The Adventures of the Coalblack Wolves

[Ladorak]

OOC: Just to check, you ok skipping to the midnight scene?

[Bennosuke]

OOC: Sure. My only other thoughts were to either check up on the Trainstation Locus and make sure it's looking healthy, and then maybe to reach over and see if Forest Hunter can't find and maybe interact with Swansea Jack.

[Ladorak]

Midnight, the moon hides her face behind the wall of cloud that stretches from one horizon to the other. Denied her pure light, the area is bathed in the sickly orange glow of Street light.
Hunter and Warden have already thoroughly scouted the area and are satisfied no hidden surprises await. She suspects Kingsguard lurks nearby although she has not caught his scent, it was often his way to stalk the distant perimeter of such meetings.
The two sit patiently in the car park of yet another pub between the boundary of the two packs. It's cold but they have the windows down, alert to the ever shifting sounds and smells of urban life. They smell Blitzclaw before they see him.
He looks like a stereotype of a Blood Talon Alpha. The one man in any group of a hundred that the average person would look to avoid. Big, imposing and perpetually scowling.
Warden stops to take a deep breath before he gets out of the car with a painfully false smile plastered across his face. 'Always good to see you Blitzclaw.'
Blitzclaw made a show of sniffing the air 'I smell bull****'
Warden growled in irritation 'Have it's your way. Last night I cleaned up your mess, again. You know that, but you don't know how much I know. Tell him what you saw today Forest Hunter.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunters eyes narrow, the small hairs on her arms prickling as she meets Blitzclaw's gaze. It was a bold move to behave so, but it would not do to appear weak at this moment. "The dead men," Forest Hunter starts, her voice stern, "they were Wolf Blooded, weren't they?" She scowls, stifling the urge to growl as she finishes this sentence. Then in a low voice, her human tongue struggling with the First Tongue she says, "Imru Nu Fir Imru (The People do not Murder The People."

[Ladorak]

Blitzclaw locks eyes with Hunter, a deadly silence passes between them,a few seconds that seemed like an eternity and felt as if it would break out into violence at any time. Finally he grinds out a question between gritted teeth'Don't you preach to me whelp, what were you doing in my territory?'
Before Hunter can answer Warden interrupts, swiftly shifting to stand between the two 'What I asked her to do. I spent most of last night covering your tracks, and as I've been telling you since the 90s getting favours out of the police hasn't been easy since the that woman Chief Constable cleaned house. You think it was easy convincing a dozen professional investigators to... It doesn't matter. I didn't decide this was Protectorate business, you made it Protectorate business when you let this happen.'
Despite Warden's long speech Blitzclaw's eyes never leave Hunter's 'You don't get to go poking around my turf because we upset your friends in blue. I catch her, or any of yours, on my turf it'll be bloody. And don't you give me that Protectorate ****, the only reason you're still Alpha of the Swansea branch is no one has the heart to take it from you. The Coalblack Wolves haven't been the Alpha pack since you broke them in the 90s.'
Warden snarls, clearly struggling to control himself 'The Protectorate is a collective. What do you think the other packs will say if Hunter tells them what she told me? I'm hardly the only Alpha you've pissed off over the years. You owe me some answers.'
Blitzclaw finally looks away from Hunter to fix Hills Warden with the same steely gaze 'One of them was wolfblooded, Max. I told them to stop him leaving any way they could, we couldn't have him running off to London with his fancy lady with all that he knew. They... misunderstood what I meant. They are being dealt with. You stay out of it.' That last part sounded more threat then command or request.
The silence stretches out again. This time Warden breaks it 'Without the Oaths we Forsaken are no better than the Pure. I trust you will be harsh.' Blitzclaw answers with a wordless nod 'Then I think we are done here.' Warden finishes, but the way he turned his back on the Scar-Brand Alpha to regard Hunter made her think there was something he wanted her to say.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter knew her place; she knew better than to get between these two Alphas, or even better than to get to aggressive with Blitzclaw. In some respect, he was right about her snooping on their territory, though it was nothing she felt guilty about.

That said, Forest Hunter would not back down. She maintained eye contact with the powerful Uratha to the best of her ability, keeping her expression a placid mask of tranquility. Only when the the exchange was all over, and Hill Warden turned to her did Forest Hunter allow a small half-smile. "I apologize for sneaking through your territory," Forest Hunter said impassionately, "though I was only doing what was asked.... however, you may want to consider training your pups for better surveillance, it was a little too easy." Without waiting for a response, Forest Hunter turned to join Hill Warden in their departure.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Not sure if Hill Warden was looking for her to apologize, but there we go.

[Ladorak]

Warden said only one thing on the ride back 'you did good kid, didn't give the bastard an inch. Didn't need to apologize but that's on me.
'I can't wait for my bed tonight.' After that he lapses into his customary silence, turning on the radio mask the quiet.

********

Hunter too sleeps well, when she wakes she can hear Ignatius and Fisher talking in the kitchen. The voices are quiet and friendly, the comfortable sounds of home. It seems all is at ease, now might be a good time to ask about Jack before the next crisis.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter quickly changed her shirt, switching from a black T to a light grey tank that hopefully didn't smell quiet as bad. Then she slinked down the stairs, avoiding the spots where the stairs were most creaky and moving noiselessly into the kitchen (though her scent still likely gave her away).

Forest Hunter grinned, giving her pack mates a silent 'good morning', and helping herself to a cup of coffee that Iggy had reliably managed to burn. Then the Irraka settled herself in a folding chair that was parked at the round table the two were sitting at, and took a long loud slurp of coffee. Placing the now half empty mug down, Forest Hunter's eyes darted from Black Ice to Fisher and said, "Sorry to interrupt... and thank you for the coffee. "

She gave each Uratha a moment to speak before saying, "I have a question about a Spirit I ran into recently... a big dog-thing, I think it's the one you called Swansea Jack? I ran into it yesterday... on our territory... and it was acting a little strange. It seemed to be following and guarding a human."

[Ladorak]

Iggy snorted when Hunter apologised for disturbing them but he said nothing. Instead he went about making Hunter breakfast with a small secretive grin on his face. Fisher answered with a small nod 'Morning Hunter, you look like you slept well. Must have earnt it, Warden was raving about you yesterday. He said like three nice things about you, and you know how high praise that is coming from him.'

He didn't stop wolfing down his food as Hunter asked for question, but at least he refrained for his answer 'You don't need to worry about that. Guarding isn't quite what he does but you're close. Jack's one of the good Spirits, not in a harmony way, good the way a human would see it. He saves the drowning, sometimes literally but mostly that means people in anguish who go out by the sea. I don't really know how he does it, he doesn't Reach as a Spirit normally would, I've seen it, he doesn't disturb the Gauntlet at all. But he sits down next to them and after a while they just... feel better.' He shrugged and went back to his meal, apparently unable to think of anything to add.

A few moments later Iggy set down Hunter's breakfast and presented her with knife and fork. He waited for her to start eating with a pointed look before he asked a question, speaking softly as he usually did 'How did it go last night? We've not heard from Warden. I mean we know it didn't go terribly because we haven't heard from Warden, but we'd like to know a bit more than that.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter nodded with deep interest in Fisher's remarks about the guardian spirit. Honestly, she struggled to understand everything he was saying, or at least how all this knowledge came so easily for him, but she was thankful it did. "Thank you Fisher," she said, still shaking her head furiously in feigned comprehension.

When Iggy placed the plate of food in front of her, Forest Hunter took her first bite then wrinkled her nose and said, "How much salt did you put in these eggs?" She resisted the urge to spit out the ocean flavored eggs. Instead, she satisfied herself with tearing into the sausage on the plate, wolfing the food down lustily.

'How did it go last night? We've not heard from Warden. I mean we know it didn't go terribly because we haven't heard from Warden, but we'd like to know a bit more than that.'

Forest Hunter grins, a sly coy look playing in her narrowed brown eyes. "My, aren't we nosy," she says playfully. She swallows down another bite of sausage, wipes her mouth with a paper napkin, and says, "It was fine I guess. That Blitzclaw is a bit of an ******* though. You know what's going on, right?" She asks this last part as a probe. Forest Hunter wasn't sure how much the others knew about what she had discovered, and if Warden hadn't told them, she probably shouldn't.

[Ladorak]

Black Ice opened his mouth to answer, but Fisher beat him to it 'Not really. Idiot Blood Talons killed someone they shouldn't have... again. You had a meeting with Blitzclaw last night, we only know that because Warden had us on call if you guys didn't report back.'
'Yes,' Interrupted Black Ice drily 'We were going to paint the town red if you two didn't come back.' Wordlessly he took Fisher's plate and took it to the sink, with his back to them he added 'It's frustrating, to know people you care about are risking their lives, but not knowing why.'
Fisher shot a helpless look at his packmate's back 'We all have our secrets Iggy, sometimes we stumble over our friend's secrets, when we do the... right thing to do... is to trust your friend is keeping secrets for a reason, not to dig into things that were hidden from you for good reason.' His eyes turned from Iggy's back to bore into Hunter's skull 'That said... We do care about you Hunter, and it is frustrating to know you're in danger without knowing why.'

[Bennosuke]

Hunter shrugs, but gives her friends a wry smile (even if Iggy still had his back turned). "That's very kind of you," she says sincerely, "but I'm just a small fry. I only figure that if the boss wanted you to know, he would have told you himself... and if he didn't..." She lets the implication hang in the room for a moment before adding, "That's fair, isn't it?", speaking loud enough so that Black Ice can't mope his way through pretending not to hear.

She looks down at her half eaten plate, the over-salted eggs already turning cold and hard. Plate in hand, Forest Hunter rises and empties the rest of the food in the stained black plastic trashcan by the counter. She then approaches Iggy, handing him the empty plate and dirty silverware. She places a calculated hand on the swell of his upper arm and says, "Thank you for your concern though."

She breaks contact, and turning back towards Fisher says, "But I think we all better be a little more careful now. I really didn't like the way Blitzclaw was. He strikes me as the vengeful sort. I'll be sure to pull a few extra hours of patrolling from now on. By the way, anything I missed while I was gone?"

[Ladorak]

'Not really. Until we got called in we were patrolling the Slaglands with Breaker.' He let out a sigh 'Still a lot of work to be done there, but nothing remarkable. Hunter knew exactly what he meant, these days the Slaglands were stable but bringing them back to true harmony would be the work of several lifetimes.
'You're right about Blitzclaw,' added Iggy 'We should double up on patrols the next few days, and I'll help you keep an eye on the wolfbloods.' From there the conversation turned to something like gossip, each Uratha telling the others what they knew of the wolfblood's lives, sharing stories of their extended family's successes and achievements. Little Alan was no longer being bullied after Breaker put in a surprisingly diplomatic word, Alice was going to Law School come September, James was in love although the pack doubted Warden would give his permission to wed the human girl. The relaxed atmosphere is shattered around half an hour later, broken by a blood-chilling roar the pack knew all too well. Hills Warden didn't make that kind of sound unless he was furious, the three Uratha share a look like naughty children dreading their parent's return.

The front door cracked open, Warden had a copy of the key of course, in even but strained tones he said 'Forest-Hunter, I've got another job for you.'

[Bennosuke]

The Irraka rises quickly from her place at the table, practically helpless against the instinctive obedience that she owes her Alpha. "Of course," she says snappily, "just tell me what you need."

[Ladorak]

He came up the stairs slowly, his movements were very deliberate. Hunter recognises this habit instantly, this exaggerated carefulness meant her Alpha was fighting off the Black Beast. The others back up slightly as he comes into the room and slightly bow their heads. Warden says nothing, he throws the morning paper onto the table.

Grisly Murders are tip of the iceberg, our secret source reveals

A new picture of the murder features prominently, again with distorted images to soften the worst of the carnage. Once again the article is authored by Ceri Williams, who reports the Scars, notorious gang known in Penlan, accused of many drug and violence offences, are no mere criminal syndicate. They are in fact some bizarre cult, worshipping the Great Father Wolf. The victims of the murders reported yesterday were killed by some sort of captive wild animals for wanting to leave this cult. Even Hunter, who knows this to be dangerously close to the truth, thinks the whole thing sounds ridiculous, surely no one would believe it? Worryingly however Ceri lists over a dozen known affiliates or members of the cult. The article is fairly short, but again it closed promising further details tomorrow.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter picks the paper up and quickly skims it, noting down all key details that she can. Then she drops it back on the table, so that her packmates can read it, even if it was now like the scraps left for the weakest pups.

She sighs and says sternly, "This Ceri need to be quieted or just investigated?"

[Ladorak]

Black-Ice and Fisher pounce on the paper very much like pups pouncing on scraps. He had waited patiently, but now Hunter had asked a question Warden was back in action once more, pacing the kitchen as if he expected enemies to come pouring out of the cupboards. The Alpha ground out a curt answer between clenched teeth 'Up to you. It'll give her story a lot more credibility if she goes missing, but she can't be allowed to reveal anything else. I have to speak to all the other packs about this and that's not going to leave much time in the day. I trust you Forest-Hunter, you decide what needs to be done.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter stifles her from. She can feel her muscles tensing as if rejecting the words that are about to come out of her mouth. So she rushes through the words as she says, "Are you sure you don't want Silver Gut to go instead? He's the Cahalith with the silk tongue. I can try to dig some dirt up on her, but I've never been one for quick talking or persuasion."

As if to head of the admonishment before her Alpha can strike a blow, Forest Hunter quickly says, "But if you have any possible leads, I will do my best to find something that can be used to blackmail this Ceri Williams."

[Ladorak]

The side of Warden's mouth twitched, to a human it would have seemed little more than a nervous tick, to an Uratha it spoke louder than a shout 'If I wanted a charmer I'd have asked a charmer. I want a hunter, Forest-Hunter.' He stared her down, an uncomfortable silence stretched out before he modified the harshness of his statement, slightly 'I need Guts with me. You too Fisher, I need you to reach out to the Seven Sisters.'

Iggy cleared his throat 'May I assist, at least? Kingguard can stand my place in any meetings you have, he is the senior Half-moon after all.'

Warden's eyes narrow, he looks from Hunter to Black Ice, seeking some invisible connection or trying to confirm some secret suspicion. There is none of that in his voice though 'Yes, I can spare you Black-Ice, for now. One last thing, I want to be clear before I send you on your merry way; It would be better if Ceri is silenced without being murdered, however if that is the only way I will not be disappointed if she disappears.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter does her best to hide the sudden rush of adrenaline pushed into her veins by the Alpha's displeasure. There would likely be no straight way to salvage the damage, so instead she simply says, "I understand Warden, and will do my best."

She offers a quick thank you to Iggy, for his offering to help. Then she adds, only loud enough for the Elodath to hear, "If you think you can keep up." She lets only the slightest of grins spread across her lips.

Then before Iggy can respond, Forest Hunter turns her attention back to the pack alpha. "Is there anything else I can do?" she asks dutifully.

[Ladorak]

'No.' Another lingering look 'Be about your business, that goes for all of you.' He leaves without saying anything further.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter revels in the moment after Hill Warden's exit. She feels her muscles immediately relaxing, but suppresses the urge to sigh. After the moment has passed, she turns to Iggy and says, "Well then, are you about ready to go? I'm just gonna wash down that sad excuse for a breakfast with a little more coffee and I'll be ready to head out."

[Ladorak]

A simple Google search revealed two locations for the Evening Post, for want of any concrete leads the two Uratha start their search there.

The nearer location is on High Street in the Pack's territory, but when they arrive they find the lobby almost crawling with police, despite Warden's connections the two wordlessly agree it looks more trouble than it's worth. They move on to the second location.

The first office was obviously the front facing part of the organisation, while it was small it was clean, tastefully decorated, well-lit and in very good repair compared to it's surroundings. The second office, in stark contrast, looks deserted and unloved. The building is huge, three stories high and roughly 100 meters long. The front door is locked and through it they can see a heavy layer of dust on the lobby's carpet. The exterior of the building is no better, in poor repair and with dozens of patches of peeling or chipped paint. It certainly doesn't look like a place of business, or at least not one that had been in business recently.

However a quick glance into the Hisil suggests otherwise, there is far too much Spirit activity here for the building to be abandoned. Several dozen Conceptual and Artificial Spirits lurk seemingly sure of their next meal.

Black Ice frowned 'I need to make a few phone calls. Have a quick scout around, see if you can find us a way in without breaking anything.'

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter rolls her eyes at Black Ice as he goes, and calls after him, "What happened to your cellphone?"

Once he is gone, Hunter sighs and begins to make her way round the side of the building Best bet would be to find a fire escape, and hope it was well maintained enough to not make too much noise on the climb up. If it looked safe and quiet enough, her best bet would likely be to find an unlocked window on the way up, or to make her way to the roof.

She would just have to get more inventive if the fire escape wasn't in adequate repair, or looked to rusted to safely and quietly ascend.

[Ladorak]

'Cheeky,' Iggy called back to her, fishing around in his pocket 'Confidentiality. I do you the same courtesy, of course.'

The fire escape is indeed too dilapidated to use, dark brown rust covers all three stores of the iron steps and several pieces have already fallen away. However Hunter has more luck at the other side of the building, a single metal fire door in good repair. The pavement outside is littered with discarded cigarette butts, from inside she can hear the low thrumming of machinery.

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter moves as quietly as she can to the door. She places her ear to the door to see if she can hear voices or movement on the other side. A single hand goes to the handle or latch and just barely tests the latch to see if it's unlocked. She makes no attempt to open the door if it is unlocked, but she tests it to make sure she won't have to try to pick the lock, a skill she unfortunately lacks.

[Ladorak]

The firedoor is of the type that can only be opened from one side, there is no latch or handle for Hunter to try. When she presses her ear to the cool steel she can hear the hum of the machine more clearly. There are two sounds, one subtly underlying the other. Beneath the familiar roar of an engine there is a rhythmic sound she cannot identify, a very rapid slapping or scuffing sound. She can hear two men talking, yelling to each other over the racket, but even her keen ears cannot make out any individual word.

[Bennosuke]

Judging by the field of discarded cigarettes, Forest Hunter supposed she could camp out here and wait for someone to take their smoke break. But she wasn't sure she wanted to wait forever, so she was going to have to keep looking.

Forest Hunter will look for anything that may allow her access into the building.

(OOC: Not sure if you would prefer a Perception roll (5d10 pool for Forest), or something like Wits + Investigation (4d10). Will roll 5d10 and let you decide what is more appropriate. (5d10)[4][10][4][4][6](28) and 10 again (5d10)[1][6][4][4][1](16))

[Ladorak]

On completing a second circuit of the building Hunter came no closer to another quiet entrance, she could break a window at the back of the building as it was very much quieter than the front, or risk the fire escape to a broken window on the second floor.
Then, just as she gave up hope of a better solution, she spotted one. She had been so focused on the building she had missed what was under her feet. At the back of the building she finds a large set of stainless steel cellar doors built into the pavement, far larger then the type used by pubs. Inspecting them further she finds that, although heavy, these doors are not fixed in place.
Black Ice comes trotting up as she finishes her investigation 'This might be a dead end. Apparently they only use this place for printing now, everything else is done from the other office. I'm told the company that installed the printing machinery went bankrupt, and now no company will take the thing apart, so they had to kept this building, probably explains why it's falling apart.' He adds the last frowning in disapproval at the building 'Anyway it doesn't sound like a journalist would ever come down here

Spoiler

Show

Strength+ Athletics please if you want to try the cellar doors

[Bennosuke]

Forest Hunter shrugs, and instead of responding to Iggy, shifts into Dalu form. A fine layer of thin lacy black fur sprouts from her flesh as she grows nearly a foot and a half in size. She then moves over to the cellar door, and puts her back into trying to pry it open.

Spoiler: Rolls

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In dalu form that's 5d10 I believe: (5d10)[2][1][7][9][3](22) and 10 again (5d10)[8][4][8][2][4](26)

EDIT: I count on shiny success with that.