All For One and One For All!

[Eris]

They were still calling themselves a Motley, but their forced Pledge had run it's course hours ago.

There wasn't anything tying themselves together but their own desire - it was Spring. So it was fitting. Call her paranoid, but Eris didn't want anyone or thing, to be able to come between them. Which meant calling on the wyrd and binding themselves together once more.

She knew they all wanted to leave the name their forced Motley was call, but Eris' only hope was that they didn't want to be called the Musketeers. She'd go with it since it was Artemis and Cana, but she'd have to knock a few heads together to work out that frustration.

The car slowed down, and Eris jolts of her her reverie.

Cana pulled them into a dinner parking lot.

"So. Not that I don't want to get out of this rust bucket and stretch my legs. But there's an elephant in the room. We need to swear up again. And the rust bucket is semi-private. Even if it's stupid colors are drawing everyone, and their mother's attention."

[Artemis]

"Hey! Nothing wrong with these colours," Artemis said from where was bouncing, animated, in the back seat. At one point or another he'd been curled round, watching for pursuit out of the rear window. Now at least, he was staring forward.

He leaned forward, partially folding himself to fit between the two bucket seats up front.

"We're... college students. Going to college. Somewhere along this road. How is that not slipping under the radar?" College student's didn't have quite so many tattoos, look like they'd crawled out of a back alley, or have such a crazy gleam in their eye. Normally.

Undaunted, the bunny continued: "Yeah. I felt it too. The Pledge faded back there. I miss it already. That... ah... Wyrd is comforting. Anyway - so this time we get to work out what we want to be. For ourselves."

Furry bunny head tilts to the left and to the right.

"So. What do we want to be?"

Now that they had stopped, he was fumbling in a pocket for a carrot.

[Circe]

Cana ears drooped down as she let out a put upon sign when Eris razzed her about the color. Again. She bopped her forehead against the steering wheel. "Okay, I get it, I got screwed by Fat Mike. Trusting him 'cause we both got shit names is bad, yes. A Porsche would've been better, yes. And yes we'll buy a can of spray paint and fix it. Please let's move on."

There was zero bitterness in her tone, the jabs had won and she was down for the count on this argument. Her friends had been nice about it, and it made a good distraction from the shit storm they'd fled but it got old. She leaned back to look at Artemis. Then at Eris. Then down at herself: "So we're art students now? Great." She leaned back further until her head rested upon the headrest, so she ended up looking straight up at the stealing. Ears still drooped, "Holy shit! Somebody wrote gullible on the roof."

She doubted they'd check but what the Hell. Cana sighed again, "Yeah, I miss the link too. Poofed when we went 'rogue'," she made air quotes, "and all. Be nice to have it be something we want. And a good name," she chuckled, "not like bird brain. As shit a name as Fat Mike or Frisco Flunkies," a pause as one of her ears darted up. Her friends new it meant she'd either heard something or was distracted, "Hey, did we ever figure out who the fuck assigned those shit motley names?"

[Eris]

"Shit. Cana. I didn't mean it like that." there was a quiet 'you should have got that' in the dragoness' tone. But she shifts in her tiny ass seat, to focus on the Fairest. Her neon eyes stare at the elfin ears of her Cana, silently willing them to perk up. "A Porsche would have been more noticeable. We needed something quick. Something we don't care about, if we needed to ditch it. I don't like the colors because they're noticeable. Anyone could see us, in this car and tell Queen Anne or Iron Meg, or any of those fuckers.

"I don't know if they're still calling the Ash Run. Not with what I gave everyone at the Toybox about Queen Anne. But if they still do. They might not stop at the 'hold borders. Or the City limits." They all knew their best bet was a new 'hold they could swear to. Severing their ties to San Fran as best they could.

Artemis speaks. Eris nods. Eyes only leaving Cana's ears when she shifts again. Her back braced against the door, her legs pulled up to her tits, and her tail bunched up, but still flicking angrily. She was pissed at the word, the city they'd fled, and the tiny car that made her horn-spikes on her back bend, and her tail not have enough room to really move.

Thank. Fuck. She didn't have wings.

Though with the wyrd and it's evolutions, you never knew what sort of...additions you might get.

"Sure. Spring Brake road trip, or something. We just can't force that into people's faces or they're know something's up." Let people make their own assumptions about them, they were a, what was is? 'Colorful Cast of Character' they stood out in a crowd.

Memories. Why the fuck nots. And to stand out are why she'd covered her nearly whole body in ink.

She wasn't going to be forgotten or set aside for someone else ever again.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. When we're bound to the wyrd and each other...it's nice. Comforting. We know we're all okay since we're all still bound." seeing Artemis fumbling, she reches for the bag on the floor. Annoying to have there, but where else was she supposed to put it? Unzips a pocket and hands the bunny a carrot cup snack. "I didn't just grab the bag when I was at the store." she smiles, and presses her forehead against his muzzle, an affectionate gesture that animals did.

Eris might be a Fairest, but her Durance was a thing ruled by instinct, so much so that her kith divided in two.

She rubs against him, making sure her scent was on him, and his on her. Her eyes slide over to Cana, a talon'd hand reaches for her. Just to stay in contact with the Fairest. "You're not a bird brain Cana." a firm tone, and maybe the Larcenist will believe them...eventually. The name confusion when they met and Escaped certainly hadn't helped.

"Wasted Springs. Who else?" there's a derisive snort. "But fuck yeah. We're 'rogues' now. Well. We've been 'rogues' for a while if you consider where are shit comes from."

[Artemis]

"Oh ho!" Bunny had his carrots. He set to munching around Eris' mussing. Not that he was complaining. The animal bonding called to him in ways that words could not express. Part of him would always be primordial now; it was the legacy of his Durance. Decades spent in a forest.

"Dawn, maybe. But Summer as well. And Autumn with their almanacs or what have you. Spring too, if you count the jokes and how they stuck. To be honest I think they were trying to help." He turns slightly so he can face Cana in their crowded and confined space.

"A real rogues gallery." He chuckled lightly around a carrot. "Hey! Thats it! Rogues Gallery. Us! Us?" He startled look to his companions.

A critical glance back to Cana. "Well. If you don't like your name. Um. Change it?" Hopeful optimism trickled into his voice. "Its not like you're bound to it, right?" He was stuck with Artemis unless he got a new identity crafted for him; not that he cared - his name seemed to fit.

He flicked a glance back to Eris. "If you are worried about shit following us we could always try Sacramento first. Apparently Cosette Boucher led a dozen or so over that way last winter. So... If there is a Freehold over there, it should have the numbers to keep San Francisco off our back. And then there are the rumours. You know. The... Dragon..."

Eyes grew wide. "Not like you, Eris. A... Gentry... Dragon. Or a Dragon cult. Based in a hob town too close to the trod. Ah - the stories get a bit more wild each year."

[Circe]

"Its fine Eris, joke just got old is all." Cana straightened up and waved off her friend's apology. Shit, why was being nice with people so hard? She grinned at Eris and nodded her head: "We're cool."

Spring figures, "Spring figures, they probably don't even remember it," her smile turned true when Eris brought out the carrot snack for Artemis. She reached back and rubbed Art on the head as he and Eriz nuzzled. She didn't quite get the animal part all the time, but knew it had to do with scent so this seemed best.

Eris's rebuke got a shrug and a laugh, "I literally am Eris. Canaiola is an insult that means bird brain...weak insult too, guess That Bitch wasn't really fluent." She probably should have told them that at some point. Ears drooped, "Hindsight, I should've explained that a while ago."

And Artemis changed the subject. She turned back to him, ears both perked up for the first time, "Rogue's Gallery?" She mulled it over, ears darting about, "Hmmm." Her ears then took a forward facing position as she chuckled, "Like from Batman? Well, I guess all superheroes have them, like that singing redhead that hated wonder lady. I like it," she gave Artemis a thumbs up, "Good idea, its got my vote Art."

Then subject returned. And Cana stared at Artemis owlishly. She blinked. She blinked again. Her ears weren't moving, "Change...it? Change...fuculo, why didn't I think of that?!" Cana face palmed as she said that. With her right hand she patted Artemis on the shoulder, even if it was awkward, "Thank's Art, your a fount of brilliance tonight. Keep it going," no mockery but only genuine gratitude was in her voice tonight. "Either of you got any suggestion? I'm partial to the letter C these days."

Oh and that dragon rumors. She'd heard some, "Yeah, heard about that thing. Hopefully Cosette gave them a kick in the ass to go off and slay it already." Not like San Francisco had not run down an Exile or two.

[Eris]

The only positive Eris could see about this tiny ass-stupidly colored car was that it was small.

Which seemed stupid to like when she'd just been knocking it. But it meant that their scents were intermingled in a way that was hard to get when they weren't this close. It settled something primal that prowled within.

"Ha! Just like Batman!" Eris' responding grin was all teeth, there was a ring to it, and it was miles better then the Musketeers. "Better then Batman. The Rogue's Gallery in those comics have all best sorts of characters."

Artemis' optimism was foreign to the Dusk. There'd been a reason her vitriol hadn't bound her to Summer. "You've been letting us insult you this whole time." Eris would have growled out 'Cana' but she didn't want to keep insulting the elf. "Callisto, Calliope, Cybele, Circe, Calypso, Clymene," Eris rattles off in quick succession. Their Elf was going to change her name, remove that insult, and Eris was determinant that her new name would prove to the universe that she belonged to Eris and Artemis.

"I've heard the rumors." that fucking Dragon's been hovering over Sacramento longer then they'd been Free. Slaying the Dragon and ending that tyranny...that would be a good way to introduce them to the Freehold. Though Eris didn't trust that them doing the 'hold's dirty work will impress or even endear them to the 'hold. They'd done Autumn's dirty work on Dawn's behest, and look where it got them. "Cosette's kicked them in the ass already. Or fed them all and told them all they'd get no more until the Dragon was dead." seemed like something the Pamarindo Knight would do.

"So. We got a name, all that's left is the Wyrd and the Words." her predatory gaze shifts between her soon to be Motley in truth. "Gonna go old school? Something new?"

[Artemis]

Art shook his head.

"Moving is a big thing. Stick with old school. For grounding - you know what they say about Clarity, right? For luck... Or something."

He shuffled in his seat.

"So lets try this!"

"We lost our families once before. But we are family through more than just blood. For a year and a day I swear to stand by you as you stand by me. May I be cursed and struck down if prove untrue. This I vow, here and now."

His eyes glittered and his voice took on a hard edge as he pronounced the words.

"We are Rogue's Gallery now. Lets drive."

Taking Motley Pledge from Core, p188-9.
Type: Vow
Tasks: Alliance, Greater (-3, all)
Boons: Adroitness (+1, all) Blessing, Medial (+2, all)
Sanction: Poisoning of Boons (-3, Adroitness and Blessings)
Duration: Year and a Day (+3)

I propose that we get +1 bonus to Skill: Larceny and +2 bonus to Merit: Allies: Criminal

[Circe]

Cana shrugged at Eris's shock about what her name meant. She didn't mind them calling her that, they were family. "Meh, I didn--" And then Eris was running off names. Each "Ca" name caused her left ear to twitch, probably not a point in their favor. "Uh, thanks Eris. I'd vote for Circe or Clementine...Chlamydia...fanculo, Io ho con quello che posso dire," she had gone crossed eyed trying to pronounce Clymene. The elf shook her head, "Circe. Huh," the elven Fairest now named Circe smiled, "guess it goes with Artemis and Eris don't it?"

Circe chuckled at Artemis's new Pledge, "Glad to see you're keeping the brilliance going Art. Hell yeah."

She gave the sole male occupant of the car a thumbs up, "We've lost our families, but we are our family through more than blood. For a year and a day I swear to stand by Artemis and Eris, as they stand by me. May I be cursed and struck down if prove untrue. This I vow, here and now."

She then revved the engine, "Rogue's Gallery, Hell yeah."

Sounds great to me

[Eris]

"Grounding...yeah." Eris whispers, knowing without needing them to spell it out that it was a jab at her. She'd tried to seek out a Blackbird Bishop in San Fran months after they'd landed in the Alley and saw the Lamppost for the first time. That was before she'd wised up. She'd still seen one of those black feathered bishops, but it had less to do her shattered Clarity, and more to do with his superb talent in making her scream.

"Circe." Eris nods. She'd known it wasn't too kind to blast the former-Cana with as many names, but Eris didn't call herself after the Goddess of Strife because she was nice.

The wyrd whips up, invoked with Artemis' voice, the pressure within the tiny car grows as the newly dubbed Circe adds her own voice, her own vow.

"A family by word is stronger then one by blood. For a year and a day I do so swear to shoulder the burdens of my motley, my family, as long as you shoulder mine. If I am untrue by word or deed may the Wyrd blacken my efforts and strike my down. This I vow. Here and Now."

Eris' voice cuts off and their circle is complete. Their pact, their oath, their vow, sealed.

"So no stopping for lunch?" it's rhetorical, said because the dragoness wanted to quip.

Eris knew they all wanted to get farther from San Fran while there was still daylight.