Behind The Veil

[Lloyd Westen]

He felt the Fury's ribs buckle under his fist, though he had no idea how. At worst, the punch he'd thrown should have glanced off of her, probably hurting him more than his packmate. There was no way he could have hurt her so badly. He was about to follow through on the move, press his luck and knock her down, when suddenly, he was the one sent flying.

He tumbled into the sand, flashing a shocked look back to Kathleen as she stood straight. She'd obviously bowled him over to end his attack, but they were sparring! Bare knuckled! People were bound to get hurt! Naturally, though, because the Fury was whining, they just had to stop. He doubted Kath would have interrupted if Tal had...say...punched him in the nuts.

Scrambling to his feet, he advanced towards the angry Fury. "Hey, what the fuck, I don't know what fucking happened! Drink more milk, jesus, I don't know what the fuck that was!" Stopping just short of Kathleen as he was fixed with a sapphire gaze that promised worlds of pain, he dug his hands into his pockets. "It's not my fault. Fuck."

[Talisa Shaw]

Talisa was infuriated, but the Silver Fang’s presence in-between her and the Glass Walker prevented her from doing anything rash in her angry. She was still furious, but the Alpha’s presence always made her stay on her best behaviour. At least, that’s what it had done in the past. But the Glass Walker’s complaining about everything was really getting on her nerves.

Lloyd may not have wanted to vocalise it, but with all the frustration in the air the Fury heard his whining about how he was being treated unfairly, with turned the Fury’s face to one of rage. ”This is not Kathleen playing favorites! This is you cheap shotting me and causing injury you inconsiderate prick!”

[NPC]

The smog saw the flurry of action from it's hiding place in the umbra, and was pleased. Now there was yelling, resentment would be soon to follow, harsh words, doubt. Moth- the spirit flinched, in terror of even thinking of the woman in terms of that singular forbidden word. A world of remembered pain forced it to choose a more suitable title. The Master would be pleased.

It absently hoped the the overall brevity of it's hunt wouldn't anger her, despite the likelihood of this happening. The Beast-Of-War was always angry, always hunting, and it's bloodlust was never sated.

Now the Alpha stood between her two packmates, holding each at bay. Tension littered the air, as the bane littered it in the spirit world. It was a gradual build, and as the ethereal representation of the combined pollution from factories, homes, exhaust from machines and cars, the smog could appreciate this. These things had to suffer over time, it was a gradual build.

The Fang was staring down the Glass Walker, gluing him where he stood. That was unacceptable. Any pause in the discord might give the pack time to reconcile their petty differences. In retaliation the cloudy entity seized an opportunity in Kathleen's outstretch hand, to turn it from a gesture of obeisance demanded, to one of retribution. A trick of the wind may have been it's cover, kicking up sand and surf, but the natural rigidity of the blonde theurge's fingers lent nothing to the blow's kindness.

[Kathleen Allan]

Kathleen normally had excellent control over her guarding arm, and so when she turned to glare at Talisa as well, she paid no mind to how close Lloyd really was to her. It must have been some shift in her balance, she rationalized, that caused her arm to overadjust. Her stiff, warding palm swatted hard across his face. While she might have been about to speak sternly to the Black Fury, the sudden feeling of the impact on the Glass Walker's face brought her back around.

She didn't get a chance to speak. Her vision went dark with pain as Lloyd's heavy, two-handed response caught her solidly across the cheek. There was a snap and a grind, and to her belated shock, she felt her feet leaving the ground. She had no way to estimate how far or how long she was in the air, but she landed shoulders first, pain tearing across her neck and upper back.

She didn't scream. She didn't yell. She was much too angry to give a warning or to complain of pain. As her cheek bloomed with broken capillaries and dark bruises, she shoved herself to her feet. The pain from the torn muscles in her shoulder and neck was disregarded as much as it could be, the Silver Fang only favoring the injured arm a little bit. Stalking back across the sand, she flexed her fingers. Rage had interrupted her rational thought process, and now the upstart omega needed to be put in his place.

[Lloyd Westen]

What had been one of the only rules? Not the face. She'd said so herself. And now, just as he was about to fire back at Talisa full-bore, Kathleen slapped him so hard she might as well have just balled up her hand into a fist and punched him. There was a strange accompanying blast of wind, bringing the full force of the city's unique odor into his nostrils.

"Fuck you too!" he snapped, forgetting his place for the moment. His Rage came faster and harsher than his theurge packmates. Without thinking, he balled his fists together, planted his feet and swung for the hills, right at Kathleen's head. He might not be the strongest Garou, but dammit she was going to know how pissed off he was.

Except instead of just ringing her bells, he felt a push behind the blow. His fists didn't just collide with his pack alpha's head, they hammered her, and it wasn't at the angle he'd aimed for. He'd intended to hit her in the temple, ring her bell a little. Instead, he caught her directly on the cheek and jaw. He didn't just hit her. He sent the Silver Fang flying. As he stumbled from the sheer force of the blow and the connection, his eyes went wide.

They went wider still when she hit the ground hard, her neck at an awkward angle. Like the Terminator, though, Silver Fangs could always be trusted to pop up again, which was exactly what she did. She was up on her feet in moments, and there was nothing friendly or forgiving about the look on her face. Frozen in wide-eyed terror over how thoroughly she was going to kill him, Lloyd made a choked sound in his throat.

(OOC: Is it alright if the NPC takes the next post, Tal?)

[NPC]

Things were going so smoothly. The Bane watched the pack dissolve into violence on the warm sand, as it considered its options. Its master had given few instructions to the spirit in its task, save that the redhead survive. The other two garou were presently dispensible, which begged the question: Whom to dispose of first. Not to mention how to go about it.

Neither of the females seemed inclined to listen to the galliard and this made him a tempting target. On the other hand, the Silver Fang had obviously besotted the Fury and if the blonde theurge were to pass on, the other two would sure be at each others throats within seconds trying to place blame on one another.

If the smog had possessed a head, it would have begun to ache. It was no great tactician, and was rarely called upon for tasks which required a great amount of thought. What if the Glass Walker killed the Fury instead of the other way around? The Mistress would see to it that the ban spent eternity trapped in a piece of flotsam, far away from the delicious fumes that nourished it and that was if it was lucky. The smog began to worry.

Best to start with the galliard.

Turning its attention to Lloyd, who was more than close to being levelled by his alpha, the corrupt spirit readied itself to do what it did best. Wavering this way and that it positioned itself low near the ground, itching to strike.

Smog may choke a city, it may make the air unsafe for mortals to breathe, it sometimes becomes so dense as to cloud vision and block out the sun.

All of these things were petty compared to what it had in store for Lloyd Westen.

[Kathleen Allan]

Kathleen's charge was nightmare smooth, even over sand. The grace and prowess of the Silver Fang was clear as she closed the distance. Her fist came around hard and fast, aimed directly at the Glass Walker's chest. She gave him no time to so much as flinch, striking as hard as she could. She'd knock the breath out of him, send him straight to the ground.

True to her intent, she felt the impact all down her arm as she hit him. She felt his chest give and the Glass Walker tumbled backwards onto the sand, his feet flying high. She followed him down, dropping to her knees over him. There wasn't any thinking going on-she had every intention of biting him on the ear or the shoulder, homid form be damned. He would learn never to do that again.

There was a whiff of something strange as she landed next to the Glass Walker, Lloyd's eyes bulging painfully. She grabbed his throat in her hand and he immediately grabbed her wrist, kicking and writhing on the ground. Strangely, he wasn't fighting her-the hand that wasn't wrapped around her forearm was clawing frantically at his shirt.

[Lloyd Westen]

He had no chance whatsoever. The Silver Fang was on him before the fear was able to push him into action. He felt her fist smash into his chest, his whole body spasming backwards. His arms windmilled and his legs kicked up before he landed hard on his back. There was a split second where he couldn't breathe, and then he could. He tried to inhale, to start apologizing or screaming curses, when a miasma boiled over his face.

He could smell, hear and taste nothing but smog. It was a split second before the horrible spirit was inside of him, which somehow made it even worse. The feeling of violation was total, and he immediately started struggling, fighting with his own internal organs to get the damn thing out of himself. Kicking at the sand, flopping up and down, he tried to fight it off.

All of a sudden, his alpha's hand was around his neck, slamming his head down so hard he was seeing spots. Unable to tell her what was happening, unsure what he could even say, could he speak, the Galliard grabbed her wrist and continued twitching, forcing a few squeaky whines out of his throat. He drove his heels into the sand and arched his back, trying to convince her to hurt him later, help him now.

[Talisa Shaw]

The pack beta’s jaw dropped when Kathleen slapped Lloyd. She hadn’t expected the Silver Fang to react in such a way, especially after telling her to calm down. Before she could even fully process this new thought in her head Lloyd reacted with a punch aimed directly at her face which sent her flying. What would have normally drove her to frenzy was lost as she was too stunned to react, her mind processing the shocking events in front of her.

Just as she felt the rage swelling up inside her chest she saw Kathleen get straight back up and hit Lloyd with a blow to the torso that sent the Glass Walker flying. As the alpha continued the assault Talisa’s rage compelled her to rush over to try and get in a few shots of her own. However the force of the pair’s rage made her pause and just watch for a moment.

She thought that Kathleen was choking him, before apart of her realised that he had been thrashing around before Kathleen pressed the attack. Something was seriously wrong with him, something wasn’t adding up and it gnawed at her. A dark part of her enjoyed seeing the Glass Walker in agony and begged her to just watch it go on. But a softer side called on her to interfere.

She remembered how they first met, how she had ripped a man apart, how Lloyd offered his help and she treated him with mistrust and downright abuse. She thought about all the jabs she had to endure from him, and all the times she wanted to beat his face in. And then that horrible night at the Wild Things, where Lloyd had risked his life to save Jeanette, about how highly Jeanette spoke of him, about how much nicer he was to them.

She made her decision. Moving as fast as she could she thrust her body weighted against the Silver Fang’s body, trying to force her off the pack omega. She knew that in this state she might react violently and turn her attention towards making the Fury suffer, but she was determined to put a stop to the violence and try and talk this out for the sake of the pack. Bracing herself for the counterattack, determined not to fight back no matter what she awaited Kathleen’s response.

[NPC]

From it's hidey hole inside Lloyd's body, the Smog was not pleased. The panicked bucks and throes of it's host were entertaining enough, the reaction of his pack alpha was even better. The lingering traces of oxygen that clung to the galliard's lungs and throat were irritating the bane, giving him trouble at suffusing itself more solidly to the Garou's body. This would have to be remedied.

It was not that the corrupt spirit had any real hope of possessing the Glass Walker, it was well aware of how hard it was to do so to Gaia's Teeth. They were resistant by nature, their own spirits guarded them from such infection. Just one more of Luna's, or perhaps their bitch earth mother's security features for their little warrior ants. These safeguards however, did not ensure that an attempt at possession would not be a deliciously painful experience.

While the garou clung, and begged, and stood up for one another outside of Lloyd's skin, inside of it the Smog breathed for him in an effective, if savage attempt to rid it's host of any remaining clean air. Puffing out the galliard's chest, the bane poured it's sickly, thick essence over the tender tissue of the Glass Walker's organs. Then in a huff that forced the air out of him in a deep chortling series of gasps, the Smog let it's gray-green tail peek out of the afflicted garou's lips to wave fleetingly at his packmates. Just as quickly, it was gone.

Back inside, free of air, enjoying the Gaian's agony, the bane quickly went about the business of violating him anew. They were to be wedded.

[Kathleen Allan]

It wasn't so much that she came to her senses as sense being knocked back into her. Kathleen was just coming out of that enraged daze when Talisa barrelled into her, knocking her clear of the convulsing Glass Walker. She struggled with, then mastered her anger, keeping herself from lashing out at the Fury immediately. Instead of striking her, she shoved the other woman off of her with her entire body.

"What the hell is wrong with us," she snapped, glaring first at Talisa, then at Lloyd. Though her hand wasn't on his neck anymore, the Glass Walker was still writhing and twitching, his hands clawing at the sand. His chest expanded unnaturally, then compressed, forcing air and...her eyes went wide as the flipping tail of the smog-spirit emerged briefly from the galliard's mouth.

"Oh...damn," she breathed, scrambling to her feet. Her anger was pushed further back as concern for her packmate took precedence. "Tal, there's something in him. I'm...I'm not a healer," she explained, snapping out of her moment of numbness. "Get him breathing! I have to gather some things!" With that order, she dashed a few feet, plucking a piece of driftwood out of the sand, then running to the water's edge to wet it. Next she gathered a few seagull feathers. Her odd scavenger hunt continued as she left the Fury to tend to their rapidly fading packmate.

[Lloyd Westen]

Tears tainted dirty grey started to leak out of Lloyd's eyes as his vision began to darken. He wasn't aware of anything aside from the sudden lack of extra weight on his chest and the searing, grinding, horrific pain that tore through his lungs. The thing inside of him 'inhaled' so deeply he felt cartilage separate from bone and ribs crack all along his sides. If he could have screamed, he would have, but he couldn't muster enough strength to even try.

In desperation, he started to claw at his chest, aiming for the soft spot at the base of his sternum. His frantic scratching soon became outright pulling and tearing as he tried to find some way to get the thing out of himself, or at least bring air in. Spots flared behind his eyes, chimes and screams rang in his head and he kicked and fought blindly against the enemy that was inside of him.

[Talisa Shaw]

To her relief Kathleen didn’t choose to take out her rage on the Fury, merely pushing her back off her roughly. Talisa stayed perfectly still as Kathleen got her wits about her, before her eyes went wide as she looked at Lloyd. The beta looked too late to see the smog spirit, but considering the Glass Walker’s suffering and the Silver Fang’s explanation she put two and two together pretty quickly and rushed over to Lloyd’s side.

As the alpha began her desperate hunt Talisa struggled to stop him from ripping his chest open, before laying her hands on his chest and calling upon her most precious gift, trying to use mother’s touch to heal the damage within Lloyd’s body. As the scratch marks and damage from their sparring faded away, Talisa panicked as Lloyd kept suffocating, the bane inside him slowly killing him. She hesitated for a moment, and then had an idea. Covering Lloyd’s nose she took in a deep breath and exhaled into the Glass Walker’s mouth, hoping that it would do some good. Please, don’t die. We need you…

[NPC]

Blinding pain ripped through the Smog, as the pure white torch of a Gaian gift healed newly opened wounds in Lloyd's body. Sickly grey pseudopods were cut off from the bane's 'body' and were forever lost to the Garou's meat and muscle. Those limbs that were too large to be cut off were wrenched out of their hidey-holes and crammed ever closer to one another.

Home was getting crowded.

Air surged down the Galliard's throat, offensive and clean as it gave brief hope to the suffocating Garou. Life was blooming around the outraged spirit, and with little regard for it's host's comfort or well being it forced it's way up to Lloyd's mouth, to investigate the cause of the disturbance. It's arrival was heralded by the stench (and indeed, taste) of wet garbage and exhaust, rimming the inside of the Glass Walker's lips with it's reek.

In a most unexpected turn of events, the spirit's outrage was rewarded with an opportunity. The Mistress' whelp was trying to save her rival, giving the Smog an open-mouthed invitation to visit her instead. She would not be refused. Ripping it's remaining tendrils free of the Galliard, the Smog pressed itself into Talisa's mouth, aching to explore the tender skin lkining the inside of her nose. What a prize to bring home to the Bitter Sea.... what a reward for catching such willing prey.

[Lloyd Westen]

Lips! Lloyd was good at lips, and if this was an angel, Gaia sure knew her audience. He was numbly aware of something burning and choking in his chest, but that was starting to seem like it was all behind him. The world had gone a little soft-focus, a sure sign that some spirit had come to ease his pain. Then the smog bane tore out of his throat, and instead of some white-hot winged valkyrie, he found himself sucking in a grating breath of real, fresh air across the lips of...

His packmate.

It wouldn't have mattered which of them it was, the pained screech he emitted would have been the same. It brought up some blood, but nowhere near the amount he would have expected. He wasn't still, scrambling away and swatting a hand between his face and hers, fanning it through the fading smog. Panting with panic, revulsion and exertion, he watched as the Bane burrowed into Talisa's mouth. His stomach heaved, and in spite of his healed injuries, he couldn't help but vomit loudly on the ground to his side. The memory of the thing forcing itself into his body was enough to trigger that illness.

That the damn thing thought it was going to do that to his packmate without a fight triggered a sudden surge of Rage in him. Before the spirit could stuff itself entirely into her mouth, he grabbed at it with both hands. At first he didn't think he'd caught anything at all, until something oily and hot twisted and burned in his palm. It was like trying to catch a heatwave, the feat only possible because of the half-spirit nature of the Garou. Somehow choking back another bout of vomiting, the Galliard clutched his fingers around the strange burning vapor and tried to pull. "FUCK YOU BUDDY!" he shouted.