The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Gina Gina   Gods and Goddess, I know she is depressed and all but To leave.....without me." Bam says loud to herself as she run out of the room in panic.  She calls to Gina and follows the ferret's crying sounds.  Bam starts to rush after any little sound of Gina.

  The Fae shrinks her size and begins to quick from room to room searching for Gina.  She hopes against hope that she is not going toward the chapel.  But that is the direct of Gina's duty. 

PBH

[Angel]

Ketefe grudgingly agreed that it might be best to stay, but perked up when Bam suggested that she go find the others as long as they could communicate. The butterfly spell the cat used tickled in Ketefe's hair, but it did make her feel kind of pretty.

Then they both noticed that Gina was gone, and heard her sobbing. Bam freaked out and left before Ketefe. She called once after the fae, but to no avail. "Damn," she muttered. Well, now I can't leave. Someone has to be here when Ian wakes up. Waking up alone in a place like this after what's been going on isn't just scary, it's downright dangerous. So she stayed, sitting on a chair near Ian's couch, watching the rat and waiting.

"Hey, Bam, can you hear me through this? Have you found Gina?" she said, hoping the butterfly still worked.

[Boog]

Really, it was inevitable that Jeremiah would trip on the stairs. With what Bal was doing it was a wonder he could find his own damn feet.
"ahCRAP!" he yelled as his jaw cracked against the stone stairs. The spider was approaching, readying more webs.
Something poking him in the side. That rock he grabbed earlier. Pulling it out of his coat pocket he threw it at Sal with all the force he could. Not even checking to see how much time he'd bought himself, he scrabbled up the rest of the way and ducked to the side.
"Alright, @#$%in' tag-out or something. I softened her up Cog, now you go."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

In her rush to find Gina, the little Fae had forgotten the butterfly comlink that she left with Ketefe until she use it.  Bambi stop in mid-air as she calmed herself enough to answer the young kitten. 

"Yes yes Ketefe I hear you.  I will alert the others to where you are.  I think I passed them, a few rooms away.  or I hear them in one of the bedrooms near here.  Stay calm.  I will need you to keep that butterfly safe.  I can use it to return to you quickly.   Call if anything happens there, I can be there quickly." says Bam

She waits and listens from the others or for Gina's sobs....She hears Gina a ways off, and Cog and Jeremiah seem to be around the corner.  She see the Wolf and the frog, and then the spiderlady coming up on them from behind.   

"EEEEp" yells the butterfly size Fae as she rushes to attack Sal.   Cog and Jeremiah sees what seems like another one of the Bam's butterfly messages flying towards them and heard only a small beep.

PBH

[Stygian]

Before he could stop himself, Stygian smirked. Then he felt a slight pang of a headache and a wave of dark tiredness. And another sort of shivering urge. The darkness sustained him, fed him even, now that it was intensifying so. But he had still taken quite a few hits. He sat down on the bed, yet didn't manage to alleviate the unsettling sensation in his gut, so he stood up again after perhaps half a minute and knocked on the door.
   'Would you mind moving away, Keaton?' he said, then pushed the door opened when the jackal made a little startled twitch and then got out of the way. There were certain advantages to being able to sense things right through solid materials. He made another crooked smirk, and walked out, composing his face before he walked around the jackal and headed for the room where Aisha had been put.
   He entered that room without knocking, but made sure to keep as still and silent as he could, regarding the panthress on the bed with much more of a solemn expression. They had bound and healed her wounds, yet the wrapped stump of her right arm still stood out as a patch of white against her dark fur and her navy blue clothing. For a second, Stygian just stood, stricken by a rush of guilt. Then he closed his eyes and walked over to a chair, seating himself heavily.
   'So,' he said, not looking up. 'She's going to make it?' He wanted to add more questions to that, especially concerning the method of Asal's death and what he had felt after it. But he felt uncomfortable asking anything in the first place. Thinking back on the conversation he and Rynkura had earlier, he felt all the more a fool.

- -

While Sal was jogging up the stairs after Cog and Jeremiah, she seemed to be taking her time about it. From what the wolf and frog had seen earlier, she should have been able to easily overcome them, at least in terms of immediate movement. But instead she was simply advancing on them, watching them carefully and preparing her tools, but strangely holding back and warning them. From where she was, she should have been able to just snare Jeremiah and pull him over. It didn't add up.
   The rock he threw at her did as much as Jeremiah had probably expected, which was nothing. She slowed to a walk and caught it easily with her upper right hand, and crushed it into pieces between her fingers, scowling at the frog. 'I said you have to knock me out, idiot!' she shouted at him angrily, then looked up after Cogidubnus. 'Are you not listening to me?!'

[Cogidubnus]

 Giving only a slight nod to Jeremiah as he whirled around the corner, Cog twisted his hands on the hilt of his blade and tightened his grip once more. The sound of his hands twisting roughly over the silk was just barely audible.

Sal wasn't a slow girl by any means, however. It wasn't more than a few moments after Jeremiah joined Cog by the edge of the stairs that Cog heard her traversing up the last few steps, her pace still slow and deliberate. Cog took in a breath, silent.

She stepped over the edge and onto the third floor proper. Time seemed to slow for a moment, the wolf narrowing one of his eyes, and with a strange slowness Sal's head peeked around the edge. Cog struck.
THWACK!
Cog brought the metal endcap on the handle of his blade square into the spider's skull, the hammer-hitting-meat sound echoing dully throughout the empty stone room. Cog took a step back, bringing the sword back up over his head and tilting it sideways.
Sometimes they don't always go down, after all.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

As a glowing firefly appears and expands into the feline Fae, Bambi in front of Cog and Jeremiah... She asks Cog and Jeremiah to look in on Ketefe, who was watching Ian in the upper social hall. 

She tells that Gina has ran off.  Bam was looking for her, and one could be hear her girl's sobbs echoing from somewhere in the lower floors of the Castle.   Bam also eyes Sal who is lying across the stairs at Cog's feet.    

PBH

[lucas marcone]

OOC: sorry i know i said i'd be back sooner but the family kidnaped me and forced me to do *shudder* familial things




Ian had woken up but his gaurdian didn't seem to notice. Ian just couldn't help himself! His gaurdian was half surprised half spooked when Ian broke the heavy silence. "BOO!"

[Stygian]

Hissing, Sal staggered back and clasped one of her hands over her forehead. Cog's strike had hit true, yet it seemed that it would take more than that for her to go down. Grabbing the railing, she snarled up at him.
   'Oh, come on! You're not even trying!' she exclaimed, and bared her fangs. Then, with an almost involuntary twitch, she fired a pair of strings of web at Jeremiah. One hit him in the pelvic region, the other in the face, and as she yanked hard the frog almost came flying in her direction.
   Meanwhile, the crying had receded into near silence, and the lights of the castle seemed to have dimmed, somehow. The commotion in the stairwell was the only really audible sound around.

[Sunblink]

Keaton made no movements nor did she allow her expression to falter from its slightly neutral, yet stony, red-stained mask when Stygian walked past, entering the room she believed to be Mel's. Just as she was about to follow him her large ears perked up to the muffled sound of voices from behind the door. Couldn't make out what they were saying or who was speaking, of course--the walls were too thick, but the presences were there. Keaton sighed and leaned against the door, laying her ear to its surface. Still couldn't make out anything, but the fact that there could be someone other than Mel inside--even worse Rynkura--deterred Keaton from entering.

She didn't want to ask Rynkura to heal her. Not when she was busy healing her student, and not when she felt like she was, to an extent, responsible for Aisha's injury. After all, she was unwittingly her ally. Come to think of it, Mel was also busy healing Gareeku, and Keaton wasn't sure she wanted anyone to drop what they were doing just for her, for once in her life. Instead, Keaton rolled away from the door and sighed, ears sinking. If Stygian knew that she was outside the door then he probably would now.

But she assumed that she might as well wait until she was sure everyone was finished talking, so she wouldn't feel like she was intruding.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

The art teacher, having by virtue of profession somewhat excused himself to the sidelines of this fiasco, simply watched Cog lunge and attempt to bludgeon Sal unconscious. He personally had never seen why people thought martial arts and such were considered a sign of balance and grace (usually, to him, it just looked like people hitting each other), but caught a glimmer of it it that move.
Much like his earlier musings on the adventuring life, something happened to interrupt such thoughts. In this case what happened was Bambi. Often someone who could be described as an event in and of herself rather than the cause thereof, she by that same turn had an unparalleled ability to take the abnormal in stride. Must have seemed like a perfect time to ask him to check on Ketefe. Loony spider chick? Enough of that nonsense, help me with this other nonsense. Thus Jeremiah had been pursuing a second distracting line of thought when Sal webbed him.
"Mrrf!" the frog yelled (being unable to come up with anything more eloquent at the time) as he was yanked to and off his feet again in one swift motion. He stumbled toward Sal and tripped.
Fortunately the frog wasn't completely suicidal. Crashing into a crazy chick and rolling down the stairs in a flailing mess would make a great story, but crashing into a crazy demonic spider chick and rolling down the stairs in a flailing mess would make an embarrassing eulogy. He controlled his direction as he staggered forward so that when he tripped, he tumbled around the woman.
...And down the stairs...
...With those two lines of webbing still attached.
Excellent strategy, sir!
Screw you too, Cab.
On top of all that, he was still all woozy.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's eyes widened as Sal simply turned to give him a nasty look. Such a hit wasn't really something you expected anyone to walk away from - even in a full helm, the effect was much like being inside a bell as it rang. The spider wasn't even disoriented.

Cog bared his teeth, his eyes narrowing. With a twitch, the spider snagged Jeremiah, nimble hands throwing the web with startling accuracy, dragging the frog closer to her. At her comment, however, Cog narrowed one eye, and seemingly without motion moved forward, his sword resting in the sheath at his hip.

The wolf said nothing, simply inhaling a deep breath as he swept his leg back, bringing the palm of his hand up and back. Cog's eyes focused, both of them narrowing now, and exhaling he threw his hand forward, clenching his fist. A wave of force curdled the air in front of the wolf, extending from Cog's palm and slamming into Sal's head with a deafening crack. The wave knocked her head back and sent her crashing into the railing. Cog grimaced.
And then Sal went over the edge.

Eyes widening, Cog saw the trail of silk extending from the weighty spider start pulling the frog back up the stairs a distance and then to the side, preparing to send Jeremiah over the edge as well.

Cog cursed.

Jumping forward, the wolf grabbed the end of the silk line, the webbing sticking to his hands even without him having to grip, and pulled, bracing his feet against the railings.
This seemed like a much better idea a moment ago...

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"NO NO NO! GINA !!! GINA !!!" Bam yells as she flies to the center of the stairwell.. Ignoring the fight, the Fae centrating on the small sound of Gina's voice.  Listening, she finds a direction, that she almost sure of, but the crying sounds drought out by Sal and Cog's battle.   

"Grrr Bitch" Bam turns to the fight and see Sal sail over the edge and sees a web string to save herself..  Bam fire a fireball at the web, which burns it to both ends... Not looking back  Bam zips off in the last direction of Gina's crying,  looking for any spark of Gina's lifeforce or magic.   Bam catches something ahead. She shrinks her back to her 5 inch pixie-size and fly up to near the ceiling the see what it is.   

PBH

[Aisha deCabre]

As Rynkura stood resting to the side, her eyes idly passed from Mel's progress on healing Aisha to the door where the wolf resided.  She too was quite impressed with the dragon's skill, at least she had enough to matter very much.  The tigress was also relieved to hear in fact that Gareeku would more than likely not need help from herself.  "Hrm, burns," she mused.  "Demon blood is like that to the skin I understand.  But you seem to have done well washing it away.  It should leave on its own.  He seems quite resilient at any rate."

Then she perked a curious ear as the door opened, in such a silent way that it was recognizable as to whom it was that entered.  She watched the bat's expression as his gaze passed over Aisha, her own gaze neutral.  Indeed she could see the guilt over Stygian's face, and could understand it more than well enough.  But the tigress could not blame him for anything...it was he who, at his expense, brought her back out of the mess that she was in.  For the time being, he was owed naught but a thanks, which she expressed with a smile.

"She will live," she solemnly relayed.  "But it is hard to say when she will awaken.  And I doubt that it will be pleasant when she does."

But, as one would look back to her, they would see something shimmering below the line of her eyes.  Tears that seemed to shed on their own, for her eyelids didn't twitch.  Rynkura just hummed at that development.  "Her mind is alive at least.  She's dreaming."

*     *     *

Within the light, Aisha beheld two figures, though she was in much disbelief to see so.  Both were jaguars, but unlike Aisha, not melanistic.  The female was mottled with the boldest and darkest spots, over a golden-brown coat with black-grey hair trailing down her back...along with a set of dark eyes that shone red when hit at the right angle of light.  The male who stood beside her had a lighter shade of fur, along with shorter black hair and brown eyes.

Both had warm smiles on their faces as they regarded her.  They were just as she remembered, straight down to the male's scarred hands, the characteristic cuts and burns that came from forging weaponry.  Including her favored boomerang.

Luc and Mara Cabre.

"Mother...Father..." she murmured.  And only after a moment of hesitation, she rushed towards them, now feeling like she was in tears...into their comforting embrace.  Though it was only all in mind and spirit, they even still had the same scents.  Her voice was on the point of sobbing.  "I thought I'd...never..."

"It's not like we wouldn't watch over you.  Especially after what you have just accomplished.  I, my daughter, am proud."  Luc smiled.  It was his voice that gave her the most strength.

"Indeed."  But it was Mara who looked her child in the eyes with such solemnity that it seemed to wipe her smile away in an instant.  "Though there are things you will know that will make you doubt some things in time..."

[Gareeku]

So dark...so cold...

In his unconsciousness, dreams plagued Gareeku. He was fighting. Fighting against an enemy that he could not see. Sinister laughter echoed all around him as he lashed out. Laughing. Mocking.

"You could not even defend yourself properly against those creatures...how do you expect to fare against a real threat..."

Desparation welled up within him as he continued to lash around against this unseen foe.
"Show yourself!" the wolf growled as he stopped. "Stop mocking me and show yourself!"

"Pathetic...you could not defend yourself...how do you honestly expect to defend others...to defend those you care about...truely pathetic..."

Listening to the voice, the desparation was replaced with growing anger as Gareeku grew increasingly frustrated in this darkness that he found himself in. Just then, however, out of the darkness began to appear a shape, become increasingly clearer every second, until finally the figure revealed itself.

It was the panther, sneering at him; a mocking sneer that displayed his mixture of amusement and disgust.
"You!" the wolf snarled. However, his anger would be replaced with shock and to a certain degree, horror, as the panther  began to change shape before his very eyes. Then, standing where the panther had once stood, was him; the ringleader of the gang of demons who had brutally slaughtered his father.

"You will never be rid of me...

"No..." was the only thing that Gareeku could say in his sheer disbelief. However, this belief would then change to horror, as the demon then began to change in appearence again.

Now, stood in his place, was himself. In that transformation.

"You will never be rid of me...never...

[Stygian]

Sighing yet again and keeping his eyes to the floor, Stygian kept silent. It was not the best of time to be addressing any of the questions that he felt so obligated to. If anything, it was the question of getting Aisha back on her feet and in fighting condition that was most urgent, however much it seemed cruel to demand that she stand and fight again. At least, they had to make sure that they could move her. There was no telling how long this peace would last.
   As if to answer his dark thoughts, a tremendous rumble came from the direction of the stairwell. Stygian's point-tipped ears perked right up and he bit his teeth together in a snarl. Suddenly energized with irritated anger, he almost shot out of his seat and was at the door in two strides. He almost didn't stop himself before he could turn to the two women and make just one request.
   'Can you please heal Keaton as well? It should only take a minute,' he said, the care in his tone conflicting with his frown. 'I think she's too upset to ask you herself.' Not waiting for an answer, he darted out and closed the door behind him with practiced silence.

Before the last clatters of stone had managed to cease, a snarling, fearsome voice hit the stairwell. 'WHAT THE SHIT IS GOING ON HERE?!' Leaning over the railing on the third floor, Stygian glared at them all with almost incandescent fury and eyes. 'Are you trying to draw stuff here?! You!' His eyes shifted immediately in Bam's direction. But the fae didn't even stop to listen. 'You stop right now, you little shit!'
   There was no use, and there was no time either. When the echo of Stygian's voice died down, there was only a few moments' pause. Then, slowly, faintly, the sound of clattering claws reached them.
   Snarling like a beast, Stygian looked to the ceiling. 'Fuck!'

[Boog]

Jeremiah yanked the webbing off his face just in time to look over the edge and watch Sal plummet to the ground below them. He stared for a second, Bal chortling to himself as he continued redirecting trains of thought. In his still befuddled state he still managed to make one crucial observation.
"That's probably gonna come back to bite us, huh?"

[Sunblink]

Stygian wasn't the only one who heard the rumble. As the tremendous rumble rocked through the foundations of the castle, Keaton stiffened, her musings petrifying in their tracks along with the rest of her body. Letting out a slight curse, Keaton's head jerked towards the direction of the stairwell, blinking. What the hell was happening over there? Did another Hellbeast attack? That was where... shoot, that was where Cog and Jeremiah were. Not once did Keaton stop to consider the possibility that it was the incendiary combination of an incensed Fae, a length of webbing, a former art teacher, a swordsman, and Sal which were responsible for that immense sound.

The door was thrust open, nearly knocking Keaton over. She meeped and skittered to the side, the fur on her back bristling as she stared at the retreating back of a very frustrated, very irritated, and very angry Sebastian Don'Chel, very confused as to where the hell he was going and why he was so infuriated. Either way, she doubted she wanted to know. For a moment, Keaton stared at the door, ears leveled and her pierced eyebrow arched, then her expression sunk. Might as well get it over with.

She walked over and opened the door, peering inside. Inside was none other than Mel, who was helping heal Gareeku's prone and battered body, and, much to her chagrin, a sullen-looking Rynkura tending to her sans-arm student. Keaton grit her teeth, wanting for that moment to withdraw and take care of her injuries herself, but at this point it was too late. Instead, she managed to poke her head out a little bit more, syrup-blood-sticky dirty blonde hair draped in askew locks over her face.

"Hey," she said. "Can I... can I come in?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's eyes widened as the fae flying around them suddenly started burning the webs, the wolf frantically trying to get her attention before she burned the wrong line.
"No! We need her up here, dam-"

The taut line of silk suddenly went slack. Cog groaned, pushing away from the railing and opening his hands and pulling them away from the sticky line of web. The effect was not unlike peeling one's hands apart after being coated in glue. He neared the railing again, about to look over the edge.
At that moment, the wolf heard Sebastian start thundering out from the balcony. Cog turning his head rather quickly.
He seemed better at least, Cog mused. Certainly well enough to get angry. Improvement, perhaps.

Cog shook his head and cursed, looking over the railing and down to where the spider was should have dropped, and made a face.
"All that work. Now we will have to lug her all the way up here..." he began, before the telltale sounds of claws drew Cog's attention away from the spider below him. The wolf's eyes narrowed.

"We may have bigger problems, Jeremiah." the wolf said, addressing the frog's comment, and staring up at the ceiling. Cog's hands came to rest on his sword hilt.
The sticky webbing did provide quite a good grip, actually.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

The sound of Rynkura speaking to Stygian brought Mel's attention back to the room at large. Rynkura had done such a thorough healing job that really all there had been left to do was tighten a few things up and donate a bit of energy to those organs that were acting a little sluggish. When Stygian asked for someone to tend to Keaton Mel stood, "I will do it."  She wasn't sure if anyone heard her though, between the rumbling and Stygian dashing outward. As she was pondering where she might find the cubi her question was answered by Keaton's quiet entry.

"It looks as if you need a bit of tending. Lets go into the bathroom and wash you up so I can get a good look at what needs doing."  She walked over to a door and opened it, showing the small bathroom shared by the two sickrooms. She stepped inside, soaking a towel and waiting for Keaton to join her.

[Stygian]

Following the yelp and the hard thump, it went only a second before Sal made herself noticed again. 'You idiots!' she called out from below, somewhere not immediately visible. 'Are you completely unhinged?!' Her voice was followed by a low growl from somewhere, and she fell silent.
   It took about three seconds. Then, the first thing lunged out from the dark at Cog, six eyes glowing and wicked claws swiping wildly for him. Another something with a sinuous and muscular tail three times the length of its body neared him from the left. Something many-limbed that Jeremiah almost mistook for Sal for a second but whose misshapen and sinewy physique and graceless ferocity in its movements immediately told that it was not so advanced on the frog over a wall.
   There was a sharp, stabbing sound, like a blade being shoved deep into flesh from above, and a body came tumbling down past the broken stairway. Another was hurled against a wall, already sizzling, telltale signs that Stygian had begun fighting.
   'Cog! Toad! Get as high as you can! I'll get you!' the bat called out from above, sending out stabbing, raking and screeching shadows as he did.

- -

The sobs were faint, but grew closer, as Bam sped down along one of the hallways leading out into the wings of the castle, further out than the social hall had been. It seemed that the constructors had strategically chosen to place some of the larger halls further out and the smaller rooms in the middle, so that they could put more panoramic windows on the ends of the outcropping structures. This proved true at least for the room that Bam finally entered. Tall, large and dark, it housed a stage and a number of entries. It seemed to be a music and dancing hall of some sort.

[Aisha deCabre]

Things had not been quiet for too long...but then it seemed that Rynkura's wish that it be a peaceful night for the injured would go undone.  For as soon as the bat's head whipped to the door, the tigress's eyes also narrowed at the noises toward the stairwell.  It shook the floors beneath their feet and came through the walls (as per sensitive hearing it seemed that way certainly enough), and threatened the very sanctity that the rooms were trying to hold.

She nodded quickly to the bat, still keeping her place and wondering what the commotion was.  She had a guess as to a number of things...perhaps the demons smelled weakness?  Perhaps she had to put a ward up...?  Or more than likely it wasn't that.  In any case, the healer was still bound to her duty.  She wouldn't leave the wounded unguarded...much less Aisha.

As Mel volunteered to heal Keaton, she wasn't too surprised to see the jackal waiting there already, with quite the amount of blood on her body.  She greeted the succubus with a soft nod, and then turned to the panthress with a concentrative hum and proceeded to do another healing check.  Once again her hands illuminated, and eyes glowed a soft green as she checked the internal injuries.

Quite as she expected, things were mending well.  The dragon had done a masterful job...all that was needed was to give Aisha her time to recover.  Still, she mused thoughtfully.  I wonder where she has donated her bracer; it would be quite needed here.  I might sometime go to grab the rest of the weapons she left behind as well...

In lieu of the healing bracer, however, Rynkura just allowed the light magic flowing from the staff to encompass the rest of the bed in a soft blue glow, a stronger alternative in place of the relic, and stood near the door that connected the rooms.  The panther lay still and dormant, but her tears seemed to be coming freely now.  She and Gareeku, it seemed, both had still bodies and racing minds...though he showed it with a twitch of his eyes at a few intervals.  But dreams, whatever they were, the tiger could never interrupt.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's blade flashed in the dim light as the wolf drew his sword, the wolf's stance somehow already neutral between the two demons rushing after him and the frog. He seemed to stand motionless in time for a moment, looking at both creatures simultaneously, and with a sudden spin on one heel he turned and drew, the silver blade flashing up and then down in a fluid, almost liquid arc.

It took less than a moment, and the charging demon fell, it's chest rent with a bloody, ghastly wound. It less time than it took for it to fall to the floor and begin burbling out its lifeblood, the wolf spun again, bringing the blade up and over his head in a continuous arc from his last cut, the sword sliding easily over his head to pause just a moment as the wolf readied himself again.

The next demon was practically on top of the wolf - Cogidubnus could see the thing's long tail whipping around his back, ready to trip the wolf, where the demon could rend the swordsman with much greater ease.

The demon never took another step. Blindingly, almost invisibly fast, the wolf struck again. A bright arc of silver clove through the demon, and as the sword exiting the body Cog kept up the momentum, sliding his left leg forward and in front of himself as he brought the blade back, cutting upwards. The tail aimed to wrap around his feet parted in front of the wolf, sliding around the Iaidoka's feet.

Cog spun the sword in his hand, sluicing the blood off the glittering edge, and called back up to the bat.
"Right then!" he said, turning and staring at the third monster advancing on Jeremiah. Cog cursed, starting towards the thing. If he remembered correctly, Jeremiah -could- defend himself. But that wasn't the sort of trouble they really needed right then.

[Sunblink]

Both surprisingly and luckily for Keaton, Mel had been the one to volunteer to heal her injuries, as opposed to Rynkura. Managing to swallow a sigh of relief, the jackal stepped out from behind the door, gently closing it behind her. She made a dedicated effort to keep her gaze from irreversibly locking onto Rynkura nurturing Aisha's body, even when the tiger herself nodded kindly in her direction. In response Keaton had merely pretended she didn't notice, not out of the interest of being rude, but because she just... couldn't. She just couldn't look at her. She couldn't realize how uncharacteristic it would be for Rynkura to tack the blame onto her and spite her, but instead Keaton sealed herself behind that lie and wallowed further into despair.

She was more than happy to enter the privacy of the bathroom with Mel, where she would be safe from prying stares and invisible hatred and blame that only Keaton was issuing towards herself. Mel thoroughly soaked a towel, then Keaton gently extended a hand, wanting to wash her face herself. When it was given she proceeded to rub away at the coagulating, sticky spider-webs of blood tangled in her fur and the roots of her hair, being as tender as she could around her still-raw cut. While it was sealed over with a thin, mucilaginous layer of blood, protecting it from further agitation, she didn't want to disturb that scab and create a new rush of blood.

With a heavy sigh Keaton removed her head from the towel, which was now utterly caked in smeared stains of red. Aside from some residual traces of red still glued in the roots of her hair and some streaks around her face, Keaton considered this, as she looked in the mirror, an ostensible improvement. She still looked like hell, however, and much of that was attributed to the weight of her emotions. "God dammit."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

Jeremiah didn't need to be told twice. That thing had too many legs to be friendly (somewhat of an arbitrary standard, but so far it worked). He rushed up the stairs, that pain in his head causing him to stagger a bit as he went. He felt so tired...
"Don't gotta tell me twice!"
Wait wait wait, Bal chuckled, Just wait, jussa sec...

[Stygian]

More slashes emanated from above, before a growl split the silence and something like the rushing howl of a hurricane, yet somehow more alive, shot past Jeremiah's and Cog's ears. Through the darkness black things, yet more solid, moved by. Then a pallid shape tinged slightly orange and blue by the lighting that revealed itself to be Stygian's torso, half-hidden by a black shirt and wings, dropped down.
   'I said get moving!' the bat snarled, balancing almost at the top of the stairs and skipping down them speedily. He drew up a hand as if he were tugging along something from the floor and opened his palm in Jeremiah's direction. A roaring shape as much resembling something warped but humanoid as the dark, mottled red-brown thing pursuing him rushed past the frog and into the creature, which staggered backwards and fell down the stairs, flailing and screeching in pain, cracking sounds accompanying its descent.
   Stygian extended his hand at Cog and Jeremiah, and looked upon both the wolf and frog with a frown. If something hadn't slipped past him upstairs, they would be lucky.

- -

Keaton's pained thoughts were disrupted by a clearly audible and most hostile hiss. It didn't seem that close at all, but whatever it was, it sent chills down her spine and drew her attention from her ruined face in a heartbeat.
   It seemed that their rest was at an end.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel gently guided Keaton to sit on the wide edge of the tub as she looked over the gash on her forehead and placed a cool finger to seal the gash. "You do not look so well, Keaton. Is there more than just these cuts you need seen to?" The gash sealed easily and she moved to the larger injury on the arm. But before she could tease an answer out of Keaton a horrid hissing sound set both of them on alert.

[Gareeku]

Twitching more and more in his unconsciousness, Gareeku had a look of slight distress on his face as he dreamt. It was plain to see that he was having a dream that he clearly didn't like, to say the least. He had been having these dreams for a while now when he slept, but this was the first time that he had had one such dream when unconscious.

Suddenly, the wolf's eyes snapped open. Gasping suddenly, the wolf then sat upright, breathing heavily as drops of cold sweat ran down his face and torso. He could still see that vivid image...that image of himself, in his transformation, clutching a motionless body...Aisha's motionless body...

Getting off of the bed that he was lying on, the wolf then saw the room next door, with Aisha lying there on the bed. His eyes widened, Gareeku then started to make his way towards the door. As he did so, however, the pain hit him; a burning pain on his skin, coupled with the dull aches of the injuries that, while they had been healed, still hurt immensely.
"I need to see her..." the wolf said weakly as he reached the door, his eyes fixed on Aisha...

[Angel]

Ketefe was puzzled. The odd squeaking noises coming from the butterfly resembled Bam's voice, but it sounded like she was now the size of a hamster. The noises around her voice seemed truly chaotic. She was calmly listening, really really hoping that nothing was wrong, when Ian decided to scare the hell out of her.

"YIPE!" Ketefe jumped about four feet in the air when the rat snuck up on her. When she figured out who it was, she growled good-naturedly.

"Yeah, freak out the girl who just recently got over being possessed when you're mostly unarmed! Really smart!" She stood up, turning a little more serious. "From what I can tell, even more bad stuff is going on. Aisha's probably hurt really badly, and Gina disappeared somewhere. Bam went to go find her, but judging by this - " she plucked the butterfly out of her hair and held it up to Ian's ear " - she's screwing something up. So, you think you're well enough that we should go see what's wrong?"

[lucas marcone]

"Possibly, depends on-" As Ian stood up there was an audible pop and sickly wet sound like cartalage grinding cartalige as he stood up. "-Oh! That can't be good, even so I think I'll manage. Which way did she go?"