WWXXXII - WereWolves of the Calla

[Mithrandin]

Zeldon finished describing the horrid scene of Benedict's death to Taleena when 3 small heads peeked out at the door.

 

“Whey!! You little brats, hungry already?” He turns towards Taleena, “Get ready sweetest, and call me if you need something.”

 

Zeldon then walks out making Iris, Díris and Osíris walk straight in front of him heading into the small kitchen.

 

Why Benedict? How can this be? Who could have done it, who can be helping them... I should have a talk with Father Callahan.

 

(OOC: vote for Gryphon - Travis Reid)

[Tanuchan]

Taleena listened to the news with numb feelings.

 

Tian... then my Luke... now poor Bene...

 

She closed her eyes, turning her face and trying to not start crying again. Her hand went protectively over her belly, and she concentrated on those two lives she was carrying. She heard Zeldon talking to the triplets, received his kiss, but kept to bed for long minutes more.

 

The voices of the children came through the window - a sure sign that they'd either already eaten, or had escaped Zeldon to play before eating. Taleena smiled briefly. She forced herself to get up, and avoided the window on purpose - she didn't want to look at the tree.

 

A slow pain came, and another echoed in her heart. She breathed slowly, until the first, physical pain, went away. No, it's too early... it's just because of the wolves... . She made a mental note to talk to the doctor later.

 

She couldn't do much about the second pain. Losing Luke had been a shock to her, and Zeldon's inability to show his feelings had made her feel strangely lonely. She knew their love was there, but she missed the opening of hearts that she had always had with her brother. Zeldon could be extremely tender and protective, and that made her feel good... but she missed the intimacy of whispered words.

 

 

By the time she checked again on the children, Johnny was already there and told her that Zeldon had left, towards Father Callahan's. Taleena nodded, and while caring for the triplets with Johnny's help, she let her mind wander.

 

 

Who is helping the wolves to kill?

Who would do it... who would hate us so?

 

She remembered scenes and words... she remembered Travis again, kneeling in front of Roland.

 

Would he want to just leave us because he doesn't feel loved in here... or because he doesn't want to face what is being done?

 

Then, again... there were other, silent people who could easily go unnoticed. Her thoughts came to the Manni again. Would she dare to talk to them? She knew they were travelers of distant wheres and whens. Maybe they could help somehow...

 

Or would they buy protection by betraying us?

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

OOC: vote for Panther/Freedrick

Edited March 18, 2007 by Tanuchan

[Lord Panther]

Freedrick didn't know what to make of the events that were transpiring in the Calla. They were definatley events that went well against the way of the Manni. They were, after all, peaceful, and minded their own business for the most part.

 

Freedrick had seen some strange and wonderous things in his short time in this world. From seeing his elder Henchick teaching the younger Manni, to the horrendous days when his brother, Samual had been taken by the wolves, and then returned, roont. He hated the wolves as much as the next person, and felt they must be stopped.

 

If the wolves were not stopped, he feared that the Calla would continue to tear itself apart. And if that happened, would they be any better than the wolves and the other horrendous creatures that called Thunderclap home? Of course not. He thought, for a second, that it would be easier if everyone followed the way of the Manni, but he knew in his heart that his ways were not the path of all. He just hoped that everything would be returned to normal, or perhaps better than normal, if the Gunslingers were able to defeat the wolves.

 

His thoughts turned to who could be working with the wolves. No one in particular had been acting strangely, to what he had seen anyways. His thoughts wandered to how Travis Reid had been so quick to throw himself before the Gunslinger, the one called Roland of Gilead, was it because of his underlying guilt that he wanted to somehow cleanse from his hands by joining the Gunslingers? Perhaps...

 

[OOC: vote for Gryphon - Travis Reid ]

[edit: typo]

Edited March 18, 2007 by Lord Panther

[Patrick]

Another death, a meaningless death. Bene couldn't have hurt a fly. Joshua couldn't comprehend why he had been so brutally murdered.

 

Work. It was what took Joshua's mind off too black thought. *chop* *chop* He had deliberately chosen hard wood. Sweat poured down his back and from his armpits. And still he couldn't help thinking about the recent events. Luke hanging from a tree, his limp form evidence to the viciousness everyone harboured towards the wolves. Bene, so brutally murdered, his blood covering a large area.

 

*chop* *chop*

 

The tree, forty feet tall fell with a resounding crash, Joshua almost forgetting to jump away. He got to work chopping the small, useless branches away.

 

Who could profit from these deaths. Someone hoping to buy clemency for their child from the wolves? An unborn child possibly? Someone fearing for their own safety?

 

Joshua had to stop these thoughts. It was exactly what the wolves would have wanted. To get them to fight amongst themselves. Joshua feared that they were succeeding.

 

OOC: Vote for Tanny/Taleena

[Gryphon]

Travis hacked inexpertly at the hard ground with a hoe, trying to loosen the sod in the small vegetable patch behind the main farm house.

 

It was happening again, the same way it had happened through his whole life. The pain, the soul chilling agony when Terry was taken by the Wolves that no-one seemed to understand, then the dark looks and the mutterings and the fights.

 

Now this Roland, refusing to help him learn the skills he'd need to fight the wolves, the only fight that ever really mattered.

 

Travis closed his eyes and turned his head to the ground as he hacked at the soil, so that no-one would see the tears.

 

~~~

 

OOC: Voting Panther / Freedrick.

[Guest Phoenix]

Sialla scrubbed her hands on her apron as she moved to the kitchen door. She leaned against it, shielding her eyes with a raw scrubbed hand. the twins were playing in the grass, running, falling and laughing in their shrill voices, darting around Dara and Sian's legs as the two roonts rocked backwards and forwards trying to catch them. the booming of their low voices made a nice contrast to the twins. She sighed, and, assured that all was well with her babies, returned to her work. as she cleaned her tools away and slopped the sudsy washwater onto her parched herbs, her mind turned again to Luke and Bene.

 

there was no logic to it. she had been awake last night when Johnny came past after burying Luke. her heart had turned in her chest as she fed him and watched his tired dirt-smeared face, as he told her the latest news. Bene's death had been relayed to her this morning, as she shopped and tried to keep her children togther, the large and the small. there had been no time to process, and nothing seemed to arise now she did. the senselessness of Luke's death, followed so soon after by the tragedy of Bene's, and always the possibility of more. the wolves were there without being there, and the more people distrusted each other and bickered, the less likely it was anything would be done before they finally came and stole...

 

she turned, heading fast to her bedroom. from the chest at the bottom of her bed she took her practise Oriza. the sun glinted off them as she threw them - the children were drawn from their games, and watched (from a safe distance, they had learned and learned well) as she threw, and threw again at the withered and chipped hunk attached to their barn. her face grew wet with sweat and tears, and her eyes smarted and stung, but her aim never faltered. finally spent, she turned, and took in her children watching wide eyed. she summoned a smile for them, then clapped her hands and hustled them inside to wash up. when the wolves came, in whatever form, she would be ready. she would be ready

 

OOC: vote for Panther/Freedrick

[Mynx]

The ka-tet awoke early to the sounds of angry voices - an all too common occurance in the Calla, it seemed. Rising quickly, they made their way to the town square, where they saw a gallows being erected.

 

"Roland..." Eddie spoke with a hint of warning in his voice. But when they saw it was Freedrick beging dragged to his fate, the threat lost its weight. It didn't seem possible that a folken of the Manni would forge an alliance with the wolves...but Freedrick had kept so much to himself that they couldn't be sure.

 

Maybe it was possible.

 

The ka-tet watched from the top of the hill as yet another folken from the Calla was hung. Roland's jaw clenched, as he watched Freedrick twitching on the end of the rope. The rest of his tet watched him quietly, wanting to question him, but knowing the look in his face was not one that invited conversation.

Before any of them could utter a word, and as the Calla-folken began to shift away from the gallows and go about their morning rituals, Roland of Gilead turned on his heel and stalked off into the woods.

Eddie looked from Susannah to Jake, suspecting that the helplessness he felt was the same he saw on their faces.

It seemed ka was refusing to let their journey to the Tower continue in peace.

 

OOC: Panther/Freedrick was a Villager. Night phase. Wolves, PM me.

[Mynx]

Taleena woke up in the middle of the night to a sharp pain, like the one she'd felt earlier, but much stronger. Much more urgent.

They're coming, she realised, turning to wake Zeldon. He saw the look in her eyes, and rose quickly, leaving in minutes to fetch the doctor. It wasn't common for the doctor to be fetched for births after the first, but this labour was early, worringly so.

And they came quickly. It seemed the doctor had barely arrived, before Taleena's water broke, and she was being urged to push through the fogging pain.

And then, it was over. The pain soon forgotten as Taleena's newborn twins - a boy and a girl - were placed in her arms. Zeldon lay next to her, wonder in his eyes as he looked at his children, the triplets clamoring to see their new siblings. Taleena smiled tiredly at her family, enjoying the moment of tranquil peace. So few moments these days...

Long after everyone had fallen back to sleep, Taleena stayed awake, her thoughts haunting her.

By early dawn, her restlessness got the better of her, and she snuck out of bed to go for a walk.

The hoofbeats came upon her quickly, and Taleena barely had a chance to react at all.

The last thought that passed through her mind before the wolves descended was relief that all of her children were safe for now...and a longing hope that Zeldon would not give up.

There was a brief moment of pain.

Then darkness.

And as the sun rose on the Calla, another body was found.

Say thankya.

 

OOC: Tanny/Taleena was a Villager. Day phase. Cast your votes...

[Mithrandin]

Zeldon wakes up as the sun rises to find Taleena was not in bed, he then gets up to find out why after such exhausting night she is already up.

He looks around in the house, making no noise to keep the children quiet, bedrooms first, kitchen last yet Taleena was nowhere to be found.

Surprised he goes out on his sleeping clothes in search for his wife, walking out, he moves down the road onto the riverside where he found her the night before.

 

Zeldon gasps as he sees a Taleena fallen on the ground and runs towards her…

 

“Taleena” he cries

 

No answer

 

Diving with his knees on the riverside to reach for her, he raises her head and realizes the lifeless open eyes and the cold chill touch of death spreading from his love to his arms and into his heart.

 

“NOOOOoooo!” He shouts as people start to gather around from nearby cottages.

[Tanuchan]

The Devar-Tete-Whye rushes on, mindless of what happens in its banks; the waters roll and swirl, taking with them the murmurs and the tears dropped in its current, sweeping them towards an unseen destiny. The soft sound of the river comes soothing, to those who have ears to listen.

 

A wisp of consciousness drifts from the waters, love driving it out from the place it had chosen to merge into. Life pulling it into its embrace once again, the coolness and forgetfulness of healing waters left behind if only for a moment. It floats over the water for some seconds, not in doubt nor in fear, but to collect strength from the waters loved in life and chosen as death took her. Strands of memory weave themselves around the core of the spirit, the first wisp of conciousness now bearing also a strong yet subtle purpose.

 

 

Zeldon stared at the corpse in his arms, not really seeing, not even really feeling. Images of Taleena filled his mind, the sound of her laughter, the brightness of her tender spirit that involved her in the simplest of tasks. He felt someone touching his shoulders, a part of his mind heard sounds that he knew formed his name. Still, he clutched his wife's body against him, lost in his memories to escape the darkness he knew was lurking just at the edge of his mind.

 

 

Darkness is sensed, and at its core the chaos that is the result of the broken Beams. The wisp of consciouness and memory that was once Taleena reaches out, bringing with her the essence of water. It blankets the darkness, shredding its threads, mixing them to the bright pulse of what was, and would always be, Zeldon's strength.

 

 

Zeldon's mind cleared little by little, and though he never let go completely of Taleena's mangled body, he let hands help him. His feverish eyes subsided little by little, touched by some healing coolness that came from some place deep within him. He closed his eyes, letting that intangible touch involve him and guide him through the dark clouds.

 

He knew then that he had to live. For Taleena, sweet Talleena - their children, their love, her love.

[Mithrandin]

Zeldon wakes from his slumber, odd thought cloud his mind yet one name is present Reid, Travis Reis... He then gets up and heads out with no word leaving Jonhny to tend for the children.

 

(OOC: vote for Gryphon - Travis Reid)

[Gryphon]

Travis sat and slowly fed his brother, spooning the gruel into Terry's mouth with a care that might have surprised any who were around to see.

 

All the people so willing to kill, but none of them willing to fight back against the Wolves...

 

Roland and his ka-tet seeming to do nothing to stop the madness that was plaguing the town.

 

Everyone too shocked at the killings to accuse any more...

 

Except, maybe one or two. Perhaps those who make accusations now are those who do so for their own purposes.

 

~~~

 

OOC: Voting for Zeldon Clearwater/ Mithrandin because he threw the first stone.

[Patrick]

Blood had been spilt again that night. Life and death visited upon the same household. The tragedy of the events had left Joshua speechless most of the day. He had delivered the wood he had chopped to the roofwork, unloading it without a word. Not even work could ease his mind. Mindless physical labour, the sound of his axe tearing chunks of wood apart; did not work.

 

The monotony of his labour only gave him more time to think. He had realised in light of the recent tragic events that letting the mind run free was a dangerous game. A game he did not like playing with himself. Solitude had been his chosen way of life after the death of his sister. He had never regretted that choice. Until now. He wished above all that his sister were here with him now. Even when they were younger and she was still alive, she always knew what to do, always made the right decision.

 

OOC: Vote for Ozy - Tam Cardeen.

[Mithrandin]

Zeldon reached at Travis's house and went to look for him around...

 

"Reid!

You have no idea what pain is.... or maybe you do, as you are trying to get away from the mess you walked into by moving along with this foreigners..."

 

"Haw can you even think I could.... how..."

[Guest Phoenix]

Sialla looked up as Johnny entered the kitchen, her hands busy warming milk for the newborns. the twins were quiet, for a change, and sat linked with Taleena's triplets at the doorstep, a huddle of hands and bodies, watching over the crib for noise as she had asked them. the triplets were

 

"how is he?" she asked softly, not really expecting a reply. Zeldon had not moved from his wife's grave since she was buried this morning. she did not weep - at least, not while people were watching. he just sat, and would not respond to word nor touch. death was hardest on those left, say thankya, and for a marriage like those two had it was doubly cruel.

 

She could see by the look on his face nothing had changed. tears welled and she turned back to her heating, struggling to get her face under control. she had learnt long ago that crying changed nothing. after a second she was grateful for Johnny's hand on her back, and the warmth of his body as he moved closer.

 

She breathed deep, and forced a wan smile.

"if you could change them, while i cook...? the older ones need to eat as well..."

 

 

OOC - vote for Gryph - Travis Reid

just because

[Mynx]

Travis stared down Zeldon, the two of them saying nothing for a long time until the silence became stifling. Eventually, Travis began to move slowly towards Zeldon, his expression blank and unreadable. Zeldon shifted uncomfortably, but didn't move.

It wasn't until Travis was within a foot of the widower that Zeldon spoke up again.

"Why did you do it, Travis?"

Travis stared at Zeldon a moment longer, a strange hollow look on his face with a wild fire welling up behind his eyes. Without warning Travis lashed out at Zeldon, the hollowness masked then consumed by rage. Words spilled from his lips, each one underscoring and punctuating a solid blow: "Why do you always blame me!?"

He stared at the now fallen form of Zeldon - unconscious but still breathing - and realised what he'd been doing.

Racing out of his backyard, Travis paid a visit to another Calla-folken.

 

The sun was beginning to set, distorting and shadowing the land. Roland frowned as he stared down at the field he'd been staking out. He had a feeling that there was something close by...something that was being used by the traitors among the Calla-folken to alert the wolves. Something that - he was almost certain - had something to do with Andy the Messenger Robot. But he needed proof. And so, while the rest of the tet watched and made their inquiries throughout the town, Roland sat here, his gun ready at his hip.

Tonight, his patience paid off.

Too rushed to worry about sneaking, two figures raced across the field. Roland tried to make them out, but the setting sun glared against him.

"Halt!" the gunslinger cried, drawing his gun and taking aim. The figures froze and looked back at him. They seemed to confer, then one of them bolted for the woods while the other ran straight for Roland. The gunslinger kept his aim at the figure running towards him, but it wasn't until the figure pulled a knife from his belt that he fired.

And he fired true.

As the other figure escaped into the woods, Roland approached the fallen body of Travis, frowning down at the now lifeless body as various Calla-folken arrived from all sides, making it impossible to tell which one had been with Travis, especially as only the folken who resided close enough to hear the gunfire had come running.

"You got him!" someone in the crowd shouted triumphantly, bringing a cheer from the rest. A cheer that was soon silenced by Roland's quiet voice.

"There's another."

 

OOC: Congratulations! Travis/Gryphon was a wolf! One more wolf to go, and now it's Night Phase.

Wolf, PM me.

[Mynx]

Roland paced through the town, watching the folken as they went about their necessary morning chores. Travis' body had been covered and left for the gravedigger to deal with. The life of a Calla-folken could not be interrupted by mourning over such a traitor. But there was still at least one more...

Roland's frown deepened as he thought through the list of deaths. There seemed to be no pattern in who the wolves attacked...for what reason did Travis feel the need to sell his folken out?

The sound of hoofbeats snapped the gunslinger's head up. He noted dimly that he had walked to the end of the Calla. Less than fifty feet away from him, was a wolf on a horse. The horse was the colour of steel, the wolf covered in a green robe, its hood pulled up to rest over a wolf's mask caught in a frozen snarl.

With a yell, Roland pulled his gun and fired - a fraction too late.

The horse reared and spun, and the wolf galloped off as the folken began to gather. When they recognised the form of the wolf, they began to panic, calling their family to them to make sure none of their brood had been harmed.

Spotting on of Zeldon and Taleena's triplets wandering through the mingle alone, Roland set off at a run for their house. Deep down, he already knew he'd be too late, but one had to allow for at least some hope.

Hope that was rapidly dissipated when Zeldon's body was found decapitated in Travis' backyard.

 

OOC: Zeldon/Mithrandin was a villager. Day Phase for 48 hours. Come on all you quiet ones! Let's see some votes!

[Savage Dragon]

Sialla awoke from a very restless night of sleep and started her morning the same way she started it everyday, she went to check on the children. The bedroom usually reserved for the twins was now filled with total of seven children. She was proud of Zi and Ziran, who had accepted the incomers without complaint or judgment. They were all safe. for the moment, Zi, Ziran, Iris, Diris, and Osiris. and in the corner the crib...

 

Sialla tensed when she realized that a figure stood over the crib, dark and hunched over. She moved toward it slowly, unsure of her next movement, unknowing how she could react, but knowing that she must.

 

 

Suddenly Osiris stirred and Johnny turned sharply at the noise. Osiris remained asleep and Johnny let the tension release from his shoulders and then he noticed Sialla in the doorway.

 

 

Sialla also relaxed when she realized the figure had been Johnny, though she saw why she didn't immediately recognize him. He was a mess, covered with dirt, the dirt he had dug to bury his friends, to bury the parents of the children that slept before him. The shovel still hung limply from his right hand, dragging on the floor. Only his face seemed clean. It was obvious from the deep streaks that covered his cheeks what he had been doing this night, and it had not been sleeping.

 

She went to stand next to him as he turned his attention back to the cradle. The little boy and little girl were asleep, sleeping as only babies can sleep, without care or worry, unaware of the grave losses they had suffered that would affect the rest of their lives. Their parents had died before they had even been properly named.... but personally Sialla had already taken to calling them Zeldon and Taleena.

 

 

Johnny looked down at the twins, twins whom he would've been trusted to care for time to time. Twins he now held himself responsible to care for for all time. They were perfect, they were beautiful, and he'd be damned before he let any of them be taken from this beautiful world. He wanted to stay forever to protect them, to stay here with Sialla in this room and never leave and just keep them safe, keep them all safe.... but he could not trust the world to leave them alone.

 

Johnny turned and embraced Sialla in a way he had never done before, but had always wished to. He buried his head into her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around his head, stroking him softly. Quietly he let himself drain, he cried for the last time, poured the weakness from his body. For now he must be strong.

 

 

She held him like a mother would hold her son and they remained quiet for at least twenty minutes. "If i am wrong," she heard him say suddenly, "it is very possible i will not live through the night. In which case you must seek the assistance of the gunslinger for protection, he will come, and not leave this cabin again until he has dealt with....with all of this. But i do not believe i am wrong."

 

 

He left before she could say anything, afraid she might ask him to stay, afraid that he would if she asked, and he had to leave. He had to fight. He picked up the shovel with both hands and began shouting. He screamed words that he had never dared speak before as he slowly walked to his destination, rising the people of the town with his volume. They began to follow him, so many surprised by this outburst never before seen in Johnny. He was glad of it, there was safety with a crowd.... as long as the crowd was not against you. He did not stop a step from his march, he let the momentum of the moment carry him onward, giving him the strength he'd never had before, the strength he needed to protect the ones he loved.

 

His tirade of words ended with the words "IT ENDS NOW!" as he struck the shovel down on the wooden porch of Joshua Oldwind.

 

 

Silence hung in the air. Johnny stood facing the door as the large crowd assembled realized where they were. Not everyone in the crowd was as sure as Johnny was. Their voices started small, but grew when none spoke up against them.

 

"...Hasn't there been enough?..."

"...Surely you don't suggest Oldwin?..."

"...Where is your proof?..."

 

Johnny turned to face the crowd and it grew silent...

then one man in the crowd said simply "why?"

 

"why? why is a luxury of scholars and saints. i have no proof, i have no reason, i only have what i have seen and what i have felt, and it has led me to this door. this is no longer a time for why. i ask not why. i ask only what i could... what i can do to end this. so here i stand ready to drive this infestation from our land by force. you can ask me why when it is gone."

 

with that he turned back to the door and his audience grew silent, waiting for the owner of the door to come out.

 

 

(OOC: oh yea and in case you didn't pick up on it i accuse Patrick - Joshua Oldwind of being a wolf)

[Patrick]

Joshua had heard the crowd led by Johnny approach. He had woken not long ago and was just having breakfast when the knock on the door came.

 

He stood up, wiping the corner of his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt and went to open the door. Only then could Johnny and the rest of the assembled crowd see that Joshua was shaking with anger.

 

"Johnny Drumwoode!" he shouted, his voice loud, but calm, in contrast to the emotions written on his face. "You come here, yourself admitting that you have no proof, yet you accuse me? Have you forgotten that I hate the wolves as much as everyone here? Have you forgotten what happened to my sister? You were not around when she came back, a wreck of her former self, unable to recognise even her own brother! And you dare accuse me!"

 

Joshua did not want to lose his calm. He paused for a couple of seconds, allowing his nerves the time to calm down.

 

"Take your baseless accusations elsewhere Johnny!" Joshua finally shouted and slammed the door. Only when he sat down again next to the table did memories of his long lost sister overwhelm him and Joshua started crying.

[Savage Dragon]

Some of the crowd left then, others stayed to see what Johnny would do.

 

Johnny remained where he was, unmoved.

[Guest Phoenix]

All was quiet outside

 

Sialla's head was still ringing from what Johnny had said, what Johnny had done. Unwittingly, she smiled at the memory of his arms around her, her fingers buried in his hair.

 

She knew where he had gone. she didn't know for sure who he accused until someone had come past with news, but by his words she gathered that those who were a threat to this town knew who he was.

 

Though they would be foolish to attack him when he accused them so openly, they may attack those closest to him.

 

She hugged her bag of Oriza's to her in the chill air. The children had been fed, and commanded not to come out unless she gave them direct orders. they would play quietly or sleep - their sleep had been broken these last few nights. the triplets were old enough to feed the newborns if need be. Sian and Dara were spaced around the other sides of the cabin - there was no way someone could approach without them raising noise, whether they knew the person or not. she covered the front, her face to the road. nothing would get to these children through her.

 

her eyes missed nothing, and her hands were ready, but her heart was with Johnny.

 

OOC - no accusation yet

[Patrick]

Joshua emerged again from his home an hour later. All the while feeling Johnny's eyes on him he chopped some firewood in his back yard. Once he was satisfied that the wood would last him through the night he proceeded to cut a small sized log into kindling so as to be able to light the fire when he came home. He turned to Johnny before preparing to leave.

 

"I'm heading off to work in the forest. The roof repairs still need some wood. Follow me around if you want, but I need to work. Alternatively you could go and watch others, more suspicious than me. Take Bill Marsh for example. Now, he is a silent one. I'd warrant he's up to something. Something bad."

 

OOC: vote against Mardrax - Bill Marsh

[Mardrax]

He stood up at hearing his name uttered.

 

"Me? ... You? You dare accuse me of something so heinous that it has held this town in its grip for as long as we know it, and surely before that. Of something that I, my father, and my father before him have tried looking for a remedy for? Me? Who has faught all his life to allow everyone to live as careless a life as they could? To allow everyone the thought that for every sickness, there was a cure? Me, who has damned the Heaven of those few who follow the man Jesus who we've seen to their Hell and back when I couldn't find one, and when another life slipped through my fingers?

 

Do you realise Beverly's at home now? Do you know why? She crying her eyes out. Jack disappeared last night. But you wouldn't know how that feels, would you? You were young when that sister of yours died. Would that you had left a mark on that knife. You wouldn't have had the chance to seclude yourself out here. To ally with those... those beasts.

 

Is that it, Joshua? Is that your idea of this whole thing? Revenge? On those who would dare accuse you of killing your sister? I... I hope for your sake that wood won't be your pyre instead of your hearth."

 

OOC: Accusing Patrick - Joshua Oldwind. And thanks Pat, that mood needed removal

[Patrick]

Joshua never left for work. He had not seen Bill Marsh in the crowd and that had been the reason he had mentioned his name to Johnny. Apparently it had been a mistake. Bill stood in front of Joshua as he tried leaving his cabin. From the corner of his eye, Joshua saw Roland the gunslinger and his ka-tet arriving in front of his home as Bill threw another accusation at him.

 

"Is that it, Joshua? Is that your idea of this whole thing? Revenge? On those who would dare accuse you of killing your sister?"

 

His sister. Sweet Tania, so brutally deprived of the life she had ahead of her.

 

"I merely put her out of her misery," Joshua said softly, almost inaudibly, but still his voice carried to all around in the silence, which followed his words. "Calla Bryn Sturgis is agonising as my sister had been agonising back then. I merely wanted to help put her out of her own agony. The wolves won long ago, there is no point in fighting them anymore. Everything we had ever done, nothing helped."

 

Joshua looked in Roland's direction. The gunslinger had already drawn his gun.

 

"I do not regret anything I have done, do what you need to do."

 

Roland pointed his gun at Joshua's head. "Cry pardon," he whispered and pulled the trigger.

 

OOC: I'll let Mynx make the closing post.

[Mynx]

Roland closed his eyes and holstered his gun. Too much worthless blood had been spilt. They did not belong here.

"To me, gunslingers," he said, not bothering to check that the ka-tet was behind him before he turned to leave. Eddie opened his mouth to protest, but stopped at Susannah's touch on his arm.

Callahan waited for Roland at the edge of the town, disbelief sketched on his face.

"You leave us now?" he asked incredulously. "After all this, now you leave?"

"We cannot offer help to a town so full of mistrust and corruption," Roland spoke levelly. "If I were you, I'd work on taking that messenger robot out. But we are not longer bound to help these folken."

The gunslinger raised his fist to his forhead and bowed, before moving past the former priest and leaving the town, both him and his ka-tet more relieved to be gone than they really wanted to express...

 

OOC: Patrick was the second wolf. Congratulations villagers! Sorry to end it on such a somber note, but it hardly followed the story by this point...