A Farm Somewhere in Maryland, Monday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

Liam's days tended to have a certain rhythm to them, especially Mondays, with that weekly therapy appointment off-island, and his and Verity's tradition of doing something sweaty and physical (no, not like that) afterward.

Usually though that just meant going for a run around the island or hitting up a mainland gym for a sparring session. All that flew out the proverbial window when Liam stepped back into the lobby of the therapist's office to find Verity waiting for him (as usual) with a tense expression on her face (not so usual).

Turns out there had been a string of mysterious livestock deaths at a farm in the Maryland countryside, and from the descriptions it sounded a lot like werewolves. So a quick pit stop back to the island to top up the weapons they had on-hand with those that would be most useful against lycanthropes, and then a portal dropping them just outside the farm in question.

"So, if not werewolves, what else could it be?" Liam asked, as they approached the barn, weapons ready.

[ooc: nfb for distance, and for the wife.]

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[arboreal_priestess]

Verity hunkered down on her heels, trusting Liam to guard her while she visually examined the arm. "Torn, not cut," she said, noting the jagged edge of the skin. "Looks like the bone was yanked out of the socket. There's the trailing ends of tendons there."

She spoke calmly, dispassionately. She would deal with the fact that this had been a living, breathing person later. For now, the important thing was to record and learn. "Looks human, though that's impossible to verify without further testing. Adult, male-bodied, likely. I'd say decomposition is about 3 days along, making this a victim of a current lycanthropy-w attack, not a previous one. Hopefully that means there hasn't been much of one. Still, until we can rule out the possibility -" doubtful, but possible, "-we're not going to be able to save anything for ghouls. As mammals, they're just as susceptible as we are to the virus."

[firstofitskind]

'Saving anything for ghouls' wasn't something Liam had thought would be a consideration, back when he was still brand-new to the cryptid world. Now, though... it was practical, for a lot of reasons. Except obviously when it could result in someone becoming infected with a deadly (to them and everyone around them) virus.

There was a rustling noise from the back of the barn, and Liam's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Verity," he said quietly, trusting that she'd heard it too.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity didn't speak, but rose swiftly to her feet, bringing her gun to bear. She had a crossbow and silver-and-aconite-tipped bolts, in case silence was more important than power, but until they knew what kind of werewolf they were dealing with, she was sticking to the classics.

She waved them both forwards, taking step after silent step back towards the rustling noise. Maybe they'd be lucky. Maybe it would be some poor rabbit, scared shitless. Or hell, if she were hoping for the impossible, maybe it would be a survivor.

[firstofitskind]

That would be nice, wouldn't it? Sadly, that was not the case.

Along the back of the barn was a row of stalls, a trail of blood leading from the severed arm to one in the back corner.

Well. There was the rest of whoever the arm belonged to, anyway. And a snarling something hunched over it, fur a brindled mess of short grey hair and curled white wool. The creature's back was still turned, and Liam didn't hesitate, didn't wait to see if it would hear them and turn around, he just fired.

[arboreal_priestess]

The monstrosity roared, turning around faster than it really should have been able to. Its muzzle was extended and covered in old, clotted blood. More blood clung to its teeth - a maw of fangs that had no business belonging to something that had once been a sheep.

"Werewolf!" Verity said, voice high-pitched and concerned, though her aim didn't waver as she squeezed the trigger to deliver three more silver rounds, all of them clustered at the thing's forehead.

They hit, but didn't do anywhere near enough damage.

"The fucking wool!" Verity yelped as the werewolf charged.

[firstofitskind]

Liam shifted to a one-handed grip on his weapon. He held his left hand out, shaqarava glowing, and let a blast of energy loose at the creature- werewolf, they knew now, for sure. It wouldn't hurt it the way silver would (well, maybe they'd get lucky and it would singe off enough of the damn wool that they could get a shot through), but it did manage to knock it back against the wall of the barn, buying them a precious few seconds while it was dazed.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Shooting or running?" Verity asked, though she was emptying her clip into the creature while taking a few steps backwards anyway.

[firstofitskind]

"Running," Liam decided. Oh, there would be shooting again eventually, but running meant putting a door between it and them, which would, again, buy them some time.

Also maybe they could just blow the whole damn barn up?

[arboreal_priestess]

This was why Antimony liked you, Liam.

Verity's response didn't come with words. Her gun spat the last bullet from the clip into the werewolf and then she was sprinting for the door. Not the open one they'd come in through - she didn't want to see if she could outrun this misbegotten amalgam of sheep and wolf, but the locked one closer to their end - which wasn't actually locked, but had an iron padlock slotted through the fasteners. An open padlock, it just needed to be pulled free to get the door open.

"Keep it down!" she called back to him as she tossed the padlock to the ground and started sliding the door open enough for them both to squeeze through.

[firstofitskind]

Yeah, you didn’t have to tell him twice. Liam pushed- not physically, exactly, but gathering the energy that existed in his core and sending it out, out through his palm and towards the werewolf.

Though speaking of pushing things physically, he really wished Rey were here. Or Beau. When this was all said and done, he was maybe going to have a talk with Verity about what was a two-person problem and what could use more backup.

Assuming they made it out in one piece, that is.

[arboreal_priestess]

Look, not bringing in people who didn't have a grounding in lycanthropy-w had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, at this time, it was looking like a spectacularly bad idea.

All the more so when Verity slipped through the door and looked at what was waiting for them out the back of the barn: an entire herd of sheep.

"Oh fuck."

[firstofitskind]

Liam wasn’t even going to say ‘maybe they’re not werewolves!’ because that was not how their luck was going today.

“Sha’brah,” he hissed instead. You knew it was bad when he broke out the Eunoia. Still, with the door between them and the werewolf that was actively trying to kill them, he had a second to reload his weapon, at least.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity had already slammed a new magazine of silver bullets into her gun. "So, they're not yet..."

She didn't finish the sentence. Because she respected the art of dramatic irony and it didn't need the help right now.

[firstofitskind]

"Not yet," Liam ground out with a sharp nod.

Was that a growl coming from somewhere in the midst of that herd of sheep?

Liam didn't really want to know, but had the feeling they were about to find out anyway. In the meantime, he was planting a charge right by the door. Blowing up the barn was a little noisier than he would've liked, but it would hopefully get rid of the one confirmed werewolf.

"Keep running," he said, once the explosive was in place.

[arboreal_priestess]

Liam didn't have to tell her twice. Verity took off, veering off to the left towards the too-still farmhouse. She kept her eyes on the flock, trying to see where the growling came from, though the constant milling of the sheep made it difficult to focus.

[firstofitskind]

So, on the plus side, even something has hardy as a werewolf wouldn't have been able to survive the explosion that flattened the barn.

On the minus side, it hit with enough force that anything on two legs in the vicinity was in danger of losing their footing.

Oh, and probably it also confused and upset whatever werewolves were hiding in that flock of otherwise innocent sheep. To put it lightly.

[arboreal_priestess]

In the center, a giant, hulking creature staggered up to its feet. The sheep around it scattered with panicked noises. One was too slow and ended up trapped in its large jaws. Several other howls suggested that was not the only werewolf among the flock.

"Take it out while it's distracted?" Verity suggested.

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded, firing several rounds at the head of the werewolf that was currently snacking on its former fellow herd member. It snarled, dropping the mangled remains of the sheep, and collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Liam had a few more explosives, but while it looked like they were going to end up euthanizing the entire flock, he would prefer that they stick to bullets.

[arboreal_priestess]

Yeah, Verity had no desire to spend the rest of the afternoon picking sheep chunks out of her hair, thanks. There were more humane reasons, too, but she was firmly in banter-mode, thank you.

"Pretty sure wolf pelt plus sheep fleece is just unfair," she said, adding her own bullets into the creature's skull. Or, trying to anyway. "I hate to say it, but it might be easier to go by process of elimination..."

Literally.

[firstofitskind]

“Do we have enough silver bullets for that?” Liam asked. It seemed a shame to waste them on the non-infected sheep when regular bullets would do, but speed was kind of a factor here, and switching weapons took time.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Doubtful, especially if it takes more than one to kill them," Verity said brusquely. "We might need to go on manual." She gave him a sidelong glance. "This isn't going to get you eating meat again anytime soon, is it?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam, at least, had the grace to look somewhat (sigh) sheepish. It's not that he didn't think Verity had noticed, but she hadn't mentioned it, so he was content to not dwell on the issue more than he absolutely had to.

"Um," he stuttered out. "It's not looking super-appealing at the moment, no. You okay with that?" he asked, quietly. He'd kind of become responsible for most of the cooking, after all.

[arboreal_priestess]

"So long as you don't complain if I make a burger sometimes or order steak when we go to restaurants, or make a side of bacon for myself for breakfast," Verity said.

Though lamb probably wasn't going to be making a comeback for awhile for her, either.

[firstofitskind]

The smell of cooking meat still elicited a pretty visceral reaction on Liam’s part, but, “Just give me some warning when you do?” So he could avoid the kitchen for a bit, or at least prepare himself for the smell.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity shot at another sheep that was rising up in the middle of the flock with a roar. "That sounds like something we should talk about," she noted.