For the Garou, combat is decided in seconds. Seconds ago, there were seven Dancers in this clearing. Six were alive. There was one Gaian, and he was nearly dead.
Seconds later, there are no Dancers in this clearing. There are six dead ones, the last living one fleeing as fast as his legs will carry him. There are five Gaians, all wounded, one of whom still lives only because the others came in time.
Seamus is sitting on the ground. He hasn't budged from where he was when Maddox healed him. He's still clutching his throat, blood still seeping between his fingers, but that terrible gash is half-mended already. His eyes are bugging, and as soon as he can speak he rasps, "Fookin' basterd traitor! Led me right inta ambush an' jus' left me!"
Brutal RevelationSinclair is bleeding from a couple of wounds, but they are not deep, and she doesn't notice them yet anyway. She doesn't even stop; she lunges after the fleeing Dancer, her paws kicking up dirt, lunging onto him and locking her jaws on his neck if she can.
Brutal Revelation[Continuing!]
Of course she can. This is Warcry, Brutal Revelation, one of the hardest hitters in the Unbroken even when she was a Cliath and despite being a Galliard. She's always been known for her speed and her tenacity (among other things), and when the Galliards of this time recall the actions of one 'Savage Oracle', they'll know her for the same. Her paws slam into the Dancer's back and she barrels him to the dirt, her teeth already closing on his neck, pinning and holding him. He struggles and she snarls in response, digging her teeth in enough to cut, enough to warn him.
Loyalty, wickedness, madness -- even things things can be overcome by one's instinct to self preservation. He goes still and she clamps a bit harder, just to discourage him from pushing again, and then Sinclair begins to drag him back. By the neck, like he's nothing more than a pup to be carried from one place to another in her jaws.
Sidewalk's EndMaddox remains in Crinos, rust-colored fur stained with his own blood. He assesses the wounds of his packmates first and quickly, instinctively. The Unbroken's Theurge wasn't brought on as a healer, exactly. They all have their own collections of talens that they can use however they need. He takes them in with a glance, then looks down at Seamus, sitting on the ground.
Curling his clawed fingers, he rests his handpaws on furry hips. "Such is the nature of traitors."
Sinclair is off like a shot after the last Dancer trying to make his escape. There's no doubt that she'll catch him, she operates at ludicrous speed.
"Should I send for Difficult Current and Throat-Cutter?" he asks. "If he went back to the caern, there is no knowing what Bloody Smiles has told them."
Brutal RevelationSinclair dumps the Dancer in front of Lukas, flanking him to keep him from running. She's not sure what she wants to do with him, what they should do with him. He's dead meat regardless; he knows it. She doubts Billy Bourne's camp is comfortable with torture; maybe one of the Fenrir. Probably not Joseph. He has cubs. This is how her mind words; this is who her mind excuses.
"We should get back there," she says. "As you say: there is no knowing. We will go to them, and if worse comes to worse, we have numbers on our side."
-retelling-"I'll carry the Dancer," Lukas says. "Sinclair, stay behind me and keep an eye on him. In case he decides to cut my throat or his own. Let's move."
The camp isn't far. They take the distance at a pace just short of punishing - a long-striding trot through the woods, their eyes and ears alert. Long before they cross the bawn's edge, they see Maeve barring their path, rippling up into Glabro as they approach. The big Guardian, Brendan, flanks her closely. Just behind that front line is Throat-Cutter, fists clenched. Behind him, what must be the entirety of the Fianna Caern - a dozen or so Garou. What they lack in numbers they make up in strength and rank. Whereas Billy Bourne's number are largely Cliaths with a few Fosterns sprinkled in, these Garou are nearly all Adrens with, again, a few Fosterns.
Billy Bourne stands alone amongst them. He is drawn, taut as a bowstring. The air is thick with misgivings and tension. Some of the Fianna are openly baring their teeth. A group of them, in fact, standing close enough to be a pack.
And all of them, every last one of the Garou gathered there, are looking toward the Unbroken and their allies.
"Seamus," Maeve calls. "'Tis good ye're back. Billy Bourne 'ere gave us some story o' Bloody Smiles turnin' coat." The angriest of the Garou snarl at the very mention. "Mayhap ye'd like ta shed light on the matter."
Seamus draws a breath to speak. Then his eyes slide to the angry cadre; to the Unbroken; back to Maeve. He licks his lips.
"Is he here? Is Bloody Smile-rhya here?"
Brutal RevelationDuhhh, Sinclair says to Lukas -- and the rest of the pack, for that matter -- when he says he'll carry the Dancer. As good a fighter as she is, no one in the pack is as strong as Lukas. In their own time, when surviving to Athro is a real accomplishment and there are few Elders left, there are few even in other carns that are stronger than Lukas. She's pretty sure the Warder could take him. The Warder who, as far as her memories are concerned, is dead now. She slips behind her Alpha and follows close by.
When they reach the edge of the bawn and another Warder -- one who is alive now but dead long before their own is born -- rises up to meet them, they slow to a stop. Sinclair draws up alongside Lukas, her eyes on the Dancer, as Maeve addresses Seamus. She's tense. There's a Dancer on her Alpha's back. There's a traitor in their midst and his sept doesn't believe he's in the wrong. Snarls go through the Fianna at the mention of Bloody Smiles being a traitor.
Sinclair thinks of the punishments leveled on such traitors. The ones that betray their own caerns. If any deserve it, he does. Even if they manage to stop this place from being turned into a Hive.
Seamus is worried. Lip-licking, asking if the Ragabash is among them. Sinclair gives a low snarl, but it isn't threatening. "My pack has bled to keep you alive once. If he is here, we will do so again for the sake of this caern. Speak the truth."
Sidewalk's EndMaddox does his best to stay with the group. He doesn't lag behind this time, not without pushing himself as hard as his thin frame can be pushed. Only when he sees that line of angry faces does his gait change to something slightly less ground eating, just so he can come to a stop without panting heavily, tongue lolling and frothy.
It helps, a little, so that when Seamus asks after Bloody Smile instead, Maddox is able to snap his head in that direction, ears starting to cock back.
"If he was," he adds after Sinclair, moving to stand beside the other Fiann and nodding toward Billy, "do you think he would be allowed to be here?"
-retelling-Seamus glances sidelong at Sinclair. Hard to say if he draws courage or terror from her. He takes a breath, but before he can speak one of the Fianna shouts from across the bawnsedge.
"Seamus is one o' ours amongst four o' theirs, an' he comes back bloodied an' bruised. How are we ta know he isna bein' made to speak their side? How are we ta know they arena makin' him speak against our Alpha?"
"Well, heck, I'm one amongst many too," Billy counters. "I've spoken the truth, unpopular as it may be, without fearin' for my life. Surely yer own brave Guardian can do the same."
"Speak, Seamus," Throat-Cutter growls. "Know that your Philodox Septmates are attendin' ta every word."
Seamus glances again at Sinclair. At Maddox. And then he turns to his Sept and takes a breath.
"Bloody Smile-rhya betrayed me," he says. There's an immediate uproar; Bloody Smile's packmates roaring curse, redfaced with rage. Seamus lifts his voice over theirs, shouts right back at them: "He led me straight into ambush. I smelled the Dancers an' asked him if we weren't movin' too close, an' he tol' me no' ta worry. Then we were set upon by seven o' them. An' Bloody Smile-rhya -- no, Bloody-Smile-ikthya -- abandoned me. He looked me right in the eye. It werena some clever plan; it werena even cowardice. Right an' deliberate, Bloody-Smile left me ta die."
Everyone's shouting now. Bloody Smile's packmates, the other Fianna; Colleen, even Billy. It's a pandemonium of noise, no one managing to be heard, until Throat-Cutter sucks in a breath and proves that nine-tenths of leadership comes down to volume:
"BE... SILENT!"
And there is silence. Throat-Cutter looks to the Philodoxes. They look back. They nod, and Throat-Cutter grimaces, teeth clenching, fists clenching, a vein beating in his forehead.
"Oh, that basterd," he murmurs. "Oh, that lyin', deceivin' basterd."
Brutal RevelationSinclair works very hard to conceal the surge of triumph she feels when Seamus refers to Bloody Smiles as ikthya. She breathes. She breathes when the sept erupts into shouting and snarls, roars of the High Tongue, the flickering of rage like a fire being stoked to the height of an inferno. She breathes when Throat Cutter slams all the voices down with the full weight of his rank -- and the betrayal he has suffered, too -- behind it. The noise snaps off. The Philodoxes confirm what so many reacted to before they even knew if it was true or not. Rage pulses off of Throat Cutter in a dizzying aura.
She stops breathing and steps forward. "Rhya, you know him -- what do you think he will do now?"
-retelling-Throat-Cutter exhales in a bitter, humorless laugh.
"Play the scout," he says. "Give information to his new masters. Tell them everythin' he knows about us. Tell them exactly where we are weak. Give them everything they might need to crush us utterly."
A beat. And then the fire comes back into Throat-Cutter's eyes - a half-mad, furious glare. "Or so he thinks!" he snarls. "But damned if I'll let him conquer me like some green pup fresh off his Rite. I am Throat-Cutter, damn it, and this Caern is mine!"
Brutal RevelationIt's the half that's madness in his eyes that makes Sinclair wary. She leans back against her packmates -- mentally, at least. She thinks of reminding Throat-Cutter that this caern is Gaia's, but this is a different time. You win a caern through battle, fine. It's yours. They don't realize just how many caerns will be overrun, killed, drained, destroyed, in the coming centuries. So she bites that back and reaches in another direction:
"We brought back one of the Dancers," is all she says, drawing attention to the burden Lukas carries. "Still alive.
"Mostly."
Sidewalk's EndLike Sinclair, Maddox, too, could offer reminders. That the Ahroun is not alone, that there's Billy Bourne and his group. Water Lynx has more potential allies than it did just yesterday. There's more strength to tap.
He doesn't mention it. He's not that crazy.
Instead he waits to see what Throat-Cutter will do with the Spiral and his knowledge of the enemy.
-retelling-Unceremoniously, Lukas dumps the Spiral at Throat-Cutter's feet. The Dancer is a bloody wreck, groggy, half-conscious at best. He moves weakly. His eyes roll in his head. He looks at the Gaians, and then
he spits in the Sept Alpha's direction.
Throat-Cutter nearly frenzies. "What are ye waitin' for?" he roars. "Kill the wretched thing. And to hell with the rest of its kind as well!"
"Perhaps," Maeve interjects, "we ought ta question it first. Find out what we can about the Cursed Ones' plans."
"I'll be happy ta do the askin'," Seamus says. "Just say the word, Throat-Cutter-rhya."
"Fine," Throat-Cutter snaps. "Get what ye can out o' it. Then tear its bloody throat out. I'm goin' ta prepare for war."
Brutal RevelationThe thump that the Spiral lands with is sort of wet and shifting, his body just this side of dead weight. Sinclair wonders how they ever worried that it might turn on Lukas, but then -- Spirals lie. Some of them can lie quite well. He spits, just as weak as everything else, but the gesture doesn't need strength behind it. Throat Cutter, losing his right-hand man, losing a wolf he thought was his friend and brother, all but tears his head off. And Sinclair wouldn't blame him. Right now, she'd almost be grateful for Throat Cutter to have a distraction, something to vent on. Better a Dancer than any of them.
Maeve stops him. This time, without Bloody Smiles anywhere near, Throat Cutter listens. Sinclair looks over to Maddox briefly, thoughtfully, then turns back to paying mind to the Fianna. Throat-Cutter tells them all he's going to war, and Sinclair doesn't speak to him.
Instead, she sidles on over to Billy Bourne and bumps against him, wordless.
-retelling-Bumped, Billy Bourne looks at Sinclair. There's a faint half-smile on his mouth. He inclines his head; says quietly: "Walk with me, will ya?"
Colleen stays behind. Lukas as well, after a glance to his packmates. Their small party separates; Billy leads Maddox and Sinclair away from the bawnsedge, away from Fianna territory.
"They'll need our help now," Billy says, "but Throat-Cutter'd sooner die than admit it. Hell, he probably wouldn't even accept help if we make it sound like we're helpin' him out. Way I see it, only way Throat-Cutter'll let us join the fight is if we make it out like they'd be doin' us the favor. Tell 'im you folks want vengeance for whatever cataclysm it was that drove ya here like heralds'a the Apocalypse. Tell 'im I want vengeance for ... hell, for what Bloody Smile did to my momma's folks, I s'ppose.
"Chances are he won't wanna give us a voice in the Caern either, at least not up front. He'll drive a painful bargain, but that's all right with me. Right now, we just need ta get in the fight, shoulder ta shoulder with the Fianna, for the sake'a the Caern. Afterward, when the dust's settled, we can go back to negotiatin'. An' I'm willin' ta bet a show'a good faith an' hard knuckles'll do wonders for Throat-Cutter's opinion of us.
"Anyhow. I ain't talkin' jus' ta hear myself talk. Here's the thing. When they're done draggin' the truth outta that poor Dancer, we'll have another parley. You've all done wonders gettin' my foot through the door, but let me do the talkin' now. What I need you guys to do for me is to take what information they can dredge up, combine it with what the spirits or the scouts can figger out, and come up with a plan of attack for us all. We let Throat-Cutter do it, and his plan'll be run in with axes, kill people. I can't overrule him, he's my elder. But you got Adrens in your midst. If you come up with a good idea, he'll fall in."
Brutal RevelationSinclair gives a sharp nod to Billy Bourne, a swift wag of her tail. She's been in lupus most of this time, baring her tattoos and her scars and her piercings and her bizarre underwear only occasionally in front of the wolves of the past. It hasn't been enough of an object of interest to be discussed, and for that she's grateful.
A painful bargain, Billy forsees, and Sinclair hesitates, thinking of her own past, this land's future, wondering what changes they've already wrought. She exhales a huff of air. Good faith in battle does as much good with Fianna as good faith according to law and good faith in hospitality, she knows that much. So she nods again, and goes to prepare.
-retelling-[Okay, on the NPC end:
- Colleen will go scout out the Wyrm camp. Seamus will accompany her, with more interest in figuring out where Bloody Smile went.
- The rest of the Fianna and Billy Bourne's people will prepare for combat. Their "default" action (i.e., unless you guys want to convince them to do otherwise) will be to beef up the Caern's physical defenses - digging spiked moats, etc. Because of their few numbers, they'll make their stand immediately around the Caern's Heart, well within the Bawn.
- There are kin who can fight, who may aid if asked.
- Billy Bourne's people will express their concern that the Caern totem may still be upset at the usurping.]
Sidewalk's End[WHAT'CHU LOOKIN' AT, WILLIS (Sinclair): empatchee]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10) ( fail )
Brutal Revelation[Sinclair's going to relay info to the rest of the pack, then talk to Throat Cutter about strategy.]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox would ask to be allowed to see the Caern totem, with local Theurges if need be]
-retelling-[Sinclair - I'll make some rolls for the NPC scouts, give info, and then you can take that into account re: strategy!
Maddox - will be grudgingly allowed to see the Caern totem, accompanied by a surly Cliath theurge]
Brutal Revelation[lulz. 'surly'.]
-retelling-[Colleen, scouting!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )
-retelling-[Colleen, staying hidden!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 2, 5, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )
-retelling-[Collective wyrmlings: Do we see her?]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 10, 10) ( success x 2 )
-retelling-[Seamus, tracking Bloody!]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (7, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )
-retelling-[hot damn, that's one fianna out for revenge.]
-retelling-[Results of scouting:
- Wyrm forces number around 30; mostly Fosterns with some Adrens and Cliaths. With the combined forces of the Unbroken, the Fianna and Bourne's crew, the two sides are about equal in strength
- Wyrm also has some sort of Awakened and/or possessed "steam-powered engine o' doom" at their disposal, though. Strength is unknown, but presumably great. Every so often they feed it something alive.
- The Wyrm's forces are mostly in the physical plane. Apart from the typical tagalong banes, there aren't any significant threats Umbraside.
- From what Colleen was able to overhear, the Wyrm forces will attempt a two-prong physical attack: the main force will attack from the west, and the engine-o-doom, plus a small contingent, will flank and launch a surprise attack after the Gaians are already engaged on the western front.
- She gets away cleanly, though she has a close call with a Wyrm sentry that almost catches her.
- Seamus tracks Bloody Smile into the Wyrm camp. There's no question that he's in league with the enemy. There are hints that he will be part of the flanking attackers.]
Sidewalk's End[Meanwhile, at the Caern: Maddox would figuratively sidle up to Water Lynx, put his arm around him/her, and go "'sup?" He'd assess the situation and try to locate the cause of the totem's instability if possible]
-retelling-[is he going for a chummy approach?]
Brutal Revelation[Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Sinclair takes Lukas by the lapels and yells "DAMMIT JIM! I'M A FOSTERN GALLIARD, NOT AN ADREN AHROUN."]
-retelling-[Lukas thinks they should utilize the kin. Not on the front lines, obviously, but arm them with projectiles and firearms and let 'em go to town. Normally he'd be hesitant to endanger the kin, but a Caern is under attack and it's time to pull all stops. Also, having their kin directly behind them could motivate the Fianna to fight harder and not retreat.
He thinks just because the Wyrm has no spiritual big guns doesn't mean they shouldn't try to bring some of their own in. Even something so simple as awakening the earth and getting it to chomp on the wyrmies could help.]
Sidewalk's End[Well it's a sept totem, and he's still a cliath. He'd approach more like a student would approach that just irrationally flunked everyone in the class. Respectful and concerned.]
-retelling-[roll char + etiquette vs diff 6. if you have no etiquette, roll expression at diff 7!]
Sidewalk's End[char + expression, diff 7 (Air of Confidence: I'm a Theurge, I totally know what I'm doing even if my player does not)]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 3
-retelling-[Water Lynx is neutral. He's not friendly, but he's not outright pissed off either. He recognizes Maddox as Fianna, but not as one of the Fianna of this Caern. He wants to know what Maddox's stake here is.]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox would explain the Unbroken's purpose in the past to help hold this caern against corruption from the Spirals waiting outside as the immediate concern. And since these Fianna don't seem willing to give up what they've taken, what can be done to keep lynx happy in the long-term.]
-retelling-[Water Lynx is seething as soon as Maddox says the Fianna aren't willing to give up what they've taken. He demands that his rightful children be returned to the Caern, and the Caern to them.]
Sidewalk's End[Addendum!: his personal stake is that events here could affect the outcome of events in the future, his present]
-retelling-[Water Lynx has no real concept of time. Surly Cliath, however, is casting Maddox an askance look at the talk of present and future.
Surly Cliath also bristles when Water Lynx demands that the Caern be returned to the Fianna, but he has the good sense to STFU right now.]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox would look sidelong at the surly Fianna Theurge and ask if lynx's desire for his rightful people being returned the caern was brought up with Throat Cutter in light of the negotiations with Billy Bourne's peeps.]
Sidewalk's End[Note: Maddox is pretty much insta-relaying everything he finds out to Sinclair and everyone]
-retelling-[Surly Cliath snorts and says something along the lines of, We won this land and we have every right to keep it. Water Lynx will come around sooner or later. Maybe when we save him from certain doom at the hands of the Wyrm.]
-retelling-[...and Water Lynx seethes more. Like, A LOT.]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox refrains from asking the Theurge if he's fucking mental. What he does say is something along the lines of a placating, "be that as it may," he reminds him that, there being a Spiral force on their borders right now, they don't have time for "or later." Fighting to protect the caern with lynx in his current state of agitation would be the equivalent of a soldier riding into battle alongside the best mate he just cuckholded.]
Sidewalk's End[correction: cuckolded!
-retelling-[Surly Cliath, snitty: So what do you suggest?
Meanwhile, Water Lynx is hissing and spitting. It's becoming quite clear that his patience is running out.]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox: What I would suggest is that you don't cuckold your best mate.
Reminding Surly Fiann #18 that Throat Cutter-rhya and Difficult Current-rhya will resume their negotiations after the Spiral threat's been dealt with, he'll suggest they get themselves a Theurge to speak on Lynx's behalf in these negotiations so that the totem's desires are heard and taken into consideration.
Returning to the totem, Maddox will tell him about Billy Bourne and what he knows of the Galliard's hopes for peace or a truce or whatever between his group and the Fianna. It might take time for the Uktena to have a presence here again, but none of them will know for certain until the Spirals are dealt with. He respectfully asks for the totem's patience.]
-retelling-[Water Lynx will demand that Surly Cliath leaves. After he does, Water Lynx demands that Billy Bourne become Sept Alpha. If this condition is not met, Water Lynx will not aid in the coming battle. His words are: Why should I care if those who spilt the blood of my children see their own blood spilt?]
-retelling-[I didn't actually have this stuff up my sleeve. Like Bloody Smile's betrayal, this sort of grew out of the direction that Sinclair and Maddox were going in!]
Sidewalk's End[Maddox will say that, as he's not part of this sept, he can't speak for its new people, but he'll take Lynx's demand to them.]
-retelling-["Then I have nothing more to say to you."
Annnnd that's where we pause for tonight!
-retelling-[okay - let's quickly IC-dialogue-ify between sinclair and TC! Scene is set with TC in the bawn, overseeing Fianna preparations, which thus far consist of a spiked moat around the heart of the caern and lots of pointy-slashy weapons.]
"What do ye want?"
Brutal RevelationFor this conversation, Sinclair shifts. It's chilly now, and she borrows something from someone to generally cover up, but her arms are still mostly bared from the elbow down, tattoos showing, piercings in her ears glinting.
"To protect the caern from violation, as always," she says.
-retelling-"An' yet, not like always, ye're here pesterin' me. Speak plainly an' speak fast. Can ye no' see I've a battle to prepare for?"
Brutal RevelationSpeak plainly, he says, and finds out just how plainly the high-falutin' oracle galliard can talk. Bluntly, rapidly, and perhaps with dirt sketches, she lays out suggestions for Throat-Cutter's preparations. Such as:
Putting the kin who can fight behind the Fianna. One more motivator to refuse to fall back, and aid if needed. Kin that can hold a rifle steady while straddling a tree branch should be doing so, though she might have to explain to him what she means by 'sniping'.
Mixed forces. This pack of Fianna next to several of Bourne's followers, some of Bourne's followers fighting alongside the Unbroken, the wanderers they brought fighting with the Fianna, and so on. Packs together; otherwise, blended ranks.
Get the Uktena theurges, if they have any, working on Water Lynx to protect the Garou and their kin at the caern's heart. Others should be present as well -- Water Lynx may be demanding that the Fianna GTFO and the Uktena come back (she leaves out the part where Lynx wants Bourne to be made Grand Elder), but Sinclair insists that Water Lynx cannot survive as a one-tribe caern spirit being constantly battled over. But get the Uktena in there so they have some spiritual backup from the Caern if possible, even if only for the sake of the Kin.
Get any other able theurges calling on rock, root, and earth spirits that can harm their enemies, water spirits for healing, and if Earth would be so kind as to swallow that doom engine right quick, well they'd be much obliged, yessir.
Battle theurges and a few heavy hitters across the gauntlet to deal with the banes they know are coming, then they need to zip back ot the physical plane to join their brethren against the spirals.
Finally, she tells Throat Cutter that with the suspicion that Bloody Smiles is coming to flank them, he should fight on that front and wait for him. He is Throat Cutter's to deal with on the battlefield. She watches him as she says this: it is not just so that he has the satisfaction. It is his duty, if he wants to be Grand Elder. His responsibility, to kill the traitor he trusted for so long.
-retelling-"Ye've got a spine, doon'tcha? I've half a mind ta rip it out for ye. Half a mind ta keep ye on as m' war counselor, too. Comin' on my land an' tellin' me how ta run my battle. Tellin' me how ta wreak my vengeance, besides. Girl, ye don't teach a Fiann about honor, duty an' vengeance. 'Tis mother's milk ta us. Ye understan'?
"Now, as fer your suggestions. There's wisdom in some o' them, an' I'll see that they are carried through. In others? Pure madness. I am no' allowin' bloody backbitin' Uktena anywhere near the totem. Bloody redskins, an' these the worst o' the worst. Ye canna take yer eye off them or they'll find a way ta fook ye. You know 'ow it is.
"If they want ta fight, they can fight on their own, far from the Caern's heart. An' that reminds me. This business about blended ranks is folly. We fight best as packs, where we can predict one another's breaths. An' that is how we'll stay."
-retelling-[*coughs* ignore everything after "an' that reminds me."!!!]
Brutal RevelationYou've got a spine, doon'tcha? Throat Cutter says, and Sinclair's eyebrows flick. "And then some." Of course he's threatening to rip it out and then giving her one of his cute little lectures, and Sinclair just sits through it. Truth be told, she's bored of it. She's sick of it. He's so much fucking talk, and he let a traitor nearly rape the caern he 'won', that's 'his'. She waits for him to finish, and he bitches about the Uktena. So she shrugs.
"Water Lynx is not on the side of the Fianna, Throat Cutter-rhya, that is the plain and honest truth and it will have consquences if you ignore it. And to tell you the truth, I have no stake whatsoever in who runs this caern. I don't care what tribe calls it home. What I do care about is seeing it turned into a hive because of inter-tribal rivalries and other horseshit. Take what you will, toss what you don't like. You're the Grand Elder of this caern. It's fate is in your hands and on your head."
-retelling-A long, deliberative pause.
"Is Senachewine tryin' ta weasel in on this Caern? Tell me tha', with your oracular eye."
Brutal RevelationShe was about to walk away. Waited a moment to make sure he wouldn't go ahead and shove her or attack her again, then started to turn. She stops when he speaks, and looks back at him.
She huffs a breath out, shaking her head. "Senachewine-rhya has forgiven the Fianna. He, like me, could not care less who holds the caern so long as it does not fall. He wishes to protect it. When others in his group rant and rave about vengeance or leaving you to die or this or that, he quells those voices with more strength than you or I have in our arms. He is a good leader, Throat Cutter-rhya. Those that follow him don't have to be beaten back into line. But does he intend or even want to 'take back' this caern?" She shakes her head again, more deliberately. "As far as I can see into what will be and what may be, I do not see that."
Sinclair pauses. "As for that 'oracular eye', I will tell you this: another caern may indeed rise, -rhya, with Difficult Current-rhya as their Elder, if you persist in holding this caern to only Fianna, and only the Fianna you deem worthy. These things are already changing and I cannot tell you what will be with clear vision. I do not know who will live through the day. This caern may yet fall. But I will die before I see it happen today. As will you. As will we all."
