Klamath Falls Packmind Second Act - RPLOG

Participants

• Edel
• Buzamu
• Jenneau
• Morten
• Rorne
• Sithra

Date

17/6/2013

Log

Rorne continues stepping, slowly, making sure not to accidentally provoke the coyotes that were attacking just moments before. She felt herself leave the building, stepping out of the door. She takes a deep breath, opening her eyes to look at the world around her, feeling a bit unnerved by the coyotes staring at her. She had made it out, though, and that's what matters. She turns back to face the team, raising her good hand to her ear, activating the earpiece. She then, calmly and quietly, tells the team, "It's clear to move. Be careful, don't provoke them, take your time."

Morten sighs and lowers her ears as Jean seems to worsen, watching as Edel bandages her, she cant help but feel that wont exactly help with so many injuries, she keeps the thought to herself for the moment as she hears Rorne announce the way clear, she hoping its true and the coyotes will stay back, she not wanting to think about what a perfect opportunity this would be for them to be ambushed by the creatures...

Glein watches the scene in front of her, seeing Rorne make it past without trouble. Glancing behind her, she sees Jean is still being patched up, and Edel looked to be nearly finished. Flicking her gaze onto Morten she nods. "Go, me and Edel have this handled." Glein says, motioning for Morten to move to the door.

Edel finishes her bandage work and stands on shakey legs. "Think you can carry her out, Glein? I'm in no shape or condition to do so." She grips the banister of the stairs for support. "I'll let you take lead, I'll bring up behind you."

The small husky, Edel, her paw is still searing pain at the border of it and the rest of her arm. It isn't spreading though, yet. Meanwhile, Rorne's whole body feels like it's on fire-- Well, not fire. Like his skin was flayed off and like he'd just been rolling around in lemon-saltwater. While the others get ready, some of the coyotes leave the building. A handful watch from the alleys on either side, while the ones inside seem to be beginning to leave.

The top floor crashes, sending another cascade of dust on the inhabitants. More coyotes leave as the building begins to shake, the third floor coming down to the second, and the second was quickly readying to come down to the first... Jean screamed out as she was picked up, shivering, a bloody mess, bleeding all down the front of whoever's carrying her, as she yells, "Hurry the FUCK up!"

Rorne glances up suddenly as the next floor collapses. She puts her hand back to her ear, stating hurriedly, "I know I said take your time, but you need to get out of there, now." She takes a couple steps back, putting some distance between her and the building. She looks to a coyote in one of the allies nearby, giving it a respectful nod while saying to it, and not into the earpiece, "Thank you for letting us out, at least." Looking back to inside the building, she prepares herself for the worst scenario. She is ready to leap at a moments notice to help anyone caught in the rubble out as quickly as she can.

Morten whines and shakes her head as she is ordered to go, scowling a little at Glein, "I can help, why do you think im so fragile.." she mumbles, ignoring Glein as she tries to help Jean stay on her feet and help carry her out, wincing as Jeans blood trickles down the front of her, she shakes her head and tries to ignor it as the cracking above her makes her more worried about their limited time frame.

Glein growled, and stepped in front of Morten, and stopped the little huskey. Letting go of her rifle, letting it hang on her armor, she picked up Jean from Morten's arms, knowing that the pressure of walking on the shredded legs was doing more harm than good, and hefted the woman onto her shoulders in a fireman carry. "MOVE NOW OR I WILL KICK YOU OUT!" Glein growls at Morten, and motions for Edel to do the same. They needed out, and they were in no shape to bring up the rear as they left. If it came down to it, Glein would get Jean out of hte buidling, even if it meant throwing her out at the last second. Grabbing ahold of her rifle with only one hand, using the strap to keep it accurate, she started to back out of the building, her gaze on the coyotes inside still.

Edel offers a little shrug and skitters out of the building. "Fine, fine! But you better hurry, yourself!"

The building doesn't hold well, and the whole time Jean is almost screaming, trying to fight it back but failing. The bandages are already soaked through by the time everyone is out of the building....

Outside the building, the group finds themselves surrounded by a half-circle of coyotes, all only... Staring. All of them are identicle, all of them look the same, even in their eyes.

Rorne first breathes a sigh of relief as they get out, moving to join them after they escape. When the building falls and they are faced with the semi-circle of Coyotes, she keeps her back to the party. "At least the building didn't kill us, right?" She asks, panting a little. Amidst all the chaos and the fact that she did something that could have been suicide masked the pain and everything. Her mind drifts to her fur, the strange coat covering her body. It felt off, very different from when she was a coyote, but very like her paw. She didn't want any more of her body to feel this alien to her.

Morten groans and looks at the circle of coyotes surrounding them, she scowls as is still somewhat angry at Glein for shouting at her, a little childish to be upset over it but she was regardless, she turns her attention back to the circle of coyotes however and looks at the group, "Uhh... Maybe if we make a break for it... or.. " she sighs and shakes her head, not bothering to make anymore foolish suggestions.

Glein As the building began to collapse, Glein wasted no time in staying. With Jean on her shoulders, she spun around and sprinted out of the building, only to silently curse and raise her rifle one-handed while the other made sure Jean didn't fall off her shoulders to land in more pain. "So, Rorne... Got any other ideas for this group?" Glein asked, her rifle slowly swinging back and forth, aimming at each one in turn without staying on any one.

Edel folds her arms and adjusts her goggles. "We need to come up with something. They're not attacking now, but who knows how long it will last?" She rubs her muzzle and sighs. "We need to find a way to get home. Jean needs help."

The husky, Jean, holds on to Glein's shoulders weakly, shivering, shaking. She mumbles, "What's going on?"

Meanwhile, one of the coyotes shakes, and shivers, before it blinks, and stands up on two legs. It's the one in the middle, before them. Its muzzle parts into a grin as it looks over them all, as it looks around the group. It says nothing for awhile, before it laughs. "...Well... Now that we have the formalities out of the way... Maybe you'll be more willing to talk, instead of shoot!"

Rorne glares over at Jean, knowing she probably fired the first shot. She shakes her head, telling everyone quietly, "Stand down, negotiations are the best choice for us. We're outnumbered, and Jean is too badly hurt. We can't afford to ignore this." She takes a deep breath and looks to the talking coyote. She takes a small, tentative step closer, asking the talking Coyote, "What is it you want?" Her voice was strained, her open hand now gripping and massaging her paw from how it felt in general.

Morten sighs in relief, "Oh thank god.. " she smiles, almost laughing in relief, "Talking.. talking... Im good at talking, maybe we can finally sort this out .." she says aloud, ignoring how, after everything that has happened that such a thing might even be possible, she looks at Rorne as she asks what the creature wants, making morten sigh and rub the back of her neck.

Glein would shrug if she wasn't holding Jean. "Just make sure you don't make them think we're good for dinner." She says, not quite letting her guard down.

Edel stares down at her own paw of a hand for a moment before looking back up to the coyotes. "I don't even remember how it started, but yes, what is it you want?"

THe standing coyote smirks, looking around at the others, and then back to the group. Jean shifts on Glein's back, trying to look over her shoulder, but she can't. Her blood trickles over the dragoness's hind legs.

"What we want? Well, we wanted to welcome you. We've heard what's happened to Fox... Why the sudden interest in Oregon?"

"I... have no idea why they are so interested in Oregon," Rorne states to the Coyote, "other than the fact that infections here are different than those in Fairhaven." She looks back to Jean, seeing the injuries she sustained, and that she is still bleeding. She then quickly moves to Glein, moving to Glein's back to be able to assist Jean. She looks over Jean, then asks her, "You're healing so much slower than anyone else. I mean... I did what I could and you've been bandaged, yet you're still bleeding, pretty badly. Any particular reason why?"

Morten raises an eyebrow, looking at Rorne with a very confused look, "We're surrounded by coyote-things and your worried about her injuries? Maybe we should worry about getting away first??" she asks, not expecting an answer, moving forward away from the others and closer to the talking coyote, "What do you mean welcome?? you call that a welcome?? because if you do, then hey, you did a good job, now let us go!" she states unhappily, folding her arms.

Glein kneels down seeing Rorne come over with a concerned look on her face. She wasn't putting Jean down, just making it easier for Rorne to look over her rounds. HEr gaze wasn't leaving the coyotes in front of them. Frankly, after her previous experiences with the Pack Minds, both Wolf and Fox, well, she didn't exactly have the greatest view of trust for them.

Edel scratches her neck and frowns. "I could try something more for her, I guess, but I'm no medic." She glances at the coyotes, opting not to do anything other than frown.

The coyote tilts his head. "Different? Howso? Is that why you're all shaped different, and not the same? Is that why you flew in on that strange buzzing animal? How... Interesting! Different than here!" The coyotes seem to whisper to themselves without words. "But... What are infections?"

Meanwhile, Jean is anguishing. "I... I don't know... It's probably just a lot of... A lot of damage... I don't know what else you could do, god... It hurts so much...

Speaking of hurt, those infected are still very much in pain.

Rorne winces, her entire body feeling the pain now that her adrenaline was dying down. "Aw, shit," she mutters, the pain making it difficult to focus. "Okay... I'll try to... explain..." She pants a bit, the pain coming back quickly. "In Fairhaven, there... there are many different creatures... avians, reptiles, mammals... injury slowly turns someone 'infected' into that form... but no Packmind." She grunts, her good hand pushing against her head, feeling the fur in both. "The... the buzzing animal was a... helicopter, and not... not alive." She does her best to look back at the coyote, "Plus... your infections are more invasive... and painful... guh, this hurts..." Looking back to Jean, she then asks, "It... it has to be more than damage... is there... is there something more?"

Morten sighs and rolls her eyes, moving back to the group and Just unhappily sitting down, staring mournfully at the coyotes and shrugging, letting the others talk and sort everything out.. she grumbles to herself and closes her eyes.

Glein shifts knees, and looks over the whole situation. They were surrounded, and these 'yotes wanted to talk. While Glein wasn't going to look a gift, coyote, in the mouth, something was off. Something else was going on. But what?

Edel continues to remain silent, slowly sinking down to one knee, in order to take pressure off of the injured leg. This movement does not seem to react well with her torso wound, causing her grunt in pain. "We have several wounded. We can't sit around forever."

The coyote begins to speak, "Weell, I don't really get that. I get the part about the--" The building begins to rumble behind the team, as it all starts to collapse in on itself, causing a huge cloud of dust to rise up into the air. Every brick falls into the building, the ground shaking as it compresses down. By the time it's done, the yote says, "And that's what I understand about that. Hm. It looks like your friend is hurt. Maybe she should get gooped so she can go home and reform."

Rorne pants a bit, stating, "I don't have time for this." She looks back up at the Coyote. "Gooping... that won't work for her," she responds somewhat darkly. "When you would 'goop,' we would not... we instead die... no reforming." She shakes her head. "She needs help... help we can't give her... we need to get back... to where we came from." She winces, falling to the ground, catching herself with her hands: She's on her hands and knees. "Dammit," she whispers. She places her medkit on the ground next to her and retrieves a syringe of nanites. She stands, preparing to inject it into Jean, using every bit of focus she can to remain steady. "This... this should help..."

Morten sighs and watches the coyote talk to the others, watching as the building falls into a large pile of rubble, listening to the term goop makes her shudder a little before she finally just gives up on caring, laying back on the grass on her side and waiting for everything to just sort itself out, if it does.. she at the point of no longer caring at all and just wanting to go hime.

Glein glances behind her to see what Rorne was doing. "I think we need to get going. I don't know how long she'll last with these wounds. But staying here is definitely not an option." Glein says, her gaze returning to the coyotes.

Edel glances over her shoulder and slowly stands once more. "Any news on that chopper? That would be a reall nice thing to have right now."

The husky groans, as Rorne injects her with nanites. More of those damn things. She's really bad off for awhile. You can't tell if the bleeding stopped for awhile, because the bandages are so soaked... Eventually, the husky shivers. Her ear perks at Edel. "Repairs... No go... Not till mornin..."

Meanwhile, the Coyote tilted its head at Rorne. "Can't goop? Will die? Hm..." It looks at the others behind it. "Well, that is strange. What can we do? It's strange. You're not all fully turning into one of us. Weird. Should we take you home then?"

Morten feels a hot lick on her paw. If she sits up, she'll see a coyote skittering back shyly. It must have licked her foot.

Rorne looks up at the Coyote, somewhat pleadingly. "If by home you mean... ours, yes. That would be... that would be great." She doesn't look down at the rigs, knowing that they were most likely keeping them from changing fully. "All we need... is a way home... so we can take care of... take care of the injured. Please," she asks very politely, as well as somewhat pleadingly. "Maybe, if possible... you could reverse... reverse the changes on us... could you? They... this hurts..."

Morten blinks, ears folding to the sides as she lets out a soft giggle, sitting up to watch the coyote skitter away, she blinks and smiles for the first time in hours before she shrugs and sighs, looking back at the others... she opens her mouth as if to speak but quickly decides against it, she stays sitting up but keeps her gaze on the floor.

Glein's head snapped toward the sound of the giggle, seeing one of the coyote's backing away from Morten. Considering there didn't seem to be any wounds on Morten from the coyote sneak up and attacking them, Glein didn't shift her weight and stance to be prepared to engage that coyote. It'd be stupid as hell to try. "So, no medivac from RSX? No surprise there. Rorne, can you see about them letting us pass if they aren't going to help? We need to get moving or I don't think Jean's gonna hold up much longer." Glein says, glancing once more towards Rorne.

Edel limps closer to Jean and reaches out to take the injured husky's hand, trying to give it a reassuring squeeze "Well, she's going to hold up as long as it takes! We're not losing anyone here. If we can't get out, we need... Supplies, at the least. And a place to recover."

The husky can't hold on much longer. Jean shivers, some, weakly grabbing Edel's paw, before letting go. She's still, until she snores. Hm. Passed out. At least she's one less to worry about.

The coyote shakes his head. "No, we cannot take you to your home. The ones that have been bitten, they need to stay here. They'll become coyotes, too, and join us. Maybe some day they will come back to you? It is their choice if they go then, but right now, they have to stay. This is what our dreams have said to us." A soft sigh. The leader-coyote falls back to his forepaws. "Changes don't reverse, only progress. Just a paw for now, but I know. Every time someone changes, they will change all the way, eventually. If they don't change at all, they will just be hurt. Usually, they will be eaten the natural way, but your strange-looking dog did not change, and will not be eaten, because she is not shooting at us anymore. The other, short dog and you, bird fella, will have to stay."

Shocked at the coyote's statements, Rorne falls to her knees. "No," she states sadly, her voice full of both physical and mental pain. "I... I can't stay..." She raises one of her hands to her stomach. "There... must be some way..." She shakes her head. "I... please... there has to be... be some way..." She remains there, becoming mostly silent with some painful grunts and heavy breaths. She couldn't accept that there was no way back. There had to be some way to fix this... there just had to be... for him.

Morten blinks, lowering her ears at the coyote as it states the others have to stay, looking to miss Edel and the others, she shakes her head, looking unhappily at the coyote, "Hey! you cant make them stay, what gives you the right?!" she yells, blushing a little at her outburst...

Glein shakes her head. "No go friend. We all get out. No ifs ands or buts." Glein states, her right thumb moving up to rest on the selector lever on the rifle. It was set to safe, for now. But it wouldn't take much to flick it to semi-auto or even full-auto. And if this situation got ugly, they'd be having to shoot their way out.

Edel sighs and looks at her paw. "Even if I were to join you, I could not stay for long. Such is the lift of a drifter, yeah?" She gives a slightly pained chuckle. "Could I just cut this thing off? Hypothetically speaking, of course."

The coyote tilts his head. He looks confused, and concerned. "Something is keeping you from changing further, or you'd already be one of us. My friends, you are keeping this pain from ending with it. It is... Something. A device on you. It's in one of your pockets, or pouches." It sighs and turns away. "You might cut it off. I don't know. That hasn't worked before, but it might, with your thing that stops our gift to you. Do you... Not find us attractive? Well... If Short Dog cuts off her paw, she might be able to go. If the changes don't continue. But Bird Fella, you can't cut off all your skin, your wings and arm, can you? That will not work. You will stay..."

At Morten's outburst, the coyote that licked his paw seems to pin its ears, and pout.

Rorne closes her eyes, shaking her head. Something was bothering her, but it wasn't much. "Did I... forget something?" She mutters before she shakes her head again. Looking back at the coyote, she remains silent, a look of desperation in her eyes. She didn't want to stay, she had a reason not to. "I... can't stay... I have... someone waiting..." she manages out. "Please... there has to be something... anything... I'll do whatever... whatever it takes..."

Morten sighs and whines, grumbling unhappily, "This is stupid.. 15 minutes ago they were trying to kill us, now theyre negotiating, how do you know they'll stay true to their word and not just kill the ones they 'let go' ..." she states bluntly, groaning and shaking her head, lowering her ears as she starts to get a headache..

Glein grunts. "It ain't like I can carry ya'll out of here by myself. And we don't exactly have a lot of choice. I don't have nearly enough bullets to take on an entire pack-mind, and we're definitely not in good enough shape to try." Glein states, shaking her head. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it wasn't looking to be getting better soon.

Edel gives Jean's hand another squeeze. It's hard to say if it's for Jean's benefit or her own, as the goggles work wonders for concealing the expression in her eyes. "If I did stay, by chance, how long would I be staying? Because I do not wish to join you. It is not that I do not think you are attractive or any of that, but I have family and duties that need to be taken care of. Responsibilities. I could not afford to stay with you for long, nor do I want to."

THe coyote yaps! A laugh! "That all depends on YOU! Of course. Like you... If you're strong, you might not be lost. You might be able to take one of the bodies we'd give you, and take it. Make it your own. You might be able to leave tomorrow! Or this morning! It all depends. You might not WANT to leave, or there might be nothing left. Or, you may cut off your paw. I suggest, at the elbow. Your packmates can help."

It then looks at Rorne, a smirk, knowing...

THe coyote blinks, and laughs. "Ooooh! So your boxes hold the changes at bay! But your... Company? Whatever that is. It wants them back. Soon as you take them off, you will finish changing. It will hurt... Also, Bird Fella... I like your mate. He's pretty attractive. He's a coyote, too! Is there another packmind like us there, where you are from?"

Rorne gasps, placing her hand to her head. She grunts a little, saying aloud, "Get out... get out..." She falls forward, catching herself with her paw, making her wince in pain. Looking back up at the coyote, a definite bit of anger present, she states directly, "There isn't... a packmind there... he's mine..." Her body glows a bit, the heat radiating from her body growing slowly. "You hurt my packmates... you take those rigs... I'll burn this city... to the ground... I'll raze you all... into a grand funeral pyre..."

Morten groans and sighs, getting very uncomfortable at the notion of leaving anyone behind, watching the coyote clearly get under Rorne's skin just makes her more uncomfortable, "Please just let us go!! why are you so obsessed with making them stay... whats wrong with you things? " she asks weakly, not expecting an answer really but cant keep her muzzle shut it seems.

Glein brings her rifle up with a snap, not as stablized as if she'd both hands for it, but stable enough, her thumb quickly flicking the lever to AUTO. "You mgiht want to be REAL damn careful 'bout what you say next." Glein states, eyeballing the 'lead' coyote here.

Edel holds up her hands. "I think they are just making the observation. Let us not get into another fight here, please. I do not think it would end well for either of us." She sighs and rubs her face. "But I am not sure what to do, either. I am uncertain if the nanites can regrow limbs. I don't know if I want to cut it off. On the other hand, I am sure that I could break away just fine. But what if I'm wrong? Such a problem. I hate problems."

That coyote that was being nice to Morten, well, it just kinda slinks away to the back. Obviously, Morten doesn't like any of them.

Meanwhile the orator grins "Well, you're bright. You're pretty nice. Listen, soon to be coyote, you have to do this or you will turn at a place where we cannot help you... They will not let you keep your box. Once you turn it in you will continue the change... If you do it here, we can help you get another body, and you might still want to leave, and return to your mate, if not..." The coyote grins, making eye contact with Glein. "Take off the box."

Rorne stares into the eyes of the coyote for a few moments, immobile, and also strangely silent. She couldn't explain it, but, for whatever reason, she felt he was right. She reaches over to grab the strap, beginning to remove it. She is hesitant, though, as there's something there, something in the back of her mind. A voice telling her to stop, telling her this was wrong, that she shouldn't be doing it. It persists as she continues, lifting the strap from her right shoulder over her head and to her left shoulder. The voice is still there, screaming at her now. She doesn't listen to it, and continues to remove the rig from her body. When she removes it fully, she places it on the ground next to Glein. The entire time she does this, her eyes never leave that of the coyote's. Something about him, about those eyes, told her it was right, that everything was going to be fine...

Morten blinks, everything around her seems to stop as she watches rorne remove the device, making mortens eyes widen as she watches, "Rorne what are you doing.... Rorne?!" she asks repeatedly, moving closer to her and trying to take it back even though the rig is fully removed, she takes it and shakes her head, "What are you thinking?!.. Jean?.. Edel! .. Glein! do something!" she demands, ignoring every other issue at present.

Glein shakes her head, knowing that what she had in mind, would likely either infect them all, or worse, actually kill them. "Rorne, you put that rig back on. They're playing mind games with you." Glein says, her focus, and aim, not drifting from the speaker amongst the coyotes. "You've someone waiting for you back in Fairhaven. Don't discredit him or yourself by giving in." Glein states, hoping to speak some since into Rorne.

Having remained rather motionless for the duration of all of this, attention focused solely on staring at her arm, Edel's movement comes rather suddenly. "You seem to be intelligent enough to negotiate, so I will ask this. If I did agree to join with you, would you be willing to release me? Or at least make it easy for me to cut myself off? You know I'd rather avoid having to cut my hand off. Do you have any idea how much that would hurt? And suck? Even if it does grow back!"

The coyote grins, smiling, looking at each of the members of the team. "Don't worry... She will come back to you in the morning." It then turns to Edel. "We will do our best to make sure you're able to return home. We can't just cut you off, but we won't stop you. We will train you to control your new body, if you need..."

The pain immediately attacked Rorne's body, enveloping her whole being as it rips her apart, cell by cell, and reconfigures her, but the whole time in her mind, the coyote coos softly to her, and as the changes continue, more voices join the gentle encouragement.

That voice remains, screaming at her to get the rig back on. It continues to tell her that Sithra wouldn't want this, that she doesn't want this, and that it was all a trick by the coyote. Even the voices of her friends lingered in her mind, she barely paying any attention to their protests. However, that voice is silenced when the pain seeps in, clouding her mind in general. She falls to the ground completely, spasming and squirming on the ground. However, despite her obvious pain, she didn't scream, yelp, or shout. Something about it felt right, that the pain was merely the passage to where she needed to be. Her wings twitch violently, losing mass by the second. Her good hand twists and contorts, shifting into that of a paw, like her other 'hand.' Her tail shifts and twists, forming together into a slender tail of a canine. Her legs convulse rapidly, her hallux, the toe behind the others, painfully shifts forward, now having all four of her taloned toes pointing like a digitigrade foot. They then fuse, fur covering the once bare appendages, as their orientation becomes that of a hindquarter and paw. By this point, her wings were completely gone, her torso elongating and shifting to match the coyotes around them exactly. The only thing remaining normal was her head, beak and all, but covered in fur instead of feathers. Through this whole ordeal, she could, oddly, hear the cooing from the coyotes around her, calming her. However, her friends are completely silent to her, no matter how loud they may speak.

Morten lowers her ears, colour draining from her face as she watches Rorne change, something she normally enjoys, form shifting and transformations but something about this one, felt almost painful, like Rorne was being chipped away in the process, she clutches Rorne's rig tightly to her chest as she tries to find the words... any words.. even a scream would do right now but she finds herself unable to talk or breathe, her vision locked on Rorne as her body almost becomes locked in a petrified limbo...

Growling, Glein's grip on her rifle tightens, though her finger doesn't pull the trigger just yet. "Pack Minds. Your all the fucking same. Only seem to care about strengthening your, pack, without concern or care about others." Glein grinds out, holding back only by strength of will in knowing that to let loose would doom them all.

Edel scratches her cheek with her good hand. "... Be back in the morning, hm? That short?" She sighs softly. "Could be worse..." She glances at Rorne, frowning. "I wish I could put you at ease..." She straightens up and glances towards the rest of her group. "What do you three think I should do? Assuming that I would, and most likely will, be back before long?"

It wasn't long before Rorne's head finished changing, and then, pow, their hips popped out of place, and they fell to all four paws. This is it, the final bit, as their mind flees...

Rorne sees a place, dark at night. An eye, far up above them where the moon should be, canine. They're human, what they were before the change. They're being held by an old man, skin sunned so red its color is even seen in ths night. They're both in a pool of water, waist deep, surrounded by trees. If Rorne looks, to the north is Crate Lake, they just know, and to the south is Mount Shasta in California. The old man, who is wearing a head-dress of a coyote, smiles. "Welcome. Now, back to your body. We will talk later. Your child is safe." He then submerged human-Rorne into the water with one arm, the other, cradling an infant-sized bundle...

They wake up again in their new body, a nonmorphic coyote. There they are, back in Klamath Falls, a thousand voices welcoming them, the coyotes around Rorne, smiling.

The speaking coyote smiles. "We have another... And you all are free to go if you please, except for the Short Dog, who must make her decision. Paw, or packmind." and as he says that, the coyotes open up a large clear way for them to leave.

Rorne blinks a few times, the voices present in her head, welcoming her so warmly. Now she's standing on her four nonmorphic legs, although she doesn't remember bringing herself to her feet. She feels very warm and welcome, a smile present on her canine muzzle. Her body is that of a nonmorphic coyote, literally exactly like those around the group. She looks around, seeing the coyotes, feeling somewhat at home. She looks to the lead coyote, and she responds to the voices in her head, "Thank you." She sits down, feeling her entire body, kind of enjoying it overall. She wants to stay... but the images of Sithra and Harb make their way in, as well as those injured in Fairhaven. Her expression shifts a little to sad, a small frown on her muzzle, and she looks to all the coyotes present. "I... we all know I want to stay, none of us want me to leave," she begins, "but we all know I can't stay." Her head droops a little as she responds, as she doesn't know exactly what she should do.

Morten whines and looks over Edel,, not wanting her to cut her own hand off... but also knowing the alternative isnt a whole lot better, she watches as Rorne seems to almost become content.. before suddenly Rorne's attitude seems to shift, the husky raises an eyebrow in confusion, "M-miss Edel?.. what do you think we should do? c-can you really just give up a hand?" she weakly asks.. eyes continue to stare back at Rorne with worry.

Glein only glances at Rorne for a moment, certain that doing so would open her to attack. Seeing a coyote now in their midst, now right in their number... It wasn't a pleasant idea if they decided to back track and view them as threats. "Edel, don't you DARE take off that pack. Think of Jian, of your daughters. Your friends." Glein says, her focus once more on the coyote that'd been their spokesperson this entire time.

Edel frowns at Glein, dipping one of her hands, her only 'hand' into her bag. "The alternative is cutting off my hand. It's not like I'd be gone for long, anyway! What if I join, and then leave right here and now? With you." Whatever she pulls up is small. Tiny enough to be concealed entire within her tiny closed hand.

The lead coyote stepped forward toward Edel-- One step. He sniffed curiously. There wasn't enough of the packmind nanites in her for him to try and read her mind, but he looked on, head tilted. He was still far out of lunging range of the husky, out of lunging range of anyone of the team. "Small dog, we will do our best to give you the easiest way out, if you choose to leave us."

Rorne sighs lightly, still feeling welcome. She knows she should leave, but she knows she's beyond welcome here. She continues her little internal debate, thinking in reponse to the voices, "This place... it's so much calmer than Fairhaven. It's so much more wonderful... I don't want to leave." An idea pops in her head, and she looks up to the lead Coyote. "Is... would it be possible for me to leave the Packmind, but keep my connection? I... I would love to come back, perhaps talk to you about things you don't yet understand." A smile appears on her muzzle. "Maybe introduce you to my mate as well." She stands again, keeping her gaze on the lead coyote. "Besides... I think I might like to come here one day... truly join the pack... just not yet."

Morten blinks, tilting her head at Edel as she takes the ...thing.. from her bag, mortens ears perking up as she hears Rorne speak, she sits there silently as Rorne talks before morten shakes her head, "What?!... If theyre gonna let you go, why would they fight us in the first place.. I am so confused.. arent they supposed to be the enemy here?" she asks bluntly.

Glein grunts. "Morten, they sense our weakness. They've not only the upper hand, but also the better position. Why kill us if they can just force us to surrender to their terms?" Glein states. This whole thing was going downhill fast and hard. Fuck the express elevator to hell, they just decided to jump down the elevator shaft in this problem. "Edel, Please. Don't jump into their arms just to save the rest of us. I will not let them tear us apart simply because they want to infect us all." Glein growled, adjusted Jean on her shoulder since hte blood had been causing her grip to be slick. "We need to move now, and we're moving as a team. You got that?" She stated, brokering no arguement.

Edel takes a deep breath, opening her hand and exposing the coin that she had been holding. She peers down at the tarnished piece of metal. "Who said anything about being a martyr? I don't think they're going to try to tear us apart, anyway. They seem docile for now. I'd just rather not cut off a hand." She sighs and stares right at the lead coyote. "I need to at least make certain that Jean will get back alright. I am afraid I must turn down your offer. For now, at least. In the future? Perhaps we'll meet again. Perhaps I'll take up your offer, just to see what it is like. But for now, I need to protect my friends." She tosses the coin a few times before offering it to the coyote. "You can have this, though! Consolation prize, perhaps, to remember me by, hmm?"

In Rorne's head, the packmind's many choruses of voices are all comforting, understanding. They don't want her to go but they won't force her to stay. Perhaps, they suggest, they will meet again. Perhaps Rorne's mate will join them, and they can both stay together inside the packmind...

Meanwhile, the lead coyote moves slowly towards Edel, eyes of mistrust toward Glein, the dragon, the only unharmed member of the group as it leans forward to take the coin offered into its mouth, to hold, as there's no other way for it to be held.

"We understand, Small Dog... And your Bird Friend will come back with you, though in a new body. Just... Your paw. Once they take the box back, you will continue to change, and it will be painful, and you will be out of our reach. You must either take the box off now, or return, and have your hand removed..."

Rorne smiles gently, feeling happy that she can choose both. She looks to Glein, a calm and happy expression on her coyote face, before looking towards the opening the coyotes left for them. 'Thank you,' she thinks to the Packmind, 'and maybe he will.' She looks back to Glein, telling her, "They are truly letting us leave. Just, please, don't give them a reason to attack." She looks back to the opening they left and she begins to leave, hoping the others will follow. The entire time, she feels a strong pull to remain, making each step somewhat difficult. In her mind, she pictures herself as a Phoenix, sadly waving farewell to the Packmind, but also knowing that, one day, she would be back.

Morten looks back and forth between everyone, looking utterly bewildered, "So.. what? thats it? they are gonna let us go?.. I am so confused here.. Iv half a mind to stay with them if they'll explain what on earth all this blood and bullets were shed for.." she states dejectedly, shaking her head with a sigh.

Glein shakes her head. "No. We go now. The situation is not in our favor." Glein states, standing up and walking towards the opening left by the coyotes for them to leave by, though she does so walking backwards so she can keep an eye on the possibly dangerous hostiles who could overtake them in a moments notice. At this point, it was a simple matter of getting out far enough to safely call for evac and get them to a hospital quickly. Jean didn't look like she could take too much more strain from all of this. "Morten, grab Rorne's dropped module. Let's not leave it for these pack mind fingers to figure out." Glein orders, knowing she couldn't grab it and continue to carry Jean at the same time. Especially if Jean completely went into shock and her internal organs shut down. But considering her state of being, Glein couldn't honestly say how long they had before that happened. "Let's get moving people, we're on a timer and it's ticking away." Glein calls out, once completely past the coyotes.

True to their words, the Coyotes stay back. Rorne, in their head, hears them telling her the way out of the city, keeping her going, encouraging her....

Eventually Jean begins to weakly come about, groaning in pain, asking where they are...

Edel glances at Glein. "Bah, we need to get this done quick, then, so I can chase after them. Let's get this change over with." She shakes her head. "Don't leave without me! I'll catch up in a moment." She starts to remove the kit, a scowl on her face.

Rorne continues forward, making note the paths that the Packmind shows. She knows that she can trust them on some level. However, she stops when she hears Edel saying not to leave her, and watches her remove the kit. She knew that Edel was too far away to stop at this point, but merely says to her from where she was, "Make sure this is what you want... the transformation is extremely painful." She shakes her head, hearing some whispers of why they attacked, but couldn't make out anything. She looks to the nearest coyote, asking the Packmind in thought, 'My pack... I mean, my party was wondering... you're being so nice and letting us go now when you were so hostile before. Why did you start attacking us? If... if you don't want me to tell them, though, I won't.'

Morten watches Glein climb to their feet, moving through the path the coyotes make and calling for morten to take the Module, she blinks in disbelief, closing her eyes and sighing, then only to watch both Edel remove her own Rig and Rorne to begin to talk to her, Morten at this point, feeling invisible, clenching her fists in anger, mumbling to herself, "Why even bother.." she mournfully stares up at the coyotes.

Glein growls. "Morten, get those damned modules that Rorne and Edel just put down. We're not going to let the pack mind get it's grubby paws on the only thing that's given us A shot at avoiding infection. Or would you like for me to shoot you myself and leave you for them to deal with?" Glein states, cold, methodical, and clearly thinking of the military and possible future ramifications of what would happen if the pack minds were to get ahold of teh very rigs that gave tehm a small measure of protection from infection of pack mind nanites.

Edel sets her device on the ground and rolls her shoulders. "Right then. Let's do this, yeah?" She settles on the ground and pushes her goggles up to her forehead before promptly closing her eyes. "I'd rather do this now and get it over with so I can go home rather than dread having to cut my hand off all the way back."

The coyotes guide Rorne forward. Further and further forward, until he's at the lakesides and the voices begin to fade... And at the last minute, they feel something fill their stomach, and then feel life enter them again. 'Here is your child, raise it well.'

Immediately the changes wrack Edel, feeling like her whole body was dipped in acid. Her fur becomes thicker, more scruffy. Her size as a whole does not change, but her shape does, her breasts do shrink, though, as her hips and waist, becoming more feral... Her head and muzzle slim, her ears grow, and she begins to hear a chorus of voices in her head.

Rorne shakes her head as they all answer, the voices being a bit hard to discern, but she understands and returns to follow their directions. She doesn't know how long she follows them, losing herself in the voices a little, until their voices begin to fade. She finds herself at the lakesides, looking off over them. She frowns a bit, feeling the voices leave her, feeling a bit more lonely, but that feeling fades as she also feels life reenter her, her pregnancy being restored. She smiles and sits alongside the lake, looking out. She would become a Phoenix again, but she just enjoyed being a feral coyote for the moment. She just feels so comfortable like this. 'I'll change back later, but for now,' she thinks, laying down and curling up next to the lake, 'a moment to rest and relax.'

Morten scowls over towards Glein, picking up both of the rigs before shaking her head, she getting frustrated at the whole situation by this point, she climbs to her feet and follows for now but looks on the verge of just throwing the rigs to the floor and leaving, "I swear.." she mumbles to herself, growling quietly as she seems to mutter something to herself which only makes her more angry.

As they proceed away from the city, Glein not bringing up the rear, personally afraid of shooting her friend on instinct since, just from what she saw, she'd have difficulty telling fully shifted coyote fingers apart. So, she was right behind Rorne, she hoped. It was difficult to say. Still, at least she was ready to protect the team if this wasn't Rorne, and just a plant leading them to an ambush site. As it was, Glein wasn't sure how long Jean could hold out. Adjusting the unconscience husky on her shoulders again, making sure her grip wasn't loosed up by teh blood soaked bandages, the walk proved, mostly, quiet. Glein would have to apologize to Morten later, but right now, they needed decisive decisions and actions, not, well, fear and uncertainty.

Edel rolls forward, clutching at her head with a hand that quickly becomes a paw, much her others. She opens her mouth to say something, probably some kind of incoherent profanity, but all that comes out are yelps and snarls. Her body twists as she writhes, bones making some rather disturbing sounds as they reshape, leaving her on all fours. By the end of it all, she's on her side, wheezing in the aftermath, still wearing her dress and the exoskeleton underneath. Though they remain intact, she looks... Rather silly. The suit conforms to her body, somewhat, as it tends to do, but it was still clearly meant for a biped.

Upon finishing the transformation, something happens. Edel wakes up in a dark, wooded place, in waist-deep water. Her human self, from before P-day. There was an old russet-skinned man holding her, the same Rorne has seen earlier, smiling to her. "Welcome home, but now you must go back... If you wish. If not, still, go to them and tell them yourself." He then presses her back into the water... And she wakes up on four paws in her body.

Eventually Jean comes to, and then, panics as she sees the coyote by the water.  "WHAT?  No?!  Fuck, Glein, shoot that fucking THING!" she orders him, pointing to Rorne.
 
Rorne looks up at Jean, a smile on her face. She sighs, tilting her head at her anger. "It's okay, Jean, I won't hurt you or anyone. It's me, Rorne." She looks back out over the water, closing her eyes as she enjoys the feel of her fur in general. "I'll be a Phoenix if you want me to, though. I just... I like being like this. I find it to be rather nice... I feel kind of free." She lays her head back down, relaxing once more as she curls back up. "Besides... this is comfortable. I'm happy to just lay here for a while."
 
Morten sighs and carries the Rigs to the side of the water, grumbling unhappily to herself, "This was the worst day iv ever had... I think" she states, not really expecting anyone to care, not that it matters anyway, she constantly looking back in the direction of the coyotes and sighing softly.
 
Glein grunts as the unconscious Jean suddenly became conscious, and started flailing around on her shoulders, throwing Glein's balance off.  With it, was a gripping and reaching for something, sadly, this also including her rifle hand clenching and pulling the trigger.  This lasted long enough for Glein to fire three rounds before she had enough sense of mind to let the weapon go.  Landing on her back, sending the wounded Jean tumbling on the grass and dirt, Glein growls in annoyance.  "We barely get out of that damned town alive, with their not attacking us!" Glein yells at Jean.

Picking herself up, and flicking the rifle to semi to avoid another accidently spray. Looking around to see who was hit, and spotting the coyote with three splashes of red on theri flank, Glein sighes. "Well, if they were going to let us go, they ain't likely to now." She states, figuring that the coyote with them, if it wasn't Rorne was likely to attack them now in retaliation, at the same time as calling for friends to overwhelm them while they waited for hte helicopter.

Edel shakes her head viciously as if trying to gauge the extent of her mental situation before she pushes her head through the strap of her dufflebag and takes up her sword scabbard in her mouth. She glances at the other coyotes for a moment before she bolts after the others without a hesitation.

Each subsequent step further from the coyotes is harder and harder for Edel, as she feels the strong urge to return... They guide her down the streets, showing her the way in her mind, as the voices become fainter and fainter. Eventually they cut off as they edge the lake, but nor before they give Edel a burst of warmth for her efforts, and a promise of a home to come back to, any time.

Jean yelps as she hits the ground, the loud sound echoing off the lake for miles as her torn-up legs crumple under her. She whines, punchign the ground. "Fuck! What're you talking... Why didn't you just shoot it right away?!"

Rorne yelps very loudly at the shots being fired, having no time to react as she is struck by all three. Pain surges through her body as she manages to look at her wounds. Quite a bit of blood is flowing at this point, and she whimpers sadly and weakly. She thinks, 'I... just enough.' She glows a bit, her body filling out to less feral proportions. Her fur grows outward, becoming wider as they shift into feathers, colored a deep red like that of fire. Her muzzle contorts as it widens and shortens, hardening into a beak. Her ears flick a couple times as they go into her body, becoming small holes on the side of her head. The digits on her forepaws lengthen, becoming more prehensile as her dewclaw moves to her actual hand, becoming an opposable thumb. Her tail fans out, growing longer and redder with her feathers as it shifts into a distinctly avian tail. Her feet, once paws, contort wildly as her toes grow longer into talons, one shifting with a series of pops to behind her feet. A crest of feathers grows atop her head as well, and two wings burst forth from her back. Her eyes are the last to change, becoming black, most recognizable from other avians. After her transformation, she lies there, sprawled on the lakeside, panting heavily, pain still through her body. 'Maybe... rebirth,' she thinks, her consciousness becoming difficult to maintain from both pain and exhaustion.

Glein grunts. "That's way." She says, pointing to Rorne. "I couldn't be certain that was Rorne, or a plant. Why the fuck do you think I kept my rifle off safe? In case it WAS a plant!" Glein states, shaking her head. "Get on the radio, get that bird here now. I'm going to check on her. Oh, also, RSX is not out it's rigs, just so your happy." She says flatly. Walking over to Rorne, she kneels down, and looks over the wounds, now shifted to match where they'd have been had she been shot as a pheonix. "I'm no medic, or doctor Rorne, but I'll do the best I can to at least stem the bleeding, okay?" Glein says, trying to be careful in her touching of hte wounds. She'd been firing FMJ rounds, so, thankfully, they were mostly through-and-through wounds, but that didn't mean they didn't hurt, or cause a lot of internal damage. Pulling out some spare cloth, Glein proceeds to do what she can to patch up Rorne.

Edel skitters up next to the group and sets her sword down, panting. "Just don't shoot me, please. I got shot once already. Not pleasant. Can we please go home soon? I do not wish to be here any longer. I want to be bipedal again, as well." She moves to sit down, staring at the others. "What a pain this turned out to be."

There are no other packminds coming, only Edel, and that freaks Jean out even more as she tries to drag herself away. Therer is this coyote, just like the ones that attacked them, but it's in Edel's dress and gear, and talking, in her voice! This doesn't make any sense!

"What, they turned?! The devices failed?! M-my god! Damn! Shoot them, you stupid bitch!"

Rorne grunts as Glein patches her up, but she knows that it will only delay the inevitable. She looks to Glein, her life obviously somewhat fading from her eyes. "Thank... you," she manages out barely to him. She struggles to keep her eyes open. "Stand... back," she states to Glein. Her eyes finally close and her head falls to the ground. She lets out a final breath of air as she, sadly, perishes. However, her body begins to glow, heat emanating from her entire form. Flames erupt from around her as her entire body becomes wreathed in fire. A few moments later, the fire subsides, and she is standing there in perfect health once more. She nods to all of them, saying, "Sorry if I worried you," and then looks to Jean. "I'll do my best to explain, if you'll listen."

Glein nods, stepping back as Rorne requested. As the flames began to lick at Rorne's body, Glein stepped forward in concern before the heat grew too much for even her to tolerate. Sighing at the unneeded actions of her, she turned to Jean. "The devices had a 50% success rate, and let's put it this way, Agent. We now have access to insight into this third pack-mind, much like I'm able to provide limited insight into the fox Pack-Mind we've already encountered. And maybe, JUST MAYBE, we can have agents inside the pack-mind able to help weaken their efforts. Did you think of this?" Glein states, pointing out the facts. "Quite frankly, at this point, we need every advantage we can get. The only issue we've got currently, is that some of this advantage comes at the risk of them being discovered as working against the pack minds. Believe me, it's hard enough keeping my thoughts straight when I want to just run for hte nearest element of hte fox Pack-Mind and join with them. And I got lucky, I was given the infection and let go." Glein states, figuring that it was time Jean learned this little quirk.

Edel frowns at Jean. "I'm not one of them! Well... I won't be. I want nothing to do with it. I just want to be home. I want to get back into normal life! As normal as it gets. I won't hurt you! Promise. Don't think less of me." Her brow furrows, ears drooping.

A noise of the helicopter engines can be heard from the side of the crater lake. After a few moments the source o the said noise appears in the view, being indeed a helicopter and it looks like it's direction is Klamath Falls. A tall coyote is standing in the opened airlock and blankly staring down on the ground. "Like hell I'm going to leave them... her..." He mumbles quietly and clenches his shaking hands into fists as suddenly his gaze catches a group of people onto the ground. He leans back into heli and yells something to the pilot while pointing down. The helicopter begins to get lower right after the pilot gets the command before placing itself onto the ground near of the said group. Sithra immediately jumps down, running to them, but... He stops in the midway before them. "What the..." He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment before lowering his speed down to walking and making his way to them once again. He eyes all their ingures, all these not-so-happy faces and... "Rorne..." He saw it from the heli. He saw her reborning. It means she either died or... "Why..." He growls quietly as he looks down at Edel then glances back at Rorne. "Get your asses into the heli. NOW!" Growling, shaking and clenching his fists really tight, Sithra looks down on the ground and says as calmly as he can manage. "Rorne... Please, don't come near me for some time. I'll came back myself when I can. Same to Edel." He sighs and flops onto all fours as he turns his back to them and runs back, seemingly heading to the crater lake.

That was it. It was over. Whatever happened after this, was just paperwork and interventions. Testing and isolation to make sure that Rorne and Edel were no longer infectious. Rorne was released shortly, Edel's form was restored to her wishes, and released.

Later the debriefing recounted that their mission was a failure.  No information was obtained, except for there was a packmind, and it was semi-hostile, but at least proved intelligent.  Much more thought would have to be put in this next time. 

Agent Jean was put into the hospital and demoted for failure to perform her duties, and was strongly urged to consider retiring, or therapy, but she did neither, and took her demotion in stride.  Resentful but stubborn, she continued to persevere, despite numerous offers to jump ship.