Catharsis.

Rends the Gar howled into the night, sending Penelope away with wishes of strength and endurance. As she vanished from the material world, Rends focused on Erik Warbreath and the two Garou locked stares.

You done your damage, ya big dumb bastard. It's in her hands now. Too bad fer you!

A loud chorus of howls sounds around them, and their stare is broken by the sudden flurry of motion blitzing for the Caern's exit. Pushing the older Get from his mind, Rends goes to all fours as he joins the call to the hunt. The air around the Caern seems to flow around him, more dense and yet more alive than normal. As he sprints out of the cave entrance Rends sends up another howl to Luna as he feels a surge of energy rush through him, urging him on to the hunt. He felt Luna's might surge through him as she peeked out from behind a cloud, and the hulking werewolf smiled to himself as he tore through the woods, heedless of the other Garou behind him. Crashing through the forest, heedless of where he was going, he felt his worries wash over him. His anger at Warbreath, frustration at himself, worry for his Tribe and Pack, and most of all his worry for Penelope's safety all sloughed away in the cleansing wave of energy he'd started to feel as soon as the Hunt was sounded.

A scent caught his attention, pulling him back down from his euphoria. The wind was blowing out of San Antonio, and a heavy musky stink was carried on it. Following his gut, Rends veered off to head towards the scent, listening and watching for any sign of the Wyrm.

The woods grew thick here, scraggly ceder and sickly looking oak branches hung low like grasping limbs of a thousand skeletal spiders. Ahead of him, Rends could hear what sounded like low voices but the trees had cut off Luna's light and limited his line of sight to just a few yards.

A sudden motion to his left. No time to think.

Rends went into a forward roll and as he came to his feet he pulled his Dreamknife and Ribcage free as his red and grey fur rippled starting at his right claw, changing into a shining metallic glint as he raised his weapons to the newcommer in challenge.

It was another Garou wearing Crinos, with silver fur missing in several scar covered patches. Roaring Jack chuckled softly, walking forward and using a short spear with a broad head as a walking stick.

"You got good reflexes, boy. And I see you learned a few new tricks."

Rends relaxes as the Elder approaches, lowering his weapons.

"Didn't mean to intrude, Roarin' Jack. If'n you want this ta yerself, jest say the word and I'll find some other critters to kill."

Jack laughed again, continuing forward and waving the younger Garou to follow him as he hunkered down into the brush.

"Nonsense, boy. I reckon there's enough Stink Apes for both of us."

Intrigued, Rends followed after the Elder, letting him take lead as they snuck up on the source of the musky stench. Pushing through the scrub, they came suddenly to the edge of a clearing. It was no wider than thirty yards at its widest. The area seemed to be in the middle of the forest; there was no sign of a road or civilization to be seen. In the middle of the clearing stood a dozen huge figures Rends initially took to be Glabro form Garou. Looking closer though, he could see that they were each covered in a thick layer of black hair that seemed to shine in the moonlight with an oil like sheen. Clouds of flies congregated around them, filling the air with a horrid buzzing that seemed to make a counter harmony to their rough guttural, screeching chanting. They were arrayed in a circle, dancing and chanting around a bonfire in the middle. Next to the fire and inside the circle, another of the creatures stood wearing a large head dress hung with dozens of human scalps. There was a fresh human body laying at its feet, and as the two Garou watched the creature plunged a flint knife down, opening the gut and reaching in with its claws, rubbing the entrails first on its self then on its companions as they broke the circle to receive the mark.

"Nasty things, Stink apes. Smart enough to be dangerous, but too dumb to know when they're beat."

Roaring Jack turned to Rends, gripping his spear as a fire rose up in his eyes.

"You ready to wet your toys, boy?"

Rends smiled, fangs glistening in the night as he rose to meet his Elder's eyes.

"Always."

Roaring Jack smiled back, tilting his head back to howl a warcry that Rends soon joined in. The two Garou burst from the treeline, Jack throwing his spear and Rends closing with the nearest Stink Ape in a fraction of a second.

Jack's spear burst into blue flame mid throw, catching the chieftan in the throat. The fur around the wound burst into flame, and the creature fell into the bonfire howling and clawing at the ground as it perished in the flames, but the spear remained unharmed by the flames.

Roaring, Rends the Gar leapt into the fray, swinging the rope club with savage strength and taking the first Stink Ape square in the face. the skull cracked, splattering Rends with black ichor and bits of skull. His knife swung in a flash, hamstringing another Stink Ape as Rends swung the club around for a followup. The swing missed, his target raising its own club up to deflect the blow and smashing the weapon into Rends' ribs. His steel fur rippled, taking the brunt of the hit as Rends smiled again, slamming the knife down through the Ape's skull, dropping it with a wet crunch.

The Apes let out a yammering howl, those still standing now jumping and beating the ground in anger and raising weapons as they cursed the Garou in their foul language. Snarling Rends raised his weapons to meet their attack and was greeted with a cloud of stinging flies storming into his face, choking him and biting at him. He could feel them crawling down his throat, clogging his nose and biting at his eyes as he howled in pain. He felt their clubs and spears pounding on his hide, blood starting to spill from some of his wounds.

There was a flash of blue, and a wave of heat washed over him. Roaring Jack had his spear in hand. He waved the burning weapon around like a quarter staff, and the flies dropped in clouds as the heat washed over them. Rends saw three more of the apes felled, two with burning fur and one with what looked almost like frostbite covering its face. Jack helped Rends back up to his feet, the Apes temporarily scared off by the burning spear. Jack let out a full laugh, slapping Rends on the back.

"I told ya these bastards are nasty, boy."

Rends coughed up a lungfull of dead flies, focusing his angry glare on the remaining Stink Apes.

"Yup. Le's kill em."

Howling, the two sides clashed again, now engaged in a furious all out brawl. Claw, tooth, steel, stone and lead all flashed in the night and the roaring and yammering of the combatants filled the night. Rends lost himself to the melee, cleaving limb and smashing bones without thinking. He was an instrument of Gaia's fury, cleansing her face of an unholy blemish. He felt himself take wounds, but he ignored them, lost to the desire to rend his foes from head to tail.

It only lasted a few seconds. Rends swung his club one final time, smashing in the skull of the last Stink Ape as it lay prone on the ground, feebly clawing at Roaring Jack as the flaming spear stuck out of its gut. The bodies of the other Apes lay around the two victorious Garou in a wide swath of severed limbs and lake of bloody ichor. Both Garou breathed heavily, taking a moment to bask in their victory and heal their wounds.

The Garou nodded to each other once, no words spoken as they howled their victory, then shifted into Lupus to seek out their next prey. The night was still young, and while their victory may have sufficed for lesser Tribes, Gaia demanded better of her savage warriors of the North. The two Garou bounded off into the night, scenting out their next kill.