| Battle By Moonlight | |||||
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| What: Moon Knight and Nolan Voight arrive at Castle Russoff to confront Jack Russell and Vukodlak about the Westchester Woods Massacre... | |||||
Nolan had said it would take him some time to weave his spell, so when the two land on the island, only one gets out and heads towards the castle that is it's dominating feature. He walks right up the main road, looking up at the structure to see what signs there might be that it's residents are currently home.
Vukodlak, meanwhile, had swam to the island from the far shore, and shakes xirself only a bit once back on dry land. And then xe is bolting towards the castle, and letting out a long and loud howl. It's a warning howl - hunters were coming to the castle. On four limbs, the wolfman rushes to get to the castle, to the pack.
Moonlight over Gotham.
Normally, it would be a beautiful thing, something to be pondered and appreciated - but tonight... tonight it is largely ignored. Jack Russell stands on a balcony of his home, Castle Russoff on an island in the Gotham River, overlooking the courtyard. Guardwolves prowl the premises, each one noting Vukodlak's arrival and passing that information onto Rus.
Rus sniffs the air.
A new scent is familiar.
Moon Knight.
"Here we go..." he murmurs to himself, and he puts both hands upon the stone railing in front of him, stretching his arms out and then his back, letting muscles crack with a mixture of both pain and pleasure. "Let him through," he tells the wolves, who back off.
The visitor glances to the wolves at the entryway as they let him past.. he's changed since exiting the boat, and the cloaked figure in silver-white now stepping into the courtyard would be unmistakable even without enhanced senses. His gaze soon turns upwards to Russell and his balcony.
He did not miss the howl that heralded his arrival on the island, and his words are cool when he speaks. "It seems your time has been eventful since last we met, Jack." he states, the moonlight spilling down onto his cloak making it almost seem to glow as he addresses the master of castle Russoff.
Vukodlak bolts through the same entryway that Moon walked through. Xe's still wet, panting hard, but that's not a hindrance now. Xe dashes forward, and whirls in front of the moon-cloaked stranger, interposing xir body between him and the castle.
"Go back, Hunter." xe almost snarls, planting clawed hands on the ground, body low. "Vuk heard you speak to the other. You seek to hurt Vuk and Rus!" The beastman snarls again, the fur on xir back rising up. "Go back!"
"Vuko!"
Russell calls down from the balcony, his tone one of 'don't do anything rash', then puts his hand upon the railing and vaults over the side. The alpha-wolfman drops two storeys to the ground, landing on bare feet with one hand splayed against the gravel for added balance. He is wearing jeans, a muscle shirt on his chest and a long-sleeved shirt over the top, worn unbuttoned. His hair falls down about his face, which he then slowly raises to look firstly at Vukodlak, and then at Spector.
His other hand holds something clasped tightly in it - a small plastic bag.
"You could say that," he tells Spector as he rises to his feet. Then he sniffs the air. "Where's the other one?"
Moon Knight turns at the sound of Vuk pelting into the courtyard, and holds his ground as Vuk skids to a halt before him. His stance is ready should the young wolf attack, though he makes no move to do so himself for now.
The silver figure breathes a short laugh at Russell's question. "I left him behind." he replies, making no denial of Vuk's words. He doesn't even seem to glance at the bag in Russell's hand, which may leave even less doubt as to just who Rus is speaking to.
He does, however, glance to Vuk. "You're the one. The one with the shorn tail, the one who tore apart those boys and ate them alive." he takes a measured step forward, arms still at his sides, but the glowing slits of his eyes seem to narrow in judgment.
Vukodlak quails beneath that gaze, ears flattening to xir skull. A whine escapes the beastman's throat, and xe bounds behind Rus, head down. "Vuk scared. Hunters come, Vuk run. Hunters chashe. Vuk hide, hunters find." Xe whines again.
"They weren't boys," Russell growls emphatically. The anger in him is palpable; if it could radiate heat he would be able to give Gotham a taste of 'Christmas in Australia' for a night or two. He glances aside at Vukodlak, his expression turning from anger to sorrow - empathy - and finally back to Spector.
"They were men. Men hunting beasts - and they found Vukodlak." With that, Russell angrily tosses the little plastic bag at Spector. There are five small metallic items in it - heavy enough to carry the bag with some speed toward the servant of Khonshu's hand. "Here's what your 'victims' did to my pack-mate here..."
Bullets.
Rus's lip curls.
"While she was running," he adds a moment later - using the feminine pronoun on purpose, even if he is not entirely sure why.
Moon Knight catches the thrown bag neatly, turning it in his hand to glance at its contents, the bullets glimmering in the white light. He seems unimpressed as he lets it drop to the ground.
"Your kind have always been a corruption of my master's influence. Those are not even silver, and for them mistaking this one as a beast, you suggest they deserved to die as if to a beast? This was no action of reason or necessity." The Moon's Knight turns his piercing gaze back on the cowering Vuk. "You rent them with such savagery that even now their spirits repeat their deaths in an endless cycle, unable to escape, their families left to pick through torn remains to even recognize their children. Your deed will not go unanswered--" he pauses, turning his head just slightly to include Russell. "Or your aiding of it." he adds coldly. "...You were supposed to be better than this."
Vukodlak whimpers again. Xe didn't understand why this man was so hateful of him. And the meaning of the mooncloack's man's words don't ring with the wolfbeast. Xe didn't know what6 the man meant, but xe could tell he was angry and disproving. Those feelings Vuk was far too accoustumed to seeing on human faces. "Vuk... run, hide. HUnters chashe. Vuk scared, Vuk fight back. Vuk did bad?"
Russell knows that look.
He knows all of Moon Knight's aspects - well, almost all of them.
Narrowing his eyes at the white-cloaked man before him, Russell lifts his chin and inhales. Releasing the breath from between his lips, he shifts his stance to set his feet apart a little more, and his arms drop slowly to his sides, hands open. He walks very slowly over toward Vukodlak, to put himself between the neo-werewolf and their moon-cloaked adversary.
"Vuko didn't know any better. She - he - was..." Russell's voice fails him. The revulsion in him is easily to see, as he turns his head away, shaking it over and over, swallowing bile. "I don't know much," he tells the Knight of the Moon. "But I do know Vuk was experimented on. She'd only just escaped when those hunters decided to chase 'er. It's not 'er fault, Moon Knight. Use yer fucking senses - she's terrified! You oughta know what it's like bein' trapped inside a beast! Remember C - "
He frowns.
"Hey. Your..." Rus's face turns stony. "The amulet. Where's your fucking amulet?"
Moon Knight snaps even as Russell pauses, "That was reversible. And this creature seems not even to acknowledge nor regret her crime." though whatever else he might have added, he hesitates at Russell's question...and chooses to respond by ignoring it.
He focuses on Vuk again, "You are a threat to all who travel at night." he shifts his weight and when he speaks again, it is with a tone of command. "Come, and face your judgment." though Russell might remember one way the missing amulet could be located, at least if it was on Moon Knight's person at all.
A sudden thought comes to Vukodlak. This moon-man... was he one of the Hunters' pack-mates? That would explain the anger. Still, his pack had attacked Vuk first! Was it wrong to fight back like xe did? Worse, was the moon-man going to hurt the rest of xir pack if xe didn't obey? The tone of command gives a kick to xir trained-in instincts, and xe hesitantly, reluctantly, comes towards Moon Knight a bit, on all fours and head held low. "No hurt Rus." xe pleads, as if asking for a deal.
"Vuko..." Russell says warningly. His eyebrows raised, nostrils flared - the alpha-wolf is startled by his new pack-mate's actions, and extremely wary. His fingers flex, his knees bend, and he focuses his attention upon Moon Knight.
"Khonshu's Bony Beak, Moon Knight..." he mutters to his friend/enemy - frenemy, one should suppose. Vukodlak's actions inspire him to try a different approach for the moment - while he has the chance, that is. This entire altercation could disintegrate fast, and then there would be no holding back - not Russell, not Vukodlak, not the guardwolves... not Moon Knight.
"Grant! You're supposed to make sure Knight's got all he needs. Where's the amulet, Grant? Where is it? Spector! Where the fuck are you, man? Do yer detective thing. Ask! Talk! C'mon, man... don't make us... Jus' don't, okay?"
Rus's amber eyes look back and forth between Moon Knight and Vukodlak, his growing alarm clearly obvious.
Moon Knight steps towards Vuk again, drawing out a silvery baton that telescopes smoothly into a staff. "It is well that you face your justice as you meet it--" he starts, but stiffens, turning to glare at Russell. "Be silent. This is no concern of theirs, this is -my- task." and there's an anger there, sharp under the surface of the words that there hasn't been to this point.
Vukodlak is confused by Rus's words. He sounded like he was talking to someone that wasn't there? The wolfman stays were xe is, watching Moon come towards xir. "No hurt Rus. NO hurt Vuk's pack." There's almost begging in xir voice. "Rus..." Xe looks over at the alpha, looking sorrowful. "Vuk protect pack. Vuk protect brother."
Moon Knight ..slowly nods. "If he keeps out of it, I will not force him to be a part of this." there's a nobility after all, in taking on Russell's culpability. Someone will pay, and perhaps it will quite the headache he's getting.
Russell snarls in spite of himself.
It's a wonder he has not fully 'wolfed out' - yet - in all of this.
"Has anyone ever told you, Moonie?" he says to the Defender of Travellers. "You're a real pain in my hairy ass..." Glancing at Vuk, he adds (under his breath): "You too, right now, Pup." Rus takes a breath, but does not step forward as he addresses Moon Knight again. "Put on the amulet, Moonie. I ain't stupid - you wouldn't leave it lyin' around. Vuk was a Traveller too - before those fools decided to put five bullets in 'im."
He glances between them again, then sniffs as guardwolves creep to the edge of the courtyard. The wolves turn away - albeit with great reluctance - but it does little to help Rus' anxiety here.
"Put the amulet back on before you kill another Traveller."
Moon Knight snarls at Russell, "I don't need it, or -them- for this. Now be silent, I said." he turns his back on Russell, as if to say if he chooses to take the opening and involve himself, he's welcome to. Moon will keep to his word, though. It's one of his strengths, though like many of them he will often carry it single mindedly to the point of a fault.
Vuk however...the silver staff swings down viscously, to force the wolfling to retreat or be struck.
Vukodlak... doesn't retreat. Xe takes the solid, vicious strike with not even a whimper. As if getting hit was something xe was completely used to. Xe staggers, sinking to the ground, eyes closed, blood running from the wound where the skin had broken. After a few moments, the bleeding stops as the wound starts to heal. Vuk remains silent, panting.
Russell cannot take it anymore.
He has just watched one of his pack struck down while in submission.
And that one... smells wrong.
Something about Vukodlak's blood draws Russell's attention and he lets out a, "No!" in a tight, strangled whisper - also partly induced by the fact that Moon Knight just attacked his friend... and Rus let him. The scion of Grigory Russoff - the 'original werewolf' - launches himself at Moon Knight with arms and claws extended forward...
But not to kill.
There's no mistaking the glow of the amulet usually worn by Moon Knight, now carried on his person. That glow is all the Werewolf By Night needed to act, and with lightning speed he is going for it. An arm shifts to block the expected counter-attack of the Moon-Man's staff - however painful that would be - while his other hand makes a slash at the Knight's clothes over where the amulet is concealed.
And all around...
The guardwolves howl at the moon.
Moon Knight whips his staff back around, moving smoothly to step forward so he can strike again--but the motion stutters, staff raised threateningly yet frozen in the face of the still and resolute Vukodlak. "What are you doing..?" he says, and again there's a hint of frustration to his words, but also honest bewilderment.
And then there's a telltale glow from a pocket of his cloak.
Russell slams into him a split second after.
For once the Fist of Khonshu is taken entirely by surprise. He's sent sprawling headlong, though to his credit he keeps hold of his staff, and does indeed swing it backhanded to slam into Russell's shoulder even as the wolf-man claws at his cloak and back. "Damn you! I knew you would interfere..!" despite apparently being unprepared for it.
Vukodlak's eyes snap open. What was happening? Rus was attacking the Moon-man... Well, that was easy enough to understand. The wolfbeast shakes cir head, grimacing - xir head still hurt,m bad. That wasn't normal. But xe could work past that. Vuk bounds forward, perhaps a bit off balance, and grabs at the silver staff, trying to pull it away from Moon Knight. And xe is very strong.
"Marc woulda seen that comin'!" Russell snarls through his fangs at Moon Knight.
The werewolf's leap carries him past the servant of Khonshu, but not without suffering a blow from the staff to his arm and shoulder. Rus's paws strike the ground of the courtyard, skidding to a halt as the sound of more howling werewolves fills the air - mingling with the scent of burning skin and dog-hair (Russell's). Castle Russoff itself casts most of the area in shadow, hiding the guardwolves from view - massive lupine beasts that have been ordered to 'stay out of it' by their Alpha.
Russell.
The moon light glints off something in Rus's hand - a now-glowing amulet.
He crouches for another attack, but looks aside at Vukodlak... and hesitates while the neo-werewolf twists around and tries to take the silver staff out of Moon Knight's hands, and out of the picture. "He's sick!" Jack growls at the Knight of Khonshu as he starts to circle, his voice dark and guttural now. "He's dying!"
The alpha-wolf gathers himself for another leap at Moon Knight, the amulet extended - with the intent of putting it on his 'frenemy' by any means possible.
Of course Nolan hasn't been present heading up into this meeting. The psychic isn't a fighter, really. Oh he knows how, despite his handicaps, having grew up on Gotham's mean streets and then a double fin in prison, but he knows his limits.. more or less. Before the boat had finished the crossing, Nolan had undergone a change.. Where Moon Knight was resplendent in his white costume Nolan's visage underwent a transformation.. Tendrils of Dark suddenly swirled around the cripple, wrapping him in a tight mummy-like haze of ectoplasmic mist... Then the Dark wraps exploded and standing there was.. someone different. A lovely black wide lapelled suit, brocaded in darker obsidian designs.. A black high collar shirt and black tie.. His crutch is gone, replaced by an obsidian cane with a silver handle and his face... well his face is obscured by a mask with no mouth.. A mask looking as if it were hewn from bone, with only black eyes and nose slits.. His hair a red coiffure on top... Nolan was gone, and instead stood Deadwatch... canting his head once in a nod to Moon Knight as the boat came to shore.
"I'll be around.." he had said and before Moon Knight could say anything else, Nolan.. no.. Deadwatch stepped off the bow of the boat.. Reality flexed as if it were water stood upright, rippling waves as Deadwatch pushed himself through some sort of threshold, the image of him passing through fading like he was stepping into a murky pool.. and then he is gone, a few ripples remaining in the air until they too fade.
The living aren't supposed to be within The Dark.. And though whatever tragedy or fate that allows him to be there allows him this breach of The Rules, it's not something he can do with great ease. It /is/ like being under water, though he can breathe. The Living have a buoyancy that keeps them in the real world. He is like an island diver, exerting himself to keep beneath the surface.. to weigh himself down as he walks through a dark reflection of the living world.. Much like that realm Bilbo Baggins found himself when he would put on the One Ring.. Energies and eldritch winds like currents pushing at him.. Deadman can see the living world like it was a ghost in its own right.. Sometimes he would get lost, the age of the castle, the gravitas it brought with it, distorting things.. He sees shades of the dead not native to this land but to the castle itself.. feral things not quite human.. things he keeps away from as he makes his way to find Moon Knight... Until he does... He cannot hear them in the real world, and is only catching the faded visual echoes they make...
Moon Knight likely stands out like a vivid smear in the Dark right now, if a fractured one. He's filled with his patron's purpose, or at least he'd meant to be-- Vuk's resolved acceptance of his wrath staggered him, and left more of an opening for Russell than he'd had any intention of leaving. He snarls, shifting to bash Russell in the face with his staff, only to have Vukodlak snap it in xir's jaws. The other end still swings to take Russell in the side of the head, but a good part of the blow is deflected, and Moon Knight soon finds himself with the choice of wrestling for his weapon or to stop Russell.
He lets go of the staff.
The silver clad Knight reaches for one of the blades on his belt with one hand while the other snatches at the glowing object in Russell's claws. "Illness is no excuse for murder, the spirits of the slain demand justice - even you must see that!" he snarls, the moon granting him enhanced strength but doing the same for Russell. "Why must you interfere?! Why must all of you always interfere!"
Vukodlak pulls the silver staff away, backing away from the fight for a moment, long enough to make sure the weapon is out of reach of the Moon-man. Finally, xir head starts to clear, and the young wolfman drops the staff and howls, charging back into the fray. Seeing the glint of a blade, fangs are bared the Vuk bites at Mon's wrist. If Vuk does connect, the bite will be shockily gentle, only meant to restrain.
Context is everything and Deadwatch has very little of it at the moment. Nolan/Deadwatch is still working on the assumption that Werewolves = Bad guys at the moment, though he finds the slew.. sorry.. the pack of lesser (not by much) wolves holding back to be weird. His gaze shifts over the primaries of this little drama.. The familiar werewolf that is Russ, with his strange dual soul, not part man and beast but, to Nolan, two complete spirits. Wolf and man, together, like two types of oil filling a balloon, their different viscosities making them never really merge yet both filling up the humanoid shapes skein with a bit of each other's features.
The other wolf creature's aura is much different.. Xir is not man or beast but something else.. It's state is completely one thing and it is.. dying... It's spirit has been violated on so many levels and the that connection between body and soul is.. tentative.. fuzzy.. breaking down slowly like an iron nail inside a bottle of coke.
Deadwatch turns his gaze finally to Moon Knight.. from within the dark his view of that strangest of souls is much clearer... and worrying. Shifting... parts of themself (for there is more than one) fighting for control.. One light flashing, subduing the others while it is attacked physically on another front by Vuk. That strange magical talisman aglow, almost seeming to resonate with Moon Knight... Nolan isn't sure if that's good or bad but.. Moon is being attacked and needs help.. Words are starting to filter through the dark ether, but they don't help Deadwatch paint a complete picture..But the two wolves are attacking at ONCE now and Deadwatch can't have that.
Air ripples, reality distorts, and Deadwatch limps out of The Dark like an alligator stepping out of a in invisible sideways pond, having been unseen beneath the surface. His suit twinkles with motes of frost. Closer to Vuk than Russ, Deadwatch leans on his cane while with his free hand he unfurls the tendril of dark energy he calls his Darkwhip... crackling with black electricity he throws his hand forward, the darkwhip unfurling faster and faster... and if it strikes Vuk it will pass through xir physical body and coil around their core.. their soul.. hopefully making their body go rigid like a taser.. and connecting them, spirit to spirit..whispering a single word..
"Heel."
Surprise.
That is what registers on Russell's face when the newcomer - this... spectral-looking fellow in the fine suit and the crazy mask - just... steps into view. And without a scent to herald his arrival. That's new. Having never seen nor heard of the man in the mask before, Russell hesitates long enough to witness the 'darkwhip' lash out toward Vukodlak...
And the Alpha-wolf makes his lunge at Moon Knight.
Paws scrape against the ground for a bare instant before the wolfman - clearly more 'man' than 'wolf' at this current moment (i.e. his clothes still fit too) - as he makes a lightning dash at his friend. "You idiot!" he growls at Knight as he attempts to reach the man's white-cowled throat... with the amulet.
An odd attack, to say the least, for a supposed 'beast'.
A foolish attack, some might say.
Russell has left himself no defense against the Knight of the Moon's blades, in order to (at least try to) do what he intends in this moment. As his clawed hands near Spector's throat with the amulet, silver blades sink into the werewolf's chest and he looses a howl of agony in his opponent's ear.
"You're as mad as the rest of us!" he hisses.
Moon Knight is only peripherally aware of Nolan's striking entrance as Russell lunges at him again.
Some have observed in the past Moon Knight's rather questionable tendency to take an attack head on for the sake of landing one of his own rather than try to avoid it, but right this moment he finds those tables turned.. the crescent blade, it's silver meant half to ward off Russell instead cuts deep into the lycanthrope's chest, at the expense of Moon's ability to dodge the amulet.
It catches around his neck, and Nolan's singular perspective of the situation likely gets twice as complicated. The amulet and the man do seem to almost pulse in sync, and the other muted aspects of his personality suddenly surge forcefully back to awareness in a confused jumble that leaves him with his hands pressed to his head, falling to his knees with an inarticulate shout.
Vukodlak was completely unaware of Nolan's arrival, so focused was xe on Moon Knight. Thus the wolfman is completely taken off guard when a sensation of -cold- seizes xir heart. Pain, an echo of constant pain. Fear, sorrow. Unexpected sensations freeze Vuk, and then a voice more felt than heard commands xir to heel. So xe does, cowering on the ground, refusing to whimper, refusing to show weakness or pain.
It's seems like a night for everyone to fall to their knees, one way or another. Russ with silver blades stuck through him like toothpicks holding a sandwich together.. Moon knight staggering as that amulet catches his neck and setting all his spirits into that mess of a pulse washing over the white knight of the moon.. And Now Vuk, falling to the ground like a fearful and chastised pup.. Good thing Deadwatch has control of..
Fucking hell.......
Imagine spending your entire life hearing things.. seeing things.. being touched by things.. HURT by things.. Things alien yet not.. Tormented by voices and forces... A life like that and one would either go nuts and kill themselves, quickly OR slowly, or they would try to fight back.. to build a wall, a defence against these strange inhuman things. That's what Nolan had done... It's what allowed him to function not only as a man but as Deadwatch. He has learned to shield his mind from others, living and dead, to deal with them on his terms...
But Vuk's mind.. his soul... it's such a wild and feral thing.. Not unlike a spirit of nature.. not unlike the truly inhuman things that Nolan has learned to avoid.. But this wild creature, feral AND self-conscious.. He was not prepared for it.. Not prepared for the way that it's tortured being could bypass his guard... Because it is a sympathetic resonance. Deadwatch knows pain and torture and violation, on EVERY level.. And because this pain is so similar, if much more palpable.. more overwhelming, that little bit of sympathy allows it to seep through his shields.. it suffices him.. it fills him.. images and feelings, a whole history of terrible events and how they imprinted on this creature flowing through his mind and soul.
Deadwatch falls to /one/ knee, gritting his teeth behind his mask as the essence of What Vuk is.. who xhe is... of the creature's life laid bare before him, within him, roils through that dark oily void in his soul, that place that connects his to The Dark... And he throws his head back and screams.. HOWLS in agony... like a wolf.
It burns.
Oh, how it burns.
A better werewolf would learn to avoid getting stuck with silver. A better werewolf would do what it takes. A better werewolf would win - he would strut away from the scene of his victory, howl at the moon, piss on a tree, and take a nap. That's because a better werewolf would go for the throat and not think twice about it.
Jack Russell, on the other hand... is a terrible werewolf.
And fuck, but it burns.
Without some intervention, Rus staggers backward a bit from Moon Knight, and drops to his knees. He is already shifting back into a form more human - skin rather than fur, teeth rather than fangs - bleeding. The harsh aroma of burning flesh and dog-hair permeates the immediate area, causing some of the nearby guardwolves to howl.
Or maybe they're howling along with Deadwatch.
Maybe both.
Leaning back on his elbows, Russell blinks at Moon Knight, his breath coming and going in tight hisses through his teeth. "It wasn't... wasn't her fault, Marc," he grates with difficulty. Damn those silver, magical blades... It is an effort to remain conscious. "She's... dyin'. They h-hunted a...a dyin' an-animal. Ah, fuck me...ow."
And his head falls back to rest against the gravel, although his chest - perforated though it is - still moves.
Moon Knight 's subdued aspects all snapping back to consciousness at once leaves him a bewildered mess while they all strive for some sort of equilibrium..especially when more than one of them are far less than pleased just now.
But there's wolves cowering and shouting and howling, and the ghost-man only one of them recognizes as Nolan howling loudest of all, and all around everyone seems to be down in one way or another.. Marc finally flounders to the surface, hearing his name, and things finally snap from that half-instinctual realm of the semi-conscious to waking reality. "Oh, shit.." the blade in Russell's chest is difficult to mistake.
Marc's eyes dart around, taking in the rest of the scene as well, the cowering wolf creature, the shrieking man in the bone smooth mask and the suit that looks like it was carved from a shadow.
He voices what seems the most pertinent question; "What the -hell- happened?"
Vukodlak is in no real condition to answer Marc. Still reeling from the Darkwhip, the wolfbeast's ears twitch weakly. So much screaming, howling... Xe opens her eyes, and spots Rus lying wounded. "Rus!" Xe bounds over to him, hardly graceful, and clumsily grasps the sword, grimacing. Pulling the sword would hurt, but it seemed to be hurting Rus more just to leave it in. So... Xe pulls the sword out, throwing it aside. "Rus? Brother..." Vuk nuzzles xir pack-mate worriedly, licking his face.
Gods and Goddesses and whatever the else there is damnit all! Just for /once/ Nolan would LOVE for shit to be black and white. Yes, more often then not there are shades of grey but.. not as much as some may think. More like an old fashioned 16-tone grey scale rather then hundreds or thousands of shades. But in a way this /is/ black and white as well.. or close to it.. with some red thrown in for color.. to make a point.
The point being that as terrible as what Vuk has done, he can see it from their eyes.. from their soulview... Vuk /was/ dying. /Is/ dying. Wounded xhe attacked the hunters. Eating them was so fucking terrible, he can TASTE them on his lips, his toungue, the howl becoming a hunched over gagging... Oh fuck, xhe ate them... but they were going to kill xir.. Xhe who had finally escaped the torment due to someone who cared.... the specific gets fuzzy but not the abstract feelings. Xhe could do nothing else.. only fight back like the wounded animal xhe was.. no,xhe shouldn't have eaten these hunters, good or badm, but was she right in killing them?
Nolan/Deadwatch wants to say no but.. he can't. Because was /he/ right that night ten years ago when he was being beat to death by his old childhood nemesis, an entire gang surrounding and kicking and punching a wasted young junklie cripple. Was he right when his his heart stopped and he began to fall into The Dark and he reached stared INTO tThe Dark and saw it blink.. say it offer something for him to grabbed.. whatever it was.. grabbing it and pulled himself hand over hand over soul out of the pit and in payment let.. whatever it was take him... Was he right to use that thing's hunger to decimate the gang.. to KILL his enemy?
No.. it hadn't been right.
But it had been nessasary
It had been justified..
Nolan/Deadwatch could not judge Vuk any differently. He /WOULD/ not. The greatest, and the worst, penance Nolan could bring for himself was to live and to learn and to make a difference. And now.. gods and goddesses and whatever the fuck else out there be damned.. He /had/ to give Vuk that same benefit, even if they were dying..
With another heave, part from the memory of human meat on his pallate and from self disgust (good or bad), Deadwatch pulls back the darkwhip... already having gone limp as Vuk crawled over to Russ it slithers slowly back int his body and Deadwatch falls to his side, panting...
"Justified..." he wheezes.. "Just..i..fied.."
"Ow! Owowowowow...!!" Rus complains when the blade is taken out of him, his back arching in protest despite what his head knows. His skin stops sizzling, and the healing process sets in almost immediately, causing him to lean back again but this time in relief.
Getting his face licked is another matter.
"Vuk! Vuk, Vuk, Vuk - okay! I'm up! Ow..." He looks at his pack-mate and gives a thin smile while laying a palm gently on Vukodlak's shoulder. Then the smile fades. "This ain' over yet, Pup," he remarks with all seriousness - and turns his head to look at Moon Knight and... who the hell is that?
Rus points a finger at Marc. "Moon Knight tried to kill a member of my pack - Vukodlak here. Vuko - " and he nods from werewolf to Spector. "Meet Marc Spector. I know, it's complicated." Back to Marc he says, "Moon Knight wouldn't put the amulet on - I reckon that ghostly prick was tryin' to keep you outta the picture, especially after that shit in Cairo, yeah?"
Finally, Rus turns to Deadwatch and stares - sniffing at the air in the hope it will tell him something (anything, in fact) about the stranger. "And as for yer friend... if he barfs on my yard, he can clean it up."
Marc listens intently to Russell, though his expression isn't the easiest to read through the shadowed mask. He makes a hastily dismissive sound though at mention of Cairo, and reaches up as if to brush absently at his own hair if the hood didn't turn out to be in the way.
"He was only doing what he was told." Marc mutters angrily when Russell finishes. "I know about the killings, and your friend there. We need to talk about that." He looks over the others, adding "At least if everyone's alive enough for it.."
Marc's eye catches on Deathwatch again.. the amulet is back, and doing it's job. Marc has no idea what's going on, but Moon, still shaken from Vuk's refusal to flee or fight and Russell's nearly pyrrhic attack grudgingly gives over his information, Marc blinking as he absorbs it. "..Voight?" he asks in vague shock. "Is that you?"
Vukodlak gives a happy yelp as Rus smiles. Another quick nuzzling is given, before ears perk up, Vuk takes a defensive stance, hands braced on the ground. "No more fight." xe insists. Xe's ignoring the ache in xir muscles. the headache between xir eyes. Xir stomach growls.
Deadwatch pushes himself up to his knees once more, shakily, looking for the cane... actually the cane is now a crutch-cane, not that fancy black one.. feeling around for it, still making gagging sounds, he shoots Russ a dirty look.. Well, it may be a dirty look.. It's hard to tell with a mask in the way yet somehow he conveys the feeling. "*cough* You know what, furrball... Fuck you! I'll hork wherever the hell I want to.. *cough* Damnitall, I need something to get that taste out of my mouth." he wheezes as his hand finds the crutch-cane
No.. It's The Fancy Cane.. but wasn't it a crutch-cane a moment ago.. it's hard to remember..
With a push up, Deadwatch gets to his feet and eyes Vuk, now beside xir 'packmate'. He wishes he could wash his brain of this.. This was NOT expected. He'll need to... meditate on what happened.. find out why.. and how to shield himself in the future. "No.. *coughcough*" he wipes the blank mouth area of the mask with the back of his hand. "No more fighting Vukodlak. But you listen to me.. You and the great wolf leader here." he points and then looks at Russ, "You are on fucking parole. I know WHAT happened. I know WHY it happened. I don't fucking like it but I understand. But this will NOT happen again, do you hear me.." he sets his shoulders, still shaky but.. resolute. "You will keep Vukodlak under control, Jack. You will TEACH.. xir.. how to control themselves. You will both learn that it is better to retreat unless you have no fucking CHOICE. No killing unless you HAVE to. No EATING people.. EVER, Because I don't fucking CARE what Mister Egyptian Moon God in Jack over can do to your bodies with swords..."
And the black eyes of the mask glow.. Pin pricks, the left blue and the right amber.. small sparks becoming flame, one so cold it could freeze a soul, the other so hot it could melt it in sulphur.. black mist swirls around him and then up... like a fountain.. and as it starts to drift downwards The Dark catches on.. things.. Shapes resolving, like water falling on invisible creatures.. clinging to a handful.. no a dozen.. no MORE feral shapes.. all lupine but on two feet.. details resolving in their shadows.. Wolves with injuries.. parts missing.. black ectoplasmic blood oozing from wounds.. They SHOULD be familiar to Russ... maybe family.. maybe friends.. definitely some enemies.. all who are dead.. all now wolf shadows with glowing red eyes... slathering, looking hungry..
"You need to worry about what /I/ can do to your souls /after/." he whispers, his voice so monotone it could slice through bone.. the broken circle symbol on his mask turning slowly, ominously. Then he turns to look at Jake.. Marc.. Whoever.. "Yes, it's me... Though I fucking wonder if you are /you/ at the moment, regardless of what I am seeing."
Russell stares back at Voight.
And at the shapes in the Dark.
He nods.
Message received. He actually takes some time to consider each image, despite the revulsion clear upon his features. Occasionally recognition dawns in his amber eyes - most often the recognition of one enemy to another, like seeing the body in the morgue after a heated battle - and sometimes the expression is more disgusted.
Or more sorrowful.
Lots of skeletons in this wolf's den.
Then he turns his head toward Vukodlak and wets his lips with his tongue before speaking. "He means he'll be watching, Pup," he explains. And he glances at Spector. "They both will." Rus lets out a sigh and finally stands to his feet next to Vukodlak, upon whose shoulder he lays a hand protectively.
"It won't," he tells Voight flatly. Then a frown crosses the man's brow. "You talk to the dead?"
Moon Knight chuckles tiredly. "As much as I ever am." he answers Nolan. The cloaked avatar gets to his feet as well, falling silent as Deadwatch and Russell square off, outlining the terms of the situation. He nods slowly, agreeing. He has no desire to continue a fight here and now.. but what happened before can't happen again. He does eye Vukodlak, though.. so that's the tail less form, the werewolf that's not a werewolf that Khonshu showed him. He'd had a feeling from the beginning there was more to the situation than a bestial mindless killer. He smirks a bit under his mask as he reviews the confrontation from before. "Brave kid." he murmurs to no one in particular.
Vukodlak cowers at Nolan's gaze - seemed to be instinct to cower at anything threatening that wasn't a target. Xe nuzzles against Rus, nodding. "Vuk be goo-d." There's a kitch in the wolfman's voice, a stich of pain, but Vuk ignores it. Xe instead sniffs at Moon curiously, very confused. Another wince of pain. "Food, beh... beh-eashe, Rus?"
Very rarely does Deadwatch manifest the dead. It takes a lot of power, and sometimes even he isn't sure if it's true manifestation or subconscious manipulation of illusion to fulfil his needs, a little embellishment of truth.
And he doesn't care. Not right now.
The wash of expressions on Jacks face is.. expected. And It's not arrogance on Nolan's part to feel that way.. Sometimes he makes the same looks and he's had years to get used to it. So he returns Jack's nod with his own.. It's even a respectful nod because, like they say in shadowrun, even a mage can be killed by a bullet.. or in this case wolf claws. To show that he DOES understand the sincerity in the werewolf's words, the veil of Dark particulates clinging to the ghosts (or maybe not ghosts, who knows) crumble and fade out, taking the visions with them and fixes those burning eyes on both lupines, though Russ particularly.
Yes.. Yes I do." he says and there is.. a burden in that voice... something heavy. "And sometimes they even listen." he lowers the eyes to Vuk, the intensity of the orbs in the mask diminishing slightly.
"It will be hard... and it will hurt... A lot. But what doesn't kill you will make you stronger... or so they say." he says, regarding Vuk's.. condition.. Then he turns and limps heavily towards Moon, even past him as he heads for the boat. As he passes the Mon Knight he snorts. "Yeah, that's something we'll need to talk about.." he quips... and after he's gone about a dozen steps he stops, looks over his shoulder. "You coming? I need a fucking drink to get.. that awful taste out of my mouth. Or enough drinks to wash it out of my brain. We can talk there. You're fucking buying too. Oh, and if you need to say anything else to Mister Terrier-with-a-gland-problem either get it over with now, and meet me at the boat, or you can call him on the phone like any other normal Egyptian deities bitch." yeah.. not very happy.
Moon Knight snorts, but... even if he's not sure of the particulars of just what Moon Knight drug Nolan through to get to this point, he has a feeling buying drink or two or six is probably warranted, so he just nods. "I could use one myself." besides, somehow Khonshu's influence never seems as strong in the Oblivion..making it the best place for such discussions anyways.
As the medium hobbles ahead towards the boat though, Marc can't quite help but add with a hint of humor, "..Nice look."
He turns back to Russell and says, "We do need to talk. ..But it looks like your pup needs tending to for now."
Russell looks across the faces before him - and beside him, like Vukodlak - and lets out a breath he had not realised he'd been holding. The man's clothes are a mess - his shirts in particular, all torn to shreds - but at least he doesn't have to worry about buying another pair of shoes.
He wasn't wearing any to begin with.
He nods to Vuko after a glance again at Marc.
"Food, yeah. And drink. Lots of drink - well, for me anyways." He lifts his head to send something of an 'understood all-clear' to the guardwolves, and they all return to the kennels rather than just 'hang back on standby'. After a moment, he motions with a hand at Spector and Voight.
"I gotta 1908 red inside if you wanna drink - a few of 'em. Up to you. Me, I gotta look after Vuko here, and then I plan on tryin' very, very hard to get drunk." He snorts and starts trudging toward the front doors of the castle across the courtyard.
"Very drunk."
Vukodlak doesn't fully understand all that transpired, and hopes Rus can clear things up. But for now, Rus had promised food, and the wolfman was so gungry. So xe scampers after Russell, as usual travelling on all fours.