During the Moot

4/21/2006

Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waning Half Moon phase (42% full).
It is currently 18:19 Pacific Time on Fri Apr 21 2006.

[This scene takes place in between the parts of April Moot, when Runner and Leaves-None bolted off after Power-Up (Kevin) to catch him. They were, to say the least, shellshocked by what happened next.]

Bawn: Western Forest(#3018RA)
Tall Sitka spruce and sequoia crowd around and above you. Many of the trees are old, their branches twisted into impossible shapes, trunks broad and draped with lichen, mosses and creepers. Tendrils of moss hand down from them like green spiderwebs, snaring the unwary with cold, ghostly fingers. The patches of younger growth are dense and pale, needles tinged with silver. Matted undergrowth huddles sullenly in the occasional small clearings, clutching with thorns and burrs at the legs of those who would pass. Deer seldom venture here, but the forest is full of rustlings, and tiny glints from wary, watchful eyes.
The forest spreads out to the east, bounded on the west by Sunrise Road. From farther to the west, one can occasionally hear the distant sounds of the town of Kent's Crossing.
Contents:
Power-Up
Leaves-None
Obvious exits:
Southwest  Highway 22  Overgrown Path  Sunrise Road  Farmhouse  Caern of the Hidden Walk  Creek  Central Bawn  Southern Bawn  Northern Bawn  

The forest is dark, but his paws are sure as he runs, ears and nose guiding him more than eyes. The sound of howling from behind him drives him onward. The sound of pursuit, or just the sound of his erstwhile septmates calling the Opening of the Inner Sky? Power-Up cannot tell. His back hurts where Dillen's claws have opened it. He's taking the shortest route off the Bawn towards the city that he calls, or called, home.

Runner's pursuit is almost as silent, only her panting and pacing possibly revealing her. She's called her Gifts into play. She's called her Rage, which is fueling a large amount of her speed. And though she remains unaware of herself being pursued, it's as if she knows where she's going too; the city - of course, that's where Walkers would run to disappear.

Leaves-None trails Runner as quietly as she can, not nearly as efficiently as the other Gnawer, though. All of her energy is going into keeping smell or maybe occasional sight in her focus as she dodges obstacles. While not as fast or silent-footed, she is smart though, and starts to gradually pick up on the direction as some things grow more familiar.

A splash as Power-Up comes to a small creek. He's through the water and out in a second, hoping that the passage over the stream will mask his scent if he's being followed at a distance. Of course, if pursuit is close behind, the sound will give them a clear clue where he is and how close.

Runner can hear him. Smell his fear. That urges her on, and calls the Beast within her like it hasn't before. It is just so that she knows the woods, and uses a small short cut that takes her through a bush instead of around, saving her time. The Walker ragabash can definitely see her now, and she runs for him with a sudden blurring of her already hazy form as she leaps for him with her jaws wide open.

The scents in the air all act as beacons for Leaves-None,her paws shifting a little to reaffirm her tracking. Panting, she urges her limbs to move a little faster and catch up to the two. The fuzzy blurring ahead of her is a reward of sorts and yet a harbinger of what may happen next.

Power-Up gets a whiff of the Fostern's scent moments before he sees her looming up on him in a vaguely wolf-shaped blur, and knows her identity from that scent. He could still put on all his speed and have a good chance of outpacing her, but oddly, he doesn't try. He wheels round and stands there as she charges him, head bowed, and addresses her as she charges. You have come to kill me? Take me back? he asks as a second pursuer comes sprinting up.

Runner purposefully doesn't divert. Her jaws are there for one reason and that is to secure him. It's only a flash of reflex that keeps her from bowling straight into him, the way a wolf might swerve to keep from impaling herself on the horns of prey that takes a stand. Her lips remain curled, fur all bristled with a huge temper that likely neither of the other ragabash have seen her in. It's such that she leaps upon him in the second that follows anyway, most unmercifully, and without answers to his query.

Leaves-None slows to circle around the pair, tail flagged out behind her aggressively yet with ears set inquisitively. The fury and Rage in Runner keeps her at the edge for now, enough to growl lowly since she has no desire to get in the way of that intent. This one bears witness if need. One also wishes to know why?

Power-Up doesn't flinch, doesn't flee, doesn't move a muscle. His tail is tucked well between his hind legs as the Fostern's jaws descend upon him like a steel trap.

It's not just her jaws. Eventually, Yi's Rage heightens to such a point that she shifts to her warform and pounds away on the poor cliath like the battered farmhouse punching bag. She tears into him, rips into him, and if he doesn't fight back (perhaps the wisest of actions) her anger plateaus and then drops. Golden eyes stare with an intensity hot like the sun. ~Who?!~ she demands of the broken lupus. Her claws seize him by his nape, and she brings her blood splattered face close.

Leaves-None continuing to pace, hackles raised by the scent of blood and the overwhelming Rage pouring off of Yi. Her ears pin flat against her head as she falls silent to watch.

Power-Up offers no resistance at all. From his hangdog, submissive body language one might readily conclude that the hapless ragabash believes he fully deserves this treatment. Only when Runner demands to know the name of his partner does he raise his eyes to look at the Fostern's face, marked with his own blood. I will not tell, he declares weakly but firmly. I will never, never betray trust.

Runner gives Power-Up such a hard shake, one might think she might've snapped his spinal cord. Her other claw comes up to grip his throat, firm but not enough to break what unbroken skin might be remaining. ~Give me one good reason,~ she snarls hotly, ~why I should not kill you.~

Leaves-None goes still as the mention of trust comes from the Walker, almost deadly still as her mind works. Trust. Fragile is that. One knows of another who trusted you. Trusted since shared cub time. She bores her eyes into Power-Up and trembles a little in place, tail drooping somewhat from its tense flag. Kills-The-Cries.

Power-Up coughs a little as his throat is gripped, a trickle of blood coming from his muzzle. I will leave, he offers. I will leave straight away, yes, yes, before Luna has gone from the sky I shall be gone from the sept. I will not corrupt any more, will not lead anyone else astray. There is no metis, he adds belatedly as though it was an afterthought. And then Leaves-None's comment lands on the tense tableau like a bombshell, and Power-Up lets out a trembling puppyish whine.

~WHAT?!~ The fostern's roar is incredulous. Runner's claws tighten in the Walker's throat. ~Kills-the-Cries?!~ It's almost like a blow to her head. Gradually, her claws weaken in their grip, but she doesn't quite let go. ~Tell me the truth. I will spare you, if you do.~

Leaves-None continues to shake, gaze focusing somewhere beyond the other no-moons for a few seconds. Then she snaps sharply back to reality, tail rising again, as a growl grows in her throat. There's a slowly dwindling amount of sense and sanity in those yellow-green eyes. Yes. Howl your truth if you want to live further.

Power-Up whines again, a soft submissive sound. I will not say. I do not want to be spared if the other one is not. My life is nothing without him. I love him. Can you not understand? No metis. Ever. Not possible.

Runner clearly looks conflicted for a long, sullen moment. A shiv to her spine couldn't have done it any better. ~Then don't say it.~ She drops the Walker abruptly, taking a few steps back and away from him. ~Go. Tell him I do not want to see his face here either. You two are dead to us. Take that and bury it deep within your heart and in your spirit. So deep that the Questing Stone and the Sense of the Prey will not find you. Understood?~

Leaves-None lowers her head slightly, growl intensifying with admittance of the shared love. One cared such for him once. One thought the same. That part of me is dead now, as is Kills-the-Cries if ever my eyes see you or him again. Turning, she grinds her hind feet into the dirt to kick it back at the Walker in a demeaning display before stalking away stiff-legged.

Power-Up flops to the floor, bleeding and incredulous. As though by instinct, he shows his bleeding throat to Leaves-None and Runner. We will both be gone, yes yes yes, far far away, he confirms very vigorously. I was going to join him when you caught me so we could both leave swiftly, yes. We will see you no more. Once again he gives a soft whine of deference. The Sept is better without those such as I. It will remain strong, yes, strong. Never fall. Guard it well. I am bad but still I loved this place as best I could. With that, he wriggles away, regaining his feet, and despite his many wounds, breaks into the fastest trot he can manage.

~Do not come back. And tell no one,~ Runner makes absolutely sure. ~The Black Spiral Dancers will not be so merciful if they catch you.~ The fostern, watching the Walker just a little while longer, turns without listening to his answer and starts to follow her tribemate back into the woods.

Leaves-None keeps herself turned away, leaving only her silence behind in the wake of this event as she trots further into the forest.

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