Difference between revisions of "Coyote: The Packmind/Chapter 6"

Latest revision as of 05:45, 22 May 2013

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Spar's friends and associates have agreed to accompany hir back to the wellspring to deal with... hir passenger and child, and perhaps find a way to free Spar of the burden without injury. They have packed into a tour bus that Sorien salvaged and it's in the process of being retrofitted. It fits the variety of sized and weighted friends comfortably enough although the suspension is strained under the load. They are on the road nearing the site of Crater Lake, a place of a rather large incident from the weeks before.

Sorien softly churrs, "Wow. This thing handles like a bus. Who'da thunk?"

Sparhawk has occupied the seat behind the driver and is doing a lot of looking out of windows. "Is that better or worse than handling like a truck?"

Sorien softly churrs, "Kinda both, really. (giggle)"

Sorien softly churrs, "Better, in that it’s more comfortable. Worse, in that I've seen better manoeuvrability in river barges."

Cilan sits on one of the back seats of the bus, her weapons held out in front of her as she makes final preparations to them, making sure that they are all in working order for any skirmishes against the possible coyote pack, all the while, she remains silent.

REDACTED is sitting, pensive. She looks uncomfortable and lost in thought, she's been watching Spar out of the corner of her eye studying hir behaviour most of the trip, watching for changes as they draw nearer to hir child's home.

Apostasy chuckles as she overhears Sorien. "It's probably not helping that between the lot of us, and all of Spar's science stuff, this thing is really weighed down."

Snowblind is taking up the isle spot for now next to Sparhawk still thinking on the information that shi has been just given by Sparhawk during this journey.

Sorien softly churrs, "It’s no worse than 50 tourists and their luggage, really."

Sparhawk takes that opportunity to sing a verse or so of The Illinois and Michigan Canal, a song of home that might even be recognized by one of the other people on the bus.

Loki sits on a seat near the back, opposite of Cilan, a large metal cylinder in the seat in front, a gigantic robot occupying most of the isle, in standby mode for the time being. He looks a little uncomfortable, crammed in with all his things. He has a bunch of folded cloth on the seat next to him, along with a bulging briefcase, a few loose sheets of paper sticking out from the gaps between its two edges.

Sorien softly churrs, "You know, I don't think we make a good Partridge Family somehow..."

REDACTED shifts a bit and sees familiar segments on the road. While previously she had been stressed under the loss of her mate Sorien, the landmarks still stuck in her mind. Signs for the upcoming Crater Lake have been sidelong and scattered on the roadway edge. The road has narrowed far from the highway they used to travel up on, making the bus navigation slightly trickier.

Sorien softly churrs, "How far more, Spar? I dunno how much further this behemoth will take us. (she glances back) You okay, REDACTED? You've been kinda quiet."

Snowblind shakes hir head then looks at Sorien. "Oh and why not miss driver?" Shi giggles before getting up and retaking an actual seat where shi had set hir medical bags down. Starting to double check everything before they get to where they are going.

Sorien softly churrs, "Because it’s a bloody hog, that’s why. It’s fantastic on the freeway..."

REDACTED' ears perk to her mate's voice, "I'm... I'm all right love. This trip is just bringing back rather unwelcome memories and emotions from when you were lost. Nothing I can't handle though." She shifts and says "I don't remember it taking far from here."

Sparhawk leans down to peer out the front window. "I left a few marks on the trees where we came out, but that was in the direction of that gas station. The native remembers the forest mainly in terms of smell and distance from the center, so this closed-up vehicle is disorienting. Just start with the gas station."

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay."

As REDACTED speaks, one of the final signs showing a campground and Crater Lake itself less than two miles away, they should be arriving in minutes to their destination.

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah, there we go. One extinct (I hope) volcanic crater, coming up!"

REDACTED says, "Is that what it was. I wonder why there, does it have any significance to Coyote? He never struck me as a tourist."

Sorien softly churrs, "It’s the deepest lake in North America, amongst other things."

Loki bats an ear, peering over the edge of the seat. He quickly wraps himself in the prepared cloths, making a robe of sorts. "Well, that is kind of a relief... Although... a few things did slip my mind..." he mumbles, looking down at the last minute sheets now covering himself. "Well... guess we could always ask him!" he hollers from the back of the bus.

Apostasy yawns. "Hrmf. I forgot how -boring- long road trips are. Glad we'll be there soon." She looks over at REDACTED. "Maybe he just wanted somewhere that was still pretty wild? This place was a national park, so it'd be pretty much untouched forest and stuff, after all."

Sorien softly churrs, "You could have watched movies, silly. That's what those things in the seatbacks are. And as to its importance, I think it’s sacred, kinda like Devils Tower."

Sparhawk shrugs. "It could be where he found a bunch of interesting coyotes. I recall lots of stories about Coyote being a traveller, if less interested in seeing the sights."

Snowblind shrugs and puts on a backpack in addition to hir saddlebags. "I just hope Coyote is actually on our side. All the things I learned and read about him is that he is a teacher but also a trickster." Shi adds to the mix of ideas floating about while adjusting the straps to keep everything tight.

"After dealing with other spirits and gods, they usually have some sort of connection to their location, or they -create- one." REDACTED says in response. The campground turnoff is just up ahead, with plenty of unpaved space to park a bus this size. There are a -few- abandoned cars in the lot, but not many. P-day did happen in an offseason, mid February, which made this not a very popular tourist location. There's a ranger's shed, a refuelling station, and a building with restrooms on the sides of the parking area.

Sorien softly churrs, "Most Coyote stories start out with, 'Coyote was walking along..." I'll pull up by the restrooms. That work?"

"It's not like we're going to forget where we parked it. Also it looks like we can refuel for the way back if there's any left in that station." REDACTED says, and steps up stretching the kink out of one of the tails she had been sitting awkwardly on for most of the trip.

Sparhawk nodnods eagerly, feeling ready to stretch hir legs. "Just make sure to lock it. I don't know who would be trying to steal our bus out here, but I doubt they'd be good with lock picks." And back to REDACTED shi says, "I defer to the expert, but point out all the places in Fairhaven popped up pretty inexplicably."

Sorien pulls the bus over and parks. Once the rig is stopped, she turns it off and takes her own turn stretching. "Oogh. We need more than one driver I think."

Loki shrugs. "I might be able to drive back.. provided I am not somehow horribly mangled." he offers.

Sorien softly churrs, "Hee. Okay. We can try that. "

Snowblind stretches as well once back in the isle. "Locking is good, if they can lock pick then maybe they can help us rather than take things." Shi raises an eyebrow at Sorien. "I would but in my shape it is a bit hard to reach the pedals."

Apostasy stands and promptly bumps her head off the roof. "Gah! Stupid.... ugh, the sooner I'm off this thing the better. Bus trips were bad enough when I was human, let alone now." Sorien softly churrs, "Hey, it beats walkin'!"

The bus itself opens up to the rest rooms, quite well maintained considering how long it's been, although no local wildlife has made a home out of it, possibly due to the threat of the packs around this region.

Sparhawk leaps out of the bus and runs around the wooded edge of the parking lot a while, exuberant and ready to press on long before anyone else. Shi only turns back when people start dragging heavy equipment out and shi feels guilty about shirking.

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay. I'm using the facilities before we do ANYTHING else. (giggle)"

Apostasy climbs off the bus and stretches out thoroughly, flaring her wings to their full span and flapping a few times. "Ahhhhh...... sooooo much better." That done, she goes to help haul equipment off the bus.

Loki blinks. "You know.. I never have to use the facilities.. wonder if that would change outside the bubble..." he wonders, obviously finding the idea rather distasteful.

Sorien softly churrs, "You're the boss, Spar! Be right out."

REDACTED helps lift some of the heavier equipment that she has no idea what its use is for, however she's strong and small enough to carry most of it without difficulty, unlike some of the larger creatures with similar strength. She huffs a bit under the weight of one particular piece Loki brought along. "And why did you feel it necessary exactly that we bring this along?" she asks Loki.

Cilan rises from her seat and calls over her shoulder as she makes a short detour, "Um.. long trips don’t really agree with me.. uh.. I’m just going to make a short stop.." finished, she heads to the washroom, and emerges a few minutes later, a relieved look on her face, "Anyways.. uh.. where are we going now?.. Last time I was here, I was still a little disoriented.. I guess resurrection will do that.."

Snowblind helps where shi can with taking things off the bus and even offers to pack some of the smaller things in hir own bags where there is room. Shi sniffs the air a bit getting used to the smells of being outside the bubble with a much better nose in the woods.

Sorien returns shortly, and starts assisting the unloading. "Is that everything?"

Loki grins, helping REDACTED with the device. "Portable nanofield generator... in theory it should work.. I would have to test it... Basically.. it will generate a portable bubble.. I have yet to test it, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity."

The area is strangely silent as it was before. A little wind the only source as the leaves rustle when the breeze strikes up. No wildlife, the normal nature noises that great one in nature make it really unsettling, at least the source of the silence is known, a mild comfort.

Apostasy gives Loki's device a look of distaste. "I never agreed to be a guinea pig for Loki's latest toy when I said I'd come on this trip."

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah, it can't be worse than everything ELSE we've faced."

The scents of plants, and a light rotting smell waft, there's also a mild smell of smoke, nothing heavy.

Loki sighs. "I was going to test it on MYSELF!... I would never think of having somebody involuntarily exposed to such a thing." he frowns, glaring, and almost sounding offended by Apostasy's accusation. "I'm not some kind of mad scientist."

Sparhawk points in a straight line off into the woods. "That way! One of us is going home. Now can someone help me with these two things? I can't reach my far end quite as well to put 'em on the harness." Like everything else shi carries, Spar's constructed a silk carryall for the science gear. "I concur, it would have to fail pretty spectacularly to be worse than the last trip." Sparhawk continues with a shout at Loki, "Hey! Third rule of mad science! Never experiment on yourself! In this case empty landscape is preferable."

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay, sure. What do you want me to do, sweetie?"

Snowblind gives a nod towards Apostasy, "I just hope we don't HAVE to test it. That is one reason I came loaded down with supplies, like food for those of you who might not eat all that much in the bubble." Walking over to Sparhawk shi helps out the other taur with hir equipment.

Apostasy sniffs the air. "Huh. Smoke. Didn't really expect that.... thought Coyote moved on?" She looks over at Loki. "Given what you just said it was, it's going to affect everyone in the nearby area. Whether you like it or not."

Sorien softly churrs, "My appetite is the one thing about me that's never changed."

REDACTED stretches, her back snapping into place audibly after she's done carrying, and her many tails fluttering behind. She sniffs and closes her eyes, walking off from the group for a bit to sort her senses. Her hackles are up, when she smells something. "The coyotes have been through here, I can smell and feel them. I'm not sure how long ago it was though."

Sorien softly churrs, "How do I cinch this up, Spar? This strap to here?"

Loki sets the Cylinder to the ground, jamming the spikes inwards. He pats the device "Apostasy... have a little more faith... I can set the signal strength to effect various areas... in theory. Not quite sure what the real distances are yet... it will depend on various factors... but..."

Apostasy seductively says, "Yeah.... that really does nothing to make me feel better about being anywhere near the utterly untested nanite doodad."

REDACTED doesn't say anything and strikes off toward a wooded area, calling back when people notice, "I'm just going to make sure we're not being watched."

Sparhawk pauses to sniff as well. The diesel fumes of the van are clearing and leaving a worrying set of smells. "...wait. We have been through here? How can any of our fingers still walk when Sparhawk carries us around and doesn't let anyone leave?" Sorien gets ignored for the moment as shi watches REDACTED fade away.

Snowblind stands next to Sorien. "Look at where they are on me, it is the same basic design just made with better material." Snow says and helps with Sorien as shi talks a bit louder to REDACTED. "Are we going to have to keep an eye out for the coyotes still?"

Cilan chuckles to herself over the ranting between Apostasy, and Loki as she follows behind the group, both handguns nestled in her hands, her arms folded across her chest.

Sorien gets the straps buckled properly, with one or two goofs before getting them right.

Loki grunts, hoisting the cylinder onto his back, a strap located on the thing allowing for transportation. He wanders to the back of the bus, opening the rear doors and tapping on the machine's head. The steel behemoth whirring as it boots up. A few seconds later it clambers out of the van, following closely behind Loki as he heads off after the others.

REDACTED doesn't appear to respond to the final questions as she disappears a bit into the tree line. She looks intent and has untied both of the ties holding her blades in. The trees aren't super thick so she's seen quietly stalking her way through, those with better eyesight can see she has her eyes closed and is navigating by sound and smell.

Apostasy draws Silverfang and walks after Cilan, the sword being held in one hand and resting against her shoulder. "Well, if there -is- any coyotes still here, hopefully they won't be stupid enough to attack us this time."

Sorien softly churrs, "I'm goin' after her... We shouldn't split up."

Loki hesitates along the tree line before plunging in after the others. Out of any, Loki would probably be the one spotted most easily, the titanic mecha following behind him stylized in reminiscence of some forms of robots one may recognise from certain games, and Japanese cartoons, the deep blue, gold, and silver colorations standing out from the trees like some gleaming azure target.

Snowblind notes everyone on edge and gives Sparhawk's flank a light pat. "Spar dear, that was even more cryptic than normal. Yet it looks like everyone is on edge and REDACTED is on the hunt. Let’s try to keep up and hope that nothing goes wrong." With that said shi starts walking, trying to keep up with the group as shi carefully makes hir way in the woods.

Sparhawk is eagle-eyed, perching on the crumbling remains of the parking lot's curb and holding very still. Tracking by scent, and moving with eyes closed, are something both inhabitants of Sparhawk are very familiar with and shi seeks to not disturb the hunter. "Hold back for a minute..." shi murmurs to the clanking horde.

Sorien jogs up to REDACTED, trying to pick up on what she's sensing.

Loki halts on Sparhawk’s command, his robot doing the same.

Sorien finally smells what REDACTED smelled, it's decaying flesh, coyote scented. Not pleasant and it gets stronger as she approaches. Catching up to REDACTED, she's bent over a corpse, anthro, collapsed against a tree, there's a knife fallen on the ground nearby it. It's collapsed and dead for a few days, rigor having set in as REDACTED tries to move it.

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah geez..."

Snowblind looks back to Sparhawk. Softly shi whispers towards hir, "See something? I may not be a great hunter but I grew up in wooded area. I know how to keep it down." When shi turns back shi spots that Sorien has stopped and REDACTED is not in hir sight anymore.

Telltale blood marks on its wrists, the creature having clearly cut its own wounds open letting the blood leak out. REDACTED says, "Suicide?"

Sorien softly churrs, "Maybe... Or an escapee trying to rejoin the packmind?"

Sparhawk gestures at Loki. "She's found whatever it was. Let's go." Spar is not quiet at all, between heavy metal science gear and the regular adventuring equipment.

Cilan blinks curiously at the dead coyote, staring at it almost in disbelief, "Huh... shouldn’t... shouldn’t it have melted or something? Maybe a change to the coyotes, or maybe just a different variety..."

Apostasy comes up behind Sorien and REDACTED. She grimaces when she sees the body. "Oh lovely. I guess not all of them took so well to getting out of the dream and into the real world."

Sorien softly churrs, "It’s an Aassahke. One of Coyote's people, not the pack. At least I think so..." Sorien softly churrs, "It’s one of the members we saw following him, but I can't recall which."

Loki halts in place, heading back towards Sparhawk. He nods quietly, seeing the grim attitude of the others. "So... what do you have planned Sparhawk?.. And you think I should test this? The others should be out of range if I activate this on the lowest setting."

The corpse is female, REDACTED lifts it's body onto her shoulders, it's got dark glove markings similar to REDACTED', and it doesn't appear to weigh much. REDACTED says, "Let’s move, I have something to deliver Coyote if we find him, and either way it's undignified to leave her here."

Sparhawk recoils when shi sees the dead body. "Who...why is someone here? They all left! They all left when we were alone!" Spar is visibly shaken, with a different set of body language than normal.

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay... We could make a travois if you'd rather..."

Sorien glances at Spar. "Do you know who this was, Walker?

Snowblind turns and stars at Sparhawk for a bit when they start to sound different. Padding back quickly towards hir Snow gives a small comforting hug. "Shussh. It is ok, we will find the answers soon. Let us continue on ok?"

REDACTED shakes her head, "I'll carry her, it's the least I can do for Coyote's sake. I owe him for Kaylah."

Sorien nods, and awaits Spar's 'child's' answer.

Apostasy seductively says, "I'm kinda fuzzy on where the wellspring is. Was busy getting used to not being dead anymore last time I came this way. Someone want to lead the way?"

Loki grimaces, but remains silent. He glances to the others as they part through the trees, waiting, and listening to the others. He turns to Sparhawk in response to Apostasy's question.

Sparhawk leans uncomfortably close to the stiff on REDACTED' shoulder and sniffs around her face a moment. "This one was a sad dream. She wanted to be alone. When the other children sought her, she ran away without moving."

REDACTED says, "I'm sure I can find it again, and I suspect Spar and hir child know the way. It's a hard place to forget." She holds the legs and the body was bent sitting when rigor set so it's leaning out back behind in the air.

Sorien softly churrs, "yeah... Let’s get going."

REDACTED frowns, watching the behaviour, "Do you think she was sad enough to take her own life, despite being given the gift of it again? Did she hate life that much?"

Sparhawk sadly says, "She ran away again. Thank you for carrying her former home, REDACTED." The gryphon trots ahead of the group confidently and leaps over streams and rocks without looking for 'em beforehand.

"Sure you want to be carrying the body that way the entire time REDACTED?" Snowblind asks, taking up a position near the back once the party starts to move again. "I know you mean respect, yet..."

Sorien softly churrs, "I think... What shi means is that she isolated herself within and without. Maybe she was... Broken by what happened. More than just being grabbed by the pack."

Loki nods sadly, following after Sparhawk, his robot close on his heels.

Sparhawk's new behaviour is a little unsettling to the formerly possessed raksasha, she holds the body tight and follows at a respectful distance, not really impeded. When Snow stops the ask, REDACTED says, "I will be able to handle it fine Snow, but if anything happens to me, make sure she finds a proper place to be blessed and remembranced."

Cilan returns to the back of the group, and continues wandering with the group, keeping an eye out for any possible dangers around her, and her allies.

Apostasy trails after Sparhawk, a little bemused by the way shi's acting.

The forested area continues and grows thicker, the grass and lower plants thinning as the canopy blocks sunlight. The area is rocky, and there are uncomfortably hot vents from the occasional rock cluster reminding that this is a volcanic area.

Snowblind nods to REDACTED. "I will do so, yet I, well a lot of us rather not see anything happen to anyone on this trip." Thanks to hir mutations the rocky ground is no problem but the heat starts to make hir pant and break out a water bottle rather quickly.

The original wellspring had an overpowering stench that could be smelled for quite the distance, although it's mysteriously absent, despite going in the proper direction.

Sorien softly churrs, "Is it just me or does it stink less this time around?"

Apostasy sniffs. "Not just you."

Sparhawk pushes harder toward the wellspring's location, panting from the effort of the hike. There is a tension in hir lower back that is seldom seen in the genial taur. No further talk comes from Sparhawk, weird or otherwise, for a long time.

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay. (She jogs a bit to catch up to Spar.)"

They near the wellspring area, the trees thinning out in a clearing. Rocks break the surface in a distinct pattern, and a bubbling hot springs is in the center. However, even from this distance the water is clear, a little murky from sulphur but in no way the thick red goop that filled it before.

Sorien softly churrs, "Hey... No meat soup. Is that good or bad?"

The area still smells of Coyote, and there's a small shrine built out of rocks with what appears to be a sacrifice on it, of fruits and grains in a small bowl.

Apostasy seductively says, "Well, it's good in terms of not being disgusting.... but not so good in terms of we were here to study the meat soup."

Sparhawk runs up to the edge of the pool, outpacing Sorien again with the confidence of someone who owns the ground (or did the last time shi did this.) "Empty," shi says sadly. And then more coherently, "Not quite empty. See, all my...inorganic junk is still sitting on the bottom. I hope it's not too water-damaged."

Snowblind sits down on hir hunches when the group reaches the spring, taking in the sights but trying to not smell the sulphur to much. "Well, we are here yes?" Snow asks as everyone starts to talk about the meet soup. Once shi catches hir breath shi heads over to the little shrine to check it out more.

Sorien softly churrs, "Is it safe to go in? Looks kinda hot."

The water is quite hot, although not quite boiling, it would hurt a lot to dive deep but it's certainly doable.

The shrine itself is not old, hastily built from rocks in the area, and the bowl is carved from wood, claw marks covering it. The grains, and fruits don't look native however.

Snowblind softly purrs, "I rather not treat anyone for burns that are not needed. If you do go diving please at least have some sort of plan to keep you cool."

Loki peers into the water before taking a few steps away from the lake. He lowers the metal cylinder, sliding it off his back, and then plunging it into the ground, the pair of two-foot-long prongs keeping it rooted in the ground. The whole device stands around 5 feet in height, and two feet in girth. Several weird protrusions, lights, and buttons line its surface.. the ramshackle device looking as if it was cobbled together through scraps.

Sorien dips a hand into the water. "Yeep. Yeah, that'll sting, but... Nonfatal unless you stay in there."

Sparhawk starts struggling out of the layers of equipment, taking a few steps back from the pool's edge when a piece slips free. "Could use a flashlight to look for my stuff. Set up shop here, this is our first stop." Shi continues in an annoyed tone, "I know you are mad. I rescued you because--yes, you were alone and I was alone and you were dying and I was not and that was unfair. Finding our home here waiting for us was always a long shot."

Sorien softly churrs, "I've a maglite- that should be good down that deep."

REDACTED frowns, her ears are shifted down, knowing the conversation Spar is having and the typical anger response toward grief. She however doesn't say anything, not really knowing how to communicate her thoughts properly.

Snowblind checks the bowl and fruits out. Taking some of the grain shi looks at it closer and sniffs it. Putting it back once that is down. "Ok... interesting little shrine here. I think we should mess with that more later." Shi says mostly to hirself. Turning back to the group shi sighs, "Ok so now what Sparhawk? The ball is in your and your little ones court now."

Sorien goes over to Spar, and offers the maglite, as well as a hug. "I'm sorry it’s not what was hoped for..."

Sparhawk nods absently to Sorien. "Please. In the meantime...give me a few minutes. I want to see if there is any nanite activity floating around still. Anything that could...help me understand how the pack worked, before or after Coyote borrowed it for his own purposes."

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay, sweetie. Anything you need."

Cilan muses, "Dunno if it'll do much to help when swimming, or better yet, help with the heat of the water.. but.. here." and with that, she snaps her fingers, and enfolds some of those here in a field of distortion, though whether it will help with the hot water as it does with physical injury is quite unknown to the dragoness at this point.

REDACTED wanders off a bit to think to herself and smells the area. The scent of sulphur from the hot springs makes it difficult to really get a sense of the direction the coyotes have been coming from, so she moves about sniffing at the ground and looking for trails and footprints.

Sorien retreats from Spar, letting hir have a bit of privacy.

Loki glances towards Aparhawk. "How are you going to do that? I could use my robot to check the nanite density in the air perhaps." he offers, glancing curiously towards Cilan's newest effect.

Apostasy sits on the ground leaning against a tree. Her sword rests on the ground beside her. She watches Spar and the others idly, content to simply wait for now.

Snowblind walks after REDACTED and when shi catches up shi asks, "Shall we work on burning the body? Though our options on where are a bit limited on this ground."

Sparhawk sits sphinx-style, closes hir eyes and breathes slowly, reaching for the senses shi's honed for a half a year listening to the much-louder songs of Fairhaven and Woodfield nanites. People moving around make hir head twitch in quick avian movements, cast-off nanites nearly overwhelming those few coyote-type that remain. After five minutes of apparent inaction, shi starts standing up again. "There is almost nothing left here. I wish I could compare now to before, but...we were all busy and my rider can't identify it any more than you can see the insides of your eyes."

Sorien softly churrs, "Well, there is that smell of fire, or smoke. We can check that out. The Aassahke had to go somewhere."

"I do not know Native American cultures, but I'm not sure their burial practices. We incinerate bodies in my culture after cleansing rituals. I wouldn't dare presume my own beliefs on the others though. That's why I'm trying to find what direction they went so I can deliver the body." REDACTED responds to Snowblind and her tails are flicking in agitation.

Sorien circles the area, basically snooping for anything unusual... Or at least MORE unusual.

Snowblind softly purrs, "It depended on the exact tribe but some did burials by fire as well to help release the spirit back into the sky. I understand, though, if you do not want to do something till we know for sure."

Sparhawk scratches at an ear in a mundane gesture. "We need to get my junk out of the pool. I was a phoenix briefly, but not entirely on fire; I suppose that if Loki makes a nanite field I could shift into a dragon and be harder to boil that way. Hey...that reminds me. Does the portable point zero generate a tiny Fairhaven, or just a lot of nanites to make the local swarm stronger?"

Sorien stumbles upon wood shavings and an edged stone, and an imprint on the stone. She's found the area where the ritual bowl was carved it looks like.

Sorien checks the area, looking for where the carver came from- she knows where the bowl ended up, after all.

Snowblind walks back towards the group letting REDACTED think on hir own for now. Before shi left shi gives the kitsune mix a light pat on the shoulder to let her know everything will be ok. "I have dedicated myself to the lady of the cycle but even that will not protect me from the heat. In all honesty I think our best bet is the robot if it can survive the water itself."

Loki sighs, glancing at the cylinder. He was already about to hit a few buttons before Sparhawk said anything. He glances over to Spar "Well.. just a signal... think of a tiny Fairhaven or Woodfield.... It should allow one to shift their own nanites outside a bubble.. although.. I guess I could disperse some extra ones, saturating the air if need be." he says, patting the machine. "Although, I am entirely unsure how it will react.. Don’t have the specific details.. Not sure how the fields themselves work.. as far as I know.. the nanites are a blank slate, told what to do by something else." he babbles, flipping the switch. "FOR DISCOVERY AND PROGRESS!"

Every single person standing suddenly has their hair stand up on end (if they have any) and their teeth itch. The machine pops and pulses, creating a strange humming sound and the field it's creating can be felt, as if it's causing the insides of one's flesh to itch and crawl.

Sparhawk raises an eyebrow to Snow. "A dragon and a phoenix alike? Fascinating... and also disappointing that the lady who melted me into hot goo two days after I got melted into nanite goo doesn't help me get back here." Then Loki starts shouting and Spar stares. "Entirely too late to shout stop now, I expect..."

Sorien softly churrs, "Yee! (Sori backs away from the effect!)"

Apostasy starts and jumps to her feet as she feels the effect of Loki's contraption. "So much for not testing it on other people, you stupid bastard!"

Snowblind flinches when Loki flips the switch not sure what to expect but thinking the worst. "Yes well I can help as she did grace me with a few of her abilities. Let me just take off my gear and hope that the machine does nothing funny while up here." Snow quietly starts to take off hir saddlebags and back pack but leaves hir jacket on till right before diving in.

REDACTED looks ill, "Why is that thing affecting ME?" She asks, and then almost in answer, small flashes and pops of light begin to appear on the surface of her fur.

Sparhawk makes a generalized 'nrgh' noise and itches at a foreleg with another foreleg. "That is distinctly uncomfortable! Please explain what you believe you did!" Loki is now the distraction from Snowblind, so Spar gets an absent armload of Snowgear.

Sorien is scrambling back from the effect, not having seen what just happened.

Loki blinks, staring at the thing. "Must’ve done something wrong.." he mumbles, glancing to the others. "Well.. thought I would put out a low signal.." he mumbles, carefully flipping a few switches, trying to dampen the battery output... "Basically.. I tried to duplicate the signal..." he grumbles, going to his robot, and ordering the machine to scan the waves, and compare them to the records on Fairhaven and Woodfield.

Snowblind figures that everyone is distracted by the device and the tingling shi feels that the best place to be is in the water. Taking a jump in shi tries hir best to 'walk' down the side once in the water seeing as how shi never really learned to swim in this form.

The body REDACTED is holding begins to react strangely, glowing weirdly with REDACTED' light show and typical nanite reaction is on full display. The rigor on it twists as muscles are contracting, and the body swings, REDACTED losing grip of it. It falls to the ground at her feet, the dead body twitching in the nanite field.

Cilan groans in discomfort as she feels the effects, obviously hating it entirely, "Ugh.. what.. what the hell did you do, Loki!" is groaned, her voice showing clear signs of anger to it.

"Whoah, what the hell is going on?" Apostasy exclaims, as she moves over to REDACTED and the twitching coyote body.

Loki frowns, staring at the device. He glances over to the others "Sorry.. hopefully I can." he mumbles, pressing the button that shuts the device off, and hoping for results.

Sorien, having felt the effect ripple past her heads back to the group. "What the hell was that?"

Apostasy points to Loki. "Numbnuts over there decided we'd all make good guinea pigs for his little toy."

Snowblind feels the heat increase and the cramped space grows as she gets deeper, fully emerged she has to push her way past a large boulder and contort her torso around it. Opening her eyes under the hot sulphurous water would be a bad idea, so she feels around until he hand comes into contact with a small cylindrical object.

Sorien shakes her head. "Well, it’s done. No point being pissed about it.”

The machine begins to turn off, the hum slowing down, and then a spark happens and the circuit board on the controls blow, and the machine's hum returns even louder, at this point skin is not only itching but literally feeling like it's going to tear off.

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah, crap!"

Loki jumps back from the device. "Not good! Not good!.. Although good things did come from this!... There is more to the signal than a mere wavelength replication... I shall have this yet!" he shouts, taking a few steps back. "You know.. perhaps running may be a good idea."

Smoke from the blown fuses puffs up into the air. The coyote body below REDACTED returns to twitching weirdly. REDACTED is overwhelmed by a blinding light show, and backs away from everyone to duck behind a tree, closing her eyes and huddling under the assault.

Snowblind picks up the object, and feels around with hir other hand and forepaws to see if anything else got dropped. Shi really did not think this through as Snow should have asked what shi was looking for. Once satisfied that shi found everything shi can and the heat starting to really get to hir, Snow heads back to the surface, making sure to not open hir eyes till shi is sure that most of the sulphurous water is gone from hir head.

Cilan calls out in slight pain, letting out, "Ungh.. f-fuck this!" and with that, she points one of her handguns towards the machine, and pulls the trigger, emptying all 15 rounds into it, and attempting to silence it permanently.

Sparhawk is in the middle of saying, "Better not be any zomb--" when the thing noisily breaks and sends Spar to hir many knees with all available limbs clinging to hirself to keep hir body from flying apart, like it feels it wants to.

Sorien looks around for who seems to be in the worst shape from the effect, and goes to help.

The bullets spray wildly, one hits the control panel that was already busted and sparks sound but nothing happens, a few more ping off harmlessly, and one strikes the base of the machine. The hum increases and is accompanied by a larger noise.

With the firing, Sori instead looks for whomever is closest and gets them down out of the line of the coming, inevitable explosion!

Apostasy recognises the ominous hum, and yells "Everyone find some cover NOW! This thing is going to blow!" She grabs the device and wrenches it out of the ground, hurling it as hard as she can away from everyone before diving for some sort of cover.

With nobody near, Sori dives for whatever cover she can see!

Cilan promptly dives away, "Shiiiiii--!" is called out as she runs away from the exploding machine.

Apostasy is able to lift and tears the device apart, halting the primary hum, but the increasing sound of the overloading power core is even more obvious, She throws the power core through the air in an arc, it goes for quite a distance before hitting a tree. Landing with a thud the device's sound begins deafeningly loud.

Sorien shouts, "Eat dirt and cover your heads!"

REDACTED curls up behind a tree, not noticing the flashing having stopped, she covers her ears with her hands.

Sparhawk makes incoherent bird noises as the composite being leaps for the pool, only spreading hir wings and making a second jump over the pool when a paw touches and reminds hir it's not home but rather a cookpot. On the far side shi flops onto the dirt and rolls around--the noise of nanites being especially loud to the sensory adept.

Sorien commences to get behind a tree, or rocks, whatever works, and covers her head.

When the sound appears to go critical, everyone waits for the impending explosion, and... suddenly the sound stops.

Snowblind comes up out of the water to hear the sound of chaos from up above. Having just broken the water shi keeps hir eyes closed. "Hello? What is going on? Anyone?"

Loki sighs in relief, having been rather surprised by all the gunfire, and a large dragon wrenching his machine out of the ground.. and general panic. He sighs, looking over to the power core. "You know.. all that was rather uncalled for..." he sighs, slumping over, still standing in the middle of the field.

Sorien waits for the kaboom... And when nothing happens she peeks out from her place of concealment.

Apostasy looks up from where she lies behind some rocks. "Huh. No kaboom. I must’ve ripped out something important."

Sorien softly churrs, "... Okay... Are we not gonna die here?"

Sparhawk stops in mid-flail, curled up like an itchy snake with limbs pointing every which way. The sudden silence, both audible and otherwise, brings hir up ears-first. "I'm gonna say this once, politely... what the crap?" The gryphon has shaky knees and is staring at the scattered wreckage.

Apostasy grins at Sparhawk. "The power core was going critical. I took steps."

Snowblind continues to climb up out of the pool, the wet kitty not exactly happy right now and still not able to see or smell anything. "Stop joking around here and tell me what is going on someone! I found this," Shi holds up the cylinder above hir head. "And I would like to know what to do with is as well as dry the fuck off." Snow is quite peeved to be cussing right now.

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah... Right. Okay. Geez. Now what?"

Cilan stands up from her pile on the ground, and looks around curiously, "Huh? It didn’t explode?.. huh.." looking around to the others around she continues to say, "Uh.. sorry about that, everyone!"

Apostasy walks over to Cil and pokes her in the ribs. "So, what have we learned today sis?" she asks with a giggle.

Sorien softly churrs, "We got no towels save back in the bus, sweetie. Just step away and shake. I can loan you some brushes after."

Sparhawk blandly says, "That was without a doubt the second-worst thing that has happened to me all year." Shi goes over slowly to hir bags and talks on automatic while rummaging, "Don't be silly, I always know where my towel is. Trade you for a priceless nano-artifact, Snow?"

Cilan regally proclaims, "Uh.. no shooting at a device that causes pain, and rapid mutations, sis?"

Apostasy giggles. "No shooting at devices when you don't know where to shoot to make it stop working."

Sorien softly churrs, "Are we done being silly?"

Loki sighs, slumping over. "Well.. Apostasy.. you didn’t have to destroy the ENTIRE thing..." he groans, looking at the pieces of his latest project. "Well.. one thing is certain.. The signal from Point Zero.. isn’t the only factor In the whole thing... something else.. must be part of it..." he repeats, going over to his robot, its torso popping open. He takes a device from his 'robe' and plugs in into the machine. "Apparently.. the nanites were.. fleeing from the signal.. and.. going towards.." he trials off, looking in REDACTED's direction. "Reacting with REDACTED.. somehow.."

Sorien softly churrs, "Huh? But she's kinda ANTI-nanites..."

Loki coughs and continues. "Some nanites may have also.. been stripped from our bodies... The signals.. confused them perhaps?" he muses.

With the noise stopping REDACTED carefully crawls back from around the tree. She looks frazzled, her fur a mess and her hackles still raised. The coyote body thankfully has stopped moving since the signal stopped. REDACTED moves over to pick up the corpse, removing dust and leaves. The rigor has gone away after that reaction though so the limp body is far easier for her to carry.

Sorien goes over to REDACTED. "Are you okay?"

Snowblind holds out both hands. One for the towel and the other to offer Sparhawk's voice the device. "Ok we had an almost exploding what?" Shi wipes hir face clean with the towel and pads away from the group to shake the rest off.

REDACTED frowns, and hefts the body, "I still feel... not right at all. But, I'll be okay love as long as you're okay."

Apostasy looks at Loki. "Explain. What do you mean, some of the nanites may have been stripped from our bodies?" She's distracted by the very frazzled looking REDACTED reappearing, and lets out a relieved giggle. "Oh good, you look unharmed. Looks like Sor's got her work cut out with her brushes though!"

Loki busies himself scanning through his data, his brow furrowed in concentration. Although worried about the others, he tries to remain stoic. He jams a device into his arm, taking a sample of his own nanites, and feeding the sample through the machine for further results.

Sparhawk trades over a towel and fur-fluffing services while muttering Ferox's name and filing the cylinder away. Afterward shi blinks. "Wait, you said the nanites were going toward REDACTED on purpose? She makes the nanites explode. I hadn't ascribed suicidal impulses to them before."

Sorien softly churrs, "So what just happened exactly? I definitely missed something. "

Loki looses a relieved sigh. "Well.. I think our nanites are fine.. and we lost a negligible amount." he breathes, glancing around to the others. "Well.. that was interesting.. glad to see you’re all ok!" he says, smiling and giving a thumbs up.

Snowblind looks put out still as the fur all over sticks out making Snow look like the drowned cat shi was for a bit. "Sorien I have no clue. I go down, I come up, and once I get up everyone is screaming and chaos is all abound with one weird looking machine..." Shi pauses once shi notices that REDACTED is carrying a much limper body. "What in the world..."

Apostasy's finger's twitch and her tail lashes about as she glares at Loki. "If you EVER do something like that again, I will tear you limb from limb."

Sorien softly churrs, "(sigh) Killing him won't help, sweetie. Just... Is any of that mess dangerous, Loki?"

Sparhawk stares at REDACTED and through her, pacing around in a large circle. "Point Zero Generator was turned on, went crazy, and exploded." Shi also tries to make comforting noises inside hir head for the pack-mind, but there are so many distractions all at once. Which is insufficient judging from the "No! Wait! Where are you going?" that comes out of hir beak.

REDACTED responds to Snow's question, "I'm... not really sure. That machine clearly did -something- to the body though. It's still dead though as far as I can tell, but with this world nowadays that statement isn't as obvious as it should be."

Sorien softly churrs, "Set the body down, sweetie. She's either going nowhere or is about to reanimate- and if that happens I'd prefer she didn't eat your brains. "

REDACTED watches the Sparhawk carefully as shi's talking to herself, and then remembering the angry reaction from earlier she shouts, "Don't you DARE take Sparhawk." in Spar's departing direction.

Loki glances towards the mess. "Well.. it’s liable to have some form of radioactivity.. I wouldn’t approach it." he murmers, wincing in response to Apostasy "Sorry.. about that... and I am against that sentiment.." he mumbles. He then turns curiously to Sparhawk. "Something wrong Spar?" he mumbles, approaching the gryphon.

Apostasy closes her eyes and forces herself into something closer resembling calmness before opening them again. "Ok. Homicidal urges suppressed. Back to business."

Snowblind notices that shi is close to naked right now, not that shi wears much clothing but goes to quickly gather up hir jacket and other gear. Talking while putting hir jacket back on over hir still moist fur, "Ok, many problems let’s take them one at a time. The dead can stay dead for now but Sparhawk needs help, or a translator."

Snowblind softly purrs, "Lastly... I will need a serious brushing down once we get to the bus."

Loki glances around, and sighs. He ambles over to the machines broken pieces, gathering up anything still deemed usable. He sighs, looking down and murmurs, just barely.. "Well.. gotta research some more.. then.. I can build a better one."

Sparhawk is obviously struggling internally. And then Loki wanders up into arm's reach, a claw grabbing on his tail and a hungry raptor's face opening its bitey beak...not long enough for more than a moment's panic before Spar's arm on the opposite side whacks hir in the face and drags the beak to point at the once-twitching corpse. "Fingers!" is the only squawking that makes any sense to the outside world.

Sorien blinks! "Whoa! Spar, hey!" She moves to... Do something. What, she isn't sure yet.

Sorien softly churrs, "Spar... Hey sweetie... You okay?"

Apostasy moves over to Sparhawk. "Whoah! Hey! Spar, what the hell? I thought the newborn wasn't able to control your body?"

Loki casts a worried glance down to Sparhawk, kneeling down. "Something wrong Spar?.. Or Pack? Whom am I talking to here?" he inquires.

A strange black smoke grows from inside somewhere deep in Sparhawk, out his lungs, and through the air, passing -into- the corpse on REDACTED' shoulder, up through its mouth and lungs. It immediately begins to twitch, and REDACTED drops the body on the ground feeling its claws dig into her back.

Sorien softly churrs, "Ah... Shit."

Apostasy dashes over to where she left Silverfang before moving towards the twitching body. "So.... Shadow had come out to play?"

Snowblind does not take the time to put on the rest of hir bags before dragging them over to where Sparhawk is. "Ok better then a translator we need to get them separated again without hurting either. Since it seems the pool is not an option what else do we have." Shi looks around for a second before following the smoke to the body leaving Sparhawk for now and checking it out with all that shi can with hir medical knowhow.

Sorien watches the corpse, perhaps former corpse, ready to act.

The coyote corpse begins to cough and breath, rasping for air, the slit writs knitting as blood returns to the body and the heart pumps once again. It chokes on air as if feeling it for the first time again.

Cilan holds her handguns out to the coyote, ready to fire at the first sign of hostility.

Loki stares at the twitching body, and the cloud of darkness. "Well.. I don’t know much about this I think.. but.. Corpses moving.. and mobile clouds of darkness... Don’t normally seem like good things." he mumbles. He walks over to the Coyote, and extends a hand. "Hello there! Who are you?" he smiles.

Sorien softly churrs, "If its Shadow, those won't help Cil..."

Snowblind notices the readied actions and does the only thing shi can think of to both help out the patient and keep them pinned. Shi lays hir lower body across the coyote. "Ok let’s not kill the newly alive here."

Sorien blinks, looking at both Loki and Snow being, in her eyes, totally nuts. She instead goes over to Spar, hopefully to help hir.

Cilan regally proclaims, "Uh.. alright.." finished, she holsters her guns, and scratches the back of her head, seeming almost embarrassed, and apologetic about her actions, "Uh.. sorry again.."

The body finally gets air long enough to try to speak. It finally starts to talk, "Now you finally give me one, and it's dead? Dead flesh is all I get?"

Apostasy quirks an eyeridge, and lowers her blade somewhat. "Not Shadow, then."

REDACTED has backed away at this point, the imagery of shadow and possession creeping her the hell out. She's not even sure how to react, but her hands are on her hilts defensively.

Sorien softly churrs, "I'm... Not sure. Spar... Are you with us, sweetie?"

Cilan regally proclaims, "Uh.. who.. who are you? And.. well, right now, that’s all that we have, and really, it wasn’t our idea for you to transfer to that corpse.."

Sparhawk hirself is falling to hir knees again with coughing interspersed by the chanting of 'remember blood' as the body is rebuilt. Spar's voice is hoarse in hir reply, "No! You wanted to take a life from another, and--" there is more coughing, "--you want things without patience! I can fix things, but not instantly."

Loki smiles, but then frowns. "Sorry.. I don’t think that was intended.. but.. dead flesh?.. It could easily be converted back to life.. just a matter of chemistry and a little time." he says, still holding his hand out. "We.. all had our problems... I am willing to help you with yours... We were transformed into this flesh against our will.. not quite our own... My name's Loki, and I will do my best to help you.. Who are you anyways?" he asks, putting on another small smile.

Sorien softly churrs, "Can I help, Spar? (Sori for now ignores the milieu with the animate-corpse in favour of her friend.)"

Snowblind still mostly on the body. "The cycle can continue, yet right now I am about the only thing between you and this body being dead again. So first... You would have harmed one of my friends if not for Sparhawk's intervention. Second, yes, who are you? Or at least what do we call you? And third, do not do anything rash or even I will not save you."

"Not... fast enough, and your pack attacked me first. We're done with waiting, we shall take more." The body begins to shift, shifting into a more comfortable and familiar form for the pack, as it twists into a non anthro coyote, and then tries to bolt off.

Snowblind moves as the coyote starts to shift around trying to catch it in the eyes. "STOP AND BE STILL" Shi says as shi gives it a glimpse of its future death if it continues to struggle.

Sparhawk grabs Sorien's hand in a slightly worrying echo of the previous gesture, but all shi does is use her support to stand. "We are--hey!" When the little doggy thing starts to squirm out from underneath Snowblind shi shouts, "Please! I love you, child of mine!" There is more desperation in hir voice than any here have heard before.

Sorien helps Spar up, being a LOT stronger than her tiny form looks.

The coyote growls at Snowblind and snaps at her direction, "Let me by or we will take you too." It says.

Cilan regally proclaims, "Heh.. yes, well, the last time the coyotes had attempted to 'take' us, it took an army of the the creatures, and even then, only three of us were wounded.. I’m not sure how much of a threat you, and whatever coyote's in the vicinity will have against us.."

Apostasy places the tip of her sword at the coyote's throat. "You are not in a position to be threatening anyone."

Sorien softly churrs, "Spar... Are you alone in there now? Are you SURE you're alone?"

Snowblind bars hir teeth, hir sabre fangs dripping a clear liquid from the tips. "Try and you will be no more, struggle and we will stop you. We are trying to help you bloody stupid creature and you think to run? You think you can get away? At least say your thanks to my friend!" Shi makes no move to free up the creatures body from hir weight nor to stop Apostasy from placing her sword at its throat. "Last chance little one. Stay and talk nice or will bad things happen?"

Sparhawk draws hirself up as tall as possible and says after Apostasy's statement, "But I am. The first person to attack her gets to walk home. Now, I want everyone to calm down, because this would then become the most unpleasant thing that has happened all year."

Loki scowls at Cilan and Apostasy, gently trying to move the blade away from the Coyote's throat. "Violence and brute force are not the way.." he says, giving them both a stern glance, and then glaring at Snowblind. "Stop... All of you.. even you little Coyote." he growls. "Violence.. only spirals in on itself.. leading to pain and anger for all... It feeds on its own fires.. It is best to not have them start."

The coyote is surrounded by threats, but the cry of its parent and saviour causes it to whimper, "But... but we want to be free, and there's more flesh out there to take that doesn't involve taking your pack from you." It says to Spar.

Sorien softly churrs, "Gods. Does everything we do have to be a clusterfuck... Everyone STOP."

Sparhawk starts walking slowly toward Snowblind, most every muscle sore. "I know, child of mine. I know. Some of it would devour you before I or anyone else could stop it." Shi gestures at Loki. "And do you really want your first action as a free person to make that idiot look wiser than you?" Some of hir diplomacy has worn off in the past ten minutes.

As if a scolded child, its tail hangs between its legs, "But..." Is all is can respond, and it hangs its head in shame.

Apostasy removes her blade from the coyote's throat and steps back, the situation now well in hand.

Snowblind wipes the liquid from hir teeth. "Only a muscle toxin, would not hurt just paralyze for a bit." Shi meekly says, looking sadly at Sparhawk and Loki. As the coyote calms down shi takes a deep breath. "Is living what you want most?"

The coyote says simply, "Yes, life. Taken from us. I want to live."

Sorien pats Spar's back, and looks at the coyote. "Do you understand what happened before?"

Loki stares at Snowblind, and then back to the coyote. "I would assume it wants life.. as everything does.. It has a partial life.. but life.. is hard to define when you deconstruct it..." he sighs. He nods and pats the coyote "Everybody makes mistakes... it is part of life..." he sighs, observing the others.

Sorien softly churrs, "I mean, do you recall what happened before when the Pack took people without their wanting it?"

Sparhawk is, unless Snowblind gets out of the way, likely to crawl bodily underneath the smaller taur and hug the dickens out of the small coyote. Somewhat muffledly shi says, "Look at you, fixing this dead thing into a thing that lives, then shaping it to your needs. I am proud you learned that lesson well. You are welcome to life, but it must be guarded carefully from those who would take it away. Loki was right in his words."

Snowblind gets up as Sparhawk comes closer getting out of the larger taur’s way. Shi pads off away from the group for now with hir own head hug a bit low. Yet before shi leaves shi parts with this, "Then live your life to the fullest and be glad for the second chance. Not many get a third."

"We don't want more pain, more memories inside us. This body was sad, she died rather than be a part. We... I just want life." The coyote says as Spar hugs it.

Sorien softly churrs, "Wanting life is good. Taking life from others FOR that life... Is evil."

REDACTED has calmed herself finally, realizing that Spar's child has simply left hir into an already dead body. Much better situation in general to have hir freed.

Loki smiles, and looks down at the coyote "One’s life is shaped not by one’s self.. but more importantly by others whom you share life with... The impressions you make upon them, and the impressions they make upon you... Life.. is something not to be taken or thrown away lightly.. it is precious... for most only receive one chance."

Sparhawk sits up and carries the coyote in hir arms, stroking down the body's back. "No, you don't 'just' want life. You want a good life. The best life requires the love of others, and terrifying your friends makes that harder. Now...I know a certain someone who can get your fur all brushed and smooth if you ask. While I..." there are a few more words whispered directly into the coyote's ear, then shi turns to face Sorien.

Sorien headtilts at Spar?

Apostasy giggles. "I think your grooming services are being called upon, Sor."

The coyote looks up, "Can we go see grandfather, and have him explain to us why he chose death for us?" it looks pleading at Sparhawk.

Snowblind folds up hir legs under hirself and starts to put back on hir saddlebags and backpack. Shi takes hir time and only listens in on what is going back on with the coyote. The part about brushing fur makes hir sigh but shi lets it pass and instead gets the final straps cinched up.

Sorien gets out a brush, and goes to the not-so-dead Aassahke. "Would you like to be brushed?"

The coyote rolls over on the ground in front of Sparhawk, belly in the air, tail wagging.

Sparhawk puts a finger to hir beak in the shoosh gesture while looking at Sorien. The barely ten pounds of canine gets lowered to the ground and shi says, "I think you should apologize to our friends for scaring them, and then ask Madame Sorien politely."

The coyote says, "We are sorry we threatened you, but you hurt us and we were angry. I would like it if you brushed us." It then says up to Sorien.

Sorien grins and says "Okay". She starts carefully brushing the creature’s fur out.

Apostasy returns Silverfang to its place on her back. "So. What's the plan now, then?

Snowblind stands up again and pads around the group letting the bags shift over hir matted fur. "I am sorry as well to have hurt you. I was trying to keep you from harm yet let things get out of hand. I hope you can forgive me as well." With that shi heads back over towards the shrine.

Loki stretches out, glancing around. He nods to the coyote. "Everybody makes mistakes." he repeats, sighing as he looks back to the remains of his machine. "But.. you can learn from them.. and fix them.. well, most of 'em." he adds.

Sparhawk grins and tiptoes away, full of trust in Sorien's brushing skills and responsibility. "Hokay so. There is a lil' shrine here, and non-local stuff on it. I nominate that someone is coming and venerating Coyote from somewhere else, and we have evidence of exactly one sapient species in the area. My next lead is Coyote his big-C self."

Click here to continue to Chapter 7.