The New Leader

[vagus32000]

Adam Vagus sat alone at the head of a large table ringed with chairs deep within the wolf pack house. The six foot three dark haired muscular man wore a pair of jeans and a white shirt with a picture of Ronald Reagan on the front with the words 'What he said' printed beneath. Sneakers and a shoulder holster containing his ever present Colt .45, a spare clip, and a dagger completed the picture. As always his clothes were rumpled despite his otherwise well groomed and handsome appearance. In his hands was a thick book about the life of General U.S. Grant, one of his heroes, which he was currently reading, a tall glass of root beer sitting within reach of his left hand. He hoped Landon D. Cross had gotten his message to meet him here. Adam wanted to go over the affairs of his new pack.
"New pack," he said to himself with a smirk. "Who'd of thought I'd join a pack, let alone be it's leader." It wasn't as if he had a choice, at least in his mind. The position had been open for who knows how long and apparently no one wanted it, so Adam simply declared that HE would take it. No one objected so here he was, leader of a band of werewolves he'd only known for a week.
"Stranger things have happened," Adam said banishing the thought. He'd set himself upon this path and had no intention of going back. Like Grant he firmly believed in never backtracking. Ounce upon a set coarse he'd follow it to it's end, choosing whatever side paths presented themselves as best he could and then following them. Whatever happened along the way, he'd deal with without complaint or delay.
Turning the page he came upon Grant's first battle, The Battle of Belmont. "And so it begins."

[tomod]

Tormod wandered through the pack house, still trying to decide exactly how he'd agreed, after years of being on his own, that joining a pack-even if for a specific reason and hopefully a short time-was a good thing. He smiled wryly. He was an old dog. He wasn't supposed to be learning new tricks.

He rubbed his face and sighed. Stepping into the room, he spied the form of a younger man sitting at the table reading. He didn't really want to disturb him, but he was bored and desperately needed a bit of company-he was starting to feel like a ghost in this big house. So he stopped at the doorway and cleared his throat, his deep blue eyes scanning the man thoughtfully. So young-but there was a feeling of authority there. Which was something that Tormod had never had.

"Evenin." He said softly, his distinctive scottish lilt evident even in that one word. He waited for the other to acknowledge the greeting.

[vagus32000]

Adam looked up from his book, his sky blue eyes meeting the man's gaze.
"Evening," he said with a friendly smile to show that he didn't mind the interruption. "Come, sit down. I'd enjoy the company." He said this while closing his book and gesturing to a nearby empty chair. "I've been meaning to meet with all of you but until now I've been too busy."
Adam leaned back in his chair and locked his fingers behind his head.
"Name's Vagus," he continued. "What's yours?"

[tomod]

"Tormod." He returned the other's smile and sat down, stretching his long frame out comfortably. The way he said it, it came out 'Tormot'. "I understand you've been busy."

He sighed and rubbed his face. "Are the rumors true?" he asked bluntly. "Is it going to be a war?"

He fixed his dark blue eyes on the other's face, searching, waiting for a hint of deceit or untruthfulness. He wasn't by nature a trusting man, and all of this 'pack joining' nonsense had pushed him to the very limit of his tolerance. He knew, if it came down to it, what side he wanted to be on, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be this closely allied with...anyone, to tell the truth.

[vagus32000]

Vagus sighed heavily. He'd hoped to have been able to talk of Cross before making any official announcement. Oh, well life wasn't perfect. "Perhaps. I have yet to hear from our spies yet though. All I can say for certain is that is won't blow over. Something this big never does unfortunately." He sat up and looked Tormod straight in the eye, his trademark calmness replaced by a fire that blazed in his eyes. "But don't worry my friend. Whatever happens we WILL survive, you can count on that. We're wolves, the epitome of a warrior, cunning matched with instinct and stealth, joined with a final, terrifying attack. No one will ever kill us off."
Regaining his composure Adam leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. "So, Tormot you a fan of The War between the States?"

[littleangelamy22]

Mahiro snuck in through an open window, but fell out making a large crash on the floor that shook the room where she was told a meeting had been taking place.
"Sorry Dudes. I was just kinda, uum, watching but then I sorta fell through the window..." she pointed upwards and grimaced slightly. It was embaressing really.
"So, I'm guessing you're Vagus, leader of this were-pack-whatever you wanna call it thing, and you are a random were." She strolled up to each and shook there hands, smiling.
"I'm Mahiro, Mahiro De'Jango. A large branch of my family is wolves, but heck this is'nt Rome or London so they can't make it. Kinda pacifists anyway though."
Mahiro helped herself to a seat and sat down in it. She reached into a a large rucksack on her back and pulled out several things and placed them on the meeting room table.
"Okay, so I kinda got supplies for this war thing. There is gonna be a war right?? Anyway, these here (She gestured to what looked like wine and vodka bottles with a cork in and some string going through it sort of like a bomb fuse) are smackers. Home made bombs, highly effective and they gets real hot before they blow. These (Gesturing to what looked like plastic water pistols,) are water pistols. But they ent filled with water, they are filled with what I call "Bomb Water" it basically explodes when it touches something really hot or cold. And big explosions too. I don't have very many of these, so don't lose them." She smiled and took a deep breath, then continued, "These ones here (she said gesturing to what looked like coke cans) are cans of coke. Highly good at quenching thrist. For older peeps, we have this instead (she puled out what looked like a minature oil barrell from her bag) Chocotini Beer. My family owns a brewery chain, and I gotta help this fight thing get moving. It can't end till it's begun right? I can get more of that real easy."
She took another breath and scanned the room. In the 'war' she hoped she would'nt be a front line fighter. She would only want to do that if 'he' was on the other side, with a great chance of being hit by her...

[vagus32000]

Adam chuckled to himself as Mahiro went over her arsenal. The woman sure had spunk and knew how to make some deadly weapons, although he wasn't sure about the 'bomb water.'
"Mahiro," he said leaning forward. "While I appreciate the weapons and your eagerness, the war hasn't started yet. I won't send people out to die unless I know what's going on and so far all I have are rumors." Grabbing his glass of root beer Adam took a sip and frowned when he realized he'd just emptied it. Setting it down he continued, "Unless you know something I don't no one's made a move yet and while I've never been one to let the enemy strike first I have nothing to go on. I have no idea where Romeo and Juliet are or if they are even still alive. I will not deploy my soldiers in support of a cause that no longer exists."
He grabbed his glass and almost raised it to his lips when he realized that he hadn't refilled it. Setting it down he said, "How about one of those Cokes, that is, if they're cold."

[tomod]

Tormod was about to answer Vagus' rather odd question about the war between the states-he wasn't sure which states or which war he was referring to-when Mahiro interrupted them. Leaning back, he raised his eyebrows, feeling a little aprehensive.

Some people appeared a bit too...eager...for a fight, in his opinion.

He said nothing, however, sealing his mouth shut and simply leaning on his hand, his eyes half-closing. He, for one, didn't truely appreciate Mahiro's 'spunk'...he preferred quieter people. But he could see that she'd be an asset if it did come to a war. That is, if she could keep her temper and head long enough to survive until then.

[landon]

Landon had recieved notice that he was to come to a 'pack-house' to discuss some issues about a up and comming war. He had been coming through the door and was taking off his shoes when he heard a crash. Jossled he moved quickly with long strides to the entrance to another room where he saw Mahiro, a younger werewolf he'd meet briefly. He sighed and leaned against the door frame as she launched into a speach. Her talking exhausted him, his large frame (he stands about 6'2) blocked most of the doorway. He was dressed casually since he had been on holidays from work. Free from his suits, he was in a pair of faded blue jeans, a black tight fitting shirt, and black runners. When Mahiro finally stopped talking he took a step in to the room.

He recognized Tormod, even though the previous time he'd met the man he'd been a bit entoxicated. "Tormod," he nodded in acknoledgement. "Mahiro" his voice showed mild annoyace, it wasn't that he didn't like the girl, just she had so much energy it made him feel like he had none. "Which means you must be Adam Vagus, correct?"

Landon was glad he wasn't pushed into the possition of pack leader, it just wasn't for him, but this man, perhaps. He hoped.

[vagus32000]

"Ah, Landon I'm glad you're here," Adam said smiling broadly and forgetting about the Coke. "Please, sit down we have much to discuss. I see you already know our friends Tomot and Mahiro and please just call me Vagus," Adam leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. "As I was just saying this situation with Romeo and Juliet is worrisome, not the least because I have little information on their whereabouts and on how the vampires and the other packs are taking this." The swept the room with his eyes, his gazing briefly alighting on Tomot and Mahiro before returning to Landon. "If any of you have any information pertaining to this speak up now. I don't care whether you're a captain or a simple soldier, I value all input no matter the source."
Locking his fingers behind his head Adam waited for them to speak.

[landon]

"I don't know anything yet, mostly just people on the street wolves young and old are worried. Speaking of war like it is the only option. These two 'Romeo and Juliet' are... public, I guess. Vampires and Werewolves that are keen on hating each other find it repulisive," Landon shrugged, he himself was with a vampire, though it wasn't public knowledge. He didn't think it was such a big deal, but with everyone now on edge he was seeing it just might be. It was why he was here anyways. He wasn't much of a fighter but there was no way he was going to have people telling him who he could and could not be with. He was going to fight for the causes he believed in.

"Anyone know who these two lovebirds are anyways?" Landon questioned. He was still coming to terms with the reality of vampires, and now there was a war involving them. He was wondering if he had seen it earlier and simply chose to ignore it. He wondered why these two being in love had caused such a disturbance. Had this never happened before... perhaps it had and had been kept quite by those who didn't want it known.

Landon took a seat and looked around the quarters then to each of the others in the room. He had kind of wanted to meet this Vagus one on one. See what he was really about, other people being around clouded his judgement slightly. He focused on Vagus giving undivided attention

[vagus32000]

Adam nodded, all this was nothing new. An incurable restless spirit, he'd been around far more than most older wolves. As a former state trooper he'd learned how to keep his ear to the ground and knew early on that trouble was brewing. What bothered him was that he neither knew who these two were nor where they where. That was the sixty-four dollar question. When Landon finished speaking Adam turned his gaze to Tormot and Mahiro. It was their turn to speak.

[Ali Ambrose]

Ali was at the front of the building. She was arguing with the guard and she was frustrated. She needed to get in to talk with Adam Vagus. She had valuable information and none of the vampire leaders were taking enough time to care. So her last resort was the werewolf pack leader. But this guard wasnt helping at all.

She had seen Landon leave and so she followed him here and took her chance to pass on information. Now the problem was getting in. But when a werewolf snuck through the window and made a loud noise, the guard turned slightly, and she knocked him out with a hard knock to the head. She winced and then walked in. She followed Landons scent and then saw the wolves and caught the last bit of conversation. She folded her arms and said, "He doesnt know, but I do. You want me."

[vagus32000]

Had this been another time and place Adam would of started hitting on the vampire but not now, this was too important. That is, if she truly had something to share. Although Adam had never really cared where his decisions led him, this was when all he had to worry about was himself. Now, however, all was different. He was a pack leader now with wolves under him looking to him for guidance, for leadership. Every decision he made effected not only him but his pack as well. Thus he had to be careful in who he trusted.
"Who are you my dear and what information do you have to give me?"

[Ali Ambrose]

Ali stayed far enough away from the werewolves so if they wanted to attack her she could run. But she was also close enough so they could see her and vice versa. She kept her arms folded and smiled slightly. She was normally very polite and she wouldnt change her ways just because she was slightly nervous. But she nodded at the leader and said, "Im Ali Shadings. And I can answer about the two love birds. What their names are, what species, and where they were last scene and what happened there." She told him in a calm voice. "In other words...Im a spy. But I want that relationship to work."