Trail of Tears: The Beginning

The New Ireland Pub, has been overrun by talk for some time now of a big trip planned. Fragments of information spreading out quickly. There is a goal, and a target, granted by one of the last useful things the creature known as Dirt did. A location for one of the implements of the great evil's binding. The only problem? The lead is somewhere halfway across the country, in Oklahoma. Grantok has been granted with a clear vision of where they are headed, but beyond what they are looking for and where, there's little to go on. Volunteers from all around have come, varied in their reasons. Some just to see how the country fairs, others genuinely wanting to help in this large calling. Multiple vehicles are decided upon for more than just space reasons, allowing for multiple paths to be taken. A few buses, and motorcycles are available.

Sorien wipes her hands, looking around. "I hope people are ready for this; last time any of us were this deep into the central US was me, two years ago. And I wasn't all that observant or strictly sane then."

Rihko has let slip that she intends to find her brother, her last living family member, a 'message in a bottle' from Dirt that let her direct her brother north from Austin Texas. She holds out hope that he will be in Oklahoma City, but something really... odd and terrifying has taken route down in Texas, Rihko never specific in what she saw.

Cygnus sips at a thermos, keeping her wings wrapped around herself lightly while having her Card's jacket draped over that "I was out there about a year ago... but that was a year ago."

"Yeah." Sori says to Cygnus, then brightens at Las' arrival. "Welcome, sweetie, to chaos central!"

"Some of us have never been, doesn't make us any more or less ready for this." Grantok twitches her ears with a slight frown. "It's the ones who haven't been outside a bubble before that I'm worried about. They're in for a bit of a shock."

Sorien nods. "Yeah, the first time it can be a jolt.

Solixis pads over to the group. She's carrying a duffle bag and an external frame backpack.

Selene slips down into the pub, having changed from her usual dress into her leather armour in preparation for the trip. Catching Grantok's comment, she says "I've been out of the bubble... never been further than Oregon though. So... Oklahoma is gonna be an interesting trip."

Heath pads in shortly after Lasair, sniffing around a bit before he heads in fully. Why the sniffing? Just a general thing he does for threat detection.. not really sure why.. but it puts him at ease when he does. Padding slowly towards Cygnus and Company, Heath speaks "Hi."

Balinawolf is laying near the stairs, at attention despite appearances. She's wearing conspicuously more plating than usual, and her backpack, while present, has been mostly emptied and reinforced with a couple of handles. "Wasn't all that different. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

Lasair gives a nod and looks to Sorien, blushing. "I got my jeep outfitted for medical purposes. I may not be great for fighting and so on, but that jeep can go anywhere you can, and I can haul people back here on a hotshot." shi smiles to heath and rubs his ears when shi can.

Sorien softly churrs, "I think I was through there. Truthfully, save for a few massively terrifying moments, I don't recall much of my drive here."

Sorien softly churrs, "I like jeeps. I can fix 'em with rubberbands and spit. (giggle)"

Skylar stretches as she also slips in, smiling towards Lasair and her huge medical supplies while her own usual messenger bag seems filled to it's limits. "Nice, a combat medic, that makes me much less worried about this! And...I haven't been out of the bubble, ever, is it like feeling sick or poisoned...?" She asks looking around to all the other people present.

"It does take some adjusting to, but with the size of our group... Well, I think we can help the newsorts out, yeah?" Eithne lounges against her moof, tail idly flicking around as she studies each member of the group absently. She has her combat plating on the ground beside, and seems to have dragged her drones ('rune'-etched plates and a swarm of figurine-like wasps) out to play for the day - just in case, though she doesn't expect them to be much use.

Sorien softly churrs, "It's hard to describe, Sky. It's almost like an electric shock, followed by an odd sensation of something missing."

Selene this morning found a letter from Cil, who told them not to wait up for her, and that she'd catch up on motorcycle. She has a salvage trip scheduled and a lead that she wanted to look into that would keep her late. She sends her love.

Foxheart makes her way down the stairs, carrying a small cloth bundle secured with string. She's in a special, blood red battle-dress for the occasion, the split ends flaring behind her and matching the movement of her tails. She settles on a stool and unsheathes her short sword for tender care and sharpening. "Well, I've trained as much as I could for this day. To get used to the bubble-less environment." She sighs, the sound of a grindstone on steel resounding.

Lasair chuckles softly, before shi kisses Skylar. "Well, with so many people, it'll be a crap shoot. But theres a high powered CB in the jeep, so if someone needs something, I can go over and help them out."

Haley is standing next to Cyg, listening and watching intently.

Taggart mumbles gently as he makes his way out of the back hallway, "Yer less than ya once were." The man is wearing his light kevlar vest and tactical SWAT gear, his AUG slung loosely across his back and a heavy duffle in his hand. The duffle has got his name in white spraypaint on it, obviously a warning for everyone else to keep out. It's also locked.

Skylar nods. "Ah, that doesn't sound too bad really...I guess the real problem is not having the nanites to heal and prevent other bad stuff." She giggles as Las kisses her. "It's better than nothing Las. And...what's a CB?" She asks before looking towards Foxheart and Taggart, giving them a friendly wave.

Sorien softly churrs, "I do have a selection of light arms on each bus, for emergencies; I figure people have their own toys, but in a pinch shotguns are always useful."

Selene giggles at Sky. "CB radio, Sky."

Cygnus smiles and moves over to give Solixis a hug "Got all your stuff hun?" She says, offering the nekomata a drink from her thermose of coffee.

Lasair smiles, "Just a big huge radio. Gets maybe 20-25 miles in signal range with everything working right. I don't /really/ have much room for passengers besides in the medical bay part... but even then, it might be big enough for an attendant and a hurt person, two at most."

Heath, with everyone having all the gear on, seems a bit out of place. He has completely nothing on the tactical.. No weapons.. No armor. He doesn't have a real use for them. Padding to the Moof, he looks at her Eithne, cocking his head slightly before laying down. "Excited?" his new badge is hanging from his neck on a lanyard easily in view.

Skylar nods at Sorien. "I remember people telling me that shotguns are easy to use and good for home defense...hope they were right." She looks at Selene and Lasair, guessing. "Closed Broadcast? And, we have plenty of space on the other vehicles so...I hope we won't have to use the medical car for too many people."

Sparhawk blinks as the continued-skunk wanders in after the rest of hir separated family. "Sori, shotguns aren't that useful inside an EMP device, unless you really were making up that use of the word." Shi files up next to Skylar and Lasair and assumes couch position.

Solixis hugs Cygnus back, smiling as she shifts her polearm to give the bunny a better hug. "got my armor on, several changes of lower layers, and anything i might need."

Sorien blinks at Spar. "Huh?"

Foxheart waves back to Skylar and smiles, loosening her bundle to take out a smaller piece of stone to continue working on her sword. "Mmhmm. Right. I'll ride in anything, really. I'm more worried about how to pass the time during the trip. Most idle activities aren't really good preparation." She sheathes her sword once she's done and sighs, listening to the rest of the pub, half-dazed.

Sorien softly churrs, "... Oh! (giggle) Not that kind of pinch, silly."

Lasair assumes couch snuggling position, and smiles to Sparhawk. "Hey there. Got lots of medical stuff, and some experimental medical stuff with me, but nothing for surgeries. So anyone who's gonna get themselves near death will be put into a medical stasis with some of the experimental stuff. Otherwise, I can set bones and bandage and all that."

Balina nods to Heath, jerking her head to empty space beside herself. "Shouldn't be excited yet, really. Got a few days to just chill. I am looking forward to spending a week or so shaped like this, though." Her grin is mostly hidden as she sets her head back down on the floor. Mostly. It's awful wide.

"Neat," says Spar to Lasmedic. "Always good to have more preparedness for things going unexpectedly. Not least for finding people who need help along the way."

Haley wanders over to Sol and Cyg "Who needs armor when you got scales?

Sorien softly churrs, "Has anyone here NOT been in a fight?"

Lasair raises a hand shyly.

Eithne giggles, and nuzzles at Balina. "I'm sure you are, love. Though why you just don't lounge around the room in that form more often is anyone's guess."

Cygnus nods softly and smiles, snugging into the cat as her ears swivel around at the talk "I've got a nice amount of firepower. Raided my locker at the citadel. If you need anything hun, don't hesitate to ask." She says, perking at Haley and giggling "You has a point! But we're squishy meat bags and need more protection." She says, giving the dragoness a small flick on the shoulder and a hug.

Skylar quickly gets a spot onto Spar, scritching hir back lovingly before her sights set onto Las again. "Huh, guess we still can have access to high technology stuff even outside of the bubble-" She looks surprised as Las raises her hand. "Whaaaat..? Really? Even I have been in a good amount of scuffles..."

Sorien nods. "You need to have someone who can fight with you then, Las. Out there is serious shitfan territory. Is your jeep an old military one? Can it mount a gun?"

Heath sits down at the offered space beside Balina, taking a chill-pill at the moment. "Alright, Heath understand that." His tail slowly swishing, he looks up to Eithne, giving a soft lick to them and to Balina; nothing really suggestive about it, just more of a 'hey.'

Lasair looks to Skylar, "When you say scuffles... uhmmm..." shi says softly, "I was more of a hands and hips sort of fighter..."

Skylar stands still for a second before finally nodding rapidly. "I see." She says slightly embarrassed.

Haley hugs tight "Good thing you got your firepower," she sighs looking sadly at her old, slightly rusted pistol. "I may have scales for armor, but this is all I got weapon-wise..."

Lasair shakes hir head. "The medical bay is mounted back there. It was a willie that I managed to get put together, from museum parts." Shi's blushing, before shi says "I suppose I could mount a deck chair on top of that... but it's already top heavy enough..."

Sorien softly churrs, "Don't worry about it. Does it still have tow-mounts? Could it be towed behind one of the other vehicles in other ?"

Foxheart stares at Lasair, blinking twice. "Lasair...seriously?" She shakes her head to that, trying to imagine someone who hadn't fought before and obviously failing miserably. "Wow, I just can't." She leaves it hanging, trying not to say anything too edged. "Wow." She resigns, keeping quiet to listen to the conversation again. "Be right back!" The kitsune announces scuffling up the stairs and leaving her bundle on the bar table.

Lasair tilts hir head. "That'd sorta defeat the purpose? To be able to get anywhere that it was needed."

Solixis smiles as she gives Haley a wave.

Taggart turns about to pour himself a beer as he waits, his eyebrow twitching slightly at how cramped the pub was at the moment. The Irishman tries to calm himself with a drink, taking a few gulps of the dark stout before he sighs and leans against the bar, waiting.

"If Spar and Sky are with her, she should be just fine." Grantok eyes Sparhawk for a moment, first time getting a good look at the skunktaur since the incident at the tower. She shakes her head to clear them of stray thoughts and turns back to the preparations at hand.

Sorien softly churrs, "I kinda wanna keep you safe, Las. An unarmed jeep is risky. But I'll not stop you."

Haley hugs Solixis. "Don't be such a stranger as to just wave."

Lasair just blushes at Foxheart's comments, hiding hirself against Spar.

Sparhawk gives Grantok a little eye in return, but must attend to occupants. "The passenger seat is occupied, too? Guess I haven't seen this alleged jeep before--but I am unlikely to fit in unmodified vehicles either way."

Time is nearing; preparations must begin. Major supplies are already on some of the vehicles, but loading and driving, coordinating must be done. (Please, get me an organized list of vehicles before the event is over. Pick someone who will be in charge of this aspect, one singular person, rather than a mess). [REDACTED] herself hasn't been present, but is just entering the lot, having had a long talk with her daughter, who finally seems to look calm, less petulance on her features than earlier, though still quite some worry.

"Since I doubt she'll be solo at any point, the lack of combat experience probably won't be enormously risky" Selene points out, not lifting her gaze from the quiver of bolts she has in her lap, checking all the explosive heads are properly secured.

Cygnus holds out her paw to Haley, gesturing towards the pistol "What caliber? Standard nine mil?"

Haley hands Cyg the pistol.

Rihko wanders out of the back hallway, sipping on a mug of coffee. She frowns as well, looking over the room, then wanders up to her mate; she gives Taggart a quick hug and a little kiss, murring and murmuring a greeting.

Lasair looks to Spar. "Don't you remember the trips to the beach? The time you came out of the jerry can? That jeep." before shi says "And the best offense is to dodge things and floor it."

Solixis sighs. "I'm a little tired, was up most of last night." She smiles at the dragoness.

"Or I could be forgetful, that happens too," murmurs Sparhawk. Shi leans on a table and does some listening to the aggregating crowd.

Skylar laughs at Lasair hiding herself. "Well, I'm not much of a front line fighter so even if I was with Las I'd need someone more...tanky." She says before turning to Spar. "By the way, I guided Robin to the tower so that shi can support the other kids in whatever they need while we're away, is that alright?"

Darkwyrm walks downstairs nonchalantly, scratching at his teeth with a toothpick.

"Need at least one hand most of the time," Balina observes to her passenger. "Comfortable as it may be, I can't work a computer or provide affections as a log on the floor." More entrants are nodded at, though one must forgive the icewolf for staying to the side.

Haley nuzzles Sol "I know the feeling... My nightmares are getting more and more frequent... I'm surprised Cyg doesn't look as tired, I must wake her up with my screams..."

Lasair looks for a few moments, then just nuzzles against Spar as shi remains well hidden.

Sorien softly churrs, "So... Is this everyone, or are we missing people? [REDACTED] is coming too, but she's getting a few things squared away right now."

Heath leans against Balina a bit, enjoying the companionship.. He watches everyone in the place, Just lettting them do as they desired.. running around doing things that they think need to get done.. "Oh.." he raises his paw to his badge. "Heath got hired for work."

Haley calls out to Las "Don't worry I'm new to fighting as well, though I /do/ have my scales for armor"

Taggart smiles gently at the greeting from his mate, nuzzling into her for a moment.

"Cil isn't here. She left me a note, she has other commitments to take care of. She'll catch up to us on her bike." Selene says to Sori.

Darkwyrm stops short at the bottom of the stairs and looks around. "Ho'shit is it crowded in here, someone havin' a party?", he asks, cocking his head.

Eithne is licked by a non-Bal fenrir! Oh noes! She lazily bats at Heathwith her bi-tipped tail, giving him a grin, and then shrugs a little at her love's comments. "Snuggling up with me while I work is a perfectly acceptable show of affection. And you know we could set that thing to accept speech-to-text input if we tried."

"Speaking of which... I'm gonna ride my motorbike, rather than go in one of the buses. Hate being cooped up in those things for any real amount of time. I'll play scout, ride out ahead of the buses, I guess." Selene adds.

Foxheart is close to rolling down the stairs when she returns, the kitsune lugging a large, metal case behind her and dropping it on the ground with a loud thud, resuming her seat at the bar. She notices Rihko is here and waves, trying to catch her breath.

Sparhawk thumbsup Skylar. "Live-in babysitters are the best kind, although mostly we need to worry about them doing things instead of being helpless. Glad you arranged for that."

Cygnus pads over to Sorien, unwrapping her wings and folding them at her sides. "I'll volunteer for driving one of the hummers if we can afford to take it. I'm skilled on a gun as well."

Sorien softly churrs, "We can cart the bike on the back of the Greyhound when it's not being used, Selene. Otherwise, your ass is gonna be one big scab!"

Sorien softly churrs, "That'd be cool, Cyg, but you can't shoot and fight- they're standard military driver-and-gunner layouts, no servos."

Rihko drains her coffee. She sighs, and rolls her head from side to side, stretching a little before she marshalls herself and carefully blanks out any expression. She bangs the cup a couple of times on the bar, then climbs up to stand on the stool and looks over the crowd. "Right. Eithne?"

Darkwyrm's ears remain perked up as he listens to some of the conversations floating around. "Shit, is the departure today?", he asks.

Sorien goes quiet as Rihko moves for attention.

The target destination pointed out on the map is Talhequah Oklahoma, near the Ozarks on the border with Arkansas. However, Rihko gave a location in Okhlahoma City for her brother to meet up with her. There will therefore be a period of time regrouping spent on route 66 right in OKC, while Rihko picks up her brother. Slower vehicles will have time to catch up so all don't have to move at a crawl or as a group. Due to the risks and unknowns however, there will be an attempt to stay grouped.

Heath looks to Rihko, slowly cocking his head a bit; she seems to have something to say. His tail swishes a bit behind him.

Selene puts her bolts away, strapping the quiver to her hip again, before turning her attention to Rihko.

Cygnus snirks and smiles "I know. I'm just sayin." She says, turning back to Haley and inspecting the pistol, checking the breech and such "It looks like you've taken pretty good care of it. I've got ammo for it as well if you need it." She says, handing the weapon back.

Eithne glances over at Rihko, cocking her head to the side. "Yes, Rihko?"

Rihko points a finger at Eithne, and then looks around the room. "If something should happen where we get split up on the way there, I am assuming that Taggart would be with me. Eithne is the next one in the line of succession." She looks at Eithne. "You and Balina *need* to find that dagger, regardless of what other distractions come up." She then gives Balina a little smile. "I'd put you in charge, Bal, but I know how distracted you can get when you're hunting something. So. Eithne, anyone else you think you have to have?"

Skylar scritchescritchescritches Sparhawk. "Robin is good at that, I made sure I educated hir putting a lot of 'Sex isn't something trivial!' in her head since...shi's Net's kid and all that. Anyway...I...kinda want to stick with you and Las in the trip...I wonder if that's what will be the best for the group tough...? I mean on space and skills distribution..."

Heath turns his head to balina as if to say 'what dagger' his words were not required for the question asked, much rather.. just a simple look from the wolf that balina might be able to pick up on.

Eithne shrugs at Rihko, after giving it a moment's thought. "No, there isn't anything I think I /need/ to have. Grantok may be useful, as the other person with the Dagger-location-vision from Dirt... But otherwise people who can /move/ are all we need. We've got a lot of ground to cover, and no clues from an aeriel view. So we can only hope it's more apparent from the ground."

Lasair nuzzles Skylar for a few moments. "The only room I have would be for the medic in the back, and it'd be cramped. Might be able to move stuff for a passenger seat... but..."

Balina snorts lightly, and shuffles her shoulders a little, turning and muttering something towards the other wolf.

Sorien softly churrs, "I can pretty much do any terrain there is- air, land or water, I can move in it."

"May be useful? Geez. Big vote of confidence there." Grantok sticks her tongue out at Eithne. "It'll be found. No worries there."

Heath slowly nods his head at what Balina said. He leans and murmurs back to her.

Skylar's scritches goes from Spar's back to Las' head. "Hrmm...sounds complicated..." She says before falling silent again.

Rihko frowns. Then she shakes her head and sighs. "Fuck. Let's just." She hops down, grabs her things from behind the bar, and then steps down the back hallway to fetch her larger equipment; then she crosses through the Den and up to the lot.

Sorien softly churrs, "Okay. Rihko? Lets mount 'em up then, and roll! Make sure you got any gear you need, get aboard the buses and we roll."

Foxheart watches and listens to Rihko with a frown, heaving the heavy case onto her arms and slinging her cloth bag with her tail. "Stupid...Alpha Strike..." She grumbles, following closely behind Rihko on the stairs.

Taggart gives one last shrill whistle, trying to catch everyone's attention before they all bolt out the doors.

Eithne sticks her tongue back out at the other cat, and then whistles her drones up. The shield drones, hulking plates that they are, buzz a little as they lift off the ground through nanitic force, the swarm of minidrones perching on their backs. "Onward, to ADVENTURE!"

Sorien heads up and out to the Greyhound, which is soon heard to start. It's horn sounds twice as well.

Cygnus give Solixis a quick kiss and moves to grab her gear, slipping her internal frame pack up onto her shoulders as well as a couple of duffle bags, moving to head up the stairs.

Lasair blushes, "Well, I guess I got room for someone. It'll be cramped in my jeep though, so you'll be rather close to me..." as shi starts to move.

Haley follows right behind Cyg after giving Sol a quick hug.

Selene heads up top and fetches her bike, moving up in front of the buses before idling waiting for them to load up.

Solixis turns to Taggart, paying attention to to the Irishman.

Taggart growls gently, waving them off, those few who heard him. "I'll jus' say sumthin' over tha damned comm."

Skylar shakes her head. "The travel will be long and...we gotta stay confortable so that it isn't taxative on us while out of the bubble." She nods at Taggart and holds onto Spar.

Solixis goes out the door then, looking for a place next to the bunny on the vehicles.

Darkwyrm uncrosses his arms and slings his pack up over his shoulder as he ascends that stairs, waiting for the stampede to abate somewhat before entering the Lot.

Grantok gathers her things back up, placing them in a drawstring sack and slinging it over her shoulder as she heads to grab a seat on the bus.

Balina picks herself up, careful of anything that might be attached to her, nods once to Heath with a brief "Do whatever sounds right," and waits for the stairs to clear before making her departure.

Sorien starts checks on the bus- making sure cargo bays are sealed, and everything is ready to go.

Heath slowly nods his head to Balina. "Heath will." Rising to his feet, he gives a bit of a stretch. Bi-colored eyes scan along a bit, watching people. Not really wanting to crowd the stairs with his large self with others, he slowly heads forward a bit then stops.

Sparhawk hefts up into standing, toting gryphons out of the people mob and into to the vehicle mob. "We're planning while we start driving, then?" Not much on Spar unusual, given that shi tends to wander around in battlegear anytime shi leaves home.

Lasair moves on out to hir jeep. The big medical thing taking up a ton of space in the back, taking up the back seats and the entire trunk area. Shi moves some of hir stuff out of the front seat to get it better for any passenger, before shi moves it into the floor of the medical bay. "Food? water? I got a few jerry cans of petrol. Some food and water, but ain't much."

Sorien seals a hatch, then goes over to the jeep, having heard what Las said. "I got a lot of food- military MRE's and canned and dry. Plenty of water too, and the gear for purifying more. I expect we'll hunt on the way too- better that then running out of food at a bad time!

Once outside, Cygnus moves up to one of the hummers, climbing into the vehicle and opening a door for Haley and Solixis before moving to turn up the radio and listen while she checks the gun in the back.

Skylar seems to be her usual non-armored at all self, probably with evasion in mind. "Well, guess for now I'll stick with Las, I'm small enough so that I won't bother hir as a passenger." She states to Sparhawk before dropping off and making her way to Las' vehicle. "Guess I'm Medic's assistant for now." She chirps at Las.

Haley hops in the hummer's passenger seat.

After everyone is all loaded in their respective vehicles and CB radios are passed out to each, engines rev up and get ready to head out. Taggart's voice crackles over the CB radio, "Oi. Alright. Jus' needed ta lay sum stuff out. Rihko's gonna get on'ere in jus' a minute and tell everyone wut's up and wut it is we're doin' while we're movin'. I'm jus' layin' out tha rules. Any of ya been in me pub know that's gotta be part of it." The buses start rolling and the man continues.

The Irishman clears his throat and the CB crackles on again, "Put simply, we don't know a lot of wut we're gettin' inta. That means, even more bloody chaos than jus' this mornin' has been. THAT means... ya listen ta yer leaders and those that've been doin' this awhile. We may get gruff, we may get rude, we may damn right snap yer head off... but we do it, bacause we're tryin' ta save lives and keep things movin' and under control. Don't take it personal. If we give an order, and you don't like it... ya do it anyway. You are comin' along now, knowin' how this werks. If you second guess us out there in tha field... you will be left. It is harsh. But there is no room for argument out there."

Heath is more then likely on a bus, or other place as deemed needed.

Lasair kisses Skylar when shi gets in, "Buckle up." shi says, before listening to Taggart on the radio and turning the engine over. With that, the littlest jeep is off!

Sorien looks at Tag. "May I?" Indicating the mike.

Taggart glances to Sorien and nods, handing it over to her.

Taggart mumbles, "Give it ta Rihko when yer done."

There is a bit of a crackle as Sori takes the microphone, then, "Okay. We do NOT know the condition of the roads ahead. We can clear vehicles with the hummer and the ram plates on the buses, but if we run into serious road damage, these beasts aren't built for it- they're transport, not explorers. Sel, if you can act as a scout that would be great- it shouldn't be necessary til we're a few hundred miles out. For the gunners, remember that we have restricted ammo- what's aboard each vehicle is IT. Once it's gone, it's gone. So be conservative. We'll cruise at optimal for fuel efficiency for the average of the vehicles, which is 60 MPH. That's it for now."

Cygnus suckles on a tooth for a moment before picking up her mic "Got it. Should I take point then as to clear the road if needed?"

Sorien softly churrs, "For the first hundred miles we're okay. Don't push the hummers. Of all the vehicles we got, that one sucks the hardest for fuel efficnency. Let Selene scout- the bike is perfect for that." The mike crackles a bit when it's handed to Rihko.

"No problem, Sori. That was my plan anyway" Selene says into her comm.

"I copy. I'll be easy on it." Cygnus answers back.

Rihko only got on the com long enough to give people the basic run down of their mission, if they somehow, miraculously, didn't know what was up yet. A dagger to find in Tahlequah, important sites to be checked out and searched for signs of danger. The group would be sticking to the highways and the interstate, and avoiding major cities, all the way until they reached Oklahoma City. From there, they'd hopefully pick up someone else, then split into their groups and, hopefully, get things taken care of in a few days. That done, she quietly snuggles with her mate, and watches the scenery rolling past, her attitude quiet, contemplative, and serene.

The roadtrip goes surprisingly, smooth, unexpectedly, though the plot to keep the group outside of major cities helps tremendously. The atmosphere is desolate, for those who've never been outside of Fairhaven, it's even more telling. Abandoned vehicles litter roads, accidents requiring rerouting off highways. There's packs of roaming ferals, weird anthro hybrids and normal animals retaking once human tamed land. Plants are starting to take route in the concrete laden land. The rockies are breathtaking, being able to see for miles around, no human activity obvious despite the many cities and towns that dot the land. The trip is a mixture of boring, people taking shifts, breaks to sleep. There's a nervousness of the unknown, but the lack of anything hostile is almost as unnerving.

Heath is looking out the window taking in everything there is to see.. Looking quite amazed at the beauty, and the strangeness that there is.

Darkwyrm has fallen asleep in the back of one of the busses, taking the initiative to 'conserve energy' to heart.

Foxheart keeps vigil for most of the uneventful ride thus far, only pausing for the occasional half-hour to close her eyes for a short, and very brief rest. She watched the world outside California from the bus window for the first time with wonder in her eyes, and at the same time nervousness, despite the apparent calmness outside. She fingers the metal case she'd so hurriedly brought with her, as though the cold steel brought her some comfort.

Selene ranges ahead of the buses, far enough to give ample warning of blockages or danger, but not so far as to put herself at excessive risk from ferals or aggressive wildlife.

Eithne just curls up with Balina, idly grooming the fenrir with a steel-bristled brush, carefully working tangles and ice out of the wolf's fur. "Well, no one can say this won't be an interesting trip, yeah? Ancient ritual items and sites of power and family hunting, oh my."

Cygnus yawns, back to her shift of driving for the time being, the bunny calmly watching the roads and her driving as well. The desolation didn't bother her. She'd been out of the bubble quite a bit. The whole trip just seemed to go unnaturally smooth.

The mountains shift into plains, Kansas, and the panhandle, abhorrently flat and endless. The wind blowing hard against vehicles, while pollen of overgrown grasses is almost like being sandblasted. Tall grasses whipping at vehicles as they encroach on the roads. Two days of journeying so far, and they've just breached into plains.

Jahrine yawns from the back of the buss, rolling over to bury her head in her fur. She's got a bigger bag than usual at her feet, filled with extra rations that she cooked up before leaving.

The road signs point toward Oklahoma City, destination not far ahead. The path is moved onto Route 66, a smallish old route with tourist attractions that skirts the edge of the city. Little more than a gas station, the Pop's landmark is still quite recognizable, thickened glass has survived the years, leaving the place like a sealed tomb, the sign a giant metal bottle of cola. It's a quirky place, but one Rihko knows her brother will know to locate. The cavalcade of vehicles park in the mostly empty parking lot.

Selene kills her bike's engine and hops off, stretching herself out taking her helmet off and setting it on the seat. "Mnnnnuhhhh.... I hate longass roadtrips."

Cygnus kills the engine and lets her head fall against the steering wheel, music (while not blasting) is still pouring from the vehicle. One of the perks of traveling in the smaller transport.

Skylar opens the door of the medical vehicle and hops off, stretching members, wings and tail at the same time. Gaaaaahsothisishowroadtripsfeelhuh.' She says in a strained voice before stopping the stretching and letting out some air. "Everyone alright?"

Balina spends the break doing what she does every time the bus is stopped for more than a couple of seconds; she steps out, blinking in the light, stretches, then begins tearing about the lot, happy to be allowed movement.

Heath slowly moves out of the bus, stretching. He glances around, raising his head up he takes a large sniff of the area. "Heath need to pee."

Taggart makes his way off the bus, stretching arms up and legs before his hands move loosely to the AUG hanging from the front of his tactical vest. The Irishman makes is way slowly forward, peering around carefully with emerald eyes before giving a small nod of satisfaction that the immediate area was 'safe.'

Darkwyrm awakens with a snort at the sound of the bus shutting off. He quickly makes his way out of the vehicle and starts to stretch for the nth time.

Grantok wakes from her nap as the bus slows to a halt, rubbing her eyes and letting out a fairly large yawn from such a tiny lynx. "No matter how long it looks on paper, it always feels longer in actuality." She stretches a little from her seat, giving time for other larger people to shuffle off the bus first.

Jahrine wakes up and yawns, climbing down out of the bus "Unn, how long have we been on the road?" She murrs and looks around, wagging.

Eithne slinks off of the bus, catlike body serving her well on the trip there. Sure, she may or may not have devolved into the occasional insane giggle and rapid scratching down of notes at some points in her attempts to keep herself busy, but she doesn't tear off about the lot. Until she's watched Balina do it for a bit, and then she joins the wolf in romping around for the fun of it.

Sparhawk has ended up curled around in the back of a bus, lulled to sleep by the constant rumble. When it stops shi jerks awake, thumping hir head on the underside of a seat, and wanders out rubbing it. "All this way for soda bottling?"

Lasair looks over to Heath for a few moments and says "Hey Heath, when you're done, come on over." before shi gives a grin, sprawling out across the seats in the jeep, getting hir boots off, and putting hir talon'd feet on the door and in the air.

Foxheart stays on the bus seat as it grinds to a halt, the kitsune frowning as she stands up to stretch, rubbing her eyes and lugging the metal case off the top hatch of the bus with a sigh, exiting the bus and taking a (very) short sprint to warm up. "Wasn't too terrible. At least the rations aren't inedible." She yawns again, having slept very little through the bus ride.

Heath nods to Lasair. Looking to the rest of the people.. "Boy's room this way." he simply stated as he wanders off, not -that- far away.. he is trying to keep -somewhat- modest. And there? He'd find release.

The place is locked, and the glas windows thick, though the door looks like it could be broken. The gas pumps are unpowered, along with the rest of the place, but the heavy scent of diesel still wafts about the place. There's no sign of life. No note, nothing to show that Rihko's brother was here.

Skylar walks towards Spar and scritches hir side. "Hm? Is this a bottle factory...?"

Jahrine blinks and sniffs the air again. "So this is outside of the bubble? Wow...It's so...clean and pure." Her tail is a blur behind her, and her nose keeps clearing itself "Wonderful!"

Selene rattles the door handle a bit, and then looks over her shoulder. "Should I break this down, or are we not particularly fussed about the inside of this place?"

Sparhawk shakes hir head. "Was a joke. Think this is a convenience store, with a giant american look-at-me roadside attraction. We /are/ on the Route 66 of legend, after all."

Rihko checks that she has her pistol and knife ready, then slips off the bus. She stands there a while, watching her mate checking things out. She gives him a small smile and a little nod when it seems things are clear, then looks around, her ears flicking and her tails slowly twitching as she does a small circuit of the diner. She shrugs. "Whatever, Selene. Seems a shame to damage the place if you don't need to, though. I'm sure someone could take care of the lock without breaking things." She wanders back over to the buses, stretching and then leaning against the side of the bus.

Cygnus climbs out of the hummer slowly and stretches, thermose full of instant coffee in her paws as she heads over to the main group, peeking through the windows.

Selene sticks her tongue out at Rihko, and then wanders away from the door so someone else can ply a more subtle trade with it.

Taggart looks around a bit, scowling at Selene. "Slow down, Selene. Christ." The man shakes his head and looks to Sorien, glancing over at the pumps, "Sori, see iffun ya can't get down inta tha tanks." A hand points over to the manual load point in the cement, something like a large manhole cover. "Syphon tha shite up. Might as well save ourselves some fuel, iffun we kin'." The Irishman looks over to Rihko next, "This where we're sapposed ta meet'im, then?"

Heath after a few minutes, heath started to wander back, all the while sniffing along the area. "Heath hungry." he stated, looking at the thick-glass... then looked towards the others.. then towards the building as if trying to think.

Lasair wiggles hir toes in the air for a bit, enjoying it as shi smiles. Relaxed and sprawled, shi seems like shi's gonna stay right with hir jeep.

Darkwyrm growls. "Well if it's locked, I can take a crack at it.", Dark says as he rummages through his pack for a lockpick. He approaches the door and inspects the lock.

The joy of movement never really wears thin, but after some time engaging in what might adorably be referred to as frolicking, Balina rejoins the group, panting with a wide, open-mouthed grin. "Should I start poking about for anything that smells kind of like a Rihko?"

Rihko shrugs her shoulders. "If he made it this far. Doesn't look like it though." She frowns a moment, then shakes her head and turns her attention to the giant soda bottle. "Ah, well."

Grantok's tufted ears perk as she finally steps off the bus, letting them sweep about as she attempts to get a full idea of their surroundings. The renewed vigor of everyone's chatter doesn't help much at first, so she climbs atop the bus to get a better hearing and seeing vantage point.

Cygnus giggles softly at Balina, trying not to outright 'D'awww' at the wolf.

Eithne glances over at Selene and Rihko, and heads over as the romping about ends. She still flounces over, though, riffling through her harness to produce a pouch of wellworn lockpicks, and then Dark gets there first. She frowns at his single pick, though, and then offers her full set - feelers, diamonds, a good torsion wrench. A set for a finesse approach over a brute one. Though there is a decoder and a slagle, as well.

"Mmph. Thanks, but I got it.", Dark says, glancing over his shoulder at Eith briefly before setting to work on the lock.

Balina does start snuffling around, if only to fill time. And hey, who knows? Maybe the door is secretly a feral.

The roar of a motorcycle from miles away can be heard by those with enhanced senses. Engine sounds almost identical to Selene's. Getting into the place though is surprisingly easy, the place not really secured heavily, a simple lock. Inside is surprisingly cool. Bottles line glass shelves that go sky high, multitude of colors. There's a strong scent of rotting from the kitchen area.

Selene's ears perk as she hears the sound of another motorbike engine. "That's Cil's bike!" she exclaims, moving towards the road and looking expectantly.

Cygnus's ears shoot up at the sound of a motorcycle in the distance, her ears turning first, then her body. She blinks and scratches the back of her head "I'll pop up and make sure." The bunny says, spreading her wings and leaping into the air.

Darkwyrm steps back from the door, giving a victorious grunt. His nostrils immiediately flare upon the stench hitting him and he winces. "Mmph. Either somethin' died in there, or the kitchen's still rottin'.", he says.

'About time she caught up." Grantok's already looking in the direction of the cycle engine from atop the bus. Flat ground makes it fairly easy to see from the distance, but the heat and haze of the road could still be playing tricks on the eyes.

Eithne tucks away her pickset and shrugs, darting back a few steps to clear the way for the more durable sorts.

Rihko yawns and licks her teeth, then begins slowly pacing around the lot, keeping tabs on the crowd as she walks and enjoys the air.

Anput starts to take a look around the side of the building, checking other entrances, a cellar, anything that might connect to a seperate part of the building.

Heath slowly sniffs inside of Pops, he isn't going in, just sniffing at the air. Smelling the rot. "Heath no like smell." He sniffs a bit more, his tail dangling between his legs. He haa a desire to walk in; he looks at Eithne. Shrugging a bit, he says, "Heath go in. But Heath no go alone? Ride Heath like Balina?" he suggests.

Anput gradually starts to make the walk around it, stopping for anything that catches her eye.

Darkwyrm takes a quick peek inside, sticking his head through the door. "Well, bottles galore, but I don't see anything immiediately threatening."

There's a stormcellar in the back cut into the slab, steps leading down to a metal door in the back. The building being all glass leaves little place for tornado safety so one is easy to find. There are unpowered refridgerators around, and a meat freezer that the stench is coming from in the kitchen, and a way down into the stormshelter from inside.

Anput checks the stormcellar door once she locates it, tests if it's locked.

Skylar stretches once more. "Since this place is the meeting point I guess we should secure this place, make sure no ferals have nested inside or something..."

Taggart oversees the syphoning of fuel from the storage tanks beneath the cement, helping Sorien while keeping an eye on the surroundings. His eyes are drawn to the building a few times, peering carefully at everyone poking about the station.

Balina remains outside. Crowded convenience stores are not built for wolves, even before sixteen other people crowd around inside. Besides, someone has to keep watch.

Cygnus circles wide, having since caught a quite a bit of altitude, the winged rabbit more or less keeping watch as she flies.

Darkwyrm frowns as he watches several people crowd into the building. He decides against joining them and instead starts to walk around the perimeter of the store, seeing if there is anything interesting around back.

Eithne pats Heath's side, and peers inside herself, and then trails after Anput slowly as the jackal pokes at doors. "Nah, I save my riding for Balina. I'll be right beside-behind you, though." Slit eyes peer into the place, examining things slowly and carefully. Little licks of phoenix-fire flicker around her form, supernatural power building just beneath her skin. Just in case.

Anput looks back over her shoulder at Eithne. "Good... I hadn't told anyone I was back here, that was bad form of me."

Skylar leans onto Sparhawk for a moment before climbing onto hir, also looking at the landscape. "It's...really desolate. I mean, sure, it's what I expected, but, seeing it is another thing."

Heath nods to Eithne. "Heath say that is good." Yeah, these things aren't made for wolves. However, his hunger overcame the fact of that. Carefully he walks into Pops, sniffing along the way as he goes. The stench from the rotting meat was not something that proves favorable to his nose. However, his eyes are going around a bit. Perhaps there was something edible.. or at least still good.

Rihko flicks an ear, pausing to give Skylar a nod. "Yea. People like living in groups. Few survived, so the survivors clumped up and left a lot of empty space behind." She looks around again, tails slowly waving behind her. "Some day it'll be reclaimed, when there are enough people again." She looks back, then, at Sparhawk and nods her head. "You decided to come. Thanks."

The back door is indeed locked, though not deadbolted and shouldn't be hard to break into. The motorcycle noise is definitely approaching fast, not far off.

Selene impatiently waits for Cil to arrive, sitting by the side of the road looking in the direction the sound is coming from.

Skylar tugs onto Sparhawk's now skunky ears for a moment before nodding at Rihko.

Taggart glances up to Grantok, frowning just a bit. "Kin' ya see tha bike, Gran?" The man lifts his hand to shield his eyes, turning his gaze toward the sound of the revving motorcycle as well.

Anput looks toward the motorcycle noise. She looks back to the door and draws out the right tool for the job, stipping a thin pair of rods into place. The door opens up seemlessly, as if it weren't locked in the first place. She steps to the side as the large right-hand door flaps open--letting any stale air just begging to rush out pass behind her back.

"Yeah. Still a few minutes out though. It's Cil." Grantok's ears tilt and focus on other sounds aside from the cycle at that point, even if she continues to watch its approach.

Anput wraps her muzzle with a bandana, turning back to the open cellar and taking the first step with extreme caution. For instance, looking first to make sure there are steps, and looking ahead of her to make certain there isn't a terrible feral just about to pounce.

Rihko stands there next to Skylar and Sparskunk a moment longer, then shrugs her shoulders. She wanders her way back across the lot to her mate and gives him a little nod, then turns to call out towards the group exploring the convenience store. "Hey!" she calls out. "Going to let Cilan rest a bit, then we'll move on!"

Anput is half expecting the steps to be rotted.

Taggart smiles back at his mate, giving her a wink of his green eye before he turns his attention back to the syphoning. The Irishman pats Sorien's shoulder, letting the woman take a rest before he steps up to the manual pump, his arm starting to work it with little grunts of effort.

Heath looks to Eithne saying, "food." He looks around inside a bit more, looking for foodstuffs to take back.

"Anything in there useful?" Rihko asks, giving Taggart a nod. "Or is it all sludge?"

Eithne wavs Heath onward towards the foodstuff storage, keeping an eye on Anput. "I'll stay here and make sure she doesn't break her neck. Or something else equally bad. Try to keep in sight, and shout if you go out of it?"

Darkwyrm walks around the whole of the building and ends up back in front of it, having found nothing of interest. With a shrug he enters the building and joins the search in there.

Cygnus finally lands back down in a crouch near Rihko and Taggart.

The downstairs stench is awful, a huddled mass of people remain amoung their belongings and bedding. They seem surprisingly well preserved despite the death. Cilan arrives shortly after, hopping off her bike, a wide smile on her face.

Anput looks to the people inside cautiously, certainly expecting ferals--she's seen the likes of those in the hospital at woodfield. Still, she aproaches enough to be seen, "Hello? Are you strong enough to speak?"

The people are unmoving, and quite dead, cold to the touch.

Rihko raises a paw and waves at Cilan, then nods her over. "Hey, Cilan," she greets. "Thought you were on one of the busses. What's up?"

Anput hrms. she leaves them lie still, keeping a wall beside her as she investigates with a light.

Rather than crowd into the reeking shelter, Dark checks behind the register and counter for anything interesting that hadn't been pilfered yet. Knives, preserved food, electronics, anything that might be useful.

Anput searches the 'tomb' carefully for anything of value to herself.

Selene beams as Cil arrives. "Cil! You made it!" she says, running over and hugging her mate, giving her a quick kiss.

Eithne tosses a couple glowsticks - cracked and shaken, of course - down into the 'tomb' so she can better watch Anput's back from her vantage point at the top of the stairs - people up top to keep eyes on as well, after all.

No one notices the odd movements of Cilan as Selene pounces her, until there's a knife in Sel's belly. 'Cilan's rather fast to reveal herself to Selene, a whisper in Sel's ear accompianying the knife.

Balina is apparently a terrible sentry. She's a good pouncer, though. Circling around, there's a dive-tackle Cilan-bound already.

Selene's mouth drops open in a gasp, and she slumps in Cil's grasp, gasping "No..." as she grabs at the imposter.

Anput looks back as she hears Eithne, turning the light, nodding once she sees who it is. "Keep a wall beside you... If something's alive in here you don't want to get totally surrounded."

Rihko blinks, but she is just as fast as Balina, aiming to hit Cilan in tandem with Balina with a body check and strike to the wrist holding the knife.

Darkwyrm catches a glance out the window as he's rummaging under the counter and sees some activity outside. He quickly gets up and rushes out the door to render assistance.

Skylar clenches her beak as she notices a Balina dive tackling Selene, she pulls her survival knife from her belt but stands still other than this.

Eithne starts and glances outside, having a clear view of the scene developing there. "... Anput, time to come up. Something's wrong topside."

Anput looks back ahead of her and continues searching. Non-perishable consumables are hard to come by, but she keeps an eye out. Beyond that, any number of relics could be around. She keeps her eyes pealed not only for things that are useful but also momentos.

Heath is oblivous to what is happening outside; he is in the store rummaging around.

Grantok maintains her auditory watch even as Cilan arrives, smiling a little as Selene and Cil reunite. Until the knife. She then slides into position behind Glaurung and spins it about to target Cilan's imposter, growling like crazy. "Shit, shit, shit."

Dark found a few useful things amoung the mess of the kitchen, nothing exciting. Among the dead people below, Anput is able to piece together who the family once was, having come here to hide out during the initial outbreak. She finds something of personal value from each of the corpses. Above, there's a shout, as eyes focus on the person who is clearly not Cilan. Blood flowing from Selene's stomach, she claws at the person pinning her, who shimmers and takes shape of another one of Sel's lovers. Kale's face and voice as she says, "I will take everything from you my dear, and you will return to me as you've always meant to." A sly grin, dropping a piece of paper, and preparing for innevitable death from those around.

Eithne shakes her head and sighs, glancing at the scene through the glass walls again. Then she just shrugs, and darts around to the front as fast as her little kitty legs can carry her, muttering under her breath.

"TRY NOT TO KILL IT!" Skylar shouts at the people advancing towards not-Cilan.

Selene pushes back weakly from Cil-turned-Kale, scrabbling at the paper as she falls away, her other hand clutching at her stomach, knife still embedded deep in her guts. She crawls weakly away, trying to get clear of the impostor so the other can deal with it.

Darkwyrm flicks a hand to his side, unsheathing his dagger and holding it at a ready stance. He stops momentarily when Skylar shouts to use nonlethal force and curls his lips up in a snarl before replacing his dagger at his side and cracking his knuckles. He starts to advance once more, carefully.

Anput turns her head towards the shout. It sounded imperitive, so she heads out to check the source--shutting the door behind her, the still-working lock clasping into place as the door shuts.

Anput makes her way back around the building, walking about the side.

Grantok blinks for a second. That was a face she hadn't seen in a /long/ time. The sudden resurgance of memories makes the lynx lose the imposter from her sights for a moment, but she snaps back to her senses as Selene crawls away. "Where the \HELL\ are they!" she snarls out from atop the bus.

Heath upon hearing the shouts and screams emerges from pops, with whatever foodage he may have found. He really isn't sure what is going on, however he does see Balina going after someone, and Selene with a knife in her stomach. The fur on his back stands on end; whatever stuff he had in his mouth is dropped and pretty much forgotten. His eyes shooting around.

Selene manages to get out from under the shapeshifting creature bearing her former mate's image. There's a look of serenity on Kale's face as the attacks come. She makes no motion to attempt to stop them, although she does try to twist the dagger in Selene more, but fails. Balina's jaw's clamp down on air as Darkwyrm tackles the creature, preventing beheading.

Rihko manages to outpace Darkwyrm and Balina, her reactions swift. Balina's jaws come down on Darkwyrm before she realizes its not her victim.

Selene let's out a yell of pain as she wrenches the knife free after crawling a safe distance away. It falls to the ground with a clatter as she clutches at the wound with a hand, a faltering blue glow emanating from it. The glow gets stronger as the pained look fade from Selene's face, feathers dropping froms her wings slowly as she uses her magic to heal the injury, until it fades away and all that remains of the wound is a slit in her armour. She grabs the knife and slips it into her belt as she stands, looking at the impostor.

Rihko follows her tackle to the logical conclusion, throwing Kale down to the ground and holding him there with a joint lock. Her eyes snap up to Selene and she starts to say something, then blinks. "Right." She looks down at the thing, then up at Selene. "What's the note?"

Selene blinks, and the remembers the note firmly grasped in her hand. "Oh, right. Uhhh... lemme see.." she says, as she studies the somewhat crumpled and bloodstained paper.

Skylar eyes widen as she sees the outcome of the dogpile onto Kale and Selene's wound, she turns towards the medical jeep and shouts out. "LASAIR! We need a medic here!"

Darkwyrm is subsequently knocked away from the creature as Balina slams into him, her teeth sinking into his shoulder. He lets out a yelp of pain even as his armored coat manages to absorb the blunt of the bite. He falls to the side, landing on his right arm, the impact wrenching his dagger from his grasp.

Anput walks around the side of the building and back to the front where everyone is. She sees someone on the ground and others sort of gathered around. She looks around, as Skylar calls for a medic, approaching. "What happened? Who is hurt?" She sees Darkwyrm, hearing him yelp, and goes to him to help with the apparent injury.

Grantok keeps her sights trained on the one Rihko tackles, even if it seems rather ineffectual at the moment. First sign of anything further out of the ordinary and she'll say something. One ear quirks in Selene's direction, barely listening.

Lasair clanks on in at a jog. Heavy packs weighing hir down, and it looks like it's easily over encumbering. "What, who, where?" shi asks quickly, looking around. In one paw shi has what looks like an aerosol spray that shi shakes without thinking of it.

Skylar looks at sort-of-overprepared-Lasair and points towards Selene and her stomach knife wound, judging it to be more severe than a shoulder injury.

Heath looks at Lasair oddly, then slowly stalks closer to the current happenings with the imposter. Seeing if there is an opening, a need .. a chance perhaps that he can take.

Balina lands ungracefully, having caught her prey at completely the wrong angle, spinning as the two tumble. It's not until she's on the ground with Dark atop her that she actually realizes her error, opening her mouth long enough to disengage and give the poor Anubite a moment to wriggle free. "Erm, sorry. Can I say 'old habits' and get away with it?"

There's no attempt to struggle from Rihko's prisoner, just a very calm look, unerringly so. The features perfectly reproduced of Kale, who dissapeared long ago. The actions however completely out of character for those who knew her. The note on Selene's lap is actually a small map, with a location marked.

Anput sits beside the fellow anubian, extending her paw to Darkwyrm, "Let me treat that for you."

Lasair looks at Selene for a moment, tilting hir head one way, then the other. "Skylar..." shi says, before looking over towards Darkwyrm. "I think you've already got everything covered by the sounds of it."

Eithne walks up to Balina and lightly thwaps a wolf ear. "Bad Bal. No treats for you." That said, she hugs the lupine form around the neck, studying the imposter and the people around it. "... Y'know, I didn't know Kale very well, but they never looked that serene any time I'd ever seen them. Some Shadow-thing, I'm going to guess?"

Selene looks back from the note to Rihko. "It's a map. See if that... thing... wants to share." She turns to Eithne. "It's not Shadow."

Skylar erms and gesticulates a bit, innefectually. "But...no nanites...don't they need help...or something?" She asks at the other gryphon, clearly confused.

Rihko sighs, then growls. "OK, buddy. Who are you, where is Cilan, and what is with the map?" she asks.

Selene grins at Sky and wiggles her fingers, saying "Maaaagic" before going serious again and looking back to the impostor.

Lasair looks to Skylar, "Coudln't tell you. Had my disinfectant spray ready and everything..." before shi tromps on back out to hir jeep.

The imposter doesn't appear to be listening, just turns eyes at Selene, completely ignoring her captor above. Then, "She knows."

"Your father right?" Grantok mentions aside to Selene. "Seems my warnings weren't enough. Sorry." Her vision is fixed on the imposter. "That's no Kale either. Lousy trickster."

Selene narrows her eyes as she looks at the impostor. A low growl escapes her throat, before she snarls, and shouts "No! She's mine! You can't have her, you son of a bitch!"

Anput looks at Darkwyrm waiting for him to accept or decline. THe bite looks rather deep.

Anput hungrily chirrups, "May I treat that for you?"

Darkwyrm grunts and clutches his shoulder, rolling off of Balina. He winces and slips part of his coat off to reveal his shoulder. Balina had bitten through the tough fibers lining the inside of the leather armor and sunk almost a centimeter into his flesh, leaving several bleeding wounds. "Mmmph..", he grunts. "If you have some disinfectant, t'would be nice.", he says.

Skylar points at Darkwyrm. "Aha! Wounds!" In a definetly happy way.

The imposter's face shimmers slightly and she snaps her head around and bites deep into Rihko, drawing blood. Black blood, that begins to immediately attack back at the creature. The look of surprise on the creatures face is awesome, as suddenly her jaw is full of poison.

Skylar's happiness is quickly dispelled as she watches Rihko and her 'The Thing' blood attack fake-Selenemates. "Rihko! We need to question it about Cilan! Don't kill it!"

Balina carefully gets to her feet, muttering apologies and making vague offers of an ice pack. An attempt to retort to Eithne is cut off as more blood is flowing, the icewolf's head suddenly jerking and snarling. No words come, but her stance is low and ready to attack again, in the off-chance that raspberry doom is not enough to finish the job.

Selene turns to Skylar, shaking a little. "We don't need to question it. I know everything I need to. I have to go to the place indicated on this map. Alone, if nobody else wants to come. Cil needs me, and I'm not going to let her down."

Rihko snarls, more out of anger and surprise that it bit through her skin; her arms twitch, but she keeps herself under control as she straddles the thing and wrenches its arms together, then digs her fingers into it's hair and shoves the creature's face down into the pavement. She looks up at Selene again. "What am I holding here?" She looks down at the thing. "It's having an... interesting... reaction." Her tails twist, and flick. "And yea. Take anyone you need to, Selene, and find Cilan."

Darkwyrm bends down and picks up his dagger. He glances over to the creature under Rihko and sees that situation taken care of , os he slips it back into the sheath at his belt. He starts looking through some of his pockets for something to heal his minor wounds so they don't scar.

Eithne frowns, running things through her head. "... Oh. The packmind father thing. Right." The cat scampers up onto Balina's back, humming thoughtfully as she considers things. "... I want to go and help you, but the dagger is important, and I've got the more accurate mape of things and Dirt's teachings rolling around in my noggin." Her ears flatten as she closes her eyes, frowning.

Selene looks back at Rihko, adnd then down at the dying thing. "Not sure. Don't care. Gonna kill anything like it between me and Cil."

Anput takes darkwyrm's arm and looks over the punctures in the shoulder. She takes a clean cloth, dampening it with water from a flask, and carefully cleans the affected region with a gentle touch. With a couple passes, she then includes a bit of disinfectant just to help insure nothing prolonged builds up inside. After she wraps it up carefully, she holds her hand out over the injury. The bleeding starts to slow as she observes, clotting steadily and mending a bit under the bandage. It's a bit tender, but he can move it well enough now and it isn't bleeding out anymore.

Heath slowly walks to the other side from Balina, so if the thing escaped? They would have more ground coverage. His hackles are still raised, obviously not in a great mood and there are no words coming from him. His green eye and blue eye staring at the interaction between Rihko and the imposter. His tail lowered, dangling. Though it seems Rihko has a very good handle on What was going on, it doesn't change his actions.

Skylar hops off Sparhawk and aproaches Selene. "Sounds like a real good way to kill yourself, hero. I'm going with you, you need a bit of finesse and sneakyness so that you don't end up smushed into Selenepulp."

Anput hungrily chirrups, "That should do. Do you feel better?"

Darkwyrm mutters a thanks to Anput as he pulls out a vial of his own concoction and pours a few drips into each of the wounds before securing the bandages.

The blood works surprisingly fast on the infection, biting deep into flesh and bone, dissolving and steaming. The look of panic on the creature is notable, and just as it starts to eat into her head, the entire thing collapses into blood, seeping into the ground below.

Anput hops up and looks around; "is anyone else hurt?"

"You know damn well that it's a trap Selene." Grantok gets out from behind the bus-cannon and returns to the ground, noting that Rihko has things under control. "I think I'll stay on with the dagger hunt, could do more help there. I've told you all that I can about what I saw. Make sure it doesn't happen."

Selene nods slowly to Skylar. "Fine. Anyone else wants to come, say so now." She turns her attention to Grantok. "I know. And i know I don't give a shit. If there's the slightest chance I can save her, I have to try."

Anput looks to Darkwyrm, "What is going on exactly?"

Rihko scowls, picking herself up and brushing herself off. "That... was unexpected. Huh." Her ears twitch. "Go figure. At least it looked like the bloody fucker didn't enjoy it." She sighs, a heavy sigh, and looks around. "No. Yes. And yes. You need to find Cilan." She grumbles again and scowls at the bloodstain. "Fucking weird... right, then. Let's pack up, we have a Cilan to find, and a dagger... and, shit. Shit!" She walks over to the pumps and raises a foot, kicking one over with a shriek of tearing metal. "Fuck! I'm worried about my brother, but the dagger is more important. I'm going to head south. The rest of you, find the fucking toothpick of miracles, and I guess we won't have enough to split off a group to check the sites as well. I'll catch up as soon as I can."

Balina watches the mess with a sort of bitter satisfaction, taking some solace in the fact that this was likely the second most painful way for it to go, and that she probably would have regretted biting into it. Taking a few deep, ragged breaths, she calms down and gives Selene a fangly grin. "Spring the trap, and tear him into little tiny pieces. I need to stick with Eithne for at least two reasons." Glancing to Darkwyrm, "Sorry about that again, but next time someone gets stabbed I call dibs."

Eithne lightly headbutts Balina, giving the wolf an amused look. "And what reasons would those be?" Her understanding nods to Rihko and Selene are much more serious, though, with a hint of a feral smile. "Find them, and kick the asses of whoever tries to stop you. Just be careful with the Pack nanites, yeah?"

Darkwyrm pulls his coat back over his shoulder and rubs over the wounds lightly with his right hand. "Look, I'll go where I'm needed, but at the moment, It sounds like we've got a missin' person." He looks over to Rihko. "I'm willin' to help get that resolved quickly so we can get back to whoever's goin' after the dagger."

Balina looks upward, which may or may not give her a decent view of Eithne. "You need my nose, and I'd challenge you to find one good reason why I'd let you go across the country without me. I suppose that eating packmind nanites isn't exactly something that Balinas should nibble on, so two and a half reasons."

Heath walks back towards Balina. "Heath is coming with nose." He nods a bit, before slowly walking to pick up the goodies he found before heading back towards her and Eithne.

Skylar looks at Selene, notcing that they never really..talked much on the pub. "Stay calm, Selene, we'll get her back, don't worry."

Eithne nods, and gives her ride a light grin. "Yeah, true enough. Right then. Let's get things packed up and get ourselves on the way - we all have important things to do." A hand it raised and pointed towards the busses. "Forward, to victory! And SCIENCE!"

Balina is, unfortunately, built entirely wrong to rear up, but does take a moment to pose as majestically as she can before she nosebumps Heath and makes her way to the bus.[[Category:[REDACTED] Events]]