... But Home Is Nowhere (OPEN)

[Tahmores Stian]

The rumours about this place are good and plenty, most of these rumours revolve around there been ghosts wandering the old halls of the castle. Of course these are just fantasies made up by over-imaginative minds. Or at least that's what people tell themselves when they come into the castle for whatever reason. Tonight the only sound coming from the castle halls is the fain panting sound of someone out of breath. Been a werewolf doesn't mean that you can run forever and never get tired, also having a gunshot wound in your shoulder is bound to slow you down a bit and make running that bit more draining. Perhaps the rumours about this place aren't that bad after all, they did stop the two armed men from following Tahmores into Windsor Castle so he's got to give the rumours some thanks for that.

Leaning against a long dinning table Tahmores tends to the gunshot wound in his shoulder, wanting to get the bullet out before the skin starts to heal over. Cringing a little he digs the slug out with one of his knives and sighs in relief at the sound of the metal hitting the bare floor. With the bullet out he can feel the wound starting the heal itself properly. Moving his shoulder a little to get rid of the stiffness Tahmores takes a look around himself since he hadn't really been looking where he was going when running from the guys shooting at him.

He appears to be in an old ball room, the dusty and slightly broken chandelier overhead concreting this idea. Dressed as he is in tattered jeans and a blood stained shirt, Tahmores feels a little out of place even through this room hasn't been used for any kind of grand ball in nearly ninety years or there abouts. Closing his eyes for a moment Tahmores listens for any sounds of movement within the castle that could belong to a human, vampire or another werewolf.

[Kristian Vulpez]

Kris padded along up the path to the abandoned house. Ok ok, so he limped the way up there. He and Tah had been out in their wolf forms when they were suddenly attacked by hunters. Tah had been hit in the shoulder but it hadn’t seemed to slow him down much. Then again he was probably used to running with injuries. Kris on the other hand wasn’t. He’d taken a bullet to the leg and couldn’t really stand to place his paw on the ground because of the pain. Not to mention the wound was trying to heal over a bullet and that wasn’t pleasant to deal with.

He found his friend easily after making it into the house just before the hunters came up to find them. He could hear them talking, asking each other which way the wolves had went. Kris found Tah in the dining room, already removing the bullet from his shoulder. Kris couldn’t help but whine as he returned to his human form. “Son of a bitch that hurts,” he said, locating a knife to cut the bullet out of his leg. He’d done this with glass before but then he hadn’t been a wolf with healing skin. Finally he managed to get the bullet out. It had gone in at an angle that it had just about embedded itself in his leg bone.

[neverever]

He heard once that death watch beetles sound the same as a heartbeat; he was curious which he was hearing.

Everett's footsteps were quick and quiet, only the tool belt around his waist making the slightest sound as he moved with an easeful purpose through the shadows of the castle. He'd been here twice or thrice before - at least enough visits so that he was familiar with the route he took over the fence and across the overgrown and unkempt lawn then through a broken window on the ground level. As he had run through the massive yard his breath had whited in the air in front of him, chilled and frigid. He himself was warm in his cold weather polypro under black jeans and a black underarmor shirt, the dark green collar of the polys emerging from the collar to zip up snugly around his neck. He listened carefully as he made his way through the rooms of the castle, the empty pack on his back bouncing mutely as he found the stairs. The upper floors awaited.

Ever since he'd arrived in London he had been making due and earning his bread by doing odd jobs on the side. Helping whichever neighbor had a broken sink or busted window in exchange for a meal or pocket change. It kept him busy, kept him distracted, and that was how he wanted it to stay. Tonight's job was part deux or troi of his newest project for the old woman living upstairs from him. A new tile floor for her entire apartment, she said, but she wanted tiles from Windsor Castle. Upstairs Everett found the bedroom he had been confiscating stone tiles from on his last trip. Settled his pack onto the ground. With the light of the moon glowing through the glassless window, he took the necessary tools from his belt and settled in to work with deft hands.

Hours ticked by as he loaded his pack, careful as he worked to not chip any of the tiles that he pried up from the floor. Finally, the bag loaded as full as he dared, Everett shouldered it and stood. A glance at his watch - the night was still young. Satisfied, he left his workspace behind and headed back down the stairs. He was en route back to the way he had come in when a quiet but familiar sound thundered through the still; Everett's head swiveled in its direction. The noise echoed in his ear. That of a spent round meeting gravity. His feet hesitated now in their stride, slowing drastically. Curiosity gnawed at him. Better judgment told him to leave the situation be. That he didn't need to know who else was here, that it wasn't his business and he shouldn't make it such. Wonderlust prevailed and Everett found himself drawing closer to a doorway. There was a gun in his tool belt; his hands found it and unclipped the snap that held it in the holster but didn't draw it. His blue eyes flashed around the room as he craned his head ever so slightly to see inside and assess the situation. Two individuals were near, tending to wounds. Even in the shadows of the room Everett's bright eyes found the dead round lying on the ground in the dim room, flecked with blood.

How unusual.

[Tahmores Stian]

Tahmores moves to sit on the table, his feet only just touching the ground, and leans forwards a little putting most of his weight on his uninjured shoulder even though the wound has stopped bleeding and healed there is still a pain in the muscles. He looks up a little as Kris comes in limping. Honestly Tah' had been too busy trying to save himself than Kris for which he feels bad about, he should have hung back with Kris to make sure he got to the castle alright. All he can say is that he's glad to see his friend alive, if a little beat up. "You'll have that healed up in a day or two and no scar either. Lucky you". People often asked why his eye hadn't healed. When he had run from the slaughter of his pack Tahmores was constantly shifting from human to wolf and back again as he ran across the desert sands. Because of the constant changing his eye wound never properly healed and left him almust blind in it... Or so Tahmores has come to reason.

Those hunters hadn't given them time to change back to their human forms and Tah' was not going to take on hunters armed with high power rifles and handguns. A skilled hunter could take down a charging wolf no trouble with a few well aimed bullets so he'd told Kris to run and they'd come into Windsor Castle to rest for a bit before moving on. Tahmores gets off the table and walks towards where the bullet Kris had removed had landed on the ground, he leans down and pucks it up. "I know someone who could melt this down for you, make a pendant or something for you". He casually tosses it towards Kris. He looks around for a moment, the feeling that they are not alone coming over him. From underneath a sleeve of his shirt Tah' takes out a narrow knife and walks towards the doorway.

[kira]

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

For the first time in maybe 50 years, Meadhbh had forgotten to clean up after her meal. There had been mangled hobo remains just laying out on the lawn of Windsor. Perhaps it wasn't as unacceptable as she thought it was, seeing as the castle was now no more prestigious than some dark alleyway in Clerkenwell, but she had been around when the place still held an air of grandeur and couldn't shake the feeling of soiling the castle grounds. There was also the matter of just general norms of society. Sure, death was the norm these days, with beasts roaming every building, every street, yet cleanliness was still expected and she had to admit that she had had a very sloppy meal. And, there was the chance that she had left some sort of marker on the body so that some vengeful hunter, vamp or human, could come after her.

Now as she grew nearer and nearer to the place that she was certain she had left the corpse, the wolf grew more confused. There was no dark mass in the grass to suggest the body's presence and the area smelt clean of most of the blood, it only lingered mixed with the scent of mud. Tilting her head with a comically confounded look on her face, she stared down at the dark patch of flattened grass and churned up dirt where the remains had previously lain. Someone had to have moved the hobo's body, for whatever reason, so she really had no business for being here. It only bothered her as to whom would have gotten rid of the corpse. She remembered Iivan's hunting pack the other night, they had been ravenous. It was possible they had taken the body. She would stick with the conclusion. It took all of the pressure from her and she wouldn't have to worry about any of those three seeking revenge on her.

BANG BANG BANG

The she-wolf started and clapped a hand painfully hard over her mouth to keep herself from screaming with surprise. Who the hell was shooting? And what (who?) were they shooting? She realized that she didn't want to find out and she slipped into the castle through the door that was so conveniently located on the nearby wall. After trudging up the short flight of steps, she let out a deep sigh, feeling a bit safer. She'd just have to wait there until whoever was getting trigger-happy buggered off. Honestly, she was a bit afraid of guns, they seemed like unfair weapons and with a good marksman, they were far too dangerous.

Shaking her shoulders, as though ridding herself of tension, she moved further into the castle, toward its heart. A good ten minutes later, Meadhbh began to notice that she was not alone. There was harsh breathing and soft talking not too far off. She sniffed the air and... One, two, three wolves. Male. And blood, at least one of them was wounded. Maybe they had been the ones who were being shot at, probably had damn hunters after them...

Almost nonchalantly, she moved closer to the three men, though he hand was readied at her side, claws out, in case she surprised one of them and they reacted violently. Two turns and she was on the opposite end of the hallway from one of the wolves who was crouched down on the floor. "Hey," she called to him softly, relaxing just a little. Her legs moved her faster now and she soon she was almost next to him and standing beside an open door. She saw a shadow from the corner of her eye and she whirled around to look inside the doorway at it only to find herself face to face with a knife. "Oh." she gasped softly, before her eyes moved past the weapon to who was holding it. A slightly familiar smell caught her attention and she looked from the man's face to his bloody shoulder. "So it's you who got shot," she said a little louder than she intended, a smile crossing her lips as she felt that the mystery had been solved.

[neverever]

Boots walked over to the round that Everett had his eyes on. His gaze flicked up to the owner as they were speaking; "I know someone who could melt this down for you, make a pendant or something for you". How morbid. How curious. As curious as the body attached to the boots. Long dreadlocks and an almost wild, animalistic look to him. In tune and aware of his surroundings - too aware. Everett's eyes narrowed as the man glanced around before drawing a blade, beginning to advance toward the door. His own hand moved to the small of his back, taking a half slide back away from the entrance while his fingers untucked the back of his shirt in a single fluid motion. Hand wrapped around the grip and his finger moved to the safety. A half flinch as he touched it, but he made no motion to go red.

Footsteps suddenly approached from the side. Everett turned fast, the gun in his hand leveling at them. Her; it was a female. His vision flicked over her once before falling back to her hands. Christ, those were claws. Everett felt disoriented. Her hands looked akin to how his and Mooney's did when they...was she one of them? That had been the entire reason why he had come to London, wasn't it? The heart of the war, the place where all this had started. The end of life as he knew it. He'd heard that there were others of his 'kind' here but in the months since had had left the States he hadn't knowingly crossed paths with them - the entire city stank of dog. His experience with other weres had been limited to Mooney. He wouldn't have known another wolf if they did anything short of shout it in his face.

Or walk up to him with claws extended.

"Hey." She was approaching him fast and, before he could move to make a choice of whether it was going to be her or the man on the other side of that door, the female had turned fast to look through the doorway. She gasped; his answer to what the other male was doing.

"So it's you who got shot."

"Who are you?" Everett found himself saying, the words coming out as a fast demand while he took a half step back away from the scene playing out in front of him like some old movie. He resisted the urge to ask what. The answer was a series of words that he didn't want to hear.

[Tahmores Stian]

"So it's you who got shot"

As Tahmores comes closer to the doorway he sees the male crouched on the floor and the female standing nearby, now that he has seen them Tah' can relax just a little but not enough to let the knife be lowered. When the males moves his hand Tahmores points the tip of the knife at the mans face. "You thinking of taking something of your own out huh? I'd advise against it, mainly because I think I can lodge this knife blade in your face quicker than you can take the safety off that gun, point it at me and pull the trigger. Me? All I got to do is flick my wrist and you'll have a piece of metal stickin' out of our eye". His voice is calm, no hints of fear or him been nervous. Just the voice of someone who knows how to be calm and in control in these types of situations.

Withe the knife still pointed at Everett, Tahmores turns his head to look at the female who had come up beside Everett and then spoken to him. "We were both shot. I got a bullet in the shoulder, he got one in the leg. Good thing we were able to get to this place and that the hunters were stupid enough to believe the stories of this place been haunted". The girl didn't seem like the type to be a hunter, or human for that matter. The claw-like nails been the main give away that she isn't exactly human.

He gives one last look at the two then walks back into the room and places the knife on the table he had been sitting on. "We just want to have some time to get ourselves together, we're not looking for anymore trouble but if you're vampires or hunters then if you start something we wont hesitate to finish it". Tahmores leans against the table edge. "So what are you two doing in here anyway? Sneaking around looking for stuff to steal and pawn off for some quick cash? Good luck with that, most of the stuff in here isn't worth shit since all the good stuff was looted when this place was abandoned".

"Who are you?"

This question he isn't that keen to give an answer to. He thinks for a moment, what harm could it do. "Tahmores. That's all you need to know".

[kira]

Meadhbh stumbled back a few paces at the dreadlocked were started to threaten the other man. Jesus, he had a temper. The boy (she couldn't help but think of him as one, he was so much younger than herself) had just been pulling up tiles, not doing anyone harm. Even though he had a gun with him, it was a bit of an over reaction to be threatening him with stabbing a knife into his eye. Perhaps the getting shot in the shoulder had put him on edge, it wasn't exactly a good place to get shot, she was surprised that he could bear to move his arm, it meant the bullet must have gotten stuck in muscle, lord knew he had enough of it.

"We were both shot. I got a bullet in the shoulder, he got one in the leg. Good thing we were able to get to this place and that the hunters were stupid enough to believe the stories of this place been haunted."

She so wanted to make a snarkly remark about ducking, but with that knife poised so ready to kill, she thought it was better just to keep her mouth shut, though she couldn't help a half-grin from playing on her lips.

"So what are you two doing in here anyway? Sneaking around looking for stuff to steal and pawn off for some quick cash? Good luck with that, most of the stuff in here isn't worth shit since all the good stuff was looted when this place was abandoned".

A laugh broke from the wolf at that but she immediately bit her lip to keep another one slipping out. "I've heard that enough from so many humans," she sighed, hands relaxing at her sides, though her claws didn't retract, "to be honest I was one of the ones who helped clear out the place." Okay, perhaps that was a bit of a lie, she'd only taken a pewter cup once that hadn't been worth much at all and Morrison had given her a nice golden ring he'd found here, but she hadn't done any serious thieving. "As for why I'm here," she continued, "I was going to clean up my supper from last night, but it seems to have vanished... Then I heard the gun shots and they scared me inside."

"Who are you?"

Meadhbh was sure the question had been directed at her, the man at her side had been staring right at her, but the other were, Tahmores, answered. The name didn't sound familiar at all, so why would his scent? Perhaps Morrison had met him and they'd spent a lot of time together. She'd have to ask him later...

"Meadhbh Destry," she directed down to the wolf who had asked, smiling softly. Odd question, or at least an odd way to phrase it. And he sounded a bit scared. Why would that be? The claws perhaps, those could be intimidating...

(( Didn't wait for Kris, hope that is all right... At least he will have more to reply to! ))