(no subject)
Grotto
The woods part suddenly, here, amidst the quiet roar of falling water. A wide stream spills over the edge of a rocky face that is the western edge of a hill some thirty feet high. The stones are worn smooth with the passing of time, and are slick with moisture and soft mosses, but a climb up the drier rocks would not be impossible, and there is a sense of space behind the falls.
A wide pool has been carved into the earth by the rushing waters, and the tall trees have grown out around it, sheltering the grotto in a pleasantly-cool shade. Rocks, hewn from the cliff face and shouldered along the path of the stream, form a rough ring around the edge of the pool and guide the flow of water further westwards, again deeper into the woods. All manner of animal tracks are visible in the sandier areas of shore; the trees crouch close against the edge of the stream again as it passes further west, muting the dull thunder of the falls.
Faint trails, between the trees, lead off in all directions, while a determined climb eastwards would crest the rock face.
Obvious exits:
Forest Up the Cliff
Jason has arrived.
Heather has arrived.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (55% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the north at 7 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.24 and falling, and the relative humidity is 60 percent. The dewpoint is 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius.)
At first, one might not be able to spot Cole, or even track him by scent that well. Certainly, his scent is here, and certainly, it's recent. But at the moment, the Galliard is tucked nearly out of sight. Near the mouth of the cave behind the falls, Cole has found himself a comfortable perch amongst the rocks. He seems to be staring into some middle distance while perched some twenty five feet above the ground.
Cliff-Diver runs into the clearing, ears twitching left and right. Huh, Cole-rhya doesn't seem to be hear. The cub circles around the pond, sniffing. He's either here, or he's not. If he's not here right now, the cub will either stay here or track him down. This smell is...recent. It leads to the mouth of the cave...but when the cub looks in the cave, no one is there. Baffled, he sends up a quiet howl. Cole-rhya! This one needs you!
"I'm right goddamned here," comes the somewhat cranky sound of the Fianna Elder's voice. "No need to set up a racket." Swelling up into crinos, Dragon's-Fire takes the notable shortcut of stepping off the cliff face and into space to reach the shores of the pool beneath. There's a grunt as he goes to all fours to somewhat muffle the force of the fall, and the sand does the rest. ~What's wrong?~
Cliff-Diver looks up and yips, moving out of the way as Cole lands beside him. The boy shifts up to Crinos as well (in case he starts to get beat on) and hunches over, ears splayed and tail tucked. The cub looks down at his claws, one hand picking at the other, ~Ummm...Cole-rhya? I need to tell you...I did something bad.~
While there's a heavy-browed glare on Dragon's-Fire's face, there doesn't seem to be much surprise in it. ~What is it this time?~ He pulls himself up, actively looming over his cub. ~Annoy a Fostern until they beat you? Started a fight, blew up a building? I swear by Stag and Gaia, cub, I'll be more grey than red by the time you're rited.~
Cliff-Diver smiles up at Cole consolingly, trying to look as penitent as possible, "You remember Feilyn, right? My ex who turned out to be a Shadow Lord?~
~You pissed her off enough to get the Lords into it,~ comes the next question. Dragon's-Fire, while irked, looks relaxed enough. Oh, how that will change.
Cliff-Diver shrugs, ~Nah, not that bad. Well, y'see we've had this sexual tension for a while now, and um....well, one night it started to get to be too much, and it was hurting our relationship as packmates...and...well...~ The boy pauses, not sure if he wants to go on.
Dragon's-Fire's tone changes markedly, as he goes from loom mode to menace mode. ~Sexual tension. Hurting your relationship. Cub, what did you do?~ He says it as if he has a good idea of what's coming next. And then, one might notice that that axe of his is still to paw.
~Well, we kind of decided to get it all out of our system, to kind of get some closure in our relationship, y'know and we...~ He stops, noticing that axe...and quickly crosses himself. ~We had sex in the back of her car.~
There's a single moment as that fact soaks in, and it's like the calm before the storm. The axe is hefted up in one hand and brought arcing down to thump into the ground to the side of the cowering Ragabash with enough force that the ground gives a little tremor. ~You fucking charach!~ Then he's on the cub with all the pent up fury he doesn't normally show. Kicking, smacking, clawing and other abuse gets rained down as the Fostern's eyes blaze in anger.
Cliff-Diver goes on the defensive, massive arms raising up to cover his head, curling down to try and avoid showing any belly or chest to his furious elder. He takes kicks to the belly and the groin, his arms and back get shredded near to ribbons, and one of his ears get nearly torn off. The cub stays completely silent and as still as he can, flinching away from especially painful hits and moving to keep his balance.
Dragon's-Fire keeps a cool enough head to avoid going for killing blows, but not much more than that. The beating, unless something intervenes, will last for a while. Given that the majority of the abuse comes in forms that will not fell one of Gaia's warriors permanently, it's safe enough. He lashes out with no less the anger for it, however. When all is said and done, the Galliard stands , panting, looking down on Cliff-Diver. ~The story. All of it. Details. Who knows of this, who knew of the danger? Who let two criminals get away with their crimes?~ There's scorn, rich and deep in his voice now.
Cliff-Diver takes a seat, finally letting himself whimper. He licks at the wounds on his arms as he tells the story. One of his eyes is shut tight as blood pours down over it. ~It was...well...it was a few weeks ago, I think. There's not much more to tell...we'd been dealing with this sexual tension for a long time.~ He winces, as if expecting Cole to beat the crap out of him again for mentioning it. ~We both knew it had to stop, we both wanted it, and we both were convinced this would be the last of it. So we went into her car that was parked just outside the bawn and...um, did the deed.~ He speaks up a little, trying to make it sound like nothing bad happened, ~But we used a condom! And it really did solve the problem...we're seperated for good and no more weird temptations!~ His voice goes back to a conciliatory whimper, ~We didn't tell anyone for a long time because...it was a one time thing, right? And we hoped nothing would come of it, so might as well wait. But then, Starcaller found out...~ The cub pauses, taking a breath in the retelling.
The words are enough to light the anger within Dragon's-Fire once more. He reaches over, grabbing the half of the axe until the wooden handle starts to groan with pressure. ~You planned this! You filthy fucking charach! And you only told me because someone else found out!~ He leans in close. ~You fucking idiot. You fool. Do you even begin to understand what you have done? Do you!?~
Cliff-Diver hunches down more, nose pointing to the ground between his knees. ~I'm sorry, Cole-rhya! I'm sorry! I thought...I-I thought...~ He doesn't know what he thought, other than he hopes he won't lose a limb for this.
~Don't speak to me! You make me sick!~ The words are bellowed, slaver dripping from Dragon's-Fire's fangs. ~You did not think! You did not think about anything but your pleasure, what you wanted! You fucking planned it! You had a condom!~ He straightens himself up, shaking his heavy head. ~You have shamed Stag, father of our souls and keeper of the purity of life. You have befouled the gifts Gaia gave you. Luna must hide face in despair. for having you in her family. ~You have destroyed your pack, and anyone's trust in you. You will not talk to the Shadow Lord cub, you will not go near her. You will leave the cub pack, or she will. And you know what else? You did it all for nothing. You have not ended anything, idiot. When you have sex with someone, there will -always- be the temptation to do it again, whenever you see them. I hope it was worth fucking her and losing her as a friend. Because if I hear of you being near her again, I will kill you, just like I killed the last charach I had for a cub. Now get out! Get out of this place, get out of my tribe's home. You are not welcome here. And if I see your face again before I come looking for you...~ He trails off, lifting his axe. ~You will never fuck anyone again.~
As Cole tells him to "get out!", Cliff-Diver turns and runs as fast as he can, shifting to lupus and sprinting out of the grotto. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't ask for anything, he doesn't even look at Cole again. The boy has disappeared into the forest long before Cole finishes his threat.
Cliff-Diver pages to the room: So Edge, you want to run across Jason while he's wallowing in self-pity out in the bawn?
Dragon's-Fire drops the axe as Cliff-Diver disappears, leaning against the weapon as the anger slowly comes into abeyance without a target to lash out at. ~Sweet fucking Gaia. The whole Sept will think the Fianna are nothing but charachs!~