Quote from Indy on October 20, 2023, 12:59 pm

She didn't meet Sabrina's eyes when she responded, but instead dropped them down to examine her hand more closely. She opened and closed her palms with a flex, rotating it around. Though the injury throbbed in a distant way, she was in no way disappointed by the quality of Sabrina's work.

"Call it a hunch.. from one runner to another. But seems like everyone that stayed, had a reason to - and they probably were running from something".

Quote from Adriana on October 23, 2023, 8:56 pm

Kratos was nearby. Probably. Ulric, Levi and Logan were present. Sabrina and Jackie weren't too far away (maybe). Sami and Dakota would be fine, even with Timothy around. Everyone would be fine.

Probably, maybe.

Thank goodness the adrenaline spike from earlier had died down. But I still felt that energy itching beneath my skin-part of it residual from the mornings chaos, while the rest was mounting thanks to the oncoming full moon. There was too much going on at the cabins today - a constant buzz of movement, of smells, of sound. I could have handled Logan better. I could have handled Jackie better. Whatever. I just need a break. Felt like I was going to turn into Hulk for a second.

I was going to jog to Zeit's cabin. But didn't want to stay on the gravel. While I was getting better at not slipping (as often)... something about the tall grass all around makes me feel like I'm going warp speed. It's my favorite feeling in the world.

... Then there was the incident of last Wednesday. I had cut through the fields. I got back to the cabins with a giant orb weaver inside my jacket. Needless to say, we--meaning me and the spider-along with everyone who heard me screaming--were traumatized. Completely and utterly. NO amount of showers can make me un-feel those creepy legs. It made an audible thunk as it hit the ground. I almost hurled. I did cry. Trauma. I check my clothes three times before going to bed, just to be safe I won't have an unwanted friend tucked in snugly with me.

Not today, field. I learned from my mistakes. I will cut through you, and immediately do the spider dance on the other side.

The cabins disappeared behind me. Trees blurred on my left and right. I kept my breathing in perfect control. I turned my headset up until Daft Punk's "High Fidelity" was loud enough to speed up my hearing loss by a couple of years and got lost in the sound; my legs going on autopilot.

Quote from Mae on October 25, 2023, 10:17 pm

Back in the clearing, Ulric stood idle.

"Where is Kratos?" He thought. 

Logan was cooking fish near the cabins. Everyone else seemed to have made themselves scarce. Not even Timothy appeared to be around. Levi alone remained in the clearing.

Ulric stepped up to the fence and looked down. He only intended to look. The wild haired woman met his face as he appeared above the enclosure. Her dark brown eyes captured his amber gaze, not for the last time.

"He didn't give you much trouble, did he?" Tiffany asked from inside the pit.

Ulric set his hands on the chain link fence, with his forehead on the links between them and his fingers curling through. He could hear the concern Tiffany had earlier concealed for John.

"We left him sleeping under a tree in the park." Ulric said softly. Tiffany looked comforted, and perhaps seeing that moment of humanity led Ulric deeper.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with that same voice so often heard between people whom, with the compassion of their souls, spoke across no mans land.

Quote from Mae on October 28, 2023, 5:08 pm

'We got lost.' It was such a simple answer. Perhaps a little too simple.

"It's a long story, sugar..." Tiffany said. "We've had hunters behind us. I don't know how far back, but if they're driving us then they'll be here tomorrow morning. A hunter always ends the hunt at the setting of the full moon."

Ulric felt stiff and cold all of a sudden. He looked for Kratos and again did not find him.

"Its dangerous to keep us here, if they're on our trail. And down here, we're as good as shot."

"I can't let you out," Ulric said. "I don't have the key. I'm sure Kratos won't keep you down there long."

"Hm." Tiffany folded her arms and leaned on one hip. She nodded up to him and asked, "What's his story, sugar?"

"It's not for me to say." Ulric said simply. "If he wants to share it, he'll tell you."

"Then what about yours?" Tiffany inquired. She turned her head to the side and her curls fell down over her face.

Ulric hesitated.

"I don't want anything to do with the Svalnaglas." He said, after a moment. "I'm done with you. I couldn't care less if I never see or hear anything about you guys, again. And I don't know you, so why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"On account of your looks, sugar." Tiffany said, thoughtfully. "You look like me."

Ulric narrowed his eyes, trying to see the resemblance.

"We don't look that alike." He said. "I must have seen you at the stadium in Pinerich."

During the howlings, the stadium was full of hundreds of werewolves. It was easy to see someone that might look familiar from there. One would never know their name, but one might recognize them.

"No," Tiffany said as she shook her head and hence her wild curls. "No, sugar. I grew up in a family where no one looked like me, even vaguely. I've done a lot of pretending with the Svalnaglas, but I know I'm not one of them.."

Ulric furrowed his brow. "Did your family have dealings with Talkane?"

Quote from Mae on October 30, 2023, 4:49 am

A moment ago, Tiffany was pacing across the cement and Ionone was sleeping.

Tiffany acknowledged that Ionone had taken most of the night watches in their trek, but she knew Ionone had done it out of nerves and anxiety. Even when Tiffany insisted on taking the nightshift, Ionone did not sleep. For the Kitsune warrior, it was ice and steel on the surface, but a turbulent fluid underneath.

Tiffany was piecing together what she could of their surroundings - the smell of the birch and pine, the streams, the direction of the wind - what she saw of the stars, everything. Anything and everything that could inform her where she was and how to get home. She and Ionone had seen the lights of Pinerich from the ridge of the Turbulance mountains three nights ago. They estimated to reach it within a reasonable time frame, but they had not anticipated encountering a werewolf pack between there and the city. There was not supposed to be a werewolf pack here, not unless they had something to do with Old Argyros. If so, they would not have called this "Kratos" their alpha.

It was in the moment of puzzling through the predicament that Ulric's face appeared above the enclosure.

Tiffany had not seen Ulric's face when she caught him by the throat. There wasn't time to understand or discern anything in that moment. But when she was pinned against the tree she saw his face, and more than the color and shape of his features struck her as familiar. The reason could only be guessed. As Ulric observed, the two of them did not bear a close enough resemblance, and there was no one in Tiffany's memory to fill the gap. Yet, to deny the uncannily familiar feeling they both sensed would be to deceive themselves.

"Did your family have dealings with Talkane?" Ulirc repeated the question, this time more severely.

Tiffany smiled a sort of ironic smile and looked down. Then she looked up again, knowing that she would give the boy exactly what he was fishing for in exchange for a bit more information. A gamble.

"Sugar," she said, "No one will ever admit to it in prison."

Ulric put his tongue in his cheek and glanced away. When he brought his eyes back to her, he nodded his head and let go of the chain fence.

"Then I guess there's something there." He said. It was a fitting answer for the one she gave him.

Quote from Adriana on October 30, 2023, 8:08 pm

The flayed fish wouldn't take long to cook. Logan was full, although the smell, and their crisped golden edges and tender white meat was tempting, she sat them aside to cool. She could smell the roasts Bianca had prepared that were cooking inside, with all of their herbs and garnishes.

Jackie and Sabrina had been finishing their work when she left the stream, yet they were not behind her. She came out from where she worked and into the clearing...

Quote from Mae on October 31, 2023, 5:01 pm

Ulric turned away from the pit and looked briefly at Levi. The expression was a boyish grimace, then he looked across the way to where Logan appeared.

"Where is everybody?" He asked.

Quote from Adriana on October 31, 2023, 5:37 pm

Logan didn't respond at first. She inhaled the air deeply and gathered what it would tell her. Bianca, with her floral shampoos and deodorants, could clearly be detected going away from the clearing. She had seen Timothy earlier in the trees beyond the pit but he was no longer there... Kratos' scent was detectable for his earlier presence, but he seemed to be a master of not being found when he did not intend to.

"Sabrina and Jackie are at the stream. The rest, I do not know." Logan responded evenly. She came up to the fence where Ulric had stood previously and peered down with a glance.

"Ah... the small man is gone. He was... ako to poviem.. like a scared rabbit." she scratched the back of her head and turned to Ulric.

"Why do you follow Timothy?"

Quote from Mae on October 31, 2023, 6:00 pm

Tiffany tossed her curls out of her face (not for the last time.) Who was the Russian muscle lady?

****

Ulric heaved a loud sigh to the heavens. "Because I don't learn, I guess." He said. "I don't know."