cathedral.

Rafaël

Once again wolf finds himself without a car. Which means Avery drives. Wolf rides shotgun, bundled up in that battered motorcycle jacket; insulated gloves. Jeans, boots. A plain wool scarf worn and washed (poorly) so many times it's bunched and pilled up.

Warder caught him on the way out of the building. Called him over. Introduced him to the shining blonde specimen who he knew by reputation alone. Silver Fang, that one, through and through. Tribesmate but little enough else in common, he thinks. Warder sent them out together. Off to the rough side of town where the scouts sniffed out some funny business.

Something about the cathedral there. No; not the cathedral itself; its rooftops. Strange figures, noises in the night. Last week a body found on the pavement, every bone pulverized. Something unnatural about it, scout said. Couldn't pin it down, couldn't even verbalize it, but that scout's been around for years. Warder trusts his word.

So here they are. Driving out. Investigating. Wolf in the passenger seat staring out the window, quiet and beating with rage even on this new-moon night. They're three blocks away. Red light glows through the windshield.

Radiant

Avery is sitting in her office after dark. She's listening to a streaming broadcast of the game from her laptop while she types up a report on a recent challenge. A Glass Walker gave a recent 'lunch and learn' about sept documentation and record-keeping recently that was eye-opening. The Glass Walker did not mention that report-writing is boring.

Warder walked by and said hello, paused, came back, and asked about the game. Then asked what she was getting up to that night. And then sent her down East Colfax. Even gave her a spare Ahroun, since Son of Rage isn't around this evening.

So Avery set aside her report, turned off her laptop, and closed the shades and locked her door in order to change in her office into dedicated clothes. Thick leggings with a soft lining, a pair of mid-calf boots with sturdy laces and a couple of adorable little pockets on the sides, who does that on a shoe? She loves them. Wears one of her yoga tanks, T-strapped, but the jacket she zips on over it is a bit longer, a bit thicker, with a hood, though it still follows the line of her body like the summer wear. Avery changes from hoop earrings into pearl studs, ties up her hair into a long sleek ponytail, and then meets Rafael in the Warder's office.

Lovely woman. Gleaming smile, firm handshake. Ring on her third finger, left hand: beautiful ring, though not yet paired with a wedding band to match. Doesn't waste much time there. They go down to the dark, empty lobby and then into the night, across a street, into the parking garage where her white Juke is parked. It was washed yesterday, so it isn't completely covered in grime, but its tires and undercarriage are naturally a bit mussed with driving through snowmelt on dirty streets.

In the car she turns on the radio until she finds the Colts-Broncos game. Fourth quarter, 24-13 Colts. She tsks under her breath and lowers the volume, driving along towards Colfax. She's already gathered that Rafael is more the quiet type, so she doesn't try to engage him in too much conversation. She drives past the cathedral at first, then circles back around on a back-road. Doesn't park at the cathedral. Parks across the street, curbside. When she turns off the car it's suddenly silent. She breathes in deeply and then exhales.

Turns a bit to look at him.

"Before we go forward, I would like to clarify with you who shall be taking charge of this little expedition." She sounds so prim. So clear-spoken. So obviously angling for reminding him that she's the Fostern here. "Now," Avery goes on, "my inclination is to expect a spot of violence, given the pulverized corpse, and thus submit to your instruction. However, I have met more than one Ahroun without an iota of leadership quality, and I would not like to see us in shambles due to unclear expectations. If, for some reason, you would rather follow me, I will accept responsibility for both our safety and our success."

Rafaël

Wolf's door is open as soon as the engine dies. Seatbelt whisking back to the pulley, one boot out. Turns back when the half-moon speaks.

Stares a moment. Frowns.

"Usually work alone," he says. "Not much of a leader or a follower. Whatever you want."

Radiant

Her eyebrows, dark and well-kept, rise slightly. And then she smiles. "Well. You aren't working alone this time," which is obvious. More obvious than why she says it: a delicate and smiling way of saying good thing I asked. But her voice is warm, all the same, if a touch amused. She unbuckles her belt.

"I'll lead, then. If you'll follow."

Rafaël

"Yeah. Sure." And wolf pushes his door open wide.

Impressive cathedral, this. Nothing compared to the great stone edifices of Rome, Paris, Cologne, of course. Still: it towers white and gleaming over the otherwise shabby street, sandwiched between a burger joint on one side, a MickeyD's on the other. Spires, rose window, crosses and crucifixes; a stark contrast to the brick, the concrete, the dirty gutters and overcrowded trash cans all around it.

Doors of the cathedrals are closed. Even religion has hours nowadays. Could probably force their way in if they wanted to. Climb the walls. Break through the stained glass, if they were really desperate. Wolf stands at the bottom of the stairs, looking up the towering facade.

"We going in?"

Radiant

Not the most formal submission she's ever heard, but she'll take it.

Avery opens her door and tucks away her keys into a pocket of her jacket, zipping that pocket back up. She locks the car behind her and crosses the street with Rafael, side by side, hands in her coat pockets. Their breath steams ahead of them. She looks upward. Across the road at a Prohibition-themed bar they can hear the Sunday night crowd. Not cold enough to keep everyone indoors, not late enough that everyone is asleep.

She keeps an eye on Rafael, then gives a little nod. Jerks her head towards the side of the building. "This way," she says. The Cathedral has been in existence for over 210 years. The Pope held mass here twenty-odd years ago. It is one of only 29 minor basilicas in the United States. In the penumbra it is about as solid as it is in the realm. They can't just slip through the walls unless they really want to get stuck.

They can climb them, though. Out of the site of mortals.

"We'll cross over," she says, taking a small mirror out of her pocket. "And climb up. You look like an athletic fellow." Charming smile there. "If you haven't your own mirror, I'll do my best to drop mine for you when I feel myself cross."

She begins to stare. Not at him. Just the glass. Her own lovely, soft blue eyes.

Rafaël

Wolf shoots her a smirk. "No, I'm good."

Doesn't have a mirror. Finds a button on his jacket: small, gleaming, reflective. His image is distorted but it's there. He crosses.

--

Street is barren on the other side. Street itself is there, though not the way they left it. Shimmers and changes, now asphalt, now a rutted dirt track from a bygone era. Filters of sound from all the eras and memories: jazz, spanish hip-hop, strains of a waltz from back when Colfax was where the wealthy and the elite made their homes.

Through it all, this soaring cathedral. Solid, real, unassailable in the Umbra. Unblemished and gleaming here, cleaner and purer than it is in the realm. Aglow from within, charged with the power of a deity and a belief not part of the Garou cosmology.

A mar on the surface, though. Dark, oozing liquid dripping down those shining walls. Doesn't ever seep in. Can't quite penetrate the surface. But there nonetheless, flowing coldly, slowly down from the heights.

Radiant

They cross. Easily enough, given where they are: middle of the city, close to downtown, but this place feeds fifty thousand or more meals to the homeless and poor each year. The Pope stood here once. The people here, living in its shadow, feel its age and its importance even if they do not believe in its god. They believe in the building, and in Something. Enough of Something to thin the veil a tiny bit.

Enough for two werewolves who know just how much Christianity has warped the truths of sacrified sons and resurrected gods to slip through that veil. And, in the case of one of them, take a new shape. Avery shifts to crinos after Rafael comes through. She flows easily into that shape, tall and shining white, eyes blue as crystals, as ghosts of the Beat Generation drift down Colfax, writing about its wickedness. She thinks she hears horses and looks that way, quickly, remembering another time.

Taking a breath, and huffing it out like a wolf. Moon is so shining here. Moon touches them no matter what shadow they're hidden in. Moon recognizes them, and loves their refined beauty, their clear eyes. Not just Avery's. Rafael is one of the glorious ones, too. Even if he doesn't always feel like it. Luna recognizes him as such.

Avery lifts a massive handpaw, spreading long those fingers and resting it on the limestone. Left paw. There is a blemish on that hand -- no. Not a blemish. A mark, the fur looking as though perhaps it is dyed red, around her third finger. Not the shape of the radiant-cut diamond she wears in her mortal form, but the spirit of its giver, lingering in the dedication to her flesh.

She leans forward, sniffing the liquid dripping down, looking upward. Looks at Rafa, chuffs a breath out. Then pulls back her hand, curls her claws, and slams them into the stone, gripping hard to begin the climb.

Rafaël

Liquid smells foul. Smells salty, fetid, decomposed, organic. Unfrozen even in this cold night, it sludges slowly, slowly down to seep into the ground.

Beside the half-moon, wolf changes shape too. Subsumes that leather jacket and those motorcycle boots and all the rest of it into his skin. Grows taller, broader, hulking, huge. Fur as white as hers. Eyes yellow, though. Feral and glittering, full of animal cunning.

Half-moon doesn't have to command him. Wolf digs his claws into the side of the cathedral. Follows. Step by step, paw over paw. Flakes of stone fall, disappear before they hit the ground. The marks they leave behind them close quickly, healing in like wounds. Takes more than a couple werewolves to scar the spirit of this place.

That slow foul flow thickens as they gain altitude. Street drops below them. Plains and mountains stretch out to one side, to the other. Moon's light touches them, bathes them, elevates them. Seems to get easier to climb, the higher they get.

As they near the top, they grow aware of a sound. A low, deep, cyclic humming. Like machinery.

Radiant

Takes more than a couple werewolves to scar the spirit of this place.

That is exactly what Avery is thinking, as she climbs. As the marks they leave smooth over again. She does concentrate on not falling. She tries to think if she's ever smelled anything quite like that liquid or if it is truly new to her. She climbs. But when she has a moment, she thinks that this place has been overrun but that foulness. Takes more than a couple of werewolves.

So what is it?

The cathedral feels higher in the penumbra than it would in the realm. Denver seems very far away. Distance is distorted. She begins to hear a rumbling sound, and gives a quiet growl to herself, but does not stop climbing.

Not til they reach the roof.

Rafaël

[a percep+alert for rafael!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 5, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Radiant

[perception + alertness]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1

Radiant

[intelligence + enigmas]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (5, 5, 7, 9) ( success x 2 )

Rafaël

Activity at the top. Half-moon senses it when she's well shy of the roof. Full-moon a few feet after. Ears pin back when he does; instinctively crouches closer to the walls. Yellows eyes gleam as he looks to the Fostern.

Activity at the top: movement. Living(?) things. Something breathing slow and heavy and coarse. Smaller things moving about. Patrolling perhaps. Two at least. Maybe three.

And then there's that fluid. That strange, cold, organic fluid. Maybe half-moon has smelled it before. Something similar enough, anyway. Smells biologic. Smells infected. Smells like the pus in the wound; but something else too. Maybe she's been to a birth. Maybe she was in the room when her brother was brought into the world. Smells like that, a little. Gynecologic. Amniotic. But wrong.

Radiant

This is the moment when Avery decides that she will find the rites and learn them to temporarily share some kind of silent communication with at least one other wolf. Even if she has to step outside of her own tribe and auspice to do it. She will learn how.

For what she needs to tell Rafael, or confirm that he knows, is that there are creatures atop the cathedral. That something is being born. She does not doubt he can smell the wrongness of it, the infection, but she wonders if he knows that it signifies a birth. She wonders if he can feel the count.

Pauses, where they are climbing. Catches his attention, her muscles straining with her grip on the building. His eyes gleam toward her in the darkness. She points to the roof: holds up three fingers. Points to the roof again. Then she shows him her palm: stay. Wait.

He will be able to tell, when she closes her eyes and begins to concentrate, what to use that waiting time for.

[Luna's Armor! -1 G
Stamina + Survival]

Dice: 8 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

Radiant

[Also:

-1 WP: Resist Pain]

Radiant

[Also Ice Dance because Damon says there is spirit snow. -1G!]

Rafaël

Wolf's ears are back. Teeth are bared -- sheer tension, effort, anticipation. Muscles ripple under his pelt as half-moon signals to wait, but wait he does. Puts the time to use. Scrapes his claws down the side of the building. Once. Twice.

Three times,

too loudly,

and there's a sudden silence at the top. The deep breathing ceasing. The small noises halting. Wolf freezes, eyes fixed on the edge of the roof. Doesn't breathe either.

[-1Rage to Razor Claws!

-1Rage to City Running!

Rolling for BAD TINGS to see if they notice the noise.]

Dice: 4 d10 TN8 (2, 3, 3, 3) ( fail )

Rafaël

-- beats go by. Seconds long as eternities. And then

the breathing resumes. The dreadful stillness relents; small sounds at the top again. Scrabbling. Skittering.

Wolf focuses his spirit. Taps into the snow and ice that is Falcon's heritage.

[and -1Gn to Ice Dance!]

Radiant

Avery's eyes flare when he begins to scrape, but not until that third one. The silence up top. She holds her very breath. Her fur, seemingly lit from within by the moonlight itself, wafts slightly in the breeze. They wait.

The things above them begin to move again, but not toward the edge of the wall. Avery hesitates, then breathes again, quietly. Her tail, behind her, gifts a small swish. And when they are both prepared, Avery gestures upward. Locks her claws into the wall, and heaves herself upward, still in crinos. Lands there, hind feet braced, claws open to either side of herself, opening her maw and roaring.

Rafaël

They have no real means of communication. Can't talk. Can't bark. Can't speak into each other's minds.

Nothing but body language. What they read in one another's posture, eyes, ears, tail, fur. That electric stillness as both of them wait, bated-breath. That tension in the half-moon's body as she gathers herself,

leaps.

Full-moon's right behind her. All the immensity of his strength detonating at once, made supernaturally dexterous by his gift. Avery leaps; wolf runs up those last few yards, takes the edge of the roof in a great bound, lands beside the half-moon snapping for the first foe he sees.

--

Moon-dazzled top of the cathedral. Twin spires still soaring above them, snow collected in the crevices and the cracks. Fresh winter snow deep across the shallowly sloped roof. Scarred, though. Melted away in rivulets and streams, burnt away by that foul fluid pouring down the sides.

And there on the spine of the cathedral where the two slanted sides of the roof meet: a hideous hybrid creature crouching over her brood. Neither human nor arachnid, but some meld of both: naked white skin here, shining black carapace there. Entirely too many legs with entirely too many joints, bristling with black, spiny hair. A great gravid abdomen. An empty, expressionless, human face. Eight eyes, bulbous and curving and lightlessly black.

Ova around her. Some ruptured, spilling that rotten black liquid. Some still unhatched. Shadows inside, jerking and twitching fitfully now and again. Some with the shape of men. Others mutated, changing, twisting into something else.

Attending to those eggs, the smaller creatures Avery heard. Lean dark shadows of the mother they cluster around. Turning to face the wolves as they leap onto the roof; staring with their eight black eyes. Mouths dropping far, far too open to bare rows of translucent needle-teeth.

Behind them, the mother-creature stirs. Raises herself ponderously and deliberately on her many legs. Faces the wolves. And spits venom like a cobra.

Radiant

Seeing what she sees, Avery's roar takes on a horrified tone to its rage. She sounds almost offended by what she sees, if such a prissy word can be applied to what Avery feels. What Avery sounds like, looking at this. On a gem of Denver's architectural history, no less.

The shape of the creature's face and some of its offspring is human, but there is no humanity there. Avery senses it. And she wells up with rage for it, with judgement, with that... offense to the body and spirit of Gaia, that rebellion against the moon's purity shining down on them.

It rises, and it spits venom toward them. Avery opens her maw and roars in defiance, in fury, in threat of what will be these monster's bloody undoing.

[-1 WP: Fangs of Judgement
-1 R: Eagle's Beak]

Rafael

[let's roll inits!]

Radiant

[Init + 9]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (8) ( success x 1 )

Rafael

[rafael +8]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (1) ( botch x 1 )

Rafael

[spiderwoman +10]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (8) ( success x 1 )

Rafael

[spiderling 1 +6]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (1) ( botch x 1 )

Rafael

[2 +6]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (3) ( fail )

Rafael

[3 +6]

Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )

Rafael

[order of actions:

spiderwoman

avery

spider #3

rafael

spider #2

spider #1]

Rafael

[spider #1:

1a) skitter

b) BITE avery!

spider #2:

1a) skitter

b) BITE rafael!

rafael:

1a) grab spider #2!

b) toss it off the roof!

R1) claw spider #1 (unless spider #2 is still there; then claw it)

R2) claw again!

spider #3:

1a) skitter!

b) BITE RAFAEL!]

Radiant

[Reflexive: "The mother! Before she lays more eggs!"

1a.

1b. - much biting of spider-woman.

R1. let's try to rip her head off! with teefs!]

Rafael

[spiderwoman:

1) VENOMOUS SPEW! area-of-effect.

R1) skewer avery!

R2) twice!

R3) skewer rafael too!]

Rafael

[SPEWWWW. reflexive dex+ath to dodge!]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 6 )

Rafael

[dodge!]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Radiant

[dex + ath! - 2 diff cuz ice dance]

Dice: 7 d10 TN4 (1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )

Rafael

[dam for rafa +1]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[soak!]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9) ( success x 4 )

Rafael

[dam for avery +3]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )

Radiant

[soak! +3 from LA]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 5 )

Radiant

[1a. dex + brawl -2 (split) / diff -2]

Dice: 5 d10 TN3 (1, 3, 5, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 6 ) Re-rolls: 2

Radiant

[damage! str + FoJ + EB + suxx -1]

Dice: 15 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 7 )

Rafael

[OW]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 8, 9) ( success x 2 )

Radiant

[1b. dex + brawl -3 (split) / diff -2]

Dice: 4 d10 TN3 (2, 6, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )

Radiant

[damage! str + foj + eb + suxx -1]

Dice: 12 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[ow!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )

Rafael

[spider #3: skitterBITE rafa! -3]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[dmg +2]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )

Rafael

[soak!]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )

Rafael

[Rafael: GROWLS, CHANGES ACTION! 1a) claw spiderwoman]

Dice: 9 d10 TN4 (1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 9, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 8 ) Re-rolls: 1

Rafael

[dam +7]

Dice: 18 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 9 )

Rafael

[soak!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 6, 6, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 6 )

Rafael

[crap, i didn't take +1 diff, -2 dice for that. FORFEITING 1b]

Rafael

[spider #2: biting rafael again! -3 dice]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[dmg+2!]

Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5) ( botch x 1 )

Rafael

[spider #3: biting avery! -3 dice]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 6, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 4 )

Rafael

[dam +3!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9) ( success x 6 )

Radiant

[soak!]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 8, 10) ( success x 4 )

Rafael

[Spiderwoman R1: SKEWER AVERY]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[dam+2]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Radiant

[soak!!!]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9) ( success x 6 )

Radiant

[R1!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN3 (3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 9) ( success x 7 )

Radiant

[dmg!]

Dice: 17 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8) ( success x 6 )

Rafael

[soak!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 4 )

Rafael

[Rafa R1: CLAW!]

Dice: 9 d10 TN4 (1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 8 ) Re-rolls: 2

Rafael

[dam+7]

Dice: 18 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 7 )

Rafael

[soak!]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )

Rafael

[x_x]

Rafael

[rafa has 1 rage action left, which he will use to kick spider #1 off the roof. 5+ succ required, otherwise it's just a kick]

Dice: 9 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 5 ) Re-rolls: 2

Rafael

[spider #1: WHEEEEEeeeeeee....splat.]

Rafael

[summary in init order:

Spiderwoman x_x

Avery -2A

Spider 3 OK

Rafael -2A

Spider 2 OK

Spider 1 x_x]

Rafael

[+2 rage to all.

spider 2: ENTANGLING WEB

rafael: 1a) bite spider 2! b) claw! R1) CLAW! R2) CLAW!

spider 3: 1a) paralyzing poison on avery! b) and a bite on rafael!]

Radiant

\o//

that is a spider flat on its back with legs in the air. because it is dead.

Radiant

[1a.

1b

R1.

R2. -- SPIDER TWO THEN SPIDER 3 NOMF NOMF]

Radiant

[1a. -2!]

Dice: 5 d10 TN3 (3, 5, 5, 7, 8) ( success x 5 )

Radiant

[dmg!]

Dice: 15 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 10 )

Rafael

[soak?]

Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 4, 9) ( success x 1 )

Rafael

[x_x]

Radiant

[1b. -3!]

Dice: 4 d10 TN3 (1, 6, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )

Radiant

[dmg!]

Dice: 13 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 7 )

Rafael

[owwwww]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4) ( botch x 1 )

Rafael

[x_x?!]

Radiant

It is over quickly. Not a full minute goes by. The queen opens her maw, her creatures skitter towards the Garou, and in a few heartbeats,

there are only those revolting eggs, two small corpses and one large one, and a new stain on the umbral street below the cathedral. And two wolves, both with wounds they will heal from all too quickly, standing there in gleaming white crinos amidst the remains.

Avery touches a handpaw to her side, her own blood on her palm, and looks at it. Shakes it off. She looks serious. She looks monstrous, glorious, with keenly intelligent blue eyes just as bright as the savage, animalistic golden ones that transform Rafael's features in this form.

Her tail is wagging, though. She drops to all fours, heavily, leaving a smear of blood in the snow behind her. Sniffs toward the eggs, the things inside that may still be moving.

Rafael

Corpses. Carapaces shattered, flesh torn. One enormous arachnid woman; two smaller creatures, men perhaps, equally twisted and mutated.

One smear on the ground, too.

And then the eggs. Silhouettes inside, curled tight, spasming and tremoring now and then. Still alive. Still moving.

Until the wolf tears into them. Thrashes them apart with his great white paws, one after another. Spills that thick black ichor everywhere, burning his paws, scalding his skin. Sends clumps, chunks, pieces of half-formed spider-men across the roof.

Pulverized, boneless things. Halfway through some foul metamorphosis; digested and remade anew.

Radiant

Avery sniffs.

Rafael smashes.

And bizarrely, uncomfortably, she feels a surge of pity. Is it pity? What she sees and smells is revolting. She rears back from it. Her ears flatten. Not pity.

Disappointment. To not know more. To -- strangely enough -- not see them born, to be killed more satisfyingly.

This feeling also causes her discomfort.

--

When he is done, he finds Avery watching him. Avery still in crinos. Avery on all fours. Avery, head tilted slightly, her tail swishing thoughtfully.

Rafael

Done in seconds. Translucent, leathery eggs smashed apart, torn to pieces. Incubating monsters shredded.

Wolf standing amongst the ruins after, stained claws dripping at his sides. Shoulders, sides moving gently with his heavy breath. Looks about. Looks at the devastation.

Looks at the Fostern. Gives a small, half-hearted sway of his tail. "We done here?"

Radiant

Avery gets up, still on all fours, and takes a few of those long, easy strides over to him. Something between a gorilla and a wolf, creature caught between kinds. She whuffs; presses her head against his side briefly. Something rough about that, almost dominant. Something tender about it, too, strangely delicate for all the strength of that faintly glowing body. Communal. Familiar. She rises up on her hind legs, with grace both animal and regal. "Cleanse." Has nothing with her, though. Looks over the side of the cathedral, all the way down. Stupid cleansing implements are down in the car. In the realm. Time-consuming, to go get them, to bring them back, to do the ritual. She grunts, a snarling sound in her throat. Looks at him. Looks him over. Doesn't think he will know the rite. Might be pre-judging. "Howl with."

Rafael

Bump of her head startles him. Wasn't expecting it. Doesn't know quite how to react. Just stands there, nudged; grunts a little.

Philodox doesn't judge him wrong. Wolf has no idea how to cleanse. Looks at her, uncertain, until she prompts: howl with. He can do that.

Does that. Tips back his head when she does. Howls, sending their raw, savage voices across the sky.

Radiant

She wants him to stay with her and howl as she cleanses, too. After they climb down. After she brings back what she needs: the willow, the fire. After they climb all the way back up. Stay with her and howl, even if his spirit cannot help the cleansing. He can still frighten away evil.

But they howl now, too. Tip heads back and howl out of sheer triumph. They send their voices out across the penumbra, letting the listening minions sympathetic to these dead things know: we won. they are dead.

and you're next.