(PrP) Devil of Railroad Creek

[Hector]

"Be well." Hector nodded once to his beta. His parting words are just as odd but perhaps better suited to the fatalistic People than the ever optimistic Herd.

Once Tristan has disappeared from view, the Alpha takes an expansive breath that pushes out his chest.

"So. To work. We look for tracks, spore, clues. Anything the Herd might have missed or overlooked. I want to try and scent this thing."

He shoved off, materialising from his hiding place and stalking toward a particularly large tree and stand of thick scrub.

"Game faces, People." His words carry in the cool air.

Hector sheds clothing shamelessly and bundles them out of sight.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-05-22 04:09:42		Hector to conceal his stuff rolls 4 to Wits + Stealth (10 Again)		3, 6, 10, 2, 5		1 success

Then he shrinks down into his favoured Urhan form. He darts into the gloom without waiting for his pack to follow.

[Viola Jones]

Game faces. Sure. Watching Hector shiftdown was always surreal. She knew his man-skin, scraggly hair and chipped teeth. Too many coats and that manic grin. Seeing him as a gangly wolf, it didn't really equate that this was their Alpha. Other Packs would laugh at them for choosing him, for allowing him to lead them, but they didn't know. To the Pack who's Totem was mercurial and sardonic, who promoted survival and unconventional thinking Hector was their only choice.

Sacrificing lean muscles and a keener nose, Viola shifts into Urshul. This-whatever it was already proved it was angry, mean and prone to killing. She'd feel better with the bulk of hard earned muscle and countless hours learning how to use it.

  3 suxx Urshul

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-05-22 11:06:19		Viola Jones rolls 7 to Urshul (Stamina 3 + Survival 2 + PU 2) (10 Again)		9, 3, 5, 9, 5, 8, 3		3 successes

[Chris Laurent]

There's hesitation before Chris takes off his clothes after finding somewhere somewhat hidden to do so. No need to be naked near a road. Even when its was just the remains of his old pack in the car they had some level of decency. Maybe that was to keep them acting human enough to disappear into crowds. Once the clothes are hopefully hidden enough to come back for later Chris falls down onto four legs.

Urhan for now, small, easier to hide. The thrill can wait, the Stalker hunts. With that the Irraka lopes off after his Alpha and packmate.

  2 suxx to hide clothes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-05-24 20:35:10		Chris rolls 5 to Hiding clothes (Wits+Stealth=5) (10 Again)		1, 8, 2, 3, 9		2 successes

[Travisc06489]

On after the other, the pack assumes forms more suited for the search. Dull Hishu senses sharpen and two legs, invariably, become four. Viola-wolf, outweighing the others considerably, could easily be mistaken for some roaming, man-slaying beast herself. But fortunately no cries of terror pierce the air. The nearby neighborhood can't even be seen from the bed of the creek. For now, the pack safe from the eyes of the Herd.

The patch of woods not far from the creek looks innocuous. Mostly oak trees and some taller forest shrubs that cling to trees here and appear to burst through the fallen leaves and twigs there. It doesn't look like the setting for a prowling creature waiting to disembowel the unwary. But looks can be deceiving.

Perception rolls might be helpful here. Or other stuffs... Just need something to react to

[Chris Laurent]

Low and small Chris cautiously moves through the creek. Holding moving side to side as he listens and smells and feels for anything that may be out of place. Or a monster from nightmare waiting to strike. Sounds like it is time to return the favor and show whatever this is what really is a nightmare. On a human face an evil grin would have formed before falling away to something approaching shame.

Nightmare is the right word to the humans. One mistake was enough.

  5 suxx to perception

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-06 20:49:29		Chris rolls 5 to Perception (Wits+Comp=5) (10 Again)		10, 9, 9, 8, 6, 10, 6		5 successes

[Viola Jones]

Her massive weight was out of place beside her sleeker packmates, both wolves, and not a step away, but this is what she prefers.

Ears swivelling, nose seeking and eyes wryly watching she takes in all there might be for her to find.

  4 successes perception

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-06 21:57:25		Viola Jones rolls 9 to Perception (Wits 4 + Composure 2 +3 Urshul) (10 Again)		8, 4, 2, 1, 9, 3, 5, 8, 9		4 successes

[Hector]

And Hector is off! His Gangrel form loping excitedly towards the woods and the creek. Tail swishing. Frisking hither and yon. Nose to the ground.

Trying to be a wolf. Trying to scent like a wild animal. Trying to let go of the man and ride on the wave of instinct and pure sensation.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-09 19:38:29		Hector to use his nose rolls 8 to Wits + Survival + Urhan (10 Again)		4, 7, 6, 1, 8, 5, 8, 7		2 successes

[Travisc06489]

Around the creek, the air is almost deathly still. And humid. It hangs and stagnates uncomfortably, bringing with it the canine urge to pant. Each wolf (and near-wolf) takes to uncovering the overlooked and the unseen. The passing of so many humans is evident, in their footprints and smells left in passing. The temptation for Hector to wander off after any one of them is strong, but they overlap so much he finds himself twisting back on trails he's already scented. Human blood and death lingers on the air, too. All three of them can smell it. But that much is to be expected.

Something else catches the Irraka's nose, though. Maybe? Yes. As Chris moves along it teases to make itself known. It's there... an almost imperceptible twinge in Chris-wolf's lupine nostrils. A smell nearly dispersed to the point where it would cease to register. But it's there. A tang that tweaks the nose and tongue all at once, and a lingering animal musk. Ozone over scent glands; bleach over sweat. Somehow, the opposing scents seem to be one and the same. It isn't a combination the natural, physical word produces. The thought makes his fur stand on end.

Or is that something in the air?

Myriad other details littler the scene. So many they tend to be pushed away by the human side of the brain as irrelevant. There are imprints dug through the soft, muddy earth where the gurney dragged the body away, leading uphill. A good number of the footprints overlap around the edge of the creek, closest to the road; the side bordering the woods is nearly undisturbed.

Something out of place - unexpected - is what catches Viola-wolf's eye. It isn't far from where the victim's body was found. A sheen of light reflecting off something thin and paper-like. It's partly covered in mud and has soaked through on one side, but it's unmistakably a photograph. It appears to be a young woman in white, surrounded by woods much like the woods nearby. Only the upper half of her body isn't obscured by sludge or disintegrating in the water. She's far back from the lens, a smaller detail in a larger picture, but its clear shes staring back at the cameraman.

Hector-wolf, plodding along and letting the more animal instincts take control, picks up more than one dead end or less-than-helpful trail. Twice, some prints lead him towards the spot where the police had parked their cars. Once he was even able to pair Tristan's scent to a set of tracks. His paws slosh through the shallow water and dig into the mud as he all but ignores the surroundings and sniffs the ground - zig-zagging along the creek bed. Eventually his path puts him right in front of where Chris-wolf has stopped, apparently picking up on something too. But rather than pick apart individual details with the man's brain, Hector's instincts are in control. Human fear has a scent, and though Viola and Chris can smell it, Hector follows it like a hunter. He follows it to the very edge of the woods, where the slaughtered man must have first realized something was wrong.

[Hector]

Hector comes to a stop, freezing in place with his limbs trembling in anticipation. His lupine snout is thrust forward, eyes gleaming, looking toward the dense darkness of the woods.

<<Here the hunt began. Predator and prey finally aware of the contest>>

It took all his effort to zip off, alone, and follow the trail back into the dense canopy. This time, he succeeded controlling his need for the hunt. Better to gather the pack.

Better still to hear what they had discovered and plan accordingly.

[Viola Jones]

<<Captured Moment!>> Voila calls out, pawing the ground and the photo hidden here. <<Where dead prey found!>> her massive head cranes as she tries to gather details of the picture, <<Female in white. Woods. Here woods.>> she nods again, then looks up towards where Alpha had spoken.

She ambles over, scenting what had been found, cataloguing it, learning it so we could track it.

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-12 11:25:42		Viola Jones rolls 8 to tracking (Wits 3 + survival 2 + Urshul) (10 Again)		4, 2, 5, 6, 1, 10, 1, 10, 7, 10, 4		3 successes