Finding a new family

Peter had wandered the city to see where his feet would take him, and now he wasn't exactly sure where he was. He looked at the rustic lodge in front of him. It slightly reminded him of his first home, without the ghosts who had lived there of course. He approched the timber and stone building taking in the details when an all too familiar scent afronted his nostrils. Wolf! He looked around quickly, making sure there were no wolves nearby. A stray hair on one of the posts caught his attention and he went over to examine it. Texture, smell, and thickness of a wolf hair, but it seemed different though he couldn't say why. From where it had gotten stuck on the post it must have been a bigger than normal wolf. 'Well, the wolves probably stay in the forest during the daytime, and won't be around' thought Peter, 'I hope...'

Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammer could smell the interloper before he could see him. Standing at 6'5 he still managed to walk stealthily to the new smell and watched as a man stood on his sacred ground. Reaching into his pocket, he softly touched his slim cell phone, alerting Brig and the Pipers to seek him out. They would find him standing upwind from the young man who was similar to Hammer in height but not in age. This one was young by the looks of him - young and apparently lost.

Within minutes the tell tale signs of the Pipers were nearby, as was Brig he quietly appeared at his shoulder. Without looking Hammer softly said,
'We have a visitor.'
The Pipers 16 years ago
They moved as a solitary unit through out the trees of the property, narrowing in on the Beta's intruder alert. A tall young man stood on the outskirts of the property - whether he was friend or foe had yet to be determined, but either way the Pipers circled the man on anxious paws.

Their Commander appeared next to the Beta who was back and hidden from the newcomer. With baited breath they waited for the command; eleven very big, very hungry wolves.
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig was perched happily at the front desk flirting with the receptionist at the Den's foyer when the signal from Hammer came in. Without a word Brig moved away from the desk and signaled to LT who was, as always, nearby the Commander when he was on the premises. With two hand signals, Brig ordered the Pipers to assemble in wolf form and stake out the property for intruders. From the time the order was given to the moment they assembled on the edge of the property - two minutes had passed.

Brig had no doubt the swift change would have his younger Pipers on edge and ready for blood but they were all trained to hold back until the command was given. He walked through the foliage of the estate's property and immediately found his Beta.

Leaning forward, his senses trying to pick up any errant smells or worse yet artillary on the young man, Brig's voice grumbled quietly in reply.
'Indeed we do.' He too heard the signs of the Pipers surrounding the interloper and again he whispered to his Beta.

'Say the word.' Hammer held his hand up slightly and Brig straightened, his eyes immediately finding LT's wolf eyes and with one look told the Pipers to hold steady. Together both men watched the newcomer, comfortable with the passing time, waiting for him to react.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter was deep in thought examining a paw print and making notes in his brown notebook when he heard the noise, looking up he found himself staring into the eyes of a very large wolf that was a few feet away. Peter looked around and saw the ten other wolves surrounding him and took a couple steps back, his breathing becoming irregular. He stepped back a couple more steps and tripped over his own feet and fell down, but continued to crawl backwards until he reached the step of the building. His breathing was increasing, "W- Wo- W-w-w-" incoherent syllables came out of his mouth, trying desperatly to form something, but not creating anything. His hands were starting to shake, as his he tried to think of a way out, his normally organized brain becoming more and more shuffled. His lips twitched as a something inbetween a pant and a snarl came out. 'I need to came down my breathing or I'll hyperventilate', a small calm part of him thought but it was quickly drowned by the tide of panic. His shaking hand reached inside his trenchcoat and pulled out his automatic 9 mm pistol. Holding it in the traditional teacup hold his hands were barely shaking as he felt the calmness he needed creep into his system. His lips pulled back into a snarl revealing unnaturally sharp teeth.

((OCC: "for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth" ))
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
'Oh, look look look.'

Brig was enjoying himself although he was a little ashamed - but not really. The Pipers together in full force was an amazing sight to behold. Wolves ranging from two hundred to three hundred fifty pounds gathered together and working as a unit made Brig's toes curl. The perfect dozen. Suddenly Brig's smile dropped - in fact, there were only eleven Pipers present, having recently lost one to the vampire Ellis. Then the newcomer had fallen back and drawn his weapon. Brig felt his shoulders tense and instinctively his own hackles raised.

Brig.

Snapping his head back at his Beta, he saw the very rare concern in Hammer's face. Concern mixed with one message.

Keep it together.

Slowly Brig blinked slowly and obeyed.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
The interloper had drawn his weapon and he could feel Brig's body tense for his Pipers. Giving his cousin a solid look, Hammer returned his attention towards the man and began to walk towards him, out of the cover of the trees.

The moment he took a step, the Pipers fell back cautiously, still snarling at the man and his weapon but backing slowly giving ground not in retreat but in respect to their Beta. There wasn't anything they couldn't handle that he himself couldn't handle single handedly. Age as a werewolf had its advantages since obviously the snarling teeth this young one was baring were clearly werewolf.

Brother or Vyusher R'asa, Hammer wasn't sure but either way he was unannounced and more importantly, he was afraid. He had never seen this one before, either here or back home. No one he recognized in his face as a Kadzait born male and lacked the arrogance of a Vyusher R'asa. He had the height of a brother but without seeing his fur, it was unclear which pack he belonged.

Hammer walked towards the man and stopped, hovering over him, plainly ignoring the weapon pointed at him. Quietly he stated the obvious.


'You're trespassing. My brothers and I don't appreciate that.' The Pipers stood in their now uneven V formation, Brig slowly coming into the clearing to stand behind him. 'Who are you?'
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter's eyes quickly flickered over to the man who had spoken, of course no one wouldn't be able that they had through the reflective sunglasses. The man next to the one who had spoken had probably been the one who had said 'oh look look look' in the trees, though it could have been someone else who was still hiding. 'My brothers' the man had said, this either meant he had a very close tie to the wolves, or he was referring to the person next to him. If it was the person next to him, there would be another person in the trees because he stated 'brothers' plural. Of course both could be possible. His lips closed, and when he opened his mouth again to speak, normal human teeth had replaced the sharp canine ones. "Peter. Peter Haines," he stated his voice hardly shaking, "and I didn't think I was trespassing since I was invited." He had started to lower the gun, though he kept a firm grip on it. Really with so many wolves it would be usless to try to shoot. Peter kept looking at the different wolves through his glasses. Something wasn't right about them. Normally Peter wouldn't want to look at them any longer then he had to, but something in the back of his mind said that there was some inherent 'wrongness' about them.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammerthynn crossed his arms and let the slightest bit of confusion creep into his eyebrows. Both he and Brig turned slightly and looked around - but other than the young man and the Pipers, there was no one. The gentle swaying of the trees as the breeze crossed the clearing was the only sound.

'Invited by whom?'
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Both he and Hammer looked around the clearing but they both knew that there was no one else in the general vicinity. Brig cast a look at LT behind him who barked softly at him. No, no one else. Hammer asked who he was invited by, but Brig could not resist cracking a grin and shaking his head a little.

With a hand signal he dismissed the Pipers who immediately trotted off back into the trees towards the deeper part of the forest to eat and then return to their posts. The eleven large solid colored wolves were gone in a whisper and their stealthy abilities always made him swell with pride. He then returned his attention on the stranger and took a step forward.

He waved the gun away and offered his hand towards Haines.
'Come on, get up.'
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
'No wait,' Hammer started in a concerned voice, 'he might shoot you with that.'

Brig was leaning forward, offering his hand to Haines when he turned and looked at Hammer. His cousin began to laugh and even Hammer rolled his shoulders and chuckled a syllable or two. It wasn't often when he let a little emotion through, much less cracked a joke. Even so, he hoped when he did, it was at least funny.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter looked between the two of them and sighed. He had realized what had been strange about the wolves, they had been better trained then the police dogs. Standing in formation, however rough, waiting for private signals, being that quiet as they disappeared into the woods. The 'joke' had confirmed what he had suspected. He had always thought that there might be other werewolves in the world, but to have accidentally walked into an entire, for lack of better term, ‘pack’ of them? He put his gun away in its holdster and stood up by himself, dusting himself off. With that information the joke made more sense, he was the punchline. He looked towards the coat pocket which held the gun, “Yeah, I guess normal bullets wouldn’t have done much anyway.” Peter reached into the other side of his coat and took out a white notebook and flipped through the pages, when he finally found the page he was looking for, he read off the name that he had written there, “and to answer your question, Catharine invited me in.” he answered, the line below it stated that she had died sometime in the colonial period.
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig's hand was ignored, but he smiled nonetheless at Haines' comment about his gun. Brig knew that Hammer caught the flash of Peter's teeth just as easily as he had, but he shrugged off Haines' assumptions with a little fun banter.

'No, Mr. Peter Haines. You're just not that stupid. You would've gotten one round off before the wolves got to you.' Stepping back just slightly behind his cousin, Brig introduced them both.

'I'm Brig, he's Hammer,' Brig said nodding towards his taller Beta. 'Would you like us to bring you to the lobby so you can meet Catherine? Or was she expecting you out here?'

Brig wasn't familiar with all the members of the pack, especially not since they had relocated to the States. He wasn't even sure there was a Catherine on the premises and he would've noticed, Catherine Jameson has a nice ring to it.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammer merely blinked as Brig introduced them both but his ears perked at the mention of the name Catherine. He did know everyone in the pack and the Catherine he knew would not have brought a stranger onto the property without alerting him. No, Mr. Peter Haines was not talking about any of his pack members.

Still, he waited for the answer. He had a feeling it would be interesting.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter closed the white notebook. White notebook... 'Oh.' he thought, mentally telling himself to remember who was alive and who was dead before he started talking about them, to avoid confusion. Peter looked at Brig and Hammer, how was he going to explain this? Well, when in doubt, say a cryptic truth and hope they infer something different. "I've already met her, she's back in the forest right now because she couldn't come any closer."
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammer was now slightly annoyed. Apparently this Peter Haines person was alluding to unseen spirits in the forest. Hammer uncrossed his arms then lifted his right hand.

'
Mr. Haines, I'm not even going to pretend I understand what you mean.' Brig cleared his throat in agreement. 'Getting to the point - you've trespassed but it would appear we have something in common. I'll be blunt - who do you belong to?'

Hammer began to wonder if maybe Haines wasn't an unfortunate accident, which was fairly common, especially in the earlier generations. Random acts of violence done by ravenous, blood thirsty weres were, of course, the plot line for many movies in the past, but Hammer had seen this happen before and he wondered if Haines was the result of such an attack. And if he was - just who the hell he belonged to.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter kept his face neutral as only a police officer could as his brain worked to figure out what the Hammer person meant. 'He probably didn't mean some form of literal ownership like someone would mean with a pet.' Peter thought, 'Maybe a club or gang? A werewolf gang? What would you call a gang like that? ... A Werewolf gang...' The sheer simplicity of the thought struck him, 'A pack, of course'. That would make sense. So they wanted to know what pack he belonged to, which meant there were more than one. Again with the tresspassing though, he hadn't trespassesed, he had been invited by a ghost! But that wasn't important now, if a gang member went in another gang's 'territory' and got caught, the were killed. Werewolf gangs were probably no different. "'Who do I belong to?' I work for the police."
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Brig looked Hammer and raised his eyes. Their entire conversation seemed to go around in circles, avoiding the obvious that they thought Haines could see.

'Shall I?' Brig asked Hammer quietly who replied with a nod.

Brig put his index finger and thumb in his mouth and whistled loudly in a short and sharp, low then high screech. He then rubbed his hands together and looked at Haines with a suspicious side glare. Within a minute the leanest of the wolves had returned - LT, his second in command. Brig looked at his LT and nodded towards Haines.

The wolf's body began to shake, its lips pulling back, revealing his razor sharp teeth and slowly but surely, the fur began to recede. The wolf transformed in front of the three men, Hammer with his eyes on Haines and Brig watching LT struggle as he changed back. This would be hard on his second in command, transforming so quickly back to wolf form, at his age, would seriously tire him out. Brig walked over to LT and touched the young man who was now curled up on the ground.

Kneeling down he checked LT who was shivering in the cold and covered with sweat.
'Well done, boy. Well done. Go get some clothes on.' Brig himself stood but did not help LT up - he was a man, he'd manage it himself and he did. LT looked over at the newcomer and walked back to the Den naked.

'One more time, Mr. Haines. Who do you belong to?' Again Brig came to stand behind Hammer, and like his cousin, waited.
Peter Haines 16 years ago
Peter guessed what was going to happen when Brig whistled, so he was prepared this time and didn't panic when the wolf emerged through the trees. He already knew that they werewolves, he already had figured that out, so it wasn't so startling when one of them changed. He knew what they were trying to do, they were telling him, 'Yes, we know your a werewolf, we are too, now who are you with?' Again he had already guessed that they knew what he was, otherwise they wouldn't have asked him the first time. What he hadn't know is that there was no neutral party. Most gangs had 'us', 'them', 'cops' , and 'people who we don't care about'. The fact that there was no 'everyone else' or 'police' section for the werewolves made this slightly more difficult. 'I guess they don't believe in a lone wolf existing,' he thought. He rested his head in his hand, closing his eyes. 'Well, I'll state it bluntly then watch their reaction.' he thought pulling his glasses down and looking up. People tend to beleive you more if they can see your eyes, however odd they are. 'Well, here it goes,' he thought taking a preparitory breath as one who thinks the news they have is not going to go over well. "I don't belong to anyone. I have worked for the police and that's it. In fact, I hadn't even seen another werewolf until today." He watched for their reaction, though he could take guesses at what it might be.
Iov Hammerthynn 16 years ago
Hammerthynn nodded slowly and murmured, 'I see. Your kind are unfortunately not uncommon but whether you like it or not, you are part of a pack, ours or our more...primal brothers. It's up to you, Mr. Haines, to figure out where you belong. I, however, am hungry.'

With that Hammer nodded towards Haines and returned to the den. Without seeing his wolf form, Hammer would have to assume he is Kadzait. This was his way of welcoming him temporarily. He'd leave the specifics to Brig.

((ooc - out))
Brig Jameson 16 years ago
Oh sure, leave me to babysit.

Brig gave Haines another side glance.
'We're not alone out here and the fact that you're here leads me to believe that you're probably one of us and we are duty bound to take you into the pack. It's up to you, Peter. Consider your life now - you don't want to be in Nachton now without a pack, believe me. Think about it and then come see us at the Den.' Brig began to walk away and then called over his shoulder.

'But next time, use the front gates, will ya?'

((ooc Brig out))