A Wolf Among Sheep, Part II

Old Monastic Structures -  -


 * Northeast of the refurbished main monastery building, sandgrass patches sprout from yellow dust among the ramshackled ruins of structures that have yet to undergo the tender ministrations of restoration by the inhabitants of Night's Edge.


 * The outbuildings are of sun clay and timber, and seem in particularly desperate states of disrepair - clearly incapable of occupation, and just this side of making someone throw up their hands in surrender before tearing them down to rubble.


 * It is the Tenth hour by the Shadow on Lanternglow. The air is stagnant, not stirring with the slightest breeze. Puffy white clouds fill most of the sky.

-

Night has set over the monastery ruins, but one lantern burning softly illuminates that they have not been left abandoned. In the old den arranged within the rubble, a wolf with shining violent eyes is sprawled, Meian's slim form half-hidden by the animal's fur, blood darkening her white arms to an ominous shade in the lantern-light. "Oh, Kael," she whispers, very lowly. "Why- how? To heal?"

A shadow appears in the broken doorframe, its silk-soft voice flavored with the lilting brogue of the backwoods. "I see," Caprice says simply, approaching quietly with hands laced almost casually at her back, her fair features and silver-blonde hair slashed with the pale light of the rising moon.

The ruins have fallen to darkness, now - a lantern serving as a mark of habitation near the old den at the ruin's center. There is Meian, arms bloodied, her arms around the - to some familiar - great beast that once lived there, the massive wolf's black fur slick with blood from a wound near the right shoulder. Its eyes flicker with an odd violet radiance as Caprice approaches.

The beast's ears go back yet again, baring steel teeth in what might be a snarl if one were inclined to miss the signs of the lowered tail, the sidelong look. "Healin'.. a.." The rusty growl is comprehensible, for all that it is inhuman.

Nostrils flare. And.. it addresses that shadow in the doorway, suddenly, oddly protective of the woman there in front of him. "Meian.. y' stay out o' th' way, aye?" As gentle as that voice can manage.

"No!" Meian releases the wolf's neck, turning on a heel to stand defiantly before the beast, her arms spread wide open. "You're not going to hurt him!" Devoid of its customary stutter, her voice is a fierce lance of strength, no doubt softening its tone. "I won't let you. I won't let anyone."

"Kael, Meian," comes the familiar cry of the Valoria. She seems a bit slow on the uptake for she's making her way from the house. Concern rests in her voice, but it doesn't seem to be for the current sights.

Calm as a summer breeze, Reese halts in her steps, maintaining a healthy distance between them. Wavy, sweat-slick locks spill over her armored shoulder when her head rocks to one side, considering both mages in silence. For Celeste, there is not even a second's worth of notice paid. The beast.. ignores the wound, as much as it can, standing, favoring that foreleg, slowly limping a step forward. ".. y' allus ken I were a monster, Trouble. S' nae changed. S' what I am, in th' end." It's not.. defiance. It's not explanation - the wolf refuses to look fully at 'Reese, in fact, ears still back. "Y' were right t' shoot - e'en 'f I were nae chasin' that woman."

Meian doesn't let that beast get ahead of her, quickening her steps so she can keep her slight frame between him and Caprice- not that it's much use, as there's plenty of his bulk she can't cover. She stares steadily at the other woman, not breaking the gaze even as she calls, "Lady Celeste. I think we might have a problem."

Celeste hastens her step towards the den, wondering at said 'problem.' "Coming," she calls out and catches one hand to her skirts. The mace is absent, not expecting any trouble it would seem. Though she does come to a halt a step or two behind Caprice.

Caprice looks Meian in the eye, one slim eyebrow lifting in a sharp, curious arch. But in the end, she is not here for Meian. That chilling, otherworldly blue gaze shifts to the injured wolf, narrowed and intense. "Kael," says one Firelight to another, as soft as a lover's kiss and just as deadly, "whit were ye doin'?"

"Th' were killin' cows." Another limped step forward, but this time, the beast just nudges at Meian's hair, reassuring. "Movin' along th' freeholds 'tween th' Gardens an' th' Lode.. I shoul' hae let 'em be?" Finally, it looks up to Reese, a flare of that family's resolve showing. Blood drips to the overgrown cobbles.

Meian slings one slim arm around the wolf's neck, pressing herself against him, still keeping that almost unblinkingly close watch on Caprice. She makes no move for a weapon, but taut wariness is visible in every line of her frame.

Celeste steps to the side, taking in the image of wolf, blood, and no so happy family. "Hm, best to see about that before it gets infected," she cuts across the others with gaze resting to Meian. "Then we can all figure out what happened."

"Heal hi'," Reese agrees, her first acknowledgement of the Viscountess. "Wi' na stoop ye."

Kael-wolf's eyes go back down; as Celeste approaches, that massive beast is engulfed in shifting shadows, a swirling maelstrom that lasts just a moment and fades away to leave the man in place of the beast - a man whose tunic is soaked through with blood along the left side, and whose arm is certainly not in good shape. "S' nothin'. Wi' be nothin' - e'erythin' heals 'n time." The glow in his eyes remains - still faintly violet, that odd radiance prominent enough.

Meian removes her arm from around the beast, but only long enough for the transformation to assert itself; when the man is returned, she's now hugging his waist, supporting him. "Please, heal him," she urges lowly of Celeste. "Whatever he says- he needs it."

"I can't agree more," replies Celeste as she steps closer. There's a reticence to her movements, not a gift she reaches for lightly. "Kael, we will need to see about a healer as well. Is Muri still here, or should I send word for Rowena?"

A single clean step backward removes Caprice from the ex-Scourge's path. "Wi' speak when yer well, Sheepdog," the Pathfinder tells her brother, as stoic and unreadable as ever. Her footfalls are purposeful as she turns to leave, entrusting her brother to his wife and the Valorian. "We be doon here fer th' nonce."

Kael calls - "Trouble?" And.. a breath, his expression searching.. but whatever else he might say, he bites back, just closing his eyes as he's, apparently, being fussed over. "I kin keep 't dressed. Yer frettin' too much."

"You're not well," Meian whispers fiercely up at Kael, hold tightening. "Please, don't fight this. There's no reason to fight this." She shakes her head, almost savagely with the force she puts behind the gesture.

Celeste nods, looking from Kael to Meian. "This will need some explaining," she replies and looks back to Caprice. "No need to run off." Her gaze stalled by the armor, and strange smile tugs at the corner of her lips. She turns back, saying a prayer over Kael, and pushing too hard to the wound. It seems that blood does favor white too well.

Both Kael's plea and Celeste's gentle words are ignored entirely by Reese, whose feet do not falter as she makes once again for the midnight wood.

- Return to Season 7 (2008)