LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR // MURDER

[GABRIEL]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]Any wound could fester left unattended, and mistreated it succumbed to the necrosis much faster. Reaper was built for exploitation, though not so mindless as a vulture picking at the dying: he tugged lines here and there, crossing them over, misleading. The one who held his leash wanted The Ascendants limping and isolated in preparation for the killing blow, and Reaper would make it so, just as he was made to do, and the tears would putrefy in due time. They had already set the stage for him to orchestrate, unknowingly clearing the board for a higher scheme than clan alliances and meaningless apologies. Death was always the victor, and death's master would see the bloodshed he wanted before the sun set on this day.

He found his prey swiftly. It was a weak creature, playing merchant as it puttered around a stall and set away its material wares. An alizarin glow haloed obsidian eyes, though the lion remained patient in the face of his upcoming meal, slipping silently through obstacles when it began the trek along the boardwalk to its hovel. Reaper fixated on the room glimpsed when it slipped inside, and with a seamless bout of concentration, later materialized in the living room.

"What the? Who the hell-" The wolf spluttered, indignant, and was too slow to react when Reaper lunged. Powerful, salivating jaws snapped shut around its nape and, with one paw braced on the body, he twisted. Flesh and bone yielded, and the body fell limp. Reaper began a methodical devouring of the corpse while the blood was still warm and fresh, the hunger howling for moremoremore before he silenced it and tore himself away. He was not sated, but the goal was met.

The smoke framing his skull billowed, and he glanced at the door. His prey's partner in the doorway, gaping mouthed. Just on time, then.

The alizarin expanded, overtaking onyx, and the other creature was silenced before it could speak, expression slack as Reaper exerted his will. It closed the door behind it, approaching him docilely. It sat beside the partially-devoured body. "Tell me what you saw," he commanded lowly.

"A lion with an injured eye."

"What will you do?"

"Tell the first person who comes what I saw."

"And then?" He nudged the seed deeper into its mind. A glaze fell over its eyes.

"I will die." Mmm. Not perfect, but he need only knock over the first domino. The rest would follow soon, and, satisfied, the Reaper vanished, leaving the Ascendants' scent in his wake.

//as a note, the npc left alive will tell whoever arrives first the description of the killer and then will die due to overpowering adrenaline (more or less scared to death).

[calliope]

♥♡ Death was an unfortunate part of life. It took away the grand majority of people, only leaving immortal -though, sometimes, they'd succumb to death themselves. The majority of the girl's life had been spent trying to prevent death. Her purpose in life was to save people, and that purpose had been reinforced and drilled into her head from a young age, and of all the things they've taught her, she'd never been taught how to accept failure.

The scent of blood was what brought her to the scene. She may not have been a medic, but she wasn't going to just sit back if someone was hurt. She'd been running as quick as she could, hoping and praying that it wouldn't be too serious. She stopped in her tracks upon noticing the wolf. It was a sickening sight of blood and death. Eyes wide and body shaking, she decided to speak up. "H-hey!" she yelled out, trying to get attention from anyone nearby. "W-we have an emergency over here!" Her eyes tore away from the corpse and onto the survivor. 

"A-are you okay?" she asked, voice softening to a frightful, terrified tone. It wasn't the best thing to ask; the other could clearly be in shock of some sort. Who wouldn't be? She needed to make sure that they weren't injured, though. It wouldn't be a good time to question the person on anything else since they were probably already stressed out enough, but given the situation, it could be dangerous if the culprit was still around. "I-if you can talk, please tell me what happened." Her eyes were only on the survivor, refusing to look at the dead body. It was all just too much.

[rhosmari]

The scent of blood hung in the air, thick and clogging but so terrifyingly fresh. Her body shifted, quivered with a sense of dread seeping through her. Her mind raced through thoughts and she couldn't bring herself to think it. It couldn't have happened again, surely surely this was all just a trick. But her paws moved her anyway not halting as she wanted to do because she had to see this, witness what could have happen to seen one of her own screaming and calling for attention. The thudding of her heart was in her ears as she moved down the boardwalk, moving through a crowd that was surely gathering here and she paused upon the door. It reeked of something, a scent that she was fairly used to. The Ascendants. Why? As she moved into the home she saw the corpse, teeth markings and torn flesh as if someone had been eating him and then she whipped her head around to the npc that was still here, still alive and just like Mirabella she approached them for an answer to the situation. To try and contain the rage she felt right now. "What happened here?" Simple and easy she asked the question.

The way he looked at her, turned to greet her question was natural. She pressed forward a bit and his jaws parted as he began to speak with no slurring of his speech, panick. "It was a lion with an injured eye." Marina's jaw went slack as she watched the npc then, as he seemed to become increasingly panick before he just dropped over. Dying as well right in front of her. A howl of rage lifted up from the leader's muzzle, something unheard of but she knew whom he had spoken about. That fish piss had come here and killed not one but two of her members and for what because they couldn't be an ounce respectful to their allies. That they couldn't take matters seriously for once in their lives and actually be a group that could be the ounce respected. The chose to bite her in the back when she dropped them to neutrals because they couldn't handle their own defeat. Claws ripped up the floor, splinters flying through the air as she turned her head from the corpses before her. Her chest heaved with her anger, her jaws clenched and a snarl pulling from deep in her throat. "Sunhaven! We gather right now!"

"SPEECH"

♡marina monroe - helion - sunhaven♡

[guts]

She had died once before herself. It was an odd thing, to be able to say you looked death in the face and came back to life, though much different from the way you were before. The bastards who killed her should think of themselves as lucky, because if she had come back as herself, she would have taken her vengeance she sometimes daydreamed about. Her cult's people? Well, despite her occasional bitterness towards them, she couldn't fault them. They had been just as ignorant as she was. They were damned to death just like she was.

Ymir would be lying if she wasn't somewhat surprised by the sound that pierced the air, full of anger and hatred. It was hard to ignore it, or the way Marina called them all forward, rage seeping from her in waves. So, that was who had made such a commotion. Intrigued, she made her way over, actually interested in what she had to say for a change. The wolf stuck her head into the cabin, a strangled noise escaping her. "Damn, what the fuck?" she says under her breath at the scene.

She didn't know much about what the other clans smelled like, but another's scent was blatant here, sticking out against their own. She was shocked from the sight for only a short moment of time, allowing it to sink in before she settled back into her usual expression. A devious smile unfurls on her face. This definitely meant a fight would happen, a war even. She had heard a bit of these Ascendants guys, and from the way her clan-mates spoke of them, they evidently weren't on good terms.

As long as the usual dullness of things picked up, she was happy. This would certainly change all that. Besides, an eye for an eye, as she always said. The sick fucker that did this obviously deserved some sort of retribution, though she wasn't quite the one to say anything like that--she probably had a few nasty things coming to her, too.
"speech"

[buckingham barnes]

When the familiar scent of blood invaded his nostrils, the maine coon automatically knew something wasn't right. Bucky hasn't died before in his life, which is surprising considering how many times people have tried to kill him. He came close to death on numerous occasions, the most recent being with Riza. He also has enough experience as a murderer himself to know there's a crime scene awaiting ahead. Bucky has committed enough murders that he doesn't even think blood smells foul anymore. Bucky learned as an Asset that if he couldn't handle the smell of blood, then he wouldn't be able to complete his job. So, he adapted, and it effects him to this day. While he didn't feel nauseated at the smell, the maine coon knows that whoever died, others will be effected by their death. They could have had people they were friends with, and family that they loved. People don't even have to know the individual personally, just being clanmates can make a difference.

When Buckingham began to make his way over, his ears pricked up at the howl from Monroe. Just by the howl, Bucky knew that Marina was livid- it'd be impossible not to hear the hatred and frustration in the loud noise. The male began to quicken his pace, still making his way over on paws as light as glass.

When the former assassin finally entered the home, his eyes landed on the two corpses. The first body was mauled, clear teeth marks and tears were visible. It looked like a half eaten carcass, surely someone got a few good bites out of them. His gaze tore off of the first corpse, and slowly made it's way onto the second. The second didn't have any visible wounds- it didn't look like the assailant laid their claws or teeth on them. But thanks to his enhanced senses, he heard them explain who they saw to Marina, and he heard the body collapse to the hard, cold floor. They must have seen the murder occur, and the mere panic killed them. As he looked at the two, another scent that wasn't drowned out by the blood managed to make it's way into his nostrils. The Ascendants.

The male froze at the smell, lately that scent has became far too familiar for his liking. They've had a lot of trouble lately with the Ascendants, and it didn't end pretty. The Ascendants had no respect for the situation they caused, and didn't want to own up to it. Bucky didn't think they'd take the alliance drop so damn personally. It wasn't even like they were dropping the Ascendants down to enemies! Neutrals, neutrals, they dropped the damn clan down to neutral! Being neutrals isn't the end of the world- Earth keeps spilling. Clearly the Ascendants must think otherwise with this shit! Two Sunhaveners are dead. One is half way eaten, and the other from overpowering adrenaline. The Ascendants cost them two lives- who knew at the end of the whole murder fiasco, they end up being the ones who took the lives. Buckingham almost wanted to laugh, but he fought the urge. Even though his laugh would have been full of shock, anger, and frustration, this wasn't the time and place for it.

"Fucking bastards," He hissed, ears pinned to his cranium as his light blue eyes blazed with hatred and frustration. They just can't get a break, can they? Bucky was hoping they wouldn't have to smell the Ascendants for a long, long time. He looked over towards Marina, his metal claws flexing. Bucky firmly believed that the Ascendants no longer deserved to be neutrals after this. They were asking to be enemies, and Bucky's gleaming eyes made sure to let others know what he thought without saying another word.

[GORDON CIPHER.]

The sickening smell of blood covered the area and while everything in her body screamed at her to run, Gordon forced herself to find the source. She mainly followed the sound of Marina's angry howl, walking along with stiff movements. The little Dawnguard's eyes were wide and her fur was puffed out with fur and she clung particularly close to Buckingham since he was the last one to arrive there and she... quite honestly didn't want to get near Marina when she looked so pissed off. Gordon tried to press against the much larger feline, closing her eyes and looking away from the scene as much as she could, trying to fight off the vomit that was threatening to rise in her throat.

"Wh-what are we going to do?" Gordon immediately regretted asking this question, as her words slurred together and was interrupted as she started gagging at the horrible stench that came from the NPC. Her ears flattened as she coughed and gagged, trying to control herself and prevent herself from throwing up.

★ i am a lion born from things you cannot be ! ━

[toboggan]

Not one to disobey a higher-up’s instruction, Wendell diffidently shuffled himself towards Marina’s gall-fuelled shriek, using a trivial amount of haste in his strides so nothing important was missed. If the demand for a gathering resulted out of the blue like that, then an issue of great measures was afoot. And upon arrival to the scene, it was quite easy to say that something was afoot - or at least had been, for sure. "Fockoff!" the wolverine’d sharply curse, the all-too-familiar perfume of gore entering his circular nostrils. He was almost on the same boat as Gordon when it came to the backlash regarding this current situation, though he did not go as far as gagging, his eyes were closed tight in an offended wince, desperately longing for the choice to go back on his decision on arriving. Poor sap, getting brutally slaughtered like livestock in their homeland.

What was the killer’s goal in this? Was the taking of an innocent’s life inflamed by a sensuality of vengeance? Had this unlucky fellow been the target of a randomized attack? Whatever the unknown slayer’s intentions were, their actions had seemingly went incognito to everybody here; so what did that denote about Sunhaven’s barricaded border? It was obviously not competent enough to keep out those whom wished to rain harm upon others, thus, to answer Gordon’s question, the first actions Wendell saw appropriate was to up the clan’s security, thereupon investigating the ordeal even further.

Harmony was the only thing in life he desired for, but you absolutely could not have harmony without justice. Thus, for the deceased’s sake, this assailant must go down.

[LEVIATHAN]

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LEVIATHAN

[ diamond in the rough ]

Leviathan wasn't surprised on what he walked in on, the scenery much too familiar to him. The scent of blood. The lingering tension of a death. It hardly caused much of a reaction to the tired male, his half-lidded metallic gray eyes locked onto the faces of the others, bouncing to each reaction as the muscular lean figure forced himself to look down at the two corpses that now lay in front of him. His deadpanned reaction showed nothing but in the inside, he felt a sudden darkness. A darkness of wanting to kill who had ever decided the lives of his clanmates to be squandered like they were just trash and nothing more. His stoic gaze briefly flickered towards Buckingham, eyes narrowing as he let out a small scoff. [b]"Reminds you of your work in the past, Buckingham?" Leviathan stated flatly, not hesitating in caring on the consequences of stating his resentment for the maine coon. All the murders in the past had been of his clanmates, all the deaths that Levi had tried so hard to avoid were all coming back to him and he wanted to just launch himself to the bastard that had caused a majority of them. The japanese bobtail's composure remained calm as Levi's ears pricked at the question that Gordon made. "They killed our own, shortly after the alliance break. Not surprising if this is some sort of bitter act for not sticking with the damn fuckers. We can't sit back and let them see we won't do shit. We need to attack and show them not to fuck with us." He remembered his past ranks in his previous home, how he had excelled in warfare.

All his life, Leviathan had to fight. Fight off a beast that wanted his food in his childhood. Fight off bastards that threatened his home and plagued the place with fear. Levi didn't want this to happen here as well. Not while he was around. The broad-shouldered obsidian japanese bobtail's left ear twitched as the short male stated "But we need to bury them and hold a funeral first. It's not right to have them out like this...it's not okay." The hesitance in his voice was the only flaw in his statue-like appearance and behavior, his lower jaw tightening as he suppressed the urge to just go out on his own and find the true culprit behind the murders. However, he remained rooted to where he was as the undersized male's attention snapped towards Marina, wondering what their leader would desire to do about the tense situation.

© LEXASPERATED

[PIERCE]

[div style="margin-top: 30px; text-align: center; font-family: timesnewroman; font-size: 35px; color: white;"]pierce parker

☀ — 'cause i love you's not enough, i'm lost for words

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Pierce had grown rather used to death and violence; hell, he even expected it at this point. It was something that he had practically grown up around, thrown into a world of pain and horrors the moment he stepped foot into his first clan. There’d been captured, attacks, battles- some fights had even been between clanmates, the fact that anyone could be faking their identity or snap at any moment one that was accepted pretty much universally. Pierce had seen clanmates, friends, even family ripped to shreds, whether that be literal or metaphorical.  He’d been subject to pain, too. He had been captured, tortured, attacked, even killed- though that last one had been a friend’s doing. Pierce had experience with these things, a lot of it, and one might expect him to be desensitized by now. Unfortunately for the dappled feline, that wasn’t the case.

It hadn’t been Marina’s call to draw him to the scene, but the terribly familiar stench of blood. The moment it reached his nose he went rigid, amber eyes alert as he scanned his surroundings, eventually locating the source of the smell- what looked to be a small merchant’s shop, or perhaps home, the sounds of many muffled voices being the last giveaway.

Pierce knew exactly what he was walking in on when he approached, but that didn’t stop his stomach from twisting at the sight. Gore seeped onto the floor, and he swore you could cut the tension with a knife. The Goldenblood’s heart was hammering so hard he swore it would burst, pulse quite apparent as it roared in his ears, though he gave away none of this, expression neutral as he looked from the limp figure of his former clanmates to those speaking. "Of course," he agreed with Leviathan, giving a slight nod. He didn’t really know the guy, but he seemed familiar with these situations, judging by his minimal reaction to the sight of the body. "I say we retaliate- talking clearly doesn’t work with these people," Pierce added, voice steady despite the threat of his ever so slightly quivering jaw. He was disappointed, for sure- he used to have such respect for the Ascendants and it’s people, but it was clear that they weren’t a group worth caring for. Was it the leader change? Quite possibly, though he couldn’t say- he’d never met the new guy. He would add more, but he figured he’d wait to see what Marina had to say- he could save any plans he may have for later, if they did intend on sending out a raid of some sort.

"speech"

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[buckingham barnes]

"Reminds you of your work in the past, Buckingham?"

Levi's voice reached Bucky's ears, his attention being pulled off of Marina for a moment. He looked over towards the undersized male, who clearly wasn't afraid to call the Warden out. When Bucky told Marina about his past, he only got into detail about the Asset/Winter Soldier. He didn't dare to mention which clans he brought pain and anguish to, nor did he mention the exact number of innocent lives he took under his claws. But Levi knew all of it. Back when Buckingham and Levi first met, they were clanmates, much like they are here. But, the maine coon was stolen away by their enemy, and brainwashed to betray his home. As the Asset, he murdered people who used to be his family and clanmates. That's what caused the hatred between the two. For months, the two lived their lives as enemies- one trying to kill the other, vice versa. Now that they both live in the same home, once again, they are no longer 'enemies' ally wise. They have to tolerate seeing one another every day, whether that's just passing by in camp or having no choice to join the same hunting/border patrol party. And there were times like this, where one wasn't afraid to call out the other. Bucky knew it must be a perfect opportunity to call him out on- Levi walked in to see Bucky just as upset and frustrated as Marina. Levi's been used to walking into crime scenes committed by the maine coon himself.

It didn't seem like others were focused on what Levi mentioned to Bucky. He wouldn't blame them, there's a bloody mess right before them. So, he didn't feel an ounce of worry when he shot back at Levi's remark. "Not completely," He commented, not missing a beat, "I never ate my victims." And thank goodness he never did, as that would be disgusting. Bucky isn't, and never will be a cannibal- it's not worth it when you think about all the disease and parasites that come with it. Anyway, he wasn't that gruesome.

Despite the hatred the two felt, they have a similar mindset when it comes to warfare. Bucky was certain if he wasn't captured and didn't fuck up his relationship with his original home, he and Levi would have been good friends. That still doesn't seem like a possibility, he's not counting on it. He gave a firm nod at Leviathan, pulling his thoughts back into the current situation. "I agree- our best course of action is retaliation." They've already tried to be civil with the Ascendants and they saw how badly of a shit show that turned out to be. There's no more room to act civilly, the Ascendants are asking for a war.