#goldfinchfreehold

The alarm rings out. And Etsie sends out a text... to many: AT GF! The whole place is snowed in! I'm trapped!

On it! Sylvi texts back. Shovelers, assemble!

Various responses... a few of the satyrs hint that they are built for MEDITERRANEAN Climates hoping to get out of it.

At this point, it's been a bit since Sylvi's headed a snow brigade to shovel out the neighborhood, but old skills die hard.

But oddly, the Redcaps are for it! They can guzzle snow up like a hoover takes dust bunnies.

Lucia texts "On my way with the Bog patrol. Ramona too."

Soon, she has assembled at least seven kithain of various kiths who show up and dig in! To be fair, cantrips and birthrights do make it go much smoother!

And a few big insulated bottles of hot cocoa don't hurt!

Wilder Fuel! Though the satyrs might have offered a bit extra

A couple of hours further north, there are emergency conditions that have caused full travel restrictions. Fortunately, it's not that bad in Rivervale.

Indeed, much of the snow is chimerical... and yet... Dirk sniffs the air, "Prissy, you smell that?" / "Yeah," Prissy sniffs, "Blood in the snow."

"Blood?" Sylvi straightens from shoveling and looks around. "Which way?"

"Not anywhere, just... in the snow," Dirk sniffs, and digs some more... "Here I think under here."

"Right here?" Sylvi sets her shovel aside and uses her gloved hands to dig, following Dirk's lead.

She pauses a moment, and looks around...how many childlings are with the shoveling brigade?

None. It was wilders only at this point.

Good. No need to find an excuse to send them inside. She resumes the dig/search.

And there is... blood spelling out words..."She was Good, he was a healer. Dead, both dead." It's a chilling moment, the chill having NOTHING to do with with the Winter. Basil glances down, "I bet it blew in from the Twin Cities."

"Oh...shit." Sylvi stares at the phrase. "Dammit."

Whatever energy and enthusiasm she had for this task suddenly evaporates.

"We should... clean this up so the kids don't see it," Lucia declares, "They don't need to associate snow with this."

"No...no, they don't," Sylvi mutters in agreement. She gets her shovel again and sets it to the task.

What was festive turns grim, but it is Dirk who speaks up and points something out "This ain't Banal, it's just evil, and grim. We can work with that... Redcaps are usually the villains, but we also hunt monsters... so frankly if I see ICE around here I'm gonna pop em into cubes." / Basil ponders then says "You know, I was all behind black lives matter, still am really, but maybe we should muse and inspire mortals here to support folks over there? Make sure they understand folks here in Jersey are with them." / Linwood the Centaur coughs to speak up then adds, "There are people writing songs about the evil going on there, being done. We're a musical hold right? We could play those songs, maybe make our own?"

Prissy the Capette snorts "I'm more for Dirk's popping them in cubes, but what do you think, Sylvi?"

"All three. We need to do all three." Her voice is unusually monotone as she continues the cleanup. "And more. Dirk, Prissy, try the Scrooge approach first before you get to butchery. Some of them gotta be more stupid than evil. Try scaring the stupid out of them, first." She looks at Basil and nods. "Lot of protests going on all over. We can add to that number, or boost up the existing ones." Then to Linwood, "Yup, break out the protest anthems and the sheet music blanks. I'll get word out that we're looking for more voices. Both fae and human should be in on it."

"Hey, we need to make sure we pick Etsie's brain, too. She's been through it before."

Basil nods "I'll check to see the closest to our area , more resources if we join up but if need be we can do it here."/ Linwood nods "Oh yea, Etsie probably has a million protest songs in her we can repurpose and dust off."/ Dirk snorts "Mercy? Those assholes don't believe in it so they don't deserve it, but fine. They'll get a chance."

"One chance each," Prissy says.

"I'll help coordinate," Romana the pooka says "I've got spare time for that. And Lucia and I can keep up on the gossip chain too."

"Do what you can," she says to all of them. "Whether it's boosting the morale of the protesters or punishing the fuckin' neo-Gestapo."

Dirk nods "They'll try to bend the truth, they always do. Rob them of their secrecy, expose them, and they lose their shield. But we turn it on them, let them never see exactly what's hitting them, howw we see. Veils and other hiding cantrips will be perfect."

Dirk was once considered an idiot, but with a bit of gentle encouragement, he's become quite savvy to power dynamics and how folks use fear in politics.

"Just be careful." She nods at where the bloody message has now been obscured. "They aren't holding back. And they won't act logically. Makes them hard to predict."

Linwwood nods "And none of us are immune to bullets."

"yeah yeah, I read my Mao." Dirk waves it off.

Etsie opens a door "Hey, I can finally get out of there."

"Yeah, you can, Etsie. But I need you to turn around and head back in. You're going to give us all our first lesson in being protest organizers and counter insurgents."

"You kids never let me get bored and set too long eh?" She claps her hands, "Hot damn. I feel my Hendrix coming on."

Sylvi goes back to where she left a large basket of food from the Rivervale kitchen (kept warm by cantrip) and brings inside, waving everybody in to join.

"And you brought grub, excellent. Fuel for the muses!" Etsie declares. She looks up, Goldfinch now fee of the ice and snow seems ready to rock. The bird bright and ready, as the kids go in to ready for the cause!

"Can't save the world on an empty stomach." And inside they go to plot and plan and compose and organize.

"We'll save the world," Dirk says "It's ours after all!"

And they go in to do just that. One fight at time.

(End Scene)