#baronyofthesilverwolf

"Like, with the.. thing.. the... kenning, thing?"

"You don't feel wrong."

Gwen looks at briar still on the phone "Thistle is right, Briar. Thallian aren't like redcaps. Ghasts Eat people,including dreamers. Redcaps know better than to risk right ofi gnorance AND right todream when it will fuck them over in the long run"

And yes, that can be heard on the phone

Danica says, "I'll be right there. Stay put." Firm, and the call ends.

Briar kicks at the ground, lacking anything closer to kick. That is, she eyes Gwen's leg, but thinks better of it.

"Redcaps eat people too. -I- eat people. I LIKE it." She bares her jagged teeth at them both. "What d'you think of THAT?"

Thistle winces.

"I think you are in danger in ways you are too young to understand, and I think those thallian have used you and manipulated you. Maybe not with spell, but it happened. And, I know, KNOW that i care about you, and love you like a little sister. However you feel about me in return" she answers looking the redcap in her eyes

"I'm almost twelve!" She puffs out her chest and straightens shoulders. "I ain't a KID. And I ain't STUPID."

"Yes you are almost twelve. You soon won't be a childling, but you ARE a kid, and no, you're not stupid, but not being stupid doesn't mean we don't sometimes do stupid things. I do them all the time"

"Yeah, well, you ever think maybe I had PLANS and you ruined 'em?"

"What plan? Were you gonna eat them?"

"Eat plans?" A confused blink. "Eat them? No! I was gonna tell 'em WHO to eat! I know who won't be fuckin' missed."

She lets thistle take the lead there.

"Was that their idea?"

"i can plan to juggle cold iron, doesn't mean it's healthy"

"Wish you WOULD." Briar mutters. "Was MY idea." Proudly. "Sic' 'em on your Blaine, I did. Or I woulda, not sure they're gonna bite NOW." A SCOWL.

Thistle doesn't say anything in response. She folds her arms around her torso, scowling.

"they wouldn't. He's BANAL... theyre not going to undo themselves trying to eat him"

"WHAT? You wanna save his ass? Fucker lives rent-free in your head! And -I- gotta hear about it! BOO HOO HOO cold man hurt Thistle's fee fees!"

"I don't want to save his ass. I am saying sicking thallian on him would not work as easy as you think"

A glance back at Gwen. "You don't know what hunger is. REAL hunger. I offered 'em a free meal, and if they kick it trying to get a bite, then better them 'en us."

She stares at her feet.

"You ever talk to an Autumn person, Briar? Have you ever stood there in the center of a winter storm that is n't a true winter, it's an empty winter, and you feel yourself go number, you get weaker, you get smaller.. and soon you're half a you, and you hate the you that's left because you know you are supposed to be more? I have. Thistle has."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that." She shrugs it off. "But that's why I was gonna send them. See, I told them about him, and 'bout Thistle and Art, and all that bullshit. Jumpin' through hoops with art shit to show off...."

"And then they'd feel the cold coming off him in waves and retreat. And know you set them up, and now be after you? " A tilt of head "You've got guts, you always have, but this plan would have caused more trouble than it solved. " then she smiles "Also, the art show is going to destroy Blaine. DESTROY him. His rep ruined, his crimes exposed, and what he deemed lesser shown to be glorious. Thistle and her crew are going to demolish this guy in such a way that m y Houemates will applad you watch" said with confidence and a belief firm

Thistle quietly fades back as the pair talk.

"Thistle don't think so." An accusing look over at the Nocker. "She's all just BOO HOO life is hard, my shit stinks, whaa whaa! I tried to DO something. And maybe they just ain't afraid. Who knows, maybe they got that... like, that Fiona disease. Too dumb to be scared. They're gonna do it, TOO. Else why would they have listened? They were INTO it."

She swallows. In the darkness, nobody can see how her spirals muddy. She has backed up... quite a bit from the pair, at this point.

Citron tugs at one of Thistle's earrings, dangling from the hoop in a way that might not be comfortable for the nocker.

"I have faith in thistle, so does Art. And ease up on her. We all got baggage, she's got better reason for hers than many of us do. And your ghasts could tell you a LOT of stuff, doesn't mean they weren't lying. You know, like spriggans stealing puppies? "

Schip chimes, shaking a bright pink fist at Briar - specifically from out of range, comes his bravery.

A low plaint at the Nevers. "Stop it."

"They weren't lyin' because they didn't tell me shit I didn't already know! I'm too smart to fall for tricks. They just understood me, you know? They listen. WITHOUT a fuckin' sermon."

"I'm not chastising you." She says

A dumb blink. "You're gonna WHAT me?"

"Chastise, you can look it up later" Gwen says "No, there's no sermon here. No fire and brimstone. No telling you ...' A sigh "YOu know, you didn't come to me about this. You don't get to play the 'nobody understands me card' when you don't tell me in the first place about this new hunger. Or if you do I'm gonna call you on your bullshit. You say you weren't understood by me? No wonder, you never gave me a chance."

Briar glares at Gwen. "Yeah? You gonna hold my hand and say 'there there, you wanna chew on a big honka human meat, and that's okay, everyone does it? HUH?" Getting in Gwen's face, or as close as she can without being 4 feet taller.

Ivan starts growling, low and deep in his throat.

"No. i am going to say I understand urges, not the same urges, but urges. Giving into those urges has risked my friendships and more.. I.." She twists at the growl to see if ivan is growling at Briar or someone else

It's dark. Darker than it was before, on an already dark night - her little phone flash doesn't seem to penetrate it, neither does Thistle's maglite, drowned out by a darkness blacker than the night.

And Thistle has backed quite a distance away...

"THistle, Briar?"

"I think we're about to be attacked ' she states

And then, the sound of wheels on asphalt, and a siren whoops. No lights, though, lacking the accompanying flashing red and blue. A door slams, and there's Danica's voice, "Gwen?" She sounds distant.

"Gwen, report!"

"We're in a darkness field... Thistle and Briar aren't responding. Ivan is growling. We have Thallian'

Danica tersely says, "Wait there." Louder, "This is Sergeant Marshall of the Carthage Police. THANE Danica of Silverwolf. Back off now and we'll respect your retreat. Press your attack, and you will be hunted to the ends of the earth."