Removing the Shard

(Many, many thanks to everyone who decided to get involved with this and to everyone who helped push this and the other related stories forward. If anyone feels like their character has a reason to follow up in some fashion and were present, don't hesitate to IM. I did a little editing but wasn't thorough, so apologies if some spelling/grammar slipped through. Thank you again.)

(For those reading, Kellett was stabbed by what's been termed an empathy blade. A piece of this has broken off inside him. It's purpose is simple, rather than cutting a person, it forces the victim to experience human emotions. Not a terrible thing in of itself depending on the victim, but imagine experiencing only the extreme ends of bipolar disorder without any pause. After a journey into Faerie, a means was discovered on how to remove it--)

Riona stepped beyond the tree looking back toward the other fae. One minute there, one minute gone. She smiled to herself and stepped back. Sight and scent completely masked by anyone else on top of the hill. As far as anyone else was concerned, it was just the rocks and trees up here.

Rie Trager had arrived and was settled by a tree, darker form by the dark trunk and sh ewould remain there, unmoving beyond the occasional flick of ears and blink of her eyes. one burned a brilliant eerie green, the other was just an empty socket and she was waiting for her two wolves to join her. breeze ruffling that dark fur every so often. she knew fey were nearby, could sense them through that connection to Umbra she had established the night before. it was her fail safe, she would literally be sucked into if she frenzied and for now she waited, silent and Dark

Ilyana Aethelwyne wandered up the hill, crumpled note still in her hand, though she put it in her pocket now to see fae ahead. There presence there was unmistakable to her and she quickly closed the distance between. Murmuring low, she peered around the tree to catch sight of the wolves across the clearing and then frowned softly. "Thora left me note asking to come." She glanced to the dark skinned one beside her and smiled, feeling the magic around her all the while. "And so? What now?"

Tawny makes her way up the hillside shortly after Ilyana, hearing her words she'd smile, "Yes now we wait." and she sees Riona is already in place and can feel the power of the Glamour she's already used and senses the veil she's placed to mask our scent and presence from the wolves she sees beyond the trees in the mists.

Riona turned to look at Ilyana and smiled thought it was a distracted one at best. She could feel the constant pull of the glamour flowing from the glad through her to the tree she had anchored the curtain to. "Just stay behind the tree for now." she said quietly almost a whisper.

[Pip] is barefoot. Her feet make small impressions in the snow, impressions which do not melt. As the air grows colder, some part of her seems to as well. Her bruised and cut skin doesn't seem to feel the cold, though; she wonders if anything can compare to the cold iron. She takes long looks at him as they walk up the hill, feeling him very far away indeed. Find me, he told her. She has no idea if she has. Majnun has been quiet all week. Black eyes move up to the hill they approach... If it will be him again. "Thank you for humoring me, beloved," she says, soft. Her breath fogs in the cold air, the deepest parts of her still holding some shred of warmth. "I know it's quite a story." Of course, it wasn't.

Kellett comes up the mountain, slowly. His breath is labored but otherwise he seems well. "Barefoot?" is the first thing he mentions, "with all this snow and ice?" Mist settles out his nose and mouth when he manages a chuckle. "Quite a story, ay. You must have something planned..." He pauses when the ground levels off underneath his feet. "How much further is it?"

[Pip] shakes her head, long tail of white whispering against her back. "Not far at all, I promise." She is still mindful of his wound--how deep had that thing crawled now? "Something planned...that's true enough, right? Werewolves and the removal of curses, and of course, the moon is full...was eclipsed this very morning...how more perfect can it be?" Her small feet dig into the snow. She begins to climb the hill before them. She has no apple with her tonight. Softly, she sings as she goes. "No matter where you go, I will find you."

There would be chuckling heard, followed by a hacking cough. "Not far," he replies mercurially, "it seems like we've been walking for hours." The fog here draws thick, like algae in a lake. He frowns, batting at it when it chooses to cling to his legs. It's clear he can't -see- with how dark it is. "There you go again. With curses. And beasts." He follows her, follows her voice. As for the wound, what can any one say; time had passed and knives that can bite surely do not stop what they're tasked to do.


She doesn't like the cough that comes from him, but says nothing about it. What can she do at this point. "Dark woods, maidens, full moons, wolves. I promise you, it will be quite a story, though I'm not so good a teller as you. Well--all right, no maidens." Her throat tightens. "There's always a beast though, isn't there? Her hands close into small fists. She thinks she can smell them already on the cold air. "They mean to help you, beloved." Her bare feet make no sound through the long grass.


Kellett lofts a brow. "No maidens," he picks up immediately on this, though he doesn't know why. The tone of disappointment is hard to miss. He nods when she mentions beast. "Not all beasts are monsters. Not all monsters mean ill." He frowns however when he says this. The words don't sound like his at all. "...Help?" he says. It's asked in more than one way, something about that word,

Rie Trager would turn her head then, hearing them as they came. it was the first really action she would bear and Harper's functioning eye would settle upon them. she does not move, does not react beyond that. her eyes were not there and there was more Rage and hostility than anything else thrumming through the Dark Wolf. she had made preparations, knew her lines but also knew that some pushed her beyond her limits in all forms and this one was not forgiving. silence remains, waiting for Storm and the help he would provide and maintain and she observed from the darkness

Niyol Clawtooth: He would move up the hill with Maddox in toe, his form gradually becoming smaller and shifting until he was standing naked, in a half and half, homid state, somewhere btween man, and wolf. His voice gruff and disguised due to the form shift. He'd turn to Maddox. Speaking with his body as well as the tones in his growls and gruff noises. -guard the area, but sit still. Anyone comes, tell me. - He'd turn to Rie. Opening himself up to that painful link, so that e could be her eyes. His own turning wherever she wills it. As he would also try to project a strong measure of calm to try and help his alpha out.

Tawny hears Kellett and Pip's voices carrying through the mists, he sounds so weak, she'd reach out laying a hand against Riona's back, but doesn't say anything else, and worries now that Pip will be able to make it across the glade to the shelter behind the veil before Rie shows herself.

Ilyana Aethelwyne nodded to Tawny and then gave the same nod and smile to Riona. She could feel the pull of the glamour spun before them. Instinctively it made her own sense reach out just to hover a space or so away from it, the threads of glamour she kept wound about her form loosening and readying, prepared for the instant they would be needed, if that moment came. Also picking up on the sounds of voices carrying through the air, she turned her head to glance in the direction the two figures were approaching from.

Maddox Vance: Plodded up the hill as happy as could be after that amazing run they had just had.. Man, he thought to himself.. I can run nearly twice as fast as I could before! His tail wagged to signify his mood, his chops half open just letting the pup that had just moments ago shifted into this form for his first time, catch his breath. He appeared to be young for his age, yet clearly close to his prime. He caught every message Storm sent him and only gave Rie a passing, greeting glance before he steadied himself and turned to dart his head back and forth every so often, his ears perched to explore the sounds around him, testing for anything around them that seemed out of place, as well as any smells that seemed to be off about those already gathered there as well as sensing for anyone else in the surrounding area of the glade..


[Pip] doesn't want to be here. Still, she is. She could say this of so many things in the week that had come before, and when she senses kin close, she feels some better. They were kin and they had promised. Everyone would do what she could not. Her black eyes keep coming back to his figure amid the long white grasses, but then they're drawn to an even darker figure. A larger one. The thing that means to rip him apart in an effort to save him. She has always loved nightmares, but likes this one less than others. "Once upon a time," she whispers to the figure ahead of her. That's how stories began, right? "They will help you, beloved," she tells him.



Kellett: If any reached out with their glamor to see what he's like, they'd be hard pressed to tell him as different from whatever mortal they happened upon in the street. There would only be a glimmer, little else, and that sickly trail of glamor that bleeds from under his coat, that isn't his. Mortals don't bleed glitter, and neither do the fair folk, willingly. Trees loom, and next to those dark bulky shadows, some of which have an eye. The gypsy seems oblivious. He glances to his left, straining to see that way. Cold rock there. "This is a clearing, is it?" he asks, drawing his coat tighter. From his thumb, something glitters in the dark. He turns to glance back, but it seems as if he's alone now, and only the tree was it, talking to him, in her voice. "Once upon a time," he murmurs, "there was a horse. And he was white. And he was proud."



Rie Trager: she had promised not to approach them until it was time. the Alpha was nothing but of her word and she'd wait, ever watching. she knows when Storm enters her sphere, a soft whine as she adjusts herself to his vision. her head lowers a moment, the colors he saw were different and it made her head ache and a soft growl follows the whine as she shakes her head, claws curling into the new fallen snow. and that calms her, thoughts of her Umbral trip and plea placed before her mothers. a tilt of her head is had as she fixes her gaze to Maddox. this time the growl is not soft, it is as sharp as the air around them and did not need translated…he had one strike and then she'd take him out. her attention returns to Kellett and she slowly moves forward, breaking from the tree. she did not stand on her hind legs, she was a Wolf and she'd pause there, dark and heavy against the white, waiting for him to see her, waiting for that moment when she would do that which she had agreed to

Niyol Clawtooth: Feeling her pain, he'd focus to shift his eyes to wolven...to ease her pain. He'd stay back, following his alpha's lead and casually keeping awareness of where the pup was.



[Pip] remembers the story he tells of this white horse. The dragonfly against her bruised throat remembers, too, and bleeds cold fire against her skin. She takes in a shuddering breath, but when he walks deeper into the field, she does not follow. "A maiden led him to a place he found he did not want to be," she whispers. "They bore him down and they cut him and they--" Was this her own curse, to continue leading him to his doom? How many times must she watch the thing she love be cut to ribbons? She freezes, unable to move toward kin and safety. "They mean to help you," she says again. Would the wolves betray her as the deadwalkers had?


Kellett: ...A memory, was it, or a dream? One could never know., but the feeling of it, the tenor is palpable. Something is horribly wrong. It feels -too- familiar.A blue green eye peers to his right through jet locks and that look is reminiscent, briefly, of him-- the focus at least. His nostrils flare slightly, right arm held at his side, the side that the strange spider web trail comes from. Shadows move only for two reasons: when the light changes on them, and when they aren't, shadows. His eyes widen. He takes a step to his left, closer to the rocks. Any voice he was listening too at that point is swallowed up.

Maddox Vance stayed put where he was, though his eyes did catch the couple as they grew near, staying poised and focused as he used every bit of his self-control to keep him in place.. Though for an odd reason he didn't understand, he really wanted to get a better smell of them.. He broke his focus from them and turned back to Storm, waiting to see if he had any direction to give.. And when he hadn't Maddox just stayed put, whining if only softly under his breath as he felt the building tension around him and had no clue where it had come from or where it was directed.



Rie Trager: another shake of her head follows as his eyes shift and she'd send a light wave of gratitude to him. this time the demand was not so great, more a filling in of the picture she was getting from her functioning eye and the link would be thin to ease his pain, a subtle thought had to him but her gaze never moves from Kellett, watching him see her and react. there is a subtle frown of displeasure that comes across her face and then she whines again. she could do her trick but how it drew from her and this not would not come with light prices. she would seek to fix her gaze to his, even with that single eye and a frustrated huff comes out…she can feel that fetish floating above her and there is a long sigh out as she marks into the snow. it would come down, a crow seeming to flash into being for a moment, winging down toward him and then it would be gone. the murmur ahd to him on that primal level they had last spoken but it was a simple name, whispered into the darkness



Niyol Clawtooth: He would nod slowly to Rie, and turn to Pip. "you should go if you wish safety.. " He'd look to where the rest of the glade was. Ironically towards where the others were before his head would turn towards Kellet as his eyes were Rie's to wield.

Elise Capalini: The glamour that bleeds from him is sickening. As he moves toward the rocks, she looks back to the beast in the tall grasses. She herself bleeds closer to the tree, willing herself to vanish, to be a thing unseen because her feet feel frozen. Not to this ground, but to these actions--that no matter how much had changed or how may ties she cut, she would ever be this thing. If the wolves did catch her scent tonight, she would be only a dark river, silent, without stones. When Storm speaks to her, she shakes her head. She didn't believe she could safely cross this field, and besides, "Safety is an illusion here, isn't it?" It's not a question she expects an answer to.



Kellett: A whisper wings through the air, comes from flapping. This bird's feathers are black. His head cocks to one side, he knows this name. "Dark one," he hushes to no one and for some inexplicable reason, beyond any reason that a sane person could devise, he swallows, and would approach. "...You mean," he manages to etch through his teeth, "...to help?" It's half asked as a question and strange, half not.



Rie Trager: Harper's paw comes down, obscuring the mark, the first. a soft chuff comes from the She Wolf at the words, yes she understood them and probably better than if she'd been in her feral form. but the english had was what she struggled with and she was semi using Storm as translator. focus drawn back and she smiles, it was not a pleasant smile…all sharp shining teeth but it was genuine enough. she watches him approach, a shudder running through her and she'd tilt her head at him, letting the right eye take fore before she'd nod slowly. a long sigh is had out, this spoke how much she did not like this but she was there and he had to accept or she could not continue…it would cross that line that would suck her from the field and from this world indefinitely. she was a jet statue as he'd come closer, ripples through her fur able to be seen now



Maddox Vance watched the man grow near and even through Rie's unease, he only stayed where he was, poised to lend either Rie or Storm his help when and if Storm signaled for it.. The corner of his lips began to twitch all the same through the building tension that was working it's way through his system..



Ilyana Aethelwyne watched the scene unfolding before her with curious eyes. There was not much going on here that she truly understood, though Pip was recently familiar to her and she wondered how this all tied in with the fae. It was really only passing curiosity for her idlement while she continued to keep herself open and unbound, ready for whatever may befall, sensing darkness in the air and uncertain how far into darkness things would go.



Niyol Clawtooth: He was paying attention to his alpha's as well as the pup's tensions through their connections... Trying his best to be a conduit of calm. His hand at his side would give a steadying gesture, as he'd make sure his bodylanguage projected the calm needed for all to remain focus. Inwardly he was doing as much translation as he could into gaelic for Rie, when any of them spoke in english. He could barely move, as he was using nearly all his effort to battle the mental arena, sending off a quick few prayers here andthere to his ancestors for success in this, his lips moving silently as he does so.



Tawny hears Pip's voice answering to Storm and frowns, seeing her shrinking behind the tree opposite of where they are, she'd concentrate on that form across the way, speaking with her mind only, -"Pip, come, while you can."- her glance shifting to the now exposed form of Rie and her two guards. Willing with her mind for Pip to make the move across the expanse, but to move slowly.



Riona stood quietly, almost without moving entirely as leaned against the tree watching. Waiting. The tension was almost palpable. She let her gaze fall on Pip wanting to drag her over to where her kin stood and waited, to the safety of the veil she had erected for them. The chill of the night air and the darkness seeming to simply fold around them.



Elise Capalini: She doesn't breathe now, doesn't speak. When Storm doesn't tell her to go again, she stays in the darkness that cloaks the tree. Black eyes are focused on him and the wolf, this being entirely too familiar in some ways, and deadly new in others. She can sense the nearby thrum of kin, so close, but cannot force herself to move. Will not, because if that thing sees other movement... She may be young, she may be overflowing with anger, but she wasn't entirely foolish. She had no doubt she'd be eaten in one bite by one of them.



Kellett: My what sharp teeth you have, so the story went. Had he been nothing more than what he seems to be, he would've torn his hair out, risked a hazardous jump off the rocks behind him at what he sees. It takes every ounce of effort to simply stay put. He hears the long sigh and struggles to remember what had been told to him not more than a few minutes ago. Help, they mean to help. This close, it'd be hard to not notice the other figures near, some with teeth, others not. But the one before him seems to command his presence. "How?" he asks. Did he seem innocent then, in awe like a child who doesn't know, before claws snatch at him?



Rie Trager: at the distance Pip is from Rie the Wolf is aware but unlikely to react. she is focused entirely on the male before her, on making him understand who she is. maybe he didn't remember her as he'd warned and for a moment there is a dark abyss in her head that threatens to suck her into it. that glowing eye grows dim briefly and she grits her jaw. there is a tightening that seems to cut through the air and she cannot allow this to continue. too many are frozen and she seems to freeze, it lasts only a breath and she rises to her full height and moves into him. it is something like a tackle, if he were prey his throat would be in her mouth and she'd be tearing him to shreds….but it is him and she'd would merely seek to pin him beneath her and press her nose into his chest. she is seeking to keep him still, to find whatever may connect with her AND to find that metal within him, scenting it out before she sinks claws into him. this is when she had warned them, when her mind would slip from thought and interference would be deadly.


Maddox Vance: Caught Storm's gesture and turned his head away from him as he seemed to perk his ears up a little, very slowly wagging his tail in the grass behind him, just watching the exchange between the couple and Rie.. When she leapt upon the man, he let out a soft yip of a call, not communicating anything, more just reactionary from that spike of stress he got from watching her take to him violently.. He resituated again and smacked his lips together, turning to look back at Storm as if to ask if everything was alright with the way his eyes shifted..

Tawny realizes Pip intends to hide herself beyond the farthest tree, and would begin to gather her own Glamour around her, and sends threads of it in her direction not touching Pop with the Glamour but weaving an intricate patters around her starting from her toes and working up to assist in masking her, she'd open herself to the Glamour seeping up from the Glade below them, but her human image has already melted away leaving her true skin and ears exposed, slowly one by one the claws on her fingers form as she continues to weave the veil of protection around Pip.

Niyol Clawtooth: His hand would lash out, in a gesture of holding. Hold fast, don't attack, don't interfere. His own body language barely shifting from that eerie steady calm... trying to be the rock needed for this. He would slowly bgin to lower iselfhimself so that if Rieneeded his eyes. It was on the same level so as not to disorient her.

Elise Capalini: It's like watching the deadwalkers take him all over again. But she swallows her scream this time. Oh, we asked this of her... Asked for the jaw that bites, and the claws that catch. Iron-burned hands curl into the tree beside her; the wolf's soft yip doesn't even startle her. She seems beyond hearing or seeing anything other than the tussle in the long white grass. The dragonfly seems to grow colder against her throat, even as Tawny's glamour weaves its way toward her. Her chin comes up when she senses it, starving, and she exhales hard, the way a horse might through its nose.


Kellett: Drawn into the blind... if only there was space to dive out of the way. But, they were in a clearing, space all around. Perhaps somewhere, some part of him understands what must be done; it stays that urge to run. Not that he could. She's far too fast, the lumbering tackle crashing into his right side as well. He would crunch into the packed snow, the dried grasses flattening beneath. And there -would- be struggle; even a fawn would caught in this situation. She shoves her nose into his chest, feeling his breath quicken to a wheezed pant. That nose would easily locate the grievous injury that hadn't healed below his ribs, and further in, the shard that had in the past week worked its way in. She would have to go in deep, in, and then if need be, up.



Ilyana Aethelwyne pulled her eyes from the two in the clearing, one wolf, one, she assumed, fae, to look at Tawny with her sudden shift of focus, the emotion and intention that she held combining into something strong enough to tickle along the hairs of Ilyana's skin. Figuring it would be for moments like this that she was asked to attend, she steels herself and pulls the tendrils of her glamour from their idle wandering until they brushed past the edge of Tawny's letting her own bob in and out to strengthen and supply the fae beside her unquestioningly and with lack of her own direction. She simply gave as another source to be manipulated and used in turn and once she felt the fading begin to set in, she too would start to channel from the Glade below.



Rie Trager: her eye seems to flicker as she adjusts and long breaths in and out are had. she does nothing as he struggles though the claws curl deep into the ground next to him. a soft whine, almost pleading is had to him, begging him to stop struggling because this whole ordeal was test enough. eventually one hand would curl to that right side, holding him in place and she'd lift her nose up to touch lightly at his face. it was delicate, a reminder of promises she'd made long ago and she'd maintain it as that heavy paw would find the shirt and rip it to shreds. she'd save his jacket, it protected him from the dirt beneath them, but she'd owe him a new shirt if they survived this. claws would trace along skin as she let him feel what she was going to do, trying to prepare him before she'd slice into him



Maddox Vance: Obeyed and stayed where he was.. When Storm lowered he too dropped into a laying position to try and relax somehow.. He was comforted by the way Storm seemed so direct and secure and he tried to feed off of that, though it was still greatly taxing for him to stay put..



Niyol Clawtooth: Storm would continue to almost meditate, his lips still moving in silent almost chanted prayers hoping it will somehow give strength to Rie as he fought to keep the link free and clear so she could focus. He'd need a nap after this.



Elise Capalini: She can only watch. All along, that has been her role. Lead him to his doom and watch him as he is torn apart. Again. Always. This time, it's like watching a piece of herself there on the ground. She watches the way those claws trace him, how like a lover so, and her fingers hold tight to the tree. She wills it to be over, yet it has hardly begun, and she barely feels the snow as it comes down, small flakes clinging to cheeks, vanishing into hair. Frozen water, as she is.



Kellett: Stock still, save for the wild flaring of his nostrils, a cheek pressed against snow. The other nosed only a second. He stares, wide eyed, lost in two moments as the tank muffledly tears into ribbons. Several claws slip over ribs that could be snapped into with teeth. He breathes fast. "Do it," he says ragged.



Tawny has lost focus of Kellett and Rie, her soul purpose now is to keep Pip safe, she's finished the weave and is holding it in place now, feeling the glamour from Ilyana she'd add that, although it's almost as she maneuvers it, sending it along her own a spiral down her own glamour, and pushing it actually into Pip if she would accept it, knowing it is time for her to gain back her strength for the aftermath of what is taking place here.



Rie Trager: the driving snow does not even register, any flakes that survived her heat disappeared into that black fur and she'd growl softly at his words. it's not an aggressive noise but more an awareness of his acceptance. for a moment there is only the coarse warm fur pressed as she feels for where the metal lies, the path it is taking and then the claws slide into flesh. she has moved ahead of it, seeking to create a new wound that will heal separately and cleanly. the fetish would come down then, helping to guide her, to hold steady as she opens him. her eye would be glowing brightly, clearing the darkness so she could find it. there is no pause now, she seeks, as gently as she can, for that metal, feeling for it to bite into her own flesh for grasping it with claws would create nothing but havoc



Niyol Clawtooth: Continues to meditate, trying to be a focal point and keep the link clear. He was worried that someone would call her through , and she'd fly into a rage. The strain tearing at him but he wouldnot let any of it show. His face was stoic, grim and determined. Only his lips moved on that calm totempole stoicism that were his features. Still saying and singin in his apache tongue prayers.



Elise Capalini: She sinks to her knees, quite suddenly, and whether at the sight of the wolf bearing him down, or the unexpected invasion of Ily's glamour courtesy of Tawny, she could not say. There is a soft breath had, but no other sound; she swallows the pain that comes -- you cannot feed until this is finished, little darkness, they had bid her -- and so that glamour pools cold against her own dark well of anger. For a moment, the wounds across her skin seem to burn, bruised handprint closing hard over her own heart once more. But those ties have been cut and she discovers she can yet breathe; she can hold the glamour and she can-- Moon and stars, she can See.



Ilyana Aethelwyne only continued to channel the glamour that swelled form the Glade below, mixing with Tawny's all that she did not need, though by this point she could also tell the direction it was being shifted and to whom and she stood there, leaving herself unfocused and steadied against anything that might cross over it along the way, releasing her own hold upon it the moment it would reach Pip.



Kellett is punctured like an awl, and the hoarse cry that opens his mouth into the chill air is accompanied by a stiff jerk when her finger sinks inward, guided by the strange glow that emanates from the werewolf's one eye. So long as the fetish's power did not directly engage what is housed in his flesh, her claw would probe yes and the thing, the shard that is cut from a dreaming madman's glamor will graze against her fingertip; it's startlingly warm and seems to pulsate toward the tip of her claw. She will have to push a little deeper...



Maddox Vance: Was very sensitive to people's moods and he could feel the stress and sorrow coming from Pip.. He slowly eased to his feet and turned to look back at Storm once more.. Just then the scent of fresh blood would fill the air around him and cause him to shake his muzzle slightly.. It hadn't kicked him into any form of aggression, it was just very potent and almost stunned him when he first caught it.. He gave Storm a look as if to tell him that he was just fine and still under control of himself.. He then turned back to look over at Pip once more, her sadness weighed on the pup and he finally began to slowly pad his way over to her at a very non-aggressive state, tail hanging low.. In his attempt to make it to her he would attempt to just walk by her and double back to nudge the side of her shoulder a little with his nose.. His eyes trying to convey that feeling of calm he had gotten from his lead to still remain as docile has he has been..



Rie Trager: there is a crow, floating lazily around her and Kellett. and he might even be able to hear its song. it is not a crow's voice that comes, it is haunting and otherworldly and is singing softly in gaelic. something stronger than Rie had come with her and someday she would tell him the story of it. it is the song and Storm's steady anchoring that fights off the blood lust. a whine comes then, sympathetic to his pain and her brow furrows as she feels it. her face turns from his briefly, pressing to where she can feel it and he would feel her breathe inward against his skin. she can smell that metal within and claws move towards it. her face would return to pressing against his throat, offering what comfort she can…and maybe holding him in place with more than just her body weight as she attempts to grip hold of that which eludes her and the singing changes briefly to what seems to be a question, her only answer a grunt before it continues



Niyol Clawtooth: He would keep meditating, knowing if he lapsed too much. He would lose his hold. He'd press his lips feeling rather see the pup move off... He could only make the gesture again of holding.



Elise Capalini: Though she can give him nothing in these moments, she never looks away. Fae and wolf in a sea of white have captured her, his cry as piercing as iron to her. The shape of his body in the snow and the grass, a shadow thing that someone once dreamed. What the Sight brings her now is grim at best though--far distant and dark, across waters none have yet tread. As had been done to her before, she pushes this imagery into a box, a box she can lock with an old key. A thing she will later visit, when the horror before them has all eased. Is the snow in the air melting? Blood and heat and a soft song she does not know--nor yet a wolf she knows. She looks into his vari-colored eyes and doesn't move when he nudges her. But at that touch, something in her dissolves, and her cheeks are wet with silent tears.



Kellett: The temperament of one born in a half moon-- it quells what would be overwhelming. And the claw serves as well as a knife to remove, to cut out. The changeling metal would silken itself suddenly around that nail. Not much time, she would need to withdraw with it while the shard is in her grasp. Another crashing bray issues from the gypsy's mouth, vibrating against that muzzle. His fingers clench dirt..



Tawny would continue to feed Pip glamour as long as she'd take it, the snow falling not affecting her at all, her fae form having a soft down along her skin that of her owl, she'd smell the metallic of the blood being spilled, but she remains focused then seeing the wolf moving over and near Pip.



Ilyana Aethelwyne could feel the storm set in around them. It was more than just the energy that hung around the air but the cold. She was not a friend to the cold and she began to wonder if the coat and mittens she chose to wear would be warm enough. Leaving what glamour she could as accessible if Tawny or Riona would require it, she began to pull into herself what she had left, pulling in from the reserves below to surround herself with the idea of sunshine and warmth - nothing physical or tangible, an idea alone but as she thought it so it would be for her, enough, she hoped to keep the reality of the chill at bay, letting herself half fall into a dream-like state, resolutely keeping her mind and senses far removed from the grueling scene happening in the clearing beyond their viel.



Rie Trager blows outward at him, warm breath washing and the paw lifts straight back, following the exact path that had gone into it. it would rend, what went in straight comes back curled and the wound would tear. it would burst into that supernatural heated space between them and the steam would rise as she held it away from him. there is no triumph felt as she looks at him then, there is a line and the blood soaked paw is pressing it. long frozen moments stretch then and she would bend her head, muzzle opening and heated breath blows out, crystalizing as it leaves that circle of heat, and she would close her mouth along that joint where neck and shoulder come together. he'd feel that prick of teeth along his skin but there is restraint and blood would not be drawn. she withdraws it slowly, nose finally pressed to the same spot and her left hand would move to cover the wound, that dark cloud of emotion around her as she uses his torn tank to stop the blood, right paw out and behind her, as far from him as she can



Maddox Vance: Had no way to directly communicate with the girl that had begun to cry, he flicked his ears back and then forward once more, angled towards her and the scene that was slowly unfolding before them.. He was struggling with thoughts beyond the feral impulses he had to react much in the way he would as a person.. He would attempt to plod in place a little and turn so that his shoulder could rest up next to her in another light nudge and then turned to look at her again and give a very soft whine much as he had earlier.. Clearly distressed as well, only not nearly to the extent that she was..





Niyol Clawtooth: Continues to do as he was doing unable to focus on much, but when he saw Rie succed in pulling the shard. He would move forward slowly and respectfully keeping his eyes low to her in that form, try to take the shard away from the pair, so she could calm further and maybe even shift out.



Elise Capalini: She takes the glamour from Tawny, but only holds it. She can be a lake, holding water before it spills every which way in rivers. She breathes out a low breath though, when the wolf rests up against her. She has never known them this close, wonders what this one means to do. But his whine conveys his distress and she nods, softly humming as if a song might calm the beast. She knows this words to this song, but does not sing them. Still, this was a song for a waterhorse, not a wolf. The humming stumbles as that shard is ripped from flesh. My fault, she thinks. All mine. But now...now, none would come ever again. She had made certain.



Kellett: There's a squelch, a loud sickening pop when she retracts what his body has held within itself for such a spell. The others would only catch a glimpse of it-- something gray and gleaming, molten seemingly around the werewolf's single digit. As soon as it is exposed to air, to this realm, it begins to singe and fizzle. A black crust immediately forms around. Storm may be able to pluck it in time, but it is an unknown thing. A sharp breath is had inwards, sudden and swift. He tries to move but finds himself pinned and caught in the throat. And the gypsy's eyes molt. They molt to a strange blue. "...Where?" he can only whisper as he tries to get his bearings.



Rie Trager does not react to Storm, there is a shrieking in her ears for a moment, the crow fetish flying up high. it would watch over her until she could break free and disappear. if Storm does not remove it from her form then she would flick it free and she watches those eyes shift to what she knows. a soft noise sounds then, not exactly a whine but more a cautioning to him. he was rent open in several places after all and she would remain there though her weight would shift so that if he insisted on rising he could, pressing the shirt to the hole she'd made in him, her single eye on him, silent now



Maddox Vance: Was somewhat calmed by her song, and mixed with the motions that Storm made to signal to him, made the wolf all the more relaxed.. He gave her another smaller brush with his shoulder as if in thanks to her small hum.. His attention flitted back to Storm when he stepped forward and he neared the scene by a few paces, though not plodding directly towards them, more towards Storm's back, and made his way slowly around it to take his place at his instructor's side to keep it covered, watching the scene intently as he wondered over what had just happened..



Niyol Clawtooth: It was easier for him to keep his focus when his perception wasn't split in two directions. There was sweat upon his brow at the strain, but hewould ot give in to it. His lips still moving swiftly as if to keep himself grounded. Though as time wore on, his form began to hate him....



Elise Capalini: The glamour which rolls off the shard is vile; even at this distance, she recoils from it, though part of her wants to reach, wants to spill glamour from fingertips. Her fingers curl around long stalks of white but they don't seem to bend under her touch. There is a moment's regret when the wolf moves away, but only then does she breathe. Only when the wolf has gone can she let a black ribbon of glamour bleed through the grass, toward the injured fae. Her silent thanks go to the beast nearby, though upon the bridge they had been refused. There was no way to repay this debt, she knew.



Tawny feels drained and begins to pull back from her hold on the shield she built around Pop, it would stay in place for another 10 to 15 min before the glamour would dissipate and be no more, once the connection is lost she'd sink slowly to the ground quiet, watching the glamour from the glade slowly seeping back into her. Feeling the shard she'd frown staring at it a moment or two wondering, that little bit is what this is all for, it must be a great thing indeed.



Kellett: Something long and thin wriggles through the ether along the ground, something that's tugged and then drunk from unseen except by those who know. A smile is had, a weak one. One might think him in a drunken haze then. He doesn't move, not quite yet. The crusted black is sequestered by Storm, where later, it might be observed possibly. He gazes down, seeing where he bleeds and would start to ease himself up. He watches the werewolf with a degree of intentness.



Ilyana Aethelwyne quietly stood in a soft swaying motion, feeling things close to and end of sorts, although these things never truly seemed to find an end. The glamour from the shard was like a blast of chill ice across her the center of her balance and she pulled herself from that half-dreaming state with an intense feeling of vertigo. Quickly, she snapped the last tendrils of her glamour back into herself, opting to give up the faux warmth she had devised for the sheild she needed. There was a worn feeling about her now but it was something that would only be gone once the emotions and intentions and energy of those nearby were far from her. "Is it done?" she whispered to Tawny, looking at the girl where she sat on the ground. "Is there more?" Her eyes moved to where Pip had fallen from her view, assuming she hid perhaps in glamour or perhaps in weeds.



Rie Trager: she withdraws gently from Storm, she needed her own mind and her own dark world then and she knew it was wearying for Storm. simple gratitude fills him, warmth offered to ease the pain and then she'd be just that connection in the back of his mind as she always was. her world was rapidly pinpointing, withdrawing in a way that did not compare even to what she had when Storm had been angry with her. the link itself dark and dim and so was that eye fixed onto Kellett. as he moves she leans back, sinking onto her haunches and she lets her head drop. it is not submission but her gathering herself for what else she has before her and he would find himself easily free of her



Maddox Vance: Noticed the small thing that had caused this meet and the violence it involved and snorted as if to himself and turned back to Storm and looked between him and Rie, unsure of what the next move would be.. Though he also worried deep within his mind.. He could shift back into his human form, couldn't he? He had loved this new feeling and had avoided the usual violent fit that most were's had to deal with during their first shift with the help of the Alpha that had also assisted the fallen man, which was why he wasn't covered in the blood of a fresh kill and instead rather lighthearted about what it was to be whole, as they called it.. But still that apprehension of still needing to complete the shift, and lacking the knowledge of how his two superiors had seen his actions would be readable on his body language..



Niyol Clawtooth: When Rie pulls away ... his hand wouldcome up sharply to his temples rubbing, gently. waiting or theall clear, so he could shift and they could leave the fae to their kin. He would turn slowly, watching th pup, now that his eyes were his own. "Its alright. We'll go back in a minute." He'd turn back to Rie. He wasn't abut to eave her alone with the fae. No sir.



Elise Capalini: She holds her place by the dark of the tree, nearly rooted. She half expects the beast to carry him off, remembering her words upon the bridge. When he drinks of the glamour, it is a small relief, but she has no idea what he may yet need. She comes to her feet slowly, still silent in the winter grass. Black skirts whisper over bare feet. "There's no happily ever after to this story," she says at long last, wondering if he will even remember the fiction that got him up here. "But time to rest in glamour-soaked waters...maybe that for a time."



Kellett manages to get his feet under, one hand now clutching his side with what's left of the bloodied shirt. Hollow blue eyes stare at the werewolf before he leans forward to an ear. His mouth moves for a few moments, then still. The drifter seems to pay the snow little mind. "You have," he husks to the others gathered near Rie, "my thanks." When Pip's voice reaches him from behind, he tries to stand but likely would need assistance. And his brow furrows. "And who said there ever was?" he murmurs. "Rest though, for all. When it is time."



Rie Trager: she would not move beyond a light ear pricking as he speaks to her. she doesn't react for a long moment but there's an abrupt shifting of her weight and she moves away from him. she pauses at the two wolves waiting for her. her unblooodied paw comes up to touch Maddox lightly before she gestures to Storm, indicating he and Maddox should go. she had her own things to do, a cool breeze seeming to follow her and she'd begin moving again. she was heading for the falls, she would simply go over the edge, shifting in air and the fetish would strike the water before her, both disappearing into the Umbra. she would not be able to felt or found until the next morning.



Tawny looks over her shoulder at Ilyana, and nods, "It is done for now. You have my thanks." and would turn keeping watch seated on the frozen earth her pants soaking quickly but her skin doesn't feel it yet. Not watching to see if Ilyana makes her way back down the hill behind them.


Ilyana Aethelwyne nodded her head at Tawny's words and takes them as an end of things for this affair. "Until again," she murmured - a few words from a dream - and then DID turn to begin down the hill. This was not truly her affair. She knew already that Pip held tightly to her secrets, and Ilyana was New Girl still. There would be easier breathing and easier comfort for the two to be found if she was not there to oppress upon it. There was also much in the clearing that was taxing to her and much she had need to distance herself from. Now would be the time for distance; soaking up glamour every step of the way until her feet were no longer walking along the outside rim of the Glade. Tomorrow was another day and it would be her day to soothe herself in the comfort there. For now, she wished mostly to get indoors away from the cold that threatened to seep into her bones.