Behind the scenes plot

[shmband]

This is a thread for NPC posts which take place out of sight of any of the player characters. It's not necessary for the players to read ANYTHING that goes in here, and no other players should post here. It's really just a scratchpad for me to develop the NPCs (especially the rogues) without clogging up the IC with loads of extra posts.

[shmband]

Nico was keeping a low profile. The initial concern that he may have endangered the pack's endeavours had long since passed, and all that remained was the humiliation of his assumption that the hot Russian wolf he's brought into the fold (so he'd thought) had disappeared without a trace. If he ever caught up with that Sahvanna again, he swore he'd tear her to pieces for making him look such an idiot in front of everyone...

"Pssst." a shrill voice came from nearby. Nico looked up at a wild-haired, wiry and goofy looking male the same age as him, hunched over the car which Nico himself was propped up against. "How long ago did Drake leave?"

"About an hour and a half?" Nico huffed, looking back down at the ground.

"So he should be back when?" the other male asked, still in hushed tones.

"How the hell should I know?" Nico snapped. "He knew where he was going, I don't know how long it will take him to get the stuff."

The other male - Q-Ball - whined and flopped down onto the bonnet of the car. The vehicle itself was one of three parked in a loose triangle, forming a 'camp' of sorts in the gloom of a quarry cut into the hillside. Nearby, a main road rumbled with intermittent traffic. The other two vehicles - both large RV motorhomes - were placed nearest the road to block any direct view of the camp itself.

"I don't know why you guys are whispering." a female voice came from a short distance away, "Even without wolf-hearing I can hear every word."

"Keep it down Ash." Q-Ball hissed, looking over at the blonde who was kneeling in front of the open brazier warming her hands against the cool autumn air. "You wanted this as much as we did, so don't go landing us in the shit with your big mouth."

Ash laughed blithely. "What's Winter going to do now? Drake's already gone, Jason's in the middle of town...he's hardly going to send anyone after him is he."

Q-Ball hummed to himself, fidgetting and pacing up and down the length of the car. "Winter doesn't scare me." he said, "I just can't put up with another sermon."

That remark even drew a chuckle from Nico. It was amusing to be reminded sometimes about how Winter wasn't even technically the alpha of the rogue pack. They didn't have an alpha. But Winter claimed to be the one who would lead them to find an alpha that would lead them to better things...a 'prophet' of sorts. Nico didn't buy the hocus pocus side of things, but so far Winter had - if nothing else - brought them a run of good luck.

Suddenly there was a scurrying from somewhere up on the quarry ridge. Nico stood up, recognising the approaching scent, and then a large dark wolf emerged, scrambling down the crumbling slope.

"Drake!" Q-Ball cried out excitedly. It took the youth's slow mind a few seconds to realise that since Drake was still in his wolf-form, it was a de facto reality that he hadn't procured the intended goods.

Careering into the camp, the wolf disappeared behind a tow-trailer. Immediately there was the distinctive bone-crunching, muscle-rending sounds of a shift, followed by a brief silence which was patiently endured by the other three, and then finally Drake stood up, concealed from the waist down by the trailer.

"What went wrong?" Nico wasted not time in demanding.

Drake glowered over at him, and shook his head. "There were more than I thought," he said, "and also some wolves. At a human beach party. I couldn't have known that."

"Oh come on, seriously!!" Q-Ball wailed angrily, "I've been looking forward to it all day!"

"Looking forward to what?" came a deceptively soft sounding voice. The four of them slowly turned their heads to see Winter standing in the doorway of one of the RVs. His face did not betray how pissed off they all knew he must have been.

"It was Jason who told us about the beach party!" Q-Ball leapt to the defense, "He wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't expect us to make use of it."

"He didn't tell you to invade it though did he." Winter said smoothly and calmly. "We have enough food to keep us going for a few days."

"Yeah but those kids would have had beer!" Q-Ball said.

"Beer??" Winter exclaimed, "You risked compromising our position for the sake of some beer?"

The three males looked from one to another, while Ash smirked and shook her head at their plight. Sure, she had been looking forward to a cool beer also, but Drake's strike on the human's stash hadn't been any part her idea. At least, that's what she would tell Winter, and he would believe her.

"Not just that..." Drake attempted, "...they might have had some other food..."

"What do you mean other food?"

"He means 'real meat'." Ash piped up.

Drake rolled his eyes. That girl just had to stick her oar in and make things worse.

"Well it's true." he said, "We've been eating that damn leather droewors stuff for three days now. We're all craving something fresh."

"I see." Winter said after a long pause, stepping down and walking into the middle of the camp. "Well when Jason gets back with his first impression of the town, we'll be in a position to judge the best way to get more supplies in. But if the resident pack are now on alert because they're aware of a rogue wolf snapping at the borders, that decreases the chances that Jason will make it back to us at all. And if we lose Jason, then I might as well just pack my bag and leave you idiot mutts to fight over your scraps, like you were not so long ago."

The others fell silent, lowering their heads and holding their tongues.

"So when will that be?" Drake was the first to speak up.

"I told him to come back here tomorrow." Winter said. "Spend the night in town, see what's what, and then report back to me."

"I thought he'd already been in the town?" Ash asked.

Winter chuckled, "If we believe everything he says, he's been in the House. But that was a long time ago. We can't count on things not having changed. But he has more insight than us, so when we have his account, we'll know the way forward."

[shmband]

Calvin was at the centre of the revelry as the team filtered out of the side of the sports hall. One or two cheerleaders hung on to their respective boyfriends; Calvin remained distinct from them, soaking up the praise and triumphalism which came in droves from all directions. It hadn’t been an easy a win as he’d expected, but that only added to the rush when the final time buzzer sounded.

Unusually, Calvin felt a little uncomfortable about the fact that about half the guys, and all of the girls, around him were human. He was keenly aware of the way it laid him open to the charge of hypocrisy for criticising Gavin’s habit of hanging around with humans. But this was different. He didn’t choose the company because of what they were, but what they did. They played the game well enough to support him as a team.

The conversation quickly turned to the matter of how to continue the celebrations, and a couple of parties were mentioned as potential candidates. Calvin found himself looking at his watch, wondering if he could get back to the house in order to make any meaningful appearance at Reina’s party. Bah...no. He was already stoked about something else, and he needed to make the most of it...

--------

In addition to Calvin it was three guys and two girls who eventually ended up at one of the busier bars in town, crammed around a single table laughing and playing off each other’s boisterousness. Calvin in particular placed himself next to Rowan; the only other one of the group who was a wolf. They spared no opportunity to turn it into an in-joke, howling in bravado and making references to being ‘hungry like the wolf’.

It came around to being Calvin’s turn to buy the drinks, so he slapped a shoulder on either side of him – being sure one was Rowan’s and not much caring who the other one belonged to – and made his way over to the bar. After placing the order, he rubbed his head, realising the night was advancing quickly and he was already feeling the effects of the alcohol quite powerfully. It at least banished any remaining guilt about not being at the house for Reina’s birthday.

“Impressive game tonight sonny.” A familiar voice came from beside him. Calvin looked and saw the man from the square, leaning casually up against the bar with a short of whiskey in his hand.

“Thanks dude.” Calvin replied, “Appreciate your support.”

“Well I suppose you could say,” the man said with a sly grin, “that I’m in town scouting for talent.”

“Oh yeah?” Calvin said, trying to keep his curiosity in check. “Who are you with?”

“A wandering pack actually.” The man said, “My name’s Jason. We’re only passing by, but we’re looking for young people like yourselves who ably uphold the...shall we say, ‘ideals’ of our kind.”

Calvin nodded slowly. There it was again; that something which spoke to his own feelings about the state of affairs with young wolves. “Not sure how much of what you’re looking for you’ll find in this town.” He snorted.

“Well we’re not looking for many.” Jason said, “In truth, we’re looking for someone in particular, and anyone that person brings with them.”

“I don’t follow.” Calvin said, slightly impatiently.

Jason moved a little closer to Calvin and lowered his voice. “Do you ever wonder if it’s right that someone should be an alpha just because of who they were born to? You ever wondered what our society would be like if alpha’s were chosen for their ability to do the job?”

Calvin stared intently at Jason for a few moments, his imagination suddenly fired into overdrive.

“I’m listening.”

[Abalyth]

Evon and Daniel, her husband, were enjoying cocktails on the outside patio of a restaurant. The moon was high in the sky, the night air cold and crisp- perfect for a night on the town. Especially before a full moon. Wolves and humans both wandered by, the former giving nods or smiles if they happened to lock eyes with the couple.

"Happy anniversary." Daniel said, lifting his drink into the air for a congratulatory 'cheers'. Evon lifted hers and their glasses made a gentle clink.

"Happy anniversary." Evon returned with a red-lipped smile before taking a drink of her obscure blue drink.

"Have you heard from him yet today?" Daniel asked after a gulp of his beer. Evon looked up at her husband with saddened eyes.

"No." Evon answered, averting her eyes to the other people walking around, wanting to avoid the subject. "He was probably out at that beach party." Her voice held absolutely no inclination of an accent. "It's not like a child to remember his parents' anniversary, anyways."

"He's not a child anymore, you know that. And Gavin's always remembered our anniversary." Daniel offered, reaching over and putting his hand over his wife's. Now that the subject had been breached, Evon fell into an uneasy silence.

A pair of calloused hands wrapped around the black fence beside their table, both Evon and Daniel looked up, having picked up an old, familiar scent. Evon's eyes wide and she sat up straighter in her chair.

"Well, well, well. Look who I found." Jason's voice was rough and his eyes just as unforgiving as he kept them glued to her.

Evon's widened with silent fear, recognizing him immediately. Daniel sat up in his chair. Jason wouldn't do anything rash out here in public, would he? Daniel opened his mouth, ready to tell Jason to get lost, before-

"Well, here you two are." Jason casually looked between them. "But where, oh where, I wonder..." He locked eyes with Evon again. "Is sweet, precious Gavin?"

Evon and Daniel remained silent.

'You know," Jason leaned against the black bar of the fence casually. "If hadn't seen you two, sitting here all casually, enjoying yourselves over some fancy drinks, I probably wouldn't have even remembered. So, thanks for jogging my memory." He grinned at Evon, a cover for anyone who might be looking over at them.

Evon scowled back at him spitefully. "He's around." A moment passed where the two just stared at each other, and Evon finally cracked, "W-what are you-"

"I'm not going to do anything." Jason interrupted, still with the evil smile on his face. His glare ripped right through her. He pushed himself off of the black fence. "But you are."

"And what makes you think-"

"Because I know you, Evon." Jason spat. "And because I trust you to know what will happen if you don't."

Just then the waitress came back to their table, flashing Jason a dazzling white smile and setting down a cake with a candle in the shape of an XI between Evon and Daniel. It was their eleventh anniversary. They thanked her and she went back to attend to her other customers.

"Oh this is precious." Jason muttered. "Happy anniversary. Don't keep me waiting." He removed himself from the fence and walked off into the night, leaving Evon and Daniel with lost appetites.