#!event¡

[trail-of-harts]

// this post appears to be an audio recording;

there’s the sound of fabric rubbing against the microphone as Mar clumsily hits record on her phone and she slides it back into her pocket.

“Sorry, people are messaging me, I have to keep on top of things during nights like these, you know how it is.” It’s Mar, her voice is dulled and not just by fabric. The energy she usually speaks with is not there. She sounds drained.

“I most certainly do, busy times for those burdened with responsibility, lots of things to keep an eye on...to listen out for....” a mans voice. It’s gleeful and lilting, it might be disarming if it weren’t for the condescending rise to his words. Presumably it’s the tremere primogen, Dewain.

Mar’s sigh rustles the fabric. The pocket the phone is in must be on her chest.

“As much as I, of all people, appreciate a good long story, all of this winding suspense isn’t particularly what I look for in a conversation.” She’s getting frustrated now, but still there’s little fire in her voice. “You’re right, I do have things to keep an eye on so please escus-“

“Ah! Not so fast! I realise I am taking you away from your work but surely your sire can spare you for a second and pick up the sla-“ there’s a pointed pause “-Hm or perhaps not. Our good sheriff has been rather out of sorts as of late but you can’t really blame him can you, poor poor puppy”

“What...in gods name are getting at?”

“Oh! You didn’t hear did you!” The venomous joy practically drips off of his words “I suppose that makes sense, the lines of communication between the prince’s seat of power and the outer territory has always been a little hazy”

“God I don’t think there’s any of the bush left to beat around!”

“Ha, Marsaili I do apologise, I just think we should work out this communication problem! After all the court should be in contact with the whole of its domain and I’ve always said we could make better use of the resources you all have to offer” the primogen laughs, it’s a much darker sound than one would expect. Mar appears to be biting her tounge “ anyway, yes, well there’s been quite the uproar amoung those in the higher stations recently about a couple of visions some of my fellow tremere have had. Ghastly images of burning crosses, spider webs...and black wolves-“ The sharp uneeded breath mar takes in is audible even through the poor quality of the recording. “-and we all know who that could be concerning”

There’s a pause, presumably as the primogen waits for Mar’s response. When she says nothing his voice sounds all the more smug.

“Calder wasn’t supposed to know, obvious reasons really, I mean it was his childe after all her death shook him, but I suspect someone let it slip. Cruel bastard, it’s really done a number on the man....well my whole point in the first place was to ask you if you’d seen anything or that tall lanky fellow of yours had seen it too but I suppose not. Ah no matter, if you do ...send a raven or whatever you’re doing these days, I must dash! A...pleasure as always hound Marsaili”

Mar’s voice is nothing but a tense murmur now

“I have your mobile number”

“Even better!” The primogen answers, his voice fading away as he leaves “Ciao!”

[trail-of-harts]

//the sounds of baying and snapping jaws echo in the glen//

[trail-of-harts]

He’s very pleased with himself tonight and honestly I understand why. That last fight was a good one, i didn’t expect him to win it. Can’t let that get to me though.

[trail-of-harts]

//she does arrive before him. It’s windy and wet and raining, a bad night for flying in unfamiliar sky’s but just fine when your paws know the roads. The little abandoned holiday house is delapidated and old fashioned but the fence around it was new and sturdy, she wouldn’t be surprised if there were still snares set along its bottom. Mar could hear chatter from inside, the sound of the young kindred just looking to waste another night.

A flash of white spirals out of the clouds to the ground. With very little ceremony what was once a sea bird is now once again is the massive thick coated husky form of Tiaga. He stands uphill to her, tail curled upwards, lips pulled back. she can only meet his challenge with a pleading gaze.

Light suddenly spills from the house as the movement of his arrival triggers the motion sensor of the porch light, Mar can practically feel the movement and chatter inside cease.

He stands there, looking down hill at her, sizing up her soaking straw coloured coat and the tense muscles that lay beneath as she did likewise. It wasn’t the first time they’d fought. Neither was going to rush it.

In the end it was one of the fledglings who broke the tension, as he pressed open the front door to look outside, a hunting rifle clutched within his white knuckled, shaking grip.

She saw from the way his ice blue eyes snapped to the space behind her that he was going to go for him.

As he lept from the higher ground, trying to bound over her completely, she sprang, grabbing as much of the fur and skin of his neck in her jaws as she could and pulling him down to the earth. As they both fell he managed to twist to land on top of her, and she felt her ribs cry out at the sudden weight, forcing her to let go. He grabbed her leg at the elbow and threw her as much as he could away from the house. Mar rolled in the dirt before gathering herself. She watched as he was about to make another run for the fledgling, who was now frantically trying to load his rifle while his coterie whispered and hissed at him from inside, and lunged, taking Taiga’s hind leg in her maw, holding him back with all her strength.

Even now, neither of them had dared to draw vitae from the other.

He looked back at her, eyes shining almost silver in the moonlight. She tried to pour every ounce of sincerity she had in her in the stare she gave back.

The sound of a rifle being levelled was almost like a gunshot in itself in the still night air.

Taiga raked his free foot across the dirt, kicking the dust and debris into her eyes, loosening her hold as she yelped and pawed at her face. He sprinted for the boy as his finger fumbled with the trigger...but Mar had always been faster.

She was there in seconds, leaping and clamping her jaws around Taiga’s muzzle, swinging her body round to put herself between the two other kindred. He let out a yowl and the first and only spray if vitae of the night splattered the ground. Marsaili refused to let herself taste it.

She stood between the boy and the beast, teeth bared and smeered with its blood. Every rigid inch of her form snarled ‘no further’.

Her brother took one look at the splatter pattern on the ground before meeting her eyes again, one more time that night.

Then there was no more dog and the pointed arrow of an artic tern raced up back into the clouds.//

[trail-of-harts]

//things were moving properly now. The young had their pecking order, tonight was for those with the weight of a few more years behind their blows. Some of the fledglings took the opportunity early in the evening to try their luck with their older cousins, some had a surprising victory, but many scraps were quick and very one sided.

Right now though, these were the real fights. Vitae sprayed across the leaf litter as her sires fangs sunk into the meat of an older looking lady’s cheek, she let out a yowl and reached up slashing his ear clean in half with cat like claws.

She watched him. Carefully. After all these years she knew how he moved, how he fought, but any little improvement, any change in technique could give him an edge over her.

Those fledglings.....all that time she spent arguing with Taiga.......they were his fault. His fault! She’d beaten him here before but....this time mattered. He had to be taken down a peg.

[trail-of-harts]

//she’s had to play it cool since her feet touched the earth of the island. The urge to change and stretch her legs on the moors has her jaw clenched. Her teeth ache to sharpen, her claws itch to grow, every hair on her body stands to attention.

She’s so busy glancing in the direction of the little ally she knows will take her out of the town and into the wilderness she doesn’t notice Keitha approach until a flask is pressed into her flexing hands. Mar startels and whips round to meet soft hazel eyes, full of laughter she’s kind enough not to voice.

“Go on, go wake ‘im up, I’ll bring you your stuff tomorrow night” her voice is soft, and Mar hasn’t the words to show her gratitude. She gives her cheek a brief kiss before lurching around and dashing into the dark, almost skidding into the bins as she turns the corner and her hands become paws. She has the handle of the flask, filled with good blood for waking her brother, clutched between her teeth.

It takes mere minutes to scrabble up and out of the dim town lights and finally, finally, things are dark and quiet.

There’s a fox in the bushes. She starteled a raven from sleep. From the smell of things there has been rain, and will be again soon. She takes just a moment to stop and press her long face into the dirt, dragging it across grass and earth and a patch of mountain thyme. She flops onto her side, rolling into her back then around to her front, revelling in it. The cool, soft feeling.

Marsaili gets to her paws again, and races off in a gallop to the cave where her brother sleeps.

[trail-of-harts]

// “god, you have such a stick up your arse sometimes Marsaili, I just said I thought it was fucking funny you both stay on opposite sides of the glen at basically all times”

“Yeah well I can’t fucking stand him, and he me so unless you want our teeth In eachothers throats you can stop running your mouth.” Mar snapped back, staring firmly into the fox yellow eyes of the small girl that sat next to her. She simply smiled back at the obvious challenge and took another swig from her flask.

“I damn near wish you would girl! I mean you’ve both been dancing around the inevitable since we all fucking got here. Get on with it!” Her voice was lilting but ever word was punctuated with a flash of deceptively delicate fangs. Mar couldn’t help the growl that tumbled in the back of her throat in response but it only sent the girl into a fit of giggles. “Don’t you take that tone with me! I’ve already rubbed your muzzle in the dirt, and I’d be happy to do so again” Mar’s claws dug into the her cloak that she’d been sitting on, grinding her teeth.

“Fine” the words were little more than a hiss, like the rage she was feeling was simply bubbling over like steam from a kettle. To mar’s relief it finally shut the girl up. She flung herself to her feet, to her satisfaction it took mere moments to lock eyes with her sire.

If she’d had more of a steady mind she might have found it strange he seemed just as agitated as her, and that her vulpine drinking companions sire was grinning next to him.

“Calder!” Her call turned more heads than just his, but she was oblivious. Gesturing with her head she motioned him to approach the claw marked furrow of earth the gather had centred itself around. “enough dicking around”

He barley restrained the snarl that triggered, flashing fangs, bigger than her own, only briefly.

“Yes” The tower of a man rose from his seat, shrugging off an expensive looking jacket. She always thought the gold braiding he tended to favour gave the very fitting impression of a collar. It fanned the sparking flames in her belly. “Perhaps we have”