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val_corax So, after being left all by my lonesome in Spokane, I settled in to watch some humans that the Buzzards had been associating with. Well, I know that Broken-Beak had been hanging out with them, but I think it is fairly safe to assume that Hunter was doing exactly the same thing.
Anyway, I camped out and settled in for some surveillance work. BORING. Hours and hours of just sitting there and watching the people who lived in this mobile home. Eventually, though, being patient payed off and I spotted some weird stuff a few days after Broken-Beak ended up with more than just a Broken-Beak. First off, the lot of them had gotten plenty agitated when Broken-Beak never came back. There was one fatty in the group that just kept eating and eating - including wood? That wasn't right. So, my hunch was right and that any group of people that a Buzzard was gonna associated with, likely wasn't all that human anymore. Well, that and the whole area 'round the mobile home reeked of Wyrm Taint. I also managed to catch one of them talking about leaving the area and going to his Uncle's place. That the Uncle and his pack (?!?) would want to know what had happened to the Buzzards. Spiral Kin, maybe? Maybe.
Now that I had seen some proof that these people were the sort that needed to be brought to the attention of some wolfies, I vacated to the nearest corner store and spent the last of my cash picking up another throw away phone and some junk food. One of the women from the group I'd been spying on was in the store, but I just ignored it. No way she'd know who I was, since this was the first time I'd been out of Corvid form in ages.
I was a couple of days late heading back to St. Claire, so I was due too report in and I wanted to make certain that I could get some fuzzies up this way to deal with these Buzzard-Lovers. So, I wandered off a ways and found a nice quiet spot to set up the throw away phone and call up Riley'n Nick. Let'em know what was going on. So, I tried dialing up Nick first, lifted the phone to my ear, looked up and found myself face-to-face with a shotgun, the woman I'd spotted in the corner store and Mr. Eats-Anything from the trailer.
The woman from the store was holding the shotgun and I had just enough time to register that fact, before she blew off my lower jaw, the throw-away phone and a couple of fingers. The shotgun went off, then Fatty barfed up these flesh eating worms all over me!!! I shifted to my raven form and flew away from there as fast as I could! The woman fired off another shot, but she missed. Thank Gaia.
Once home free, I used up almost the last of my Gnosis to heal the very worst of the damage. Was still missing a good chunk of my lower jaw, but at least I wasn't flying like a drunken sailor anymore. I had no blinking clue as to how they'd figured out what I was. Maybe it was some weird random attack?
One way or another, as soon as I didn't feel like I was literally gonna fall to pieces at any second, I went back to where the trailer was and found that they were packing up and preparing to leave. Shit. So, here I was, messed up bad enough that going in to the store and getting another phone was out of the question, not to mention the fact that I could still feel those damn worms chewing on me. My ability to heal was keeping up with the damn things, but /just/. But, if I went back now and reported in, these people might be able to hook up with that Uncle one of them was talking about. Fuckityfuck. Any info I would give the wolfies would be old news, by the time that they manages to track this a-holes back down with Riley's Tracking Gift. If these people were planning to hook up with Spirals, Riley and who-ever else she brought with her when I called on the Garou to take out these Fomori and their friends, could end up traipsing in to a death trap. Not good. Not good at all.
They started to move out and I made a snap decision, landing on top of the trailer, hunkering down and going along for the ride. The next few days were something of a living hell and went by in a blur, but I did manage to figure out how they'd known how to target me. At the very least, I developed a working theory. The skinny chick that'd blown my face away with the shotgun seemed to have a damn good sense of smell. She was actually able to track people with her snoz, just like a wolf. If they'd found the mess that the Murder Sisters had left behind when they killed Hunter, well, my blood and scent would have been all over the place. But why wasn't she noticing me now? Maybe being in raven-form made it hard for her to scent me. Maybe it was the damn worms that were still trying to eat me alive(and preventing me from healing, somehow), masking my scent. One way or another, I don't think that they knew I was tailing them, but I couldn't be certain.
I was left with the conundrum of how to get the Garou up here to deal with these suckers, while all messed up, practically out of Gnosis, and all by my lonesome. It was at this point that Nokivaris/Shadow showed up. A Stormcrow, actually kinda concerned about someone(!). I could have kissed him, but that would have affronted his dignity - which is something that he is rather prickly about. I asked him to go find Nick and let him know that I needed some help. Considered sending him to Riley, but Riley has a bit of a mouth sometimes and the last thing I wanted was for her to offend Shadow. Offending a Stormcrow is a bad idea, even on a good day. So, Shadow took off, only to return about two days later and say that help was on the way. YAY!
Help was on its way and now, all I had to do was keep tabs on the Fomori and their entourage, until the cavalry arrived. So, I stuck to my targets like glue, gathering intelligence when possible and hiding when necessary. Still, I wasn't healing properly and I think the worm problem might have been getting worse. I actually started to worry that the Garou, when they arrived, would take one look at me and decide that it was time to put me down. I'm no wolf, I'm not claimed at Kin (like Nick), and in summary - I'm not one of them. I never will be and they'll probably try and separate my head from my shoulders, the minute they consider me more of a hindrance than a help. The idea that the wolves might try and off me if they saw me in my current state got more firmly embedded in my brain as time went on. Looking back, I'm fairly certain that Taint was trying to settle in. I'm kinda Paranoid by nature, but that was a bit much, even for me.
Eventually, the cavalry arrived, in the form of Nick, Riley, and Riley's pack. More than enough wolves to deal with the two Fomori and their entourage. My targets never managed to find this 'Uncle' at the house where the Spiral Pack was supposed to be. Man, they were pissed when they showed up at that place and found it empty. I made note of the location, so I could let people know that was a possible safe haven for the fuzzies Ugly Cousins. Anyway, the Garou put on an appearance and I pointed them at the people that needed killing, along with all the information I had on them. It wasn't much, but it was all I had. It should have been a cake walk for them, but they went in as humans and depended way too heavily on their guns(Glass Walkers - they love their tech), instead of sneaking up on the baddies as wolves and taking them out before they knew they were coming. It didn't go nearly as smoothly as it could have and at one point the female Fomor that had blown my face off ended up on top of Nick's car.
When all was said and done, the wolves killed everything that needed killing and didn't end up with any injuries that were going to lay them up at all. Not too bad, all told. Still, Riley was clearly pissed at me and I swallowed my apprehension(I trust Riley, damn it.) and went down to talk with her while the others were occupied. Told her that I was gonna to to my Mom's place and get fixed up. She wanted me to have Mouse do it and I just... I just couldn't do it. This idea that the wolves would just off me if they saw the state I was in, was far to firmly embedded in my skull. I took off and headed back to my Mom's place.
I managed to get to Mom and Dad's place okay. Mom fixed me right up, while giving me an earful for letting the infestation get so bad in the first place. Eased off when I explained why, though. After a few days, I'd healed the worst of the damage and was feeling like myself again. No more worms and proper food. Woo-Hoo! Mom also promised to pass on word about that house I'd come across. Make certain that folks knew about it and checked it out, just encase it is still in use. When I was mostly healed up, I headed back to St. Claire.
Anyway, I camped out and settled in for some surveillance work. BORING. Hours and hours of just sitting there and watching the people who lived in this mobile home. Eventually, though, being patient payed off and I spotted some weird stuff a few days after Broken-Beak ended up with more than just a Broken-Beak. First off, the lot of them had gotten plenty agitated when Broken-Beak never came back. There was one fatty in the group that just kept eating and eating - including wood? That wasn't right. So, my hunch was right and that any group of people that a Buzzard was gonna associated with, likely wasn't all that human anymore. Well, that and the whole area 'round the mobile home reeked of Wyrm Taint. I also managed to catch one of them talking about leaving the area and going to his Uncle's place. That the Uncle and his pack (?!?) would want to know what had happened to the Buzzards. Spiral Kin, maybe? Maybe.
Now that I had seen some proof that these people were the sort that needed to be brought to the attention of some wolfies, I vacated to the nearest corner store and spent the last of my cash picking up another throw away phone and some junk food. One of the women from the group I'd been spying on was in the store, but I just ignored it. No way she'd know who I was, since this was the first time I'd been out of Corvid form in ages.
I was a couple of days late heading back to St. Claire, so I was due too report in and I wanted to make certain that I could get some fuzzies up this way to deal with these Buzzard-Lovers. So, I wandered off a ways and found a nice quiet spot to set up the throw away phone and call up Riley'n Nick. Let'em know what was going on. So, I tried dialing up Nick first, lifted the phone to my ear, looked up and found myself face-to-face with a shotgun, the woman I'd spotted in the corner store and Mr. Eats-Anything from the trailer.
The woman from the store was holding the shotgun and I had just enough time to register that fact, before she blew off my lower jaw, the throw-away phone and a couple of fingers. The shotgun went off, then Fatty barfed up these flesh eating worms all over me!!! I shifted to my raven form and flew away from there as fast as I could! The woman fired off another shot, but she missed. Thank Gaia.
Once home free, I used up almost the last of my Gnosis to heal the very worst of the damage. Was still missing a good chunk of my lower jaw, but at least I wasn't flying like a drunken sailor anymore. I had no blinking clue as to how they'd figured out what I was. Maybe it was some weird random attack?
One way or another, as soon as I didn't feel like I was literally gonna fall to pieces at any second, I went back to where the trailer was and found that they were packing up and preparing to leave. Shit. So, here I was, messed up bad enough that going in to the store and getting another phone was out of the question, not to mention the fact that I could still feel those damn worms chewing on me. My ability to heal was keeping up with the damn things, but /just/. But, if I went back now and reported in, these people might be able to hook up with that Uncle one of them was talking about. Fuckityfuck. Any info I would give the wolfies would be old news, by the time that they manages to track this a-holes back down with Riley's Tracking Gift. If these people were planning to hook up with Spirals, Riley and who-ever else she brought with her when I called on the Garou to take out these Fomori and their friends, could end up traipsing in to a death trap. Not good. Not good at all.
They started to move out and I made a snap decision, landing on top of the trailer, hunkering down and going along for the ride. The next few days were something of a living hell and went by in a blur, but I did manage to figure out how they'd known how to target me. At the very least, I developed a working theory. The skinny chick that'd blown my face away with the shotgun seemed to have a damn good sense of smell. She was actually able to track people with her snoz, just like a wolf. If they'd found the mess that the Murder Sisters had left behind when they killed Hunter, well, my blood and scent would have been all over the place. But why wasn't she noticing me now? Maybe being in raven-form made it hard for her to scent me. Maybe it was the damn worms that were still trying to eat me alive(and preventing me from healing, somehow), masking my scent. One way or another, I don't think that they knew I was tailing them, but I couldn't be certain.
I was left with the conundrum of how to get the Garou up here to deal with these suckers, while all messed up, practically out of Gnosis, and all by my lonesome. It was at this point that Nokivaris/Shadow showed up. A Stormcrow, actually kinda concerned about someone(!). I could have kissed him, but that would have affronted his dignity - which is something that he is rather prickly about. I asked him to go find Nick and let him know that I needed some help. Considered sending him to Riley, but Riley has a bit of a mouth sometimes and the last thing I wanted was for her to offend Shadow. Offending a Stormcrow is a bad idea, even on a good day. So, Shadow took off, only to return about two days later and say that help was on the way. YAY!
Help was on its way and now, all I had to do was keep tabs on the Fomori and their entourage, until the cavalry arrived. So, I stuck to my targets like glue, gathering intelligence when possible and hiding when necessary. Still, I wasn't healing properly and I think the worm problem might have been getting worse. I actually started to worry that the Garou, when they arrived, would take one look at me and decide that it was time to put me down. I'm no wolf, I'm not claimed at Kin (like Nick), and in summary - I'm not one of them. I never will be and they'll probably try and separate my head from my shoulders, the minute they consider me more of a hindrance than a help. The idea that the wolves might try and off me if they saw me in my current state got more firmly embedded in my brain as time went on. Looking back, I'm fairly certain that Taint was trying to settle in. I'm kinda Paranoid by nature, but that was a bit much, even for me.
Eventually, the cavalry arrived, in the form of Nick, Riley, and Riley's pack. More than enough wolves to deal with the two Fomori and their entourage. My targets never managed to find this 'Uncle' at the house where the Spiral Pack was supposed to be. Man, they were pissed when they showed up at that place and found it empty. I made note of the location, so I could let people know that was a possible safe haven for the fuzzies Ugly Cousins. Anyway, the Garou put on an appearance and I pointed them at the people that needed killing, along with all the information I had on them. It wasn't much, but it was all I had. It should have been a cake walk for them, but they went in as humans and depended way too heavily on their guns(Glass Walkers - they love their tech), instead of sneaking up on the baddies as wolves and taking them out before they knew they were coming. It didn't go nearly as smoothly as it could have and at one point the female Fomor that had blown my face off ended up on top of Nick's car.
When all was said and done, the wolves killed everything that needed killing and didn't end up with any injuries that were going to lay them up at all. Not too bad, all told. Still, Riley was clearly pissed at me and I swallowed my apprehension(I trust Riley, damn it.) and went down to talk with her while the others were occupied. Told her that I was gonna to to my Mom's place and get fixed up. She wanted me to have Mouse do it and I just... I just couldn't do it. This idea that the wolves would just off me if they saw the state I was in, was far to firmly embedded in my skull. I took off and headed back to my Mom's place.
I managed to get to Mom and Dad's place okay. Mom fixed me right up, while giving me an earful for letting the infestation get so bad in the first place. Eased off when I explained why, though. After a few days, I'd healed the worst of the damage and was feeling like myself again. No more worms and proper food. Woo-Hoo! Mom also promised to pass on word about that house I'd come across. Make certain that folks knew about it and checked it out, just encase it is still in use. When I was mostly healed up, I headed back to St. Claire.
