fights-For-Hope simply nods and steps over to Steven, disgust evident in his face. Never the less, he kneels besides Steven and concentrates for a good deal of time, trying to get it right on this last shot as he lays his hands down on Steven and puts the strength of his will into making this work.

Rides-Fire turns to the healer. Although almost too burned and wearied to rage, he bares his teeth at Fights-for-Hope. Heal the others! I have called on the Horned one from him.

Kaz starts climbing down the cliff, offering, ~Yeah, heal me.~ She looks quite charred.

Lion's-Roar just rolls onto his back and looks upwards at nothing for the time being.

Fights-For-Hope growls and shakes his head, turning first to Rides and second to Joseph, then third to Kaz, who is actually /asking/ to be healed. He steps over to Kaz and meets up with her, leaning over to whisper in her ear as his hands rest upon the metis' shoulders.

Nightflash's eyes open and the ahroun retakes his birthform with a whimper of pain. He blinks his eyes several times to clear the blood from them.

Rides-Fire's head hangs low as Nightflash blinks at him. He manages a soft chuff, but for the most part stands in a posture of soul-deep weariness.

Kaz pats Jamethon on the head, as he ministers to her. ~It's ok, bud,~ she responds, fairly quietly.

The Fianna stirs finally, his massive hispo head lifting up barely from where he fell. A kind of slow self-assessment follows, and he pulls himself to his feet. Even as he looks on, tired, broken, his lips curl back at the dead bodies. He just watches, his breath coming in a slow, steady cadence, favoring three of his limbs over the others.

Nightflash chuffs softly to his packmate before making his way over to Soulcatcher.

Joseph manages to retrieve his knife, coming face to face with Nightflash once he has it. The Wendigo does not look pleased.

Nightflash motions for the Wendigo to sit. You cannot leave this place as you are.

Ethan searches for what there is of note on the sniper's body, the rifle still with him. When he's done he slides up into glabro, rifle propped up against a knee as he leans against a boulder, and just stares somewhat blankly at the sight of earlier carnage. He's not really in any mood, or any shape, to move now.

Joseph more allows his body to fold than sit. Either way, he hits the ground in front of Nightflash.

Rides-Fire stares at the warty body of the silver-clawed enemy blankly. We should clean this place, he says automatically. He makes no move to do so.

Fights-For-Hope sighs heavily as a blue glow eminates from his hands and while not all of Kaz's burnt flesh slowly crackles back into healthy skin, a good deal of it does... just leaving singed spots that are really just an annoyance rather then real damage. He shifts down to homid now and manages a grin which stretches open a large hole in the Get's throat which lets a gout of blood pour out of it. ~Yo lucky.~ he groans out as both hands flys up to hold the wound closed on the front and back of it.

Nightflash begins licking away the blood from the wound in Joseph's head.

Kaz thanks Jamethon gravely and then sits, still somewhat charred, gun in her lap.

Lion's-Roar sighs, struggles to his feet, now having shifted to lupus, and gives everyone a look. No eyes toward him, he starts to skulk away.

Chaser snarls a quiet agreement. ~Who can walk, still, or carry? Need to pile the bodies. Burn them. Use gasoline from tanks.~ She begins limping toward the canyon entrance, probably to fetch the fuel. A glance about her, and she finds someone moderately upright. ~You,~ she snarls to Rides-Fire. ~Come.~

Rides-Fire turns dully toward Chaser. After a few seconds, he starts to limp after her.

On her way out, the Get snarls a snapping command to Lion's-Roar. ~Stay. There are wounded who will need help. And we still must destroy evidence.~

Nightflash finishes healing Soulcatcher then calls Rides-Fire back. Wait. Deal with the bodies in a moment.

Kaz lurches to her feet again and follows along behind, to help.

Fights-For-Hope looks around the place and grates out from his throat. "I hel clense 'noth day. Too sent now. Nee eal hoat." As Chaser speaks he frowns and adds. "Fie? Na? Afa Samendar?"

Heart-of-Fury limps forward, bumping against Rides-Fire, gingerly, still surveying the carnage. He turns to look at Nightflash quizzically.

Rides-Fire hesitates, looking at Nightflash without comprehension.

Ethan lets all the activity go on around him. He's still injured, and like Owen the fight didn't sit well with him at all. Adrenaline's running down, pain's setting in, and he shifts further into lupus. His forepaws rest over the barrel of the rifle.

Chaser pauses a moment, glancing over her shoulder to Nightflash.

Nightflash walks over to Rides-Fire and repeats the procedure on his remaining packmate, then slumps from exhaustion.

Heart-of-Fury turns with a grunt to finish the grim task of clean up and cover up.

Chaser turns away and stalks out to fetch the two motorcycles, removing the fuel tanks and carrying them, sloshing, back to the location of the fight.

Rides-Fire gains a little strength from his packmate's cleaning of his burns. Chuffing, the pale-eyed wolf touches first Nightflash, then the nearby Heart-of-Fury with his nose. Only then does he again turn to follow Chaser.

The Fury murmurs, ~What Cleansing is needed on this side, Chiaroscuro can do.~

Lion's-Roar stops in his tracks at Chaser's beck and call.

Kaz continues to help Chaser out, but then suddenly stops. "You wanna /burn/ shit, I can do /that/."

Nightflash takes a healing form. ~Are there any that still cannot walk?~

Chaser growls softly, ~Still must destroy bodies. Bury evidence.~ She begins pulling the corpses of the Dancers together, working with only one arm, pouring the tank of gasoline over them and directing Rides-Fire to do the same with the one he brings back.

Joseph gets to his feet, a little shakey by much better than he was before. He nods his thanks to Nightflash and turns to help Kaz and Chaser with the fire setting, and cleansing.

Finds-the-Lost chuffs from him spot near the sniper's body. I think it would take me a long time to get back to the caern.

Kaz drags things as well, and, once needed, uses her Gift to set things merrily ablaze.

Lion's-Roar just remains as is, not answering the Gaian, but he does try to go move a body.

Lion's-Roar eventually just gives up on the body and lets Kaz deal with it. He settles back down on the ground gingerly, awaiting Chaser's next commandment, but soon spies Tecmessa, to which he just starts to froth.

Chaser buries what remains, after the burning--blackened, misshapen bones, some of them Crinos. She does not speak more than is necessary, and when most of the traces of battle have been buried, hidden, or raked over with brush, she glances critically over the site. ~We will send others back, to do more if it is needed.~ Then her attention swings over to Nightflash. ~Can you walk?~

((Nightflash pages to the room: The only other unusual thing NF does tonight is, once the bodies are burnt, he'll hit the area with Sense the Unnatural. He'll pick something off the burned corpse of one of the BSD's and have Joseph check it for Wyrm taint. He says it's a spirit-item of some sort. Whether it has Wyrm taint or not will have to wait on Lys, but I'll let you know. :-)))

Nightflash says, ~I can walk as far as the caern.~

Chaser nods curtly, and glances about again. She jerks her chin at Rides-Fire. ~Help Ethan.~ Then she begins limping out of the canyon, slowly.

((From afar, to the room, Nightflash helps his pack get back to the caern and then collapses.
Chaser pages to the room: Ditto.))