#lucentlycanthrope

Once they had settled him in, Echo Team got a fairly typical assignment. Fiends were crawling too close to the city, too close to the airport-base McCarran. Hopkins, Godfrey, and Lizard spent time going over a map. They came over to the other soldiers and hashed out their plan. Simple plan, usual plan; set up high, take down the low lives.

The hike out was punctuated with questions, answered by grunts. The more experienced members didn’t have much to offer ‘Ghost’. He already seemed to get it, his questions often answered themselves. Eagle was assigned to work with him. She did most of the answering in positive grumbles.

When they broke off to their perch, Eagle spent a moment clearing a space. She was left-handed. He was not. The space she needed was different than what he was used to doing. They hunkered down in the blazing sun, waiting on the mirror flashes. They discussed why ‘Ghost’ joined the military, why Eagle did, and what the plan was. Eagle explained with some pointers. The man had spotted before, thankfully.

When Lizard and Godfrey flashed their mirrors, Eagle returned a sparkle to them. She nudged her partner.

“See if you can see somethin’, we’re gonna start.”

“‘Kay.” said a gruff voice. He spent a moment panning the gravel. “‘s one.” He relayed the position. “Looks like someone I used t’ know.”

“D’you want t’ do the honours, then?”

“Nah. Can we go down there later, though?”

“If the LT says we can, sure.”

The gore of the battlefield didn’t take as long to settle out into dust and blood as ‘Ghost’ thought it would. Guns were efficient at their job. Too efficient sometimes. He set the binoculars back on his pack and went off to ask Lizard and the LT about seeing some of the bodies. Eagle tagged along. She had a look on her face that spoke volumes to the others. Something had been said up in their perch that had the redhead Recon soldier acting like a mother hen. It wasn’t an often thing for her.

The LT and Lizard debated quietly for a moment, then gave the okay. Eagle nodded and guided the other soldier out into the remnants of chaos.

After a few moments of picking across the rubble, Eagle spoke up. The new guy had been standing, kicking gravel awkwardly over a body for a couple moments before turning away.

“Well, was it her?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. She had changed.” The way he said it made Eagle’s heart drop. She had been there before.

“Still.”

“I’m not mad. Disappointed that she went that way. Not mad. Not mad at you either.”

“Still.” She insisted.

“Let’s go. Got another assignment tomorrow, don’t we?”

“Right.” The man walked by her as she replied. She reached up and gave him a gentle pat on the back before walking with him. Eagle opened her mouth to say something more when ‘Ghost’ raised his hand.

He gave her a sad smile as she hesitated.

Once more, she took off, soaring through the skies on the back of her rylak, Finnegan flying along nearby.  While much slower than portal travel, the flight itself should only take the day, landing on the edge of the country before making her way to the Ebonsteed lands.  The cover of nightfall would make it easier for her to sneak into the city, but also more dangerous.

One stop was all she granted herself, long enough to eat something and rest for a bit, stopping in the forests of Loch Modan.  “...go t’th’estate t’nigh’, Finnegan, we’ll worry ‘bout th’rest tomorrow.”

The black raven pulled his head from under his wing as his mistress spoke, letting out a soft caw in response.  She’d found a secluded clearing, leaning her back against a tree as Fluffy rested nearby, chewing on some unfortunate rams he’d found.  “Be nice t’sleep in an estate, yeah?  Too bad ‘s run down, would loved t’see - ‘ey, stop tha’, yer beak ‘s sharp.”

The raven had nipped at her ear, beginning to hop about on her shoulder as he noticed the white raven resting on a nearby tree branch.  And ravens - while not uncommon - were not usually white in the wild, the mutation making them a bright beacon for predators to come find.  Gin immediately stopped talking as she noticed it, staring at the unusual eyes on the creature.  Violet eyes.  She resumed eating, acting as if she’d noticed nothing as she repacked the rylak’s saddle and took to the skies once more.

“Still followin’ us, Finn?”

An answering caw from the bird, atop his special perch on the rylak’s neck armor.

“Figures,” she muttered, urging the flying beast onward.

The white raven struggled to keep up, her wings flapping as hard as she could to try and keep up with the large beast.  She was clearly exhausted, but determined not to let the woman out of her sight.  There was a moment through the Wetlands that Gin thought she lost the second raven, only to have it reappear moments later, sluggishly beating its wings.

There were no more stops in her journey, the sun getting lower and lower as she got closer to Silverpine Forest.  The plan now was to lead the bird to Pyrewood and hopefully locate  some form of cage and blindfold.  If she was correct in her assumptions - while the bird was a natural bird - those eyes held Void magics in the them.

It didn’t take long to reach Silverpine, making sure to land far enough away from from the town that she could remain somewhat hidden.  And as if on cue, the fluttering of wings was heard behind her, followed by a flash of white.  Again, Gin gave no indication that she knew she was being watched, simply beginning to search through some of the houses.  What she was looking for was unclear, but she was clearly searching for something.

The pale raven would be able to keep her in sight until she entered the chapel.  Every other building had taken her only a few minutes to search while this one seemed to be taking longer.  The white raven let out an annoyed and tired sounding caw, hopping around on her perch.  What was taking the woman so long?

The answer came shortly after as a bag was placed over raven’s head, quickly flipping her over and tying the end.  Gin was rewarded with angry and tired caws of protest, fighting against the damp, musty smelling sack weakly.

“At’s right, y’bastard, y’get t’come with me,” Gin muttered, pulling a small needle from the special pouch on her belt.  This one was tipped in a mild sleeping potion, enough to knock the bird out long enough for Gin to blindfold and cage it.  There was a quick jab at the flailing bag, waiting until it stopped moving before removing the bag.  “Hmph, who’s bird’re you, then?”  She didn’t take time to contemplate, using a bandage to wrap around the bird’s eyes before locking it in a metal cage she’d found.

“C’mon, Finnegan...we can still make it t’th’estate ‘fore nightfall if we ‘urry.”