Recap of a Day on the Town (Open In Between)

[Akirapryde]

OOC: Okay Guys, I know that this is so very long....Guys I am sorry but I had so much information to put out to everyone. Please note that Rebecca is not intending on withholding anything or being untruthful about a fact. If you feel I have forgotten something or am mistaken, please talk to me via text or phone call before blasting Rebecca over it. This way I can fix the out of character mistake. This following information is as much for Richard so he knows what he missed at the last game. It is also to get valuable information out to the rest of the Cabal. Please make sure that your character takes part in this In Between. If even to just listen to what is said. I can not urge you enough to please read this long post thoroughly. Thank you for your time.)

---

During the drive home, Rebecca felt pretty good about her self despite her internal struggle over confidence. The past four days for Rebecca had been filled with devoting a huge amount of time in creating magical tools for the entire Cabal. It was decided that the Cabal would ensure that they were ready for the next encounter before it happened. Rebecca couldn't help but wonder how they could work on the training that Simon had suggested. It wasn't a bad idea, she just didn't know how to make it work without tempting the Abyss. The thought of the Abyss brought her eyes to a new ring that Rebecca had.

It was the last item she had created. The ring was made from magnesium which represented her Forces Arcana and her growing respect for fire. The other magical tool that she created for herself was a small pure crystal pendent that was set in to her wooden cross. She had created four other items for each Cabal member. She took the time to speak with them and created items that suited their own interests and passions. It was her first serious effort to do something for the Cabal. But what made her even more happy regarding the tools was that she didn't ask for any mana in return for the creation of them. It was something that Simon and Richard had been doing. It bothered her that the two were charging each other mana for making items. It seemed to her that they were treating mana as if it were a form of currency. However instead of making an issue about it, Rebecca hoped that by example she could show a better way.

Over all, Rebecca was happy with the tools that she created for the Cabal. It was time consuming and draining on her. Short of her morning jogs with Richard, she had spent nearly her entire time in the hollow creating these items and the transferring ownership of Richard's new dagger. As she looked out to the woods on either side of the road, she started to understand Richard's desire to get away from the Hollow every once in a while. She felt sad for not bringing him along, knowing how much it would have meant for him to get away from the hollow. She could have pushed the issue but he was so involved in his book. Still, it felt good to get away for even a few hours.

On the way home from the Silver Ladder library, Rebecca and Kira had talked about the choice to head in to town. While Kira had pointed out that it wasn't the wisest of choices with only half of the Cabal, she did understand why Rebecca wanted to go. Beyond being bit with cabin fever, Rebecca felt that she had to find out more of what is going on around their Cabal. There were just too many unanswered questions and she needed to update her encryption protocols so that her reports will not be hacked any more. She had to take the extra steps to protect the Cabal. Still, the attack on the hollow was an escalation of what was going on. It was clear to Rebecca that they needed allies more than ever right now. She didn't expect the others to understand, but she was hoping that the new information would please the Cabal. More than that, she hoped that the gifts that were given to them from the Silver Ladder would be accepted.

As Rebecca pulled up to the hollow, she had little reason to be disappointed or upset. In fact, over all, it was a very beneficial day. Turning the engine off, Rebecca slipped out of her SUV and caught Kira's eyes. While it was a beneficial day, the day had still been trying. And like always, Rebecca was grateful to have Kira at her side. She walked towards the back and pulled out the items that had been carefully rapped up in a blanket. With Kira's help, they were able to get all of the items in to the house. As they walked in to the house, Rebecca called out "Richard!" "Simon!"

(OOC: If any character fails to show, Rebecca will do her best to ensure that all members of the Cabal are present for this meeting. Rebecca wont force the issue should a Character not wish to take part. To this end, I will assume that all members of the Cabal will be in attendance during the briefing unless otherwise informed to the contrary.)

She walked over to the center table with a spring in her step as she carried the large blanket. She took a seat as she waited for the Cabal to gather around the table. Once the Cabal had been assembled, Rebecca started. "Hey Guys" she said as she took a chance to look each member in the eyes. She wanted to make a point to try and show them the same respect that she expected from them. "Our trip in to the city was very beneficial. But before I get in to the items here" she said motioning towards the blanket, "there is information that needs to be shared."

Rebecca took a moment to gather her thoughts, "so, let us go back to the first time we met. I have been told that the situation here in the local area had been that of calm, according to the Silver Ladder. The Vampires are at peace with each other. The treaty between the Werewolves and Vampires had been honored. It was made clear that some event near the time this Cabal was formed or maybe even as a result of our forming has changed the situation. Drastically according to the Silver Ladder. The Vampires are in conflict with each other. Not too long ago, a number of werewolves were found dead within the city limits. This information is reinforcing my belief that something major is going on. And we are at ground zero."

Rebecca took a deep breath, "but before we go on with this information, I would like to go over Kira's dream from this morning again. Because I think it has relevance to what is going on." Rebecca turned to Kira and waited for a nod from Kira to continue. "So Kira had this dream where she was looking up towards the eyes of the spirit that stands over this hollow. In her dream, she was drawn in to the Spirit's eyes to such a degree that it seemed as if she was looking through his eyes. She could see through a window that appeared to be in to Black's office. There she saw Mr. Black speaking with someone that looked very similar to the one who was part of the attack on this hollow. Kira and I spoke and while we are nearly positive that the two are the same man, there is a small chance that their are two different men. Not much of a chance but still a chance. In her dream, she saw Mr. Black giving this man a large roll of cash while mentioning my name."

Rebecca paused before she continued, "I do not know what this dream means. Clearly it was a warning of things to come. Kira was concerned that this implied an attack that was targeting me. What Kira saw did tie in to what was going to happen us. But there were surprises in store for us," Rebecca explained. "On the way in to town today, Kira and I spotted a sniper on a roof top. At the time I didn't think that it was odd that we spotted him. I took a random turn and attempted to have him loss sight of us. We were going to confront him on the roof. However we learned that this was only a lure. The sniper relocated while we were out of his sight. From his new position he shot at us. I saw the bullet and no magic effected its travel. He hit Kira in the arm. It was a nasty hit that had a surprising secondary affect. The flesh inside her body seemed to catch fire. I had pulled her to safety and protected her from the flames. Then extracted the fire from her arm. Both spells did attract the attention of the Abyss.

This sniper was pretty smart or was aided by a mage. He seemed to know where we were going, what path we were taking and where we were hiding to catch him when he relocated. He fired again and hit Kira once more. I didn't see the actual bullet this time but I have to suspect that Kira was in fact the target of the sniper. Due to his aim and skill, I have to suspect that he was not an amateur. Despite this, at the time it did appear as if it was a hired hit by Mr. Black. But information after the fact would leave me in doubt of that." Rebecca let out a bit of laughter as she spoke, "and I am starting to feel a bit paranoid" she said with a soft glance and smile at Richard.

After a nod towards him and his record of paranoia, she continued, "This is what cross my mind on the way home from the library. If I was the target, the sniper had more than enough chances to hit me. But I wasn't shot. Not shot at, not shot once. I can't imagine the hits on Kira were by accident. Which makes me wonder which is true. If this was a set up to 'earn my trust' or a earnest attempt to subvert an attack on our Cabal. Despite my best hopes, I don't think we can ignore the fact that the man who was here at the hollow during its attack could have been the one that Mr. Black paid." With a heavy sigh, Rebecca lowered her head, "this whole issue is leaving me questioning who we can trust and who we can't." She paused a moment as she turned to Richard, "I think your area of specialty might help us find the truth in this. But I am not fully sure what you can do. Maybe you and Kira can sit down and talk about ideas?"

It was clear that her statement was more of a suggestion rather than a question requiring an answer in that moment. "What I do know, is that we can trust the Silver Ladder. Our trip in to the city has proven this to me without any doubt. We spoke with a local Silver Ladder official who over sees this area. This person was well aware of the prison and who are being secured here. This person knew all too well about the magic sucking creature, the giant mountain spirit and the others. Even drew a picture of all of them." In that moment Rebecca realized her first serious mistake of the day. She didn't get that picture from Tarala.

Rebecca cursed herself for not thinking of getting the picture so that the Cabal would have known what they were dealing with within the prison. She let the disappointment out with a heavy sigh. "There was an ominous warning regarding these prisoners. That if any one of them were to escape, that they could cause untold suffering across the continent. As we suspected, these creatures are all very dangerous. Up till recently, the location of this prison had been a closely guarded secret. I suspect that we could search the Library for more information about this prison if we chose to. The reason why I didn't do this today, well" she said looking over to Richard, "I wanted a reason to return to a place filled with books" She gave him a playful smile hoping that he would catch the hint hint hint. "However, now that our enemies know of its location the safety of the prison is in question."

She didn't really want a debate over blame. The Cabal had played that game for weeks and it nearly broke them apart. Instead of even hinting at blame or cause Rebecca just let a slight sigh out as she continued, "The Silver Ladder understands the importance of keeping this place safe. They tested both Kira and my resolve in keeping this place safe, repeatedly. Then they asked about your resolve" she said while looking directly at Simon and Richard, "in keeping this place safe. I truly don't believe it was a lie when I said that 'I truly believe that Simon would lay down his life in protection of this place. And that Richard would never leave his brother's side in a battle'. These were my exact words to them" Rebecca looked down as she tried to keep her emotions from the briefing while she continued. "It was a very emotionally charged conversation. There is still so much that I don't know about why I was selected. So much that we as a Cabal don't know. But at least we have an ally now."

She paused a moment before looking back to the entire Cabal, "but despite what everyone might think about me. I meant what I said. I will lay down my life to protect this place. If God deems my life to end tomorrow, then I will embrace this fate. But I can't imagine that this is in the cards for me. Nor am I running home. Each day, we are all learning something new about this place, what is going on, each other and ourselves. Powerful elements are moving in the shadows against us. The Silver Ladder understands our challenges and has offered us items to help protect this place." Rebecca said as she opened up large blanket. She carefully pulled a plastic bag filled with blood soaked clothes from the pile and set them down on the floor. She removed the items that she took from the sniper and placed them on the floor as well.

"Kira was the first to receive an item. This was in the form of a set of swords that will never age or wear. They will always hit harder than normal swords" she did her best to explain the items that Kira had been given while Kira showed off her three new swords. "Simon, I told them about your love for fire arms and shotting things" she smiled as she picked up a little scope from the pile. "Your item wasn't hard for the Silver Ladder to tag for you. So they gave you this," Rebecca turned and handed the item over to Simon. "I am told that you will now be able to shot at anything you can see. I am not fully sure what they mean by that. But I am sure you will find new fun in shotting your fire arms now. However Simon," she said holding his attention. "I have more for you but that will come in a moment." Rebecca felt pleased with her actions and the fact that her trust in someone had finally paid off.

Maybe Simon was right, those rough patches between members of the Cabal needed to remain in the past. It was hard for her to just let them go. But she had to give Simon credit for his words. Sometimes wisdom comes from the strangest of places. He is right, if this Cabal was to survive she didn't have much choice. 'How could it be so easy for me to elect to lay down my life, but I can't let go of their past behavior?' she wondered. 'No' she commanded herself. 'Simon is right, we have to come together and learn to trust in each other' she reaffirmed. She gave Simon a reassuring smile and a nod as she wondered if her first impression of him and his brother had been wrong.

On that short thought, she turned to Richard and gave him a big smile. "While our items are special, yours was chosen from what appeared to be a special place in the vault. I have to suspect that your item was chosen because of your love for the Mind Arcana and magic its self." She picked up the long hooked staff that had its heritage linked to the ancient Egyptians. By its appearance, it was clearly a staff of importance. It was created from the large leafs of a date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera) that had been dried and tightly woven in to a harden staff with the long strings of Nile grass (Cyperus papyrus) running along its full lengths. "I am told that this item will help you greatly in your chosen Arcana" she said handing over the staff to Richard.

She looked down at the old wooden crossbow with a heavy heart. Each of their items seemed to suite them. Rebecca didn't like how her item was chosen for her. While temper and anger had run in her veins for as long as she could remember, she really didn't want it to dominate her life. "I know that we have talked about allies and enemies. I know that we have discussed Vampires and rather they are enemies or not. I know each of your views" she said with a heavy heart. "After all, how many heated debates have we had over just that issue. Mr. Black and the Denver vampires have become a source of debate among us. I admit we" she said then paused, to include, "I don't know everything, and because of that I am fearful of making the wrong steps. I made that mistake with Meatball and look what happened. So yes, I am more cautious about creating enemies now. Kira told me that the link between Mr. Black and myself are strong. I don't know what this means, but it started from when we first met him and grew stronger after the mess with the robbery."

Her eyes were still fixed on the crossbow and the wooden bolt that was loaded on it. "I have made no secret of my desire in not making more enemies for ourselves. I have expressed a desire to just keep them off the battlefield. Even if that means trying to mend ties with those like the Denver Vampires. I understand that my view is not shared by some of you. That being said, I know that trust is a issue between us. An issue that we area all so desperately trying to improve upon now. I hope that what I am about to say will show my own willingness to build on that trust between us. This information directly opposes my own view on this matter and supports at the very least extreme caution in dealing with vampires."

"It was revealed to me that the Silver Ladder here in Colorado Springs has had dealings with this Mr. Black in the past," she said then paused. "I have to point out that this information came long before these items were ever offered." On that note Rebecca continued, "I was told that Mr. Black has a habit of betraying the Silver Ladder at the worse possible times. Even in such situations where these actions are against his own interests. Mr. Black has a number of magical items that had been created for him by young mages like myself. Those lured to helping him." she paused to let out a heavy sigh of defeat. It was never easy admitting when she was wrong. "Those like me," she said then trailed off for a moment. She wanted to give them time to soak in what she had said. "So IF there are to be future dealings with Mr. Black, this must be considered. Because of my blindness, dealings I will take a backseat on."

She turned to Simon and hoped that he approved of her openness. After all, it was his effort that brought the Cabal from a point of near implosion to where they were now. "I am sure that you will not let me forget that" she said playfully. She didn't want any signs of anger or frustration in this briefing. After all, in her opinion no one did anything wrong. "There is much more about Mr. Black that needs to be shared." She said turning back to the Cabal. "He is protected by a very powerful being. Someone who keeps the Silver Ladder and the Mysterium in the local area at bay. Any action taken against Mr. Black could bring this someone down upon us. So killing him doesn't seem to be in the cards for the time being. However, what we know will be turned on its head in a matter of moments" she said holding up her hand. "My item from the Silver Ladder was this crossbow. I suspect it is designed to slay vampires. Despite what I would like to believe, it is hard to ignore such a sign in a one's life." She picked up the crossbow, "These ancient scripts here" she said pointing at the scripts along the sides of the weapon. "All mean the same thing. Be still or at rest."

She paused for a moment, "I know its hard to understand where I come from when I speak of such things. But to me, those vampires were at one time just like you and me. I don't know if they can be saved or not. But I would like to think that salvation is possible for everyone, even them. But those who know better than I do, feel that my role is better served as slayer instead of savior." It was clearly a burden that was weighing heavily on her. It was no secret that she had killed a man in cold blood. But what was not known was how much the nightmares of that night still hunted her. So many nightmares hunted her sleep, so much of them drove her anger. "I do not question my gift" she finally said after a noticeable pause. "I just don't like the idea of somethi....someone being condemned to death simply for existing. I was told that during the day of Atlantis, there was peace between all beings. I wonder if that peace is possible again."

She took in a deep breath, "God it was such a long day, just going in to the city. We didn't even have a chance to hit all of our stops." She paused as she shook her head, "Moving on. I asked about the book keeper we deal with. So far, the Silver Ladder has nothing against him. His is more or less an information broker. We can trust him as much as we would trust anyone working in that field. Though I think at this point" she said giving a nod to Richard, "I healthy does of paranoia might be in order. I suggest that we verify everything we are told before acting."

She paused a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "Up to this moment, the Silver Ladder had given us a remarkable degree of support. During my meeting with them, and even after they bestowed upon me these remarkable items, they didn't ask for anything that I had not already given them. While we were there, they ensured that Kira was healed after our run in with that sniper. This is the source of all the information that I have given you right now. The person I was speaking with, My father had vouched for, personally. Her name is Tarala, she is a Senior official here with the Silver Ladder. I want you to know that I shared with Tarala everything that I know from the first night here in Colorado Springs to the issue with the sniper. By telling her everything, it place her in a better position to help us in the future. Details that might seem to be unimportant to me might be very important to a much larger picture that I have missed. As each of you already knows, I send my reports up to the Silver Ladder already. Nothing of what I have told her, wasn't already in those reports."

Rebecca didn't pause as she continued, "So what was told to her was nothing new to the Silver Ladder leadership. But to this person who will be directly helping us in the future, it helps build a bridge of trust." She suspected that some comments were waiting to be spoken. "Please" she asked as she raised her hand to keep the floor just a few moments longer, "I am almost down with my report so please bare with me. As I said, it was a long day in town."

After taking a breath Rebecca resumed, "So once we were done with the Silver Ladder, Kira and I went to leave. That was when we saw sniper waiting for us again. Once more, I was left wondering how this sniper could have known when we were heading in to town. What path we were going to be taking or where we were going. I didn't think that he followed us to this place. It didn't much matter at the time as the threat was still there. I pulled Kira back in to the safety of the building before he could shoot at us again. I asked for a Space mage so that someone could send us up to the roof where the sniper was. One of them did send us up there. It was there we found the sniper dead with this blade" she said placing the blood covered blade on the table. "And with this note" she placed the note on the table.

The note read, 'You are welcome Rebecca, Mr. Black'

"I know, it doesn't prove anything. So I am not going to attempt to find logic in this action or what may or may not be happening in the shadows. There is just too much I don't know about what is going on. But was is important is that we know an important detail about this ammunition," she said placing the ammunition on the table, "was created by a very powerful vampire. I don't know if Mr. Black is capable of doing this or not. As I said, when Kira was hit by these bullets, her blood and flesh burst in to flames. It was if her entire body was on fire from within. To save her, I had to fireproof her so that she didn't take further damage. I also used my magic to get the bullet from a wall. Again that attracted the attention of the abyss which this time effected my spell. In getting the bullet, it allowed me to show it to Tarala. She told me about its vampirec origins."

She turned to Richard, "It is my fear that the dye has been cast and the vampires are already on the battlefield against us." She paused a moment, "maybe its time for a fact finding mission?" She couldn't help but hear the music from Mission Impossible in her head.

She reached down and picked up the sniper rifle and placed it on the table before Simon. "I can't think of anyone better suited to have this weapon, Simon" she said as she pushed the ammunition towards him. "Something tells me that the ammunition is very valuable. Its not magical, but clearly forged with powers beyond my understanding." She picked up the Kevlar body armor, "Simon in exchange, I was hoping that you could work your 'magic' on this," she said playfully referring to how good he was at creating things. "I would like this fitted for me and the knife wound in the back repaired" she opened up the armor and pointed to the inside pocket, "Richard, there appears to be a Mind Spell on this armor. The spell was concealed but I was able to locate it. However I can't figure out what the spell does. Just that it is a mind spell. Do you think you can figure out what spell it is?"

She picked up the blade from the table, "Kira, maybe you would like to have this?" she said offering the blade to her sister. Rebecca knew that no one in the group loved blades more than Kira. It just seemed fitting to her.

She picked up the rest of the items from the sniper and set them on the table. "Simon I think you would be proud of me. I picked the body clean." She turned to him with a smirk, "However, I didn't and wont sodomize a body. Sorry Simon, no poopy discoveries." She looked at the wallet and suspected that there had to be money in there. However, she also knew that Simon and Richard didn't have much in terms of resources. So she made a point to leave the wallet untouched. Rebecca took in a deep breath as she went over everything that she had said. She hoped that she had touched base on everything. "So this was the results of our trip in to town today" she said in conclusion. "So any questions?"