Tapestries: Pablo - Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 6:19 PM

Bits hasn't gone too far, though she's out of sight of anyone but Yiska. When the other Wendigo comes upon her, she is limp in the arms of a pale-skinned black-clothed humanish male who has his reddish lips pressed against her neck, sucking the life out of the poor cub.

A horrible flash of red pierces Yiska's vision. At first though, a simple chase of a misguided cub.. he's done the same in the past but.. but now. Face with this. The fury and rage simply have no place to go. The cub's form ripples, muscles and bones rearrange, flesh tears and regrows to accommodate much larger muscles and bones. What was once a wolf cub is now a hulking monster - a hideous nightmare from old folklore. Yiska simply lets himself go - the cub thinking only one thought. He will devour this 'leech'.

There's really not much of a chance for the creature. It looks up, it drops Bits's unconcious form on the ground, and then says, "Oh, sh..." and there's a furious flash of claw and fang as the cub moves at preternatural speed, ripping the leech into itty bitty little pieces of undead. Newly acquired blood goes spurting and flying and covering the back of the house they are behind, and some into the bushes, and some into a pool. It's... messy, to say the least. The fight's over before Gabby and the others have time to react, but they do, immediately turning around at Tony's call, every one of them, even Stands, having a look of serious concern on their faces.

Tony is bobbing on his toes halfway between the adults and the fight going on. Though 'fight' is a bit of a stretch. As soon as the others have gotten close to him, he follows them to the sound of Yiska's maddened growls and snarls, not sure if he wants to see what has happened. But when he does, it's horrible. Another vampire, slaughtered. Yiska, in hispo, covered in blood. And Bits... "BITS!" he squeals in horror, rushing to her collapsed body.

Shay smells the blood. The blood, oh the blood. He's following on Tony's heels, now that the adults are coming, and he smells Bits. Close to the ground. He scurries over to Bits much faster than Tony, looking at her frantically. Canine eyes are set for movement, and not the strongest sense, so he can't tell if she's breathing, or hurt badly, or what, he can just smell her blood. 'Is she breathing? I can't tell! Someone? Does anyone know the... CRP?'

Bits is, thankfully, breathing, though it's slow and shallow. She looks pale, and unhealthy. The only visible wound she has are the two fang-marks on the side of her neck, which are oozing blood, still, though it's not spurting. She makes a soft moan of a sound, incoherently.

Yiska turns and stalks back to Little-Smiles, the enormous wolf pacing back and forth next to the girl's prone body. As the others get closer he reluctantly moves away from the girl, laying down and whining pitifully..

And that's when Stag's Burning Hooves arrive. With a quick assessment of the situation, Stands slips up into crinos so she can speak easily to everyone gathered, taking charge of the event. ~Severe-Damage and Truce-Bringer: Get the van. Bring it here. Quietly. Avoid the coming fire-humans. Path-Knower: Heal the cub. Strength-Sharer and cubs: Help me find the water-creator so we can clean blood off of the human-den. Move it.~ These orders send the pack scattering, Sam and Alex back to the van, Athena in search of a hose and spigot, and Gabby kneels down next to Bits. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and a soft, glow comes from her hands and into the barely-conscious cub.

Tony listens to the instructions, then hops onto his given task immediately. He runs around to the side of the house, finding the wound-up hose and starts to crank it, spilling the piping out onto the ground. "Shay, take the end over to Athena," he pipes, short of breath, as he now wrestles with the rusted-up valve to get the water flowing. With a loud creak, the hose suddenly comes to life like a snake.

Taking the water-spewing end of the hose into his mouth, Shay tries to run and drag. It's a little weird having to run with your head half over your shoulder from the weight of the hose, but he chugs along, spewing water out ahead of him. The hose is dragged back to Athena.

Bits stirs a bit as the healing energies from Gabby's gift fill her. The wound on her neck sews itself shut and the blood stops flowing. She lets out a little groan and rolls over.

Yiska slips back into lupus and turns his head to the human made pond. He sniffs at it, then pads over and takes a good swipe at the side, opening a rather large gash and thus emptying it of the blood water.. and cleaning the spatters and gore from the surrounding grass.

Athena doesn't seem to mind the bloody water surrounding her feet as she puts her thumb in front of the end of the hose and does her best to spray the siding clean of the remaining blood. Stands reaches down and scoops up the slowly waking Bits, keeping her out of the water as Gabby, weak for a moment, slowly stands up. A few moments later, the van pulls into the (thankfully) empty house's driveway, lights off. Alex hops out and opens up all the doors, as Stands growls, ~Turn water off. Let's go. Now!~ And the pack of adults makes their way hurriedly towards the van, just as sirens begin to be audible, firetrucks going after the nearby warehouse fire.

Tony watches from the corner of the house, knowing he can't do much good right now other than keep a look out and wait for the house to be cleaned off. Once the signal is given, he twists the valve closed, then runs behind everyone to climb into the van. "How is Bits? Is she okay? Is she going to turn into a vampire, now?" he asks in fear and confusion and worry.

Shay jumps into the van, wiggling close to Bits but not to crowd. He sits down and watches out the window as the sirens grow closer, covering his ears. They're too high pitched for his ears. 

Bits's breathing has eased into a more normal pattern, but Gabby is keeping a close eye on her. The pack has returned to their original seats in the van and Sam begins to drive off, very slowly and cautiously. Alex, who seems to be the only one reasonably calm at the moment, answers Tony's question: "I think she will be fine, yes." He looks at Gabby, but she doesn't look up. "And," he explains further, "Garou don't become vampires."

Yiska slips back into his corner and curls up again, the cub keeping his head hidden, his body shivering now and then at random intervals. He makes no sound, except for his heavy breathing..

Stands nudges Yiska as she has resumed her birth form. She gives the young Galliard a quiet whuff of praise. 'Good job, cub.' There's a moment of silence then Gabby looks up. "Yes, she'll be all right." She takes a breath, and says, looking towards the front of the van. "You said there were six, Sam. Six. Not seven." There's just a hint of anger in her voice. The Ragabash's gravely voice is louder, though, and more annoyed, "Fuck you, Gabby. There were six last night. I'm not the one who wanted to drag a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears puppies along anyway." Alex places a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Okay, guys, that's enough. It's going to be okay, and we can discuss this back at the house, hmm?" Stands adds an agreeing growl, and that seems to settle the argument for now.

Tony gently rests a hand on Yiska's back. "Excellent. Man, you saved Bits," he tells the wolf, his voice a little choked with emotion. He lowers his head as Gabby and Sam raise their voices, knowing now that this event is probably going to nix their chances of ever seeing action again. But, after what nearly happened to Bits, he's not so sure that'd be a bad thing. He joins Shay in staring out the window, lost in his own thoughts on the ride home.

Shay bobs his head. 'Good job.' He glances at Bits, then back over to the window. It's rather odd that he was sympathetic to the slaughter, only to have one of the cubs attacked. A real dog eat dog situation. 

Bits murmurs, "I'm sorry," in a hushed, dry-throated voice. She tries to lift her head, to rise to her elbows. "I'm so embarrassed," she whimpers. Alex turns around once more, and says, consollingly, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Bits," he says. "This is a good lesson, actually, for all of us. We are very strong and very powerful creatures, but we must remember there are creatures out there that are intelligent and also have the power to affect our minds. These are our most dangerous foes, and we would do well to not forget this."

Yiska turns his head back to the group and perks his ears up at the argument. He listens then scoots forward some as Little-Smiles tries to sit up. He whuffs at her and puts a paw on her shoulder, trying to push her back down - and if he does manage to do so, he leans down and starts to lick the blood from her face.
There's a murmured agreement, if reluctant, from the rest of the pack at Alex's words. Bits giggles, softly, when Yiska keeps her down and licks her face, sounding a bit more like she normally does. Most of the rest of the ride back is in silence, the end of the trip overshadowing the earlier success.

A short time later, the van pulls back into the gravel parking lot and the subdued group unloads. Stands nudges Yiska once more before the cubs leave. 'Old-Song-Singer was not here. We need a Gibbous Moon to tell tonight's tale at the moot.' She doesn't ask, so much, as indicate that she means the lupus is to do this telling. Alex takes the other cubs aside and mentions: "I want to make sure you understand that no one is mad at you here. Sometimes among Garou ... worry and distress ... comes across as anger. I am sure you have felt this, and will continue to see this as you learn more about your new lives." He offers a little smile. Gabby, greatly subdued, mentions that she will see Tony in the morning, and the pack of adults heads back to their home, leaving the cubs at the edge of the bawn.

Tony feels a little sick. "I guess we should head back to the house," he says as the adults file off, giving the other cubs a look. "I was stupid to prod everyone into going," he mutters with a shake of his head. No, don't fall into self-pity, he tells himself. Not your fault. Vampires fault.

Shay starts towards the house, then pauses. He turns and walks over to Yiska, tail a-flick. 'Hey. Want to come in with us for a while?' If the Galliard is going to be a member of the pack, then trying to eliminate that uncomfortableness would be good.
Bits takes a deep breath and has a shiver go through her, from head to toe. Shay's idea brings a bright (no teeth showing) smile to her young face. "Yeah! Yiska! Come with us. Don't be alone. Being alone sucks!" And her whole demeanor seems to improve.

Yiska had already started walking towards the den, but stops at Shay and Little-Smile's words. He pauses and glances at each human, then whuffs softly and starts off towards the cabin, tail no longer dragging low.

It's a short, familiar now walk back to the Cub house, and all four cubs quickly find their way inside. The place is empty of activity tonight; apparently Kelly is still out on the bawn with her son.

Tony looks enormously improved as Yiska agrees to come along. "You should not feel segregated," he tells the wolf as he closes the door behind him and starts to turn on the lights. "I can tell you're a little weirded out by humans," he says, smiling lopsidedly. "But we're all, you know... the same, now, right? I mean, we can all be wolves, we can all be humans. Heck, we can all be in between." He stops then, and gives Yiska a curious look. "What DO you look like as a human, anyway?"

Shay pads up stairs. He makes a mental note to go retrieve his clothes from where he stripped before. Kelly had told him to not be so uncomfortable being naked, but still he's a little apprehensive about being skyclad around Bits. Since she's a girl. As soon as he puts on some pants, he comes back down stairs on two legs, plopping down somewhere with the group.

Bits settles down ... sprawling, really, on the couch. She looks between the gathered cubs, with that bright smile still on her face. She's not much of a talker, really, but is quite the attentive listener. So, for now, she's quiet.
Yiksa snuffles at the floorboards, padding idly around the cabin, taking his time checking out the new abode. He chuffs quietly at Tony's question, laying out on his stomach and resting his head over his front paws.. 'I am furless and ugly, much like every other human. I have a hard time telling you all apart, visually. You all look the same.'

Tony sits on the armchair opposite the couch, reclining. He laughs at Yiska. "Yeah, well, you'll get used to it. Most wolves look the same to our eyes, until we get to know you. But come on, show us. We'll tell you how you look as far as humans go."

Shay doesn't laugh, though it's an effort. He just smiles and lifts both hands. "Yiska, tell me if you can tell the difference between my right and left hand." The right has two, the left has three fingers, and both move side to side at the same speed. "I couldn't make details out all that well when I was a wolf. Everybody smelled different, but details were like trying to tell one tree from the next."

Bits looks at Shay, "You're not trying to tease him, are you?" she asks, curiously. Seems she's a little protective of the lupus at the moment.

Yiska blinks his eyes at Shay, his ears perked forward, 'I am not blind. And I can count.' He shows a laugh, then sits up and shifts into his homid form. And in fact he is far from ugly - quite attractive really, for a 12 year old native american boy. His hair is pitch black and his skin a glossy shade of tan. His eyes are a deep grey but still manage to show torrents of emotion. And as a human it is much, much easier to like him. Just .. something about him makes you want to be his best friend, but you just can't put your finger on what that something is.

Tony grins over at Shay, knowing what he means about the difference in perception. Things just look different with wolve eyes. When Yiska shifts up into homid, Tony leans back, smiling. "See, man, you look just fine," he says, finding that the boy is quite likeable. "So. Maybe we should all play a game or something," he suggests. "Think they keep board games in this place?"

"Oh." Shay looks a little embarassed at Yiska, and just smiles sheepishly at Bits. "No, just... thought wolf eyes were more movement than detail." He scratches the back of his neck and smiles. "At least boardgames shouldn't be impliments of the Weaver," he says over to Tony, using his hands in a 'booga booga' motion at the mention of the Weaver.

Bits smiles at Yiska. "You look nice, if naked." She giggles a little bit, and blushes behind her hand.

Yiska blinks in confusion at both Shay's and Little-Smile's reaction, "But.. am always..nnnaked." As soon as he opens his mouth it becomes painfully clear that he hasn't had very much practice speaking english. He blinks again and frowns, then starts to stand up, "Is naked bad?" He asks, turning to Tony, who seems the only one who isn't embarrassed at the moment.

Tony can't help but laugh again, sending Bits a broad grin. He shakes his head, then, snickering. "No, naked isn't necessarily bad. But you must have noticed in human society that we wear clothes." He leans forward in his chair, thinking for a minute. "The reason, originally, was because we don't have fur, and we needed to keep warm. But over time, we became so used to clothes, that it began to feel and look awkward when we're naked. Standards and stuff formed, and now it's illegal to be in public naked."

Shay glances over at Yiska, offering a more reassuring smile. "Humans... feel awkward, or uncomfortable, when naked. Some get offended by seeing naked humans. It's very vulnurable. Also, no pockets." The kid puts his hand inside his pants pocket, wiggling it around. 

Bits slips over and gives Yiska a hug, showing a bit of primate-style affection. "We understand that us human-born types act weird to you, but we all still like you a lot. And thank you for saving me!" She hugs again, tightly.

Yiska goes all stiff as he's hugged, his eyes looking like they're about to pop. He also flushes all over and starts to stutter and stammer, "Uh..n-no.. uuh.. we-weird.." He whimpers deep in his throat and throws a pleading glance at both Shay and Tony.

Tony looks away, not offering Yiska any help with his current predicament. Apprently human closeness must feel a little more... personal than he was expecting. His mouth works at keeping back the smirk. "So, Shay, where you from?" he asks conversationally, sharing a grin.

Shay just gives Yiska a reassuring smile and a helpless shrug, before turning to Tony. "Milwaukee." A little laugh. "I uh, actually found out I was Garou by accident. Cursor? He found me in the Umbra. I sorta... fell in after looking in a mirror, and then a pattern spider spit on me. A baby unicorn went and found Cursor, and he let me out."

Bits lets go of Yiska, grinning again, "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to, um..." she brushes her braid back over her shoulder. "Yeah. I'll go sit back down."