Crystal's Story

Caught off guard by the seeming-youths demeanor, Issac's eye brow shot up in surprise, this might as well have been him screaming of surprise in any other man's case. The audacity in which they spoke to those higher on the food chain than them selves made the soldiers stomach knot, but that was only the beginning. The young man turned to him and only fueled his own fire.

As the youth went on about young were wolves ,his pupil's dilated. The voice conveyed less and less meaning as Issac faded from the room and found him self in a dark hut, the smell of burning flesh and carrion filled his nostrils as if he were standing there in Africa all over again. Panic and urgency stabbed at him anew at what he was witnessing for the hundredth time. What the hell is that?! He set his feet, as his finger tips grazed the checkered pattern on the grip of his side arm as he watched the child in front of him bend over backwards, his----it's spine giving way with a sickening crack as it transfo---.

"That gentlemen there."

Issac blinked, a cold bead of sweat slithered down the man's spine, The dark hut had faded back the dull cream colored meeting room, the youth that stood before him and the superiors of SCION were there... He was no longer in Africa. The Panic subsided, but the adrenaline stayed. He was acutely aware of his right-hand finger tips , he causally stretched his arms above his head,adding a yawn for good measure, taking his hand far away from his weapon to mask the fact he had almost drawn his weapon.

He looked calm through out the whole thing, aside from his thousand yard stare, he hopped the others would have taken it for shock rather than the P.T.S.D attack.

" As Mr. Montana said," He stated with a nod of thanks towards Montana," I ask my questions only to ensure our units survival and that we correctly conduct our selves. It's not wise to go gallivanting about Europe armed for battle in this day and age, as you're probably aware of , but it sounds like we might need more firepower than not at some point, so knowing what to pack would be very helpful. " Issac's voice had been matter-of-fact, but he paused before adding " Sir." With as little contempt as he could, which was very , very minor, but the boy would no doubt pick it up since it was aimed at him.

"As for the information on young werewolves, Thank you, I wasn't aware" He lied. So clearly that it could have been sarcasm.

It didn’t take long for Stride to realize that she had been disregarded, and even less for her usual scowl to knot her features at the fact. While she couldn’t exactly start giving out not-so-passive-aggressive comments given the situation- after all, a cut in her paycheck was one of the last things she wanted- so she merely settled herself for sulking somewhat at the lack of attention her words received.

Nevertheless, it didn’t take long for her to calm once again, listening to Kate and Kora’s comments respectively before chuckling appreciatively. “These chicks get it,” Stride called. “But, anyway, as much as I love watchin’ random rookies n’ sorcerer guys waltzin’ around, I got a few questions ‘bout the mission again.”

Taking a moment to dust her goggles clean with the end of her sleeve, Stride glanced up at the superiors once again, bobbing her head slightly in an odd attempt at courtesy. “Not to be rude, but, uh, d’you know how long we’ll be out on the mission? Just so we can bring the right stuff n’ all.”

Before Stride could take a moment to compose her next inquiry, however, a sudden voice sounded out in the room. She blinked in surprise for a moment, and then proceeded to glance over in the direction that it had came from- and then do a double-take, given the fact that the woman leaning against the wall hadn’t been there before.

The explanation given was enough to make sense of the event, however.

Invisibility stuff.

Definitely explained the stories about random things floating that she’d picked up on.

Casually, Stride gave a nod of acknowledgement, as well as a “Mornin’,” before turning back to the head of the table, as if the sudden appearance of one of her coworkers was simply a daily occurrence. “Uh, if you all don’t mind, ‘nother question; I know you all said ‘two for group one’ n’ all, but I can’t remember you sayin’ anythin’ about the other two. There any, uh, minimum for them, or just as many as possible?”

Better to ask just in case, Stride supposed. Didn’t want to end up missing any important details, and besides; she saw no real harm in asking a few questions here and there.

"Us being the operative word here Kora." Montana idly brushed himself as he spoke. New recruits. Normally he would dismiss Kora's bravado, as he'd heard it for the past ten years. Context was important, and context he'd give. "As an organization, it's fair to say they don't have the power to take us down. As individuals an organization of cultists could catch on on a bad day."

"Though I'd like to see them try, given the fact I think we're the best there is at what we do."

Equal parts caution and bravery. Good.

The next voice that spoke, came from their formally invisible sorceress. The length and reason for her invisibility, as well as her sudden appearance, drew another smile across Montana's face. He was obviously amused. He planned to make good use of her less volatile enchantments on their outing...and perhaps a few of her more volatile ones as well.

Sometimes a good gamble got you out of a sticky situation.

"Glad you could join us Ms.Eberhart-Taroni."

(So, I sorta had to do this post in a rush, so sorry if anything is out of whack)

Liam nearly blushed at the replies. "Wait, is that how I just sounded? Sorry, I didn't mean to say that I was better then anyone or anything else that was negative or what not. Its just, this is the first time I can really safely speak my mind about this instead of having to put up with it, because as you can probably understand, its really hard to get people to believe you when you look like this. Its just, what you said sort of sounded insulting, so I was just trying to convince everyone that I can handle my own. Not that I would go all 'I am superior to all of you".

With that said, he then added. "I am sure everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I was just trying to say I don't plan on being a liability, and that you can count on me. I guess the message kinda got miscontrued I guess, sorry about that. Does that help clear things up?"

LIam then did thing of one thing. He looked back towards the leaders. "Hey wait, is there any time we are all supposed to leave, do we leave immediately, or do we just leave and meet there as soon as any of us are ready individually?"

Fel was completely taken aback by Arc's offer that she join him going to Brazil. She was even more surprised when he left the room without waiting for her response. Was she expected to go to Brazil with him and just wait in a safehouse? The thought of waiting around in a safe location while other people got hurt made Fel feel sick to her stomach.

If she went to Brazil with Arc what if something happened to one of her fellow agents and friends while Fel wasn't aviable. Or what if a normal person saw her during this operation. The thoughts keep coming causing a gaint knot to form in her stomach.
As if understanding the negative thought loop Fel was going through. Montana's touch was a gentle reminder of that he would be there to help her no matter what. Moving her hood in Montana's direction she spoke up. "I agree, I don't think I'd be useful to anyone if I waited in a safe house in Brazil for an hour. I can take care of myself when talking to the werewolf population if need be."
After she spoke Fel looked around the room quietly observing everyone's reactions. Issac was worried about them, it was a sweet sentiment but his wording towards the higher ups came off as more brash than kind.

Jonah and Liam, two men trapped in children's body her, heart went out to the pair. Curses of any kind were never fun. As the duo named off the witch that had cursed them she could not help but wonder if the pair were part of scion out for revenge.
Then there was Stride, sitting there looking like she was about to laugh. The Medusa always had a way with words. Even if Stride was blunt to a fault her words were always the truth. The truth seen by the Medusa that is.

It was at this point her hood tured to look at Issac. She felt the start of his attack, the feeling of pain radating from the solider grew stronger with each passing second. It was at this point Fel stood up starting to approach the man as his hand feel to the gun at his side. Before she could reach Issac the pain faded to the normal background hum that usually accompied the man.
As Fel reclaimed her seat Kate spoke up and a smile appeared on Fel's unseen face. Kate was as sturdy as a the rock she was. Having the lifespan of a rock gave the miss Opal a timeless wisdom. Fel silently agreed with the way Kate chided their new rookies.

Oh Kora, the werewolf viking princess tended to think of battle first and emotions second. While frustrating to Fel at times it made Kora's reactions predicable to a tee.

When Christina appeared Fel was not surprised, after all Christina was known to go overboard with an experiment or two. In the same way Oren tended to go overboard researching. That was perfectly fine with Fel after all Christina's illusion magic was the only way Fel could go out into the world without every mortal around staring at the fallen.
---------

Crystal wanted to sink lower into her seat. Issac's word's echoing in her head, making her want to cry. The painful memories were starting to resurface, the loss of her own family so recently making her want to cry. Now was not the time to morn, now was the time to kick some crazy supernatural's ass.

Then came her fellow rookies, Liam and Jonah's, outburst about their age. Followed by the talk about young werewolves ripping people apart. Yeah the feeling of wanting to disappear and was back again.

Instead she put on a fake grin and replied to her fellow rookies "Nice to meet ya shorty. I'll make you a deal I won't underestimate you if you won't underestimate me."

When Christina appeared about of thin air Crystal couldn't help but jump in her seat. She was not expecting someone to pop out of thin air. On the bright side if this was the reason the mysterious ghost rumors had started occurring then she could clean up the salt circle from around her bed.

Trying to cover up the fact Crystal had been surprised by Christina's appearance she spoke up. "I want to know that too Liam, are we going as groups or individually. Also are we responsible for our own transportation? Cause I can't afford anything but a bus, and buses in my experience take forever and are usual late.

Alexander simply waved leo's comment off as he addressed the werecat " Saffiya my dear..why did you not tell them to let you lead with that... cults practicing magic is worrisome.. Human sacrifice magic even more so... and its linked with the wolves to add the proverbial cherry on top" he said for once addressing one of the leaders by her first name, more so in a sign that his words should not be taken all that seriously, though with the commotion that followed round him they probably wouldn't take much notice.

Along with most of the room his attention was brought to the new recruits, who had in spectacular fashion managed to garner more attention than they intended, however he stayed quite content in simply watching the situation unfold as various people chastised the recruits. Though soon he decided to speak up, towards now visible woman who had just appeared " That explains the wall seeming to give off body heat"

" Speak of team composition's as some have suggested" he motioned to Stride with his hand " I think the limits will be as needed... For example it would be Extremely useful if i could borrow Norrevinter for the first meeting with the wolves but then give her to team two to police the festival" he changed his focus onto Kora " Of course if that's acceptable to you.. it would only be for the wolves.... i will spare you from listening to cryptic shit when i go speak with the vampires"

Issac haddn't seen Fel's movement so he couldn't react to that.

"Don't be such a pussy, Schofield. This is investigation, not going to - " Issac listened to Kora with his moot face, He respected her as a co-worker but questioned her blood-lust since he had met her. He smirked at the Roman bit and Montana again, clarifying what Issac had meant. He'd have to thank the man later.

Issac found him self nodding to Strides comments, tossing those into his considerations as well.

Christina appeared as if from thin air, Issac seemed not to notice, he'd probably ask her about it later tho.

Liam had spoken to the group as a whole, the 10 year old side showed fairly well.
Issac gave an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders. " I''ve seen many FNGs with the same spark meet an early grave because of lack of planning, not just in this organization." Several faces skirted the edges of Issac vision, and he felt his stomach slither down through his bones and gather at his boots like sand. He'd rather not lose anymore comrades, egotistical or otherwise. " As for your liability, well we are a bit like the knights of the round table here now arnt we? Would you really be here ;if you were going to be a liability I mean?" he'd talk a bit more to the new recruits if they pressed for conversation but his attention would fade, politely, back to the groups discussion rather quickly.

Issac watched the rest of the group as the conversation went round and round, he'd wait to speak again until it was his time again.

" If the first group would like a little extra security I wouldn't mind going with them" He chimed in while the others requested positions, later when the conversation circled back he added " Assuming we do as Alex suggested and the plan works well, what are we gonna do if we do make contact? Less than lethal, or shall we burn that bridge when we cross it?"

Christina smiled a bit when several other reacted with shock to her reappearance to visibility. The young trainee's, Crystal's reaction, was especially amusing, though the girl played it cool pretty well after the initial shock.
"Yes, good morning everyone!" she greeted, looking around at those that had spoken specifically, then turned to address Montana and Alexander individually. "Technically, I was here from the start," -said cheekily, to Montana- and "So you could sense me but not see me, right?" -asked of Alexander, while she pulled out a small notepad, that was scribbled over with notes already, to record the vampire's information.
The goal had not been complete invisibility, only visual disappearance and Christina was sure she'd succeeded from the tests she'd done during the three days she'd waited for the capsule to wear off. First things, first, it was clear that she'd vastly overpowered the charm, which had been meant for 12 hours, not approximately...68. She jotted that down as well, after checking her watch twice to make sure. And the overpowered nature of the charm also meant that either her calculation had gone completely wrong Unlikely she thought, or she'd made a mistake in the etching More likely, or the two most likely, either that the material or shape had somehow amplified the power, or that it had somehow sucked in excess magic before affecting her. More notes were written down before she again looked up.
"All good questions," she chirped, flipping to a fresh page in her notepad. She fixed her eyes on the mission heads, waiting to hear their answers and then write down the responses.

"Technically you were my dear." He replied, shooting a playful wink back in her direction. "But regarding our current matters, Mr.Wiseman," He turned his head to face the Elder Vampire when he spoke. "Given the sordid history between Vampires and Werewolves they might not react well to your questioning."

His face grew thoughtful for a moment.

"Then again, that might work in our favour, a violent outburst, if maintained, can lead to useful information." "Possibly of course, it's always possible they know nothing, however unlikely. For that reason I second the idea to have rotating teams. Aside from those escorting Ms.Kovalenko of course. They will be working with her for hours at a time, and I'd rather not see their cover compromised. Or their train of thought disrupted."

"New recruits, I hail from a Cold War era of espionage. I will not be openly interacting with many of you. If I receive a message via earpiece, and it's not urgent, I will wait a minute or two to respond, or not respond at all. The same for messages received on our devices."

Also drop boxes, but he wouldn't mention that now. Some methods he'd prefer to keep to himself and one or two other people.

"Your cover is important. Practice it. Posing as lovers or friends is common, but it must be practiced. You must look and be comfortable around that person. It makes exchanging information and moving as partners much easier. If you have a skill, work it into your persona, be yourself. Or someone else, it's up to you."

Fel bowed to elders of Scion, her simple way of paying respect to those who were guiding them on the mission. Then she went get her cover story, a 30 year old handicapped burn victim from India. The cover of being a burn victim was not unheard of to the Fallen, however it was her least favorite cover as more of her skin was exposed then she liked.

With one last sigh Fel removed her cloak and started wrapping herself in bandages. Making sure to cover most of her skin, it was only her hands and half her face left untouched. Even with all the bandages her visible skin was scarred, with a missing index finger on her left hand.

One of the perks of this guise was the wheel chair she got to use. The chair was hand made by scion and stuffed to the brim with hidden weapons and tools, perfect for any situation.

With a few bribes from scion and the pity her state tended to get her Fel was able to get through the small airport without any incident. With Montana's help pushing her chair of course.

The hard part was flying, Fel gripped the seat the whole time the terror was evident in the fallen's eyes throughout the fight.
When the plane landed Fel wanted to cry out in joy, being on the ground again was a wonderful sensation.

After the long flight the trip to the safehouse felt relatively short. It was there Fel waited for Arc, her new wheel chair pusher and partner on the mission.
-----

Crystal was excited, her cover of a college aged backpacker was awesome. She even got to take a giant warn backpack full of weapons, outdoor survival supplies and money. While it would be a lot for a normal person to carry the newly turned werewolf had no trouble carrying the pack.

The moment the plane touched down Crystal was off to the safe house. Her blood was pounding with excitement, and the temptation to head to the festival instead of the safehouse was steadily growing. The only thing that stopped her was the thought that if she screwed this up her first mission then it would be her last mission. Luckily for her, this was the only time she had to meet up at the safe house. After that she would be staying in a local youth hostile and keeping an eye on (enjoying) the festival.

Click, the conversation was over. Regardless of how Montana felt about his side ops, Arc knew how to operate, and take care of himself. Their conversation would have to wait a bit, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Taxi!

York was a very historic city, filled with architecture of a more stylistic era, where presentation might have been at its peak, as far as architecture went. He had no doubts that some of this cities inhabitants had watched these buildings go up, piece by carved piece. Some probably sat on council seats to this day, advocating for every old stone on every old street.

An interesting thought, perhaps some of these elders would be a good place to start. Cryptic things aside as Kora said. Montana gave his thank you to the cab driver, and tipped him. His first stop was one of the two cottages he had rented for the duration of their operation here. The keys had been mailed to him with copies made of each key, with the expectation that his fellow members would have access to one, or two of the four spots. S.C.I.O.N had also coped the keycard needed to access the hotel room. Light work for their tech department. 'Available upon request', was the text message he had sent out once he had deposited Christina's trinkets, after arming himself with a few of course, in the cottage.

A second text was sent out, giving Christina the address of the cottage, some of his weapon stash spots, and the obscure hiding place of his extra key. The next taxi he hailed was headed for the four star 'Hotel Du Vin York'. Pleasantries were exchanged and he checked in. He left his clothing here, but naught else. Next and final stop? The morgue.

Text three was sent out to the team, informing them he had arrived the destination, and was en rout to where the body was held. He'd wait nearby for Oren, and busy himself with the occupation of his cover identity. Photography.

Fel wheeled her chair to the door, ready to open it up for those that just arrived. When Stride and Issac walked in. While their wave and nod may have been minor to most people it always made Fel happy, feeling her with a sense of belonging.

As Stide mentioned being cold Fel frowned before wheeling her chair towards the other room. "I think they have some spare portable hot packs here, let me check the medical supplies for you."

Issac's words floated through the house, as Fel searched. "Well there is always a risk now isn't there. Besides Issac this is just an intel mission so we know more when the time comes to actively combat the threat or threats." To make sure her words were heard Fel spoke in a louder tone. As she chatted Fel came upon the emergency supplies in the living room. The irony that the medical supplies were located in the living room was not lost on the Fallen.

As she searched the large and well organized supplies stored in the couch Fel spoke up once more. "Besides if they did expect combat I doubt I or Oren would be here. Combat really isn't our strong suit after all." It was a little while longer before a soft "ah ha!" of trimup was heard from the living room. With a smile Fel carried her prize to Stride "Here you go Stride these two packs should tide you over for the next day or two."

"Have Either of you seen Arc, he is supposed to be my partner when talking to the local cryptics. I really hope he is okay..."
-------
Crystal was having a blast, having checked in the safe house and her youth hostile meant she was now free to wander the festival. Taking out her smart phone she sent a few pictures of the event to Stride with the tagline "See ya here soon Scales -C".

With the task of bragging to Stride about her early arrival Crystal started walking around chatting with different Students and teens who were there for various reasons.

It didn't take Crystal long to find the wrong crowd in the festival. Spotting the group of students suspiciously walking down a blocked off side street Crystal grinned. If anyone would know about the suspicious activities going on it would be these guys. With a quick text to Stride of her location, Crystal was off stealthily following the group. The group of students walked for about ten minutes, with the occasional paranoid look around that definitely meant they were up to something. Finally the group stopped at an abandoned town house and started talking in low voices as one of them knocked on the door.

Crystal moved closer to hear what they were talking about, and as she did her heart fell. The words 'You sure this is the good stuff and he aint a cop' followed by talks of 'marry jane' , 'not using it all in one place' and 'don't tell anyone where ya got' floated by. Crystal sighed and started walking back to the festival, after all it was killers she was looking for not a drug dealer. As she walked back Crystal sent another text to Stride.

"Know where to buy pot now at least, no luck on finding the cult though. Heading back to festival now. -C "

As Crystal took the long lonely walk back to the festival through back-alleys and abandoned streets she did not realize her rookie mistake. Never go off alone in enemy territory.

“Sounds like a party,” Stride drawled, stretching slightly as the warmth of the room finally reached her. “Imagine havin’ to explain a random cop followin’ ya around all day, though? Pretty sure it’d be a real pain in the ass.” Casually, she dropped herself in one of the nearby seats, although she chose to rest her own luggage beside her feet instead of throwing it somewhere at random. She would be leaving soon, anyway; had to get settled at her own little secret base before heading out. No rest for the weary, as it was.

At Fel’s words, Stride glanced up in an idle fashion, fingers running through the artificial strands framing her face with the motion. “...Ah. Well...uh, thanks Fel.” While the hybrid was rather uncomfortable with the Fallen’s nurturing attitude at times, she wouldn’t refuse free hot packs. While she had ended up bringing a few of her own, she had planned on heating them up upon reaching her hotel...Although it seemed that she wouldn’t have to wait as long.

A snort escaped her upon hearing Issac’s concerns, and, allowing her legs to sprawl out, the fighter reclined in her chair. Seems like she would have to wait a while longer, so there was no point in not making herself somewhat comfortable. “She’s right,” she added. “You forget the briefin’ already? We’re not supposed to run in with our heads up our asses, shooting up the city or some shit like that. It’s easy enough to bring the newbies, along, anyw-”

Speak of the devil. Muttering a “hold on” and fishing her phone from her pocket, Stride flicked it out and began to scroll through the messages. It seemed like one of the rookies had gotten a head start on her...chuckling, she tucked the device back, scratching the top of her wig in a futile effort to stifle an itch that had cropped up. “See? The new chick- Crystal- she’s already at the festival. ‘S sendin’ a bunch of pictures right now.” In sharp contrast to Issac’s worried demeanor, Stride practically radiated a calm assurity. A confidence, almost. After all, both her and Fel had been correct in the words. It would have been stupid to have sent two people usually unaccustomed to field work out to fight beside the actual fighters, and even stupider to let such fresh faces out.

Especially considering what loose cannons the two kids seemed to be, and how Crystal was only recently turned…

Stride was shaken out of her thoughts by Fel wheeling herself over, and, pleased, she reached out to take them from the other’s hands. Thanking the Fallen, she placed the packages into her lap and proceeded to unzip her jacket, tucking one of the objects in a pocket fairly close to her heart. “Don’t know,” Stride admitted in reference to Arc. “Last time I saw the guy, he was walkin’ out of the meeting like he owned the place. You got his phone number or somethin’? Could shoot him a text or somethin’.”

It was then that she noticed that her own phone had buzzed once more, and Stride removed it once again to find two new messages waiting for her. One was about Crystal’s current location, and the other was cheerfully noting that she had found a drug dealer (the hell…?). The second also stated that she was returning to the festival, and, excusing herself once again, Stride quickly typed in a reply and sent it over.

‘lol. dont get urself into 2 much trouble. dont wanna have to come save ur ass cause some druggies shanked u. ur not 2 far from festival right?’

With that, the phone was placed upon the armrest beside her, seeing as how a reply was only to be expected from the younger, now.

Fel felt the pain Arc was in before the man had even gotten halfway through the house.
In response to Stride's thanks at the hot packs she gave the medusa a smile. "It was no problem really, supplies are meant to be used."

Before Fel could respond to Issac about his concerns Christina arrived. Fel wheeled over to the box the enchanteress had sat down. "This seems like so much for such a small mission, you've really outdone yourself Christina."

On Fel's wrist a purple and white wire were woven together with little hooks jutting out around it. It was a simple braclet that served the purpose of carrying the charms. Going on through the box was not an easy task for the fallen her missing fingers made the process long. Eventually though she found her prize, glass beads that changed color based on the light level. Illusion charms that would help her out if she needed a quick disgue. "These are wonderful Christina, thank you so much for bringing these. They are always such a sorrow to break as they are so beautiful."

As she was rummaging through the box for more defensive charms the familiar feeling of pain crossed her senses. As it move through the safe house the sense of pain grew greater and harder to ignore. So she backed away from the box and was alarmed to see a blood trail running through the house.

Wheeling her chair to follow the blood trail on the floor it led to a bathroom. Before she could ask if the occupant inside was okay Oren was at the door. Oren took a more direct approach to the situation then Fel would have liked.

After the angry and somewhat scary vampire walked away Fel moved up to knock on the door. Before she could knock Arc was out and approaching her chair

"Arc are you okay?" The answer was no Arc was most definitely not okay but it was always polite to ask anyways. Reflexively Fel reached out touching Arc to let her powers go over and heal the man. Unfortunately another power of Fel's activated at the same time. Her eyes rolled up in her head until only the whites were visible. A vision of how the injury occurred flashed through her mind.

When her eyes finally returned to normal Fel removed her hand from Arc and gave the man a reassuring smile. "It's okay Arc you did what you had to do. Protecting what you believe in is always an important task to handle." If Arc wanted to lie about what happened Fel would respect his wishes.

As she spoke to Arc her attention briefly turned towards Issac, responding to his wave she offered him one back. "Good Luck on your mission Christina, Issac, and Oren. Keep safe and call me if I need anything." With that Fel turned her attention back to Arc.

Her voice was soft and gentle when she spoke to him. "I'm ready to go when you are, would you be okay with pushing my chair for a bit my arms are getting a little tired."
----
Crystal was bouncing up and down on the way back to the festival responding to Stride's text.
'Yeah, can give you the address if you want the drugs -C'

'Let me know when you get here we can meet up and search for clues. If we find a dog while we're here then it'll be like scooby-do shit. -C'

'Meet me by the vendor's area -C'

Then around round of excited texts were sent out to the other people on festivial detail, Liam and Jonah.

'Hey Shorty 1 and Shorty 2 did ya guys find out anything yet? -C'

'Oh and if Sec catchs you both I can pretend to be your older sister. -C'

'P.S. I'm in charge of the rookies because I'm taller than you both (JK). -C'

As she finished texting Crystal grinned going over to the vendor's area to talk gossip with the other festival goers.

Giving a brief salute towards the remaining occupants of the safe house (and a snort at Arc’s completely blatant lie), Stride stepped outside, hailing a taxi once she was far enough and setting off to the hotel. Luckily, given the circumstances of where they were, her mask didn’t even cause a second glance in her direction, and she was able to make her way to her room in the hotel with little trouble at all. Stride didn’t stay long, however, simply placing her suitcases neatly in the corner of the room before leaving once more. Needed to get to the festival as soon as possible- after all, from the frequent buzzing emanating from her pocket, it was easy to tell that Crystal was having a field day in her place.

On the way to the festival, Stride took a moment to shrug into a fluffier jacket to match her mask, and examine her phone. Three new messages- in spite of the fact that Crystal was very much a newbie, it looked like she had enough of a head on her shoulders to give frequent updates. Good. She scrolled through, chuckling a little under her breath at the other’s apparent enthusiasm, before setting about typing up a few responses of her own.

‘but then we’d have to buy some for everyone else, and im pretty sure some of them r already potheads. u ever listened to some of the oldies talk? they gotta be on drugs.’

‘nah, when kora comes back, she can b scooby. ill let her borrow my mask, and we can find mr jenkins or whatever the fuck his name was lol.’

‘almost there. btw, u seen the shining twins anywhere? they werent at safehouse, and i dont wanna end up having to babysit u rookies the whole time. ill have to put on of those leashes on u guys and tie u to a lamp or something.’

Shortly after sending out the last message, the driver had stopped the car and announced that they were there. Muttering a quick thanks and paying both fee and tip, Stride exited the taxi and began to make her way to where Crystal claimed she would be. As she had expected, her “cosplay” wasn’t enough to attract much attention as she went along, and she traversed the crowds with ease. It didn’t take long for her to reach the vendor’s area, and, idly, she reached into her pocket and began to type once more.

‘here. where r u? wave to me or something, i cant see u. im the one in the half assed costume.’

‘btw, ur my cousin now, k? im too cool 2 be ur sister. ;p’

It didn’t take long for Stride to catch sight of Crystal, and, shoulders slumping in a nonverbal “finally”, she began to maneuver her way over. Upon reaching the other, she scratched at the sleeve of her costume, extending it slightly in the process.

“Fine, if you don’t count me regretting all of my life choices up until now.” The complaint was evident in her voice as she spoke, pawing at the fabric for a few more moments before letting her arms rest at her sides. “I should’ve put something on with longer sleeves this morning; this stuff is itchy as hell, and I can’t take it off without taking the entire thing off, and I’m supposed to be in character. Me and commitment, eh?”

With that, Stride chuckled, growing a tad louder as Crystal placed the helmet atop her head and made a comment about alcohol in exchange. “Thanks, but, ah, I don’t think your parents’ll be happy if they found out I got you drunk and dragged you around a festival. Sorry, cuz’, but I think I’ll pass on dying today.”

In spite of Stride’s disagreeable attitude and her tendency to rush, guns ablazing, into battle, one couldn’t say that she wasn’t somewhat capable on missions. It had taken years to properly act when on the field, but she had managed to get at least some skill when it came to playing pretend. As such, she didn’t give much indication of Crystal’s words; merely returning the hug with gusto and giving the lycan a hearty slap on the back.

“How’ve you been, anyway? Can’t exactly drag you outta the house to play Mario Kart and catch up anymore.” The comment on “cute guys” earned a snort from the hybrid. “Pretty sure anyone who’d be interested in me like this,” a gesture towards her costume- a weak attempt at portraying a wolf of legend, “are more interested in chicks with more...fluff, if you catch my drift.”

Issac'a weapon traded targets as the double doors bounced open, and was instantly lowered upon seeing Rafael , Montana....Toby and Spire. Why where those two here? Were they the ones Rafael had blown their cover on? Figures...

" You both were told to stop freelancing after that botched raid on that vampire group I had been watching." He said leering at Spire, who he guessed had been the 'brains' of that operation. It had been a rogue group of vampires involved in human trafficking, Issac was watching him to hopefully learn who they had been working for but Toby and Spire and managed to get involved, Issac involved him self since he hadn't wanted the young men to die, he hadn't known they were sups until after the fact.

He didn't want these two to get anymore involved then they already were... Who knows who they had come in contact with in the last few years. He smiled a bit before he spoke. " At least the gang is all here now." It was a lie that Montana and even Rafael should be able to catch with tweezers. Issac didn't want Spire or Toby to know that the group was larger than it was until it was too late, what ever was going to happen, they'd at least have to be taken for questioning to see how much Rafael had leaked to them... Issac distantly wondered who's side Rafael was on...

A itch formed between Issac's shoulder blades, worse than the sweat and dust caught between his near-skin-tight-body armor. It was the feeling you'd get when someone held a knife to your back... As for who held that knife Issac had little idea.

He turned his back to the double doors and re-aimed his weapon on the creature. " So, what are we gonna do?" He said to Oren, half glancing to where Toby and Spire was, to convey he wasn't talking about the creature. Lovette would deal with that... after we move it that is.

Issac wondered how the other groups had been doing... hopefully better than them.

Crystal had spent sometime at the festival with Stride before getting bored. Nothing was going on, she had bought tacky souvenirs and eaten viking-esk food and had done pretty much everything. It was at this point an idea popped into Crystal's head.

"Hey cous, want me to show you the thing I found earlier. After all maybe we could talk to them and see if they've seen anything suspicious since those people tend to be super aware and paranoid." Also those people were slightly less boring Crystal mentally tact on.

Without waiting for a response Crystal headed in the direction she had gone earlier.

As soon the newly turned werewolf was outside of the festival radius a strange scent hit her nose. The metallic scent smelled familiar yet out of place, stopping Crystal in her tracks. After taking her a moment to process the scent her eyes widened, it smelled like blood and alot of it.

"Stride, I smell a large quantity of blood coming from around here. I'll lead you to it but I need you to be ready in case whatever attacked the person attacks us."

With the simple warning Crystal checked to make sure her gun was in the easy to access place before taking off.

Sprinting as she tried to find the location of the smell. It was easy to follow as it grew stronger the close they got to the source. Until Crystal and Stride arrived onto the grizzly scene of an unfamiliar woman covered in blood and torn to shreds.

Crystal stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the woman on the ground, vile filling her throat.
Her tone held a hint of panic in it "Stride what are we supposed to do?"

Festival duty was turning out to be a bit...well, peaceful. Too peaceful for a position that SCION gave out, Stride mused.

She had tagged along with Crystal for the most part, keeping an eye on both the rookie and surroundings. However, the most interesting thing so far was a teenager who- quite evidently- had far too much to drink, and even then it was a momentary source of entertainment. She had paused to take pictures with tourists obviously enthralled enough to put everything to photo, attempted to try some “mutton” (although it had proved to be quite the difficult task, considering how large of an obstacle her mask served), and generally played the part of a regular tourist.

However, when Crystal suggested that they go visit the druggies, Stride couldn’t have been more happy to tag along. Nothing of interest was going on, after all, and it seemed like the best lead available at the moment. Besides, she reasoned; if anyone asked, she could just say that she was trying to babysit the rookie, and ended up getting dragged along in the youth’s wandering.

“You know how I am about ‘things’,” Stride replied, attempting to put an edge of mischief into her tones as she followed. “Lead the way, o’ captain of mine!”

Stride wondered how anyone managed to do the “acting” part of field work for long. Even though she was currently giving herself a pat on the back for keeping up the front, it was annoying to do so. After all, she wasn’t exactly the most welcoming person, but posing as one was part of the job-

Before she could muse further upon the subject, Stride became aware of Crystal suddenly freezing, and slowed in her own steps to listen. Blood...it seemed that the festival would be quite interesting, after all. Giving a brief nod to acknowledge the werewolf’s comment, she pressed on, fingers brushing against the sides of her coat to feel for her own guns. They weren’t the best if they needed to sneak up on a scene in progress, granted, although it would at least prove handy if a cryptid suddenly came charging around the corner.

Upon arriving to the alleyway alongside Crystal, Stride quickly halted in what had become a jog, taking in the scene before her. Although it wasn’t easy to catch the coppery scent through the amount of fabric hiding her face, she would have had to been blind not to see the mauled victim curled on the ground, and the amount of blood pooling about her. Stride would have to take a better look, but from the looks of it, it was either a bear attack or something far, far worse.


Aware of her comrade’s rising fear, the hybrid lifted an arm as if to stop her from doing...something, staring down at the curled form all the while. “We follow procedure,” Stride eventually answered. “You learned how to use a gun, right? Well, you better have paid damn good attention; need ya to cover me.”

With that, Stride moved forward, steps echoing throughout the alley among the victim’s ragged breathing. As she approached, crouching somewhat to get a better look, she scowled upon viewing the full extent of the wounds. A definite werewolf attack, from the looks of it; even if she hadn’t seen the bite and claw wounds, the black trails running down the woman’s flesh served as enough of a sign.

Glancing up to ascertain there was no lurking figure hunched further down the alleyway, Stride lowered her gaze once more, one hand resting on her bent knee.

“Hey,” she began, before raising her voice slightly. “Hey, lady, can ya hear me? We're gonna getcha outta here."

Questions on the hows, the whys; they could wait until they had gotten the victim away from the scene, to a place where she would not be seen, and, more importantly, where they could get the proper treatment. The steps she had heard repeated over and over in training, had performed several times in the past, and, now, was performing once again.