The Multiverse: A Collared Problem

Casren Bistreo takes his seat.

Kaiser Zaun does the same, his ever present journal in one hand, a cell phone in the other. His servant wasn't responding. Stupid girl, probably sleeping...He didn't feel like waking her though, he'd been working her far too hard lately. "Good day Casren."

Mortuus curled up beside the table, as she had done before, and watched those around her. As her eyes passed over Kaiser and Casren, she nodded.

"Surely you know of the werewolf? Tonight we take action about that problem," He said to Kaiser, his eyes twinkling.

"My kin will not be joining us." He added, looking to the chair beside him.

Kaiser Zaun cocked an eye. "Same goes for mine. She is rather...indisposed." There was a dark glimmer to his eyes as he said this. "However, I did not know of this...problem. Back home, the lycans were our slaves, complete, dominate, and submissive. I don't see how thats not the case here."

Casren Bistreo nodded respectfully to Kaiser, but kept his eyes on Dominic and the newcomer.

"Not so much 'attack'!" He projected his voice to it rang through the room, as he turned to face the newcomer by the door.

"The beast is Collared. Mortuus had a good idea..." Casren looked to Mortuus.

Dominic thumped the table, startling himself in the process about how loud the sound was. "So we drive it away to send a message? Would this not be harder than slaying the beast?"

Kaiser Zaun nodded his agreement. "I say just kill it. Its just a beast, lower than humans even. I don't even know why we need more than maybe one or two of us." He snickered. "Its just a dog really. You put dogs down when they are...bad."

"It may not be, if we are enough in ranks to properly surround it," Casren responded to Dominic, after a slight jump.

"Regardless of what it is to us, it is a pet to someone else. It is collared, it could have gotten loose. Personally, I do not want the blood of someone else's escaped beloved pet on my hands, despite how foul the creature may be..."

"Pardon the interruption, but may I point out that it's mauled and killed at least four of our brethren. I would take this to mean, at this moment in time, that we would need our current numbers, along with a strategy, to take it down in any form." Torrential shifted his weight, slightly, the floorboards creaking under his massive frame. One glove tightened on his wrist, his sunglasses catching the distant firelight from the candles. He looked straight ahead when he spoke, not addressing anyone. "I would be more than happy to assist you in Dominic's place, should you need more muscle than he can provide."

"If we have no choice but to kill it as we drive it from our woods, then I will not be against it," Casren completely agreed with Mortuus, the wise undead dragon who was, out of them all, eldest. He then looked towards Kaiser, "It has harmed us, we must take caution. My pride, young one, has been ever so humbled by the fact that we do not rule the night, as in the days of old. There are consequences to our actions, a collar is trouble to begin with!"

Kaiser Zaun leaned back, but there was a new hatred in his eyes. "All of you. Every single one. Its no wonder that beast has gotten to our kin and our blood. Its a joke. I understand that killing it might anger its owner. Its owner might be strong. Its owner might have friends." He let out a slow, calm breath. "But who cares! Kill everything that opposes us." He fixed Casren with a dark, vicious glare. "Take back the night. And our pride. We are the elite.I don't care what anyone says."

"We are elite, but he who strikes too soon falls too soon," Hey, that sounded kinda nice. His tone was light with Kaiser, although he was slightly displeased at his Blood's behavior.

"I assure you, the time to mercilessly slaughter our enemies as they beg at our feet for mercy will come."

The dragon could have snapped at Kaiser, but her patience was ageless. She calmly sat in her spot, shifting ever so slightly to allow her to poke her head in between two seats at the table. "Kaiser," she said, addressing him directly, "I do understand that you feel that nothing may be able to oppose the Vankyroth Detente. You have pride in this group, as we all do, but we cannot allow pride to have us make reckless decisions. As powerful as we are, there is always a possibility of a stronger enemy. I have not survived this long on strength alone, but tact, as well. Brute force will not solve every problem."

Her attention shifted to their lead. "As Casren has said. The early bird gets the worm, but the early bird gets shot first, as well."

Kaiser Zaun spat, actually spat. "I'm sure many of the worlds greatest military leaders would...Never mind. Its no use arguing with you lot." He kicked himself away from the table and stood near the window, his arms back, shoulders tense, his rage near shimmering the air around him. "You are right. I do have pride. But in this group? That remains to be seen."

He listened as Mortuus spoke, and, as so often happened when she did so, the room contemplated her words. He leaned forwards, his elbows on his knees, fingers rubbing his chin in his trademark pose, thinking. "We are not stronger than those that would oppose us." He said, quietly. "But, still, I share some of Kaiser's fire. I do not believe that it is enough to wound the beast. I do not believe that it is a strong enough message to merely send it on it's way, merrily, after we beat it. That is not something that we, as a group, can be proud enough of."

He looked at every person in the room in term. "We should mark it with our symbol. Brand the dog in the name of the Dentente. In this way, we steal some of our enemy's pride, and make it our own."

"Brand?" He thought about it for a moment. It wasn't barbaric, but it didn't sit with him quite alright. He shifted in his seat.

"Branding? I am not sure. It may send the message more clearly, but it may further doom us, as well." Though Mortuus was taking time to help the group, she never told them or let it be known that the moment they did screw up royally and have themselves slaughtered, she would be gone before they could call her name.

"But the dog will not understand its branding. How does it matter in such a way? The owner will not feel shame, but anger."

Kaiser Zaun turned and gave all but Dominic a glare. "Always about feelings and emotions from a bunch of soulless undead. Its so funny, I might go throw up." He turned on his heels. "I must retire for a moment. Go check on the girl. And restrain my ire, or else I might start breaking 'rules'."

Casren Bistreo nodded, agreeing completely with the old and wise Mortuus. He followed Kaiser with his eyes on the way out, respectfully so. Best the lad followed his own advice.

Dominic watched his fellow vampire leave, and then turned his attention to Mortuus. "So you're suggesting that what we do is shame the owner? Into what, not treading on us again? I don't think that helps our cause. We subdue the dog, give it a little mark, and send it on it's way. Then we have a calling card. Then we fully send the message you were suggesting earlier; that we are not to be trifled with. Is that not the end goal?"

He stood from his perch, fully in the swing of his speech now. If there was one thing that Dominic Mulligan prided himself on, it was his deliverance of speeches. "Once more, I do not think it is enough to simply subdue the monster. The way I see it, it was released for a reason, set free for a reason. What if it wasn't to attack us? Who's to say that anyone will receive a message of 'Oh, you beat back my dog!'. For all we know they released it because they were tired of feeding it. That's why I suggest we brand it. So that if anyone finds the raggety shell of a wolf, they will know that it was us who defeated it. And if we were correct in our assessment of the dog being sent to attack us, the message is still the same."

He turned to face his companions, a smile playing on his lips. "Do not tread on Vankyroth." He boomed.

Mortuus thought on this for a while. The fear of angering the owner and the pride of shaming him...which mattered more? Though these vampires were old, many of them were letting their pride drive them. Pride, in some ways, could be good, but not when you stopped controlling it and let it control you, instead. Like that Kaiser boy. But...any consequences from branding or killing might just teach a few of them a lesson.

"I may be against it, but I will not stop you from such an act," she said at last. "Unless Casren says otherwise, I think you should do just what you had in mind, Dominic. Do not tread on Vankyroth, indeed."

He listened to the words of Dominic, and surely the vampire spoke truth. However he was still skeptical to the means behing the werewolf.

"Do not tread on us indeed, but...I mean, souvenirs? I don't know. I don't condone it, I will not aid in the act, but in all the same... If it cripples again, I won't be getting in your way."

The Multiverse » Arcs » A Collared Problem

As written by: lostamongtrees, SkullJester, Guest, NotAFlyingToy

23 pieces and 5 characters involved, written by 4 different authors.

1 places involved

So begins...

A Collared Problem

Setting: Room of Reason