The Howl

Mar 23rd, 2009 09:17 PM

Have now and hold this house unpeered;
remember thy glory; thy might declare;
watch for the foe! No wish shall fail thee
if thou bidest the battle with bold-won life.

The howl is sudden. It is not a solemn, mournful thing, building slowly up in a mournful crescendo like the howls of wolves. No - it begins at full pitch and keeps going, five voices meshed together into a single savage, wordless chorus. It is loud and reckless and unafraid, rolling south across the railroad tracks and through the nearby streets of downtown Sacramento like a wave. This place is ours now, it seems to say. We are home.

It is not a howl made by human throats. It lasts for a full minute, hanging unbroken in the cool night air, a promise of swift and brutal violence to whoever would challenge the truth of the message it bears. And as it finally fades and dies, its last echoes still lingering between the looming buildings of Sacramento, the howlers cross the railroad tracks and make their way through Muir Park towards the city proper with firm, unafraid steps, confident that they have made themselves noticed.

Mar 23rd, 2009 09:41 PM

"Now they know we are here," said the first among them, and where a moment before a four legged creature had walked now stalked a young woman. She had tangled raven hair and feral eyes of emerald, and wore a self-satisfied and somewhat wicked looking smirk on her face. She did not stop moving when she spoke, but continued leading the pack deeper into downtown Sacramento. "Its time to get down to business."

**DrDog** · Mar 23rd, 2009 09:47 PM

From behind a hill you hear clapping.

Mar 23rd, 2009 09:54 PM

One of them, a muscular, heavily tattooed man just now shrinking down from an even more muscular shape, stops and looks towards the hill.

"We have an audience!" he exclaims, seeming quite pleased.

Mar 23rd, 2009 10:00 PM

"So soon?" asked the woman, turning to look. "I figured it would take at least fifteen minutes for something to respond. I'm impressed."

Mar 23rd, 2009 10:39 PM

Shifting into his human skin, the mountain of muscle and scars that was Breaker moved in front of his Alpha, not enough to block her view but enough to put him between her and the intruder and await what was to come next.

Let the others banter and make nice. It was obvious to all what Breaker's position was and what he was prepared to do given his Alpha's command or an intruder's gross misstep...

Mar 23rd, 2009 11:49 PM

A young black woman hitches a leather backpack up onto both shoulders as she sidles around to the far left of the group. Moments before she had been slipping four-legged amongst her fellows, touching and rubbing along, mingling the pack's scent together and sharing in their eagerness to see their new home. Her spirits were higher than they'd been in over a month, and it showed in her pheromones and in the way she fairly vibrated with energy. Whether it was a good fight or a good party that was about to start, she was looking forward to it.

"Well, isn't dat neighborly," she says with a friendly Creole lilt in her voice and a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "We hardly get de place settled yet an' dere's summin' come a callin'. Must be dat fancy invite you compose," the girl grinned at the tattooed man.

She slips gracefully along the ground, never quite coming up level with the rest, and positions herself facing away from other woman. Her senses scan the darkness to the left and behind them, leaving the hill and their mysterious audience for the others to focus on. With lidded eyes and an anticipatory smile she glances back at the other woman.

"I wonder how many dey want come say hello tonight?"

**DrDog** · Mar 24th, 2009 08:51 AM

The clapping still continues.

**Firebringer** · Mar 24th, 2009 12:22 PM

Matthew lopes through the territory, enjoying the night air. He thinks back to his most recent dream. The night is calm. The calm before the storm.

As if on cue, a howl pierces the night. Matthew turns northward, cautiously following the howl toward its source. His jet-black form blends in among the shadows the shadows in an attempt to evade notice, especially that of the pack that would so confidently announce its presence.

Mar 24th, 2009 12:29 PM

Breaker looks back over his shoulder at Snow, "Our first confrontation, Alpha. How do you wish us to deal with them?" From the gleam in his eye Snow can tell her brother is ready to establish dominance over this territory.

The Howl

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