A Conspiracy is Born

The smell of burned hair and spilled bedpans was still strong in the bar loft. Eaton pushed past the others in an angry hurry to get away from Zas. Rends chuckled drunkenly as Zoe quickly followed and Eiger took up his pipes again. Zas made to follow after, but before he could take the steps Rends grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the shadowed recesses. His drunken wobbling and stammering now all but gone, Rends checked to make sure the two were alone before speaking in an urgent whisper.

"I confronted Eaton earlier about startin' a fight without cluing the rest of us in and his story changed half a dozen times before we was through. He did mention you specifically though, a couple times. Have you noticed anythin' strange about him lately?

The philodox set the poor-man's flame thrower down on a nearby nightstand, but took a sip of the contents that remained in the bottle.

With that, he turned to face the Ahroun and gave an inquisitive look.
"I shared our quick plans with Eaton before all this..." he gestures to the room and inn. He coughs.

"He told me he was trying to provide a distraction."

The Silent Strider sighs, "Sometimes we make mistakes by trying to bite off more than we can chew, but luckily that wasn't the case here."

Its unclear whether or not the philodox is defending the bone gnawer's actions.

He pauses, his tone curious but not playful, "What exactly did he tell you?"

Rends stares at the Philodox flatly for a moment then crosses his arms.

"You're full of shit, and a worse liar than he is. You was over with me and Zoe when we sniffed out the Leeches earlier."

Rends shakes his head, frustrated.

"First he told me he knew we'd have his back. Then he said we shoulda been watchin' after Zoe since he can fend fer himself. Then he decided he was jest havin' some fun, before finally settlin' on sayin' he's jest nervous about how McLeod's been angry with us. But he mentioned snappin' at you specifically, which makes me think I'm not the only one who's called him out on this kinda bullshit lately."

Rends snatches away the bottle and dumps the rest of its contents on the floor then tosses the bottle out an open window.

"Somethin's goin' on with him. You seen it too and said somethin' to him about it and I think he told you a different story than he told me. I think if we lay his lies open we may be able to parse together somethin' of what's actually goin' on. Help me out here, man!"

The philodox stares blankly for a moment before he looks intently at Rends. His mouth unmoving.

I MAY BE MANY THINGS. BUT I AM NO LIAR!!!

Rends hears Zas voice boom and echo in his head, as if every word were a thunder clap.

The apache blinks again and speaks aloud, his words soft but crystal clear. "Our galliard is coming to grips with some things.

But..."

He draws a long slow breath, "He is hiding something from me...from us. I know that much for certain. I do not know if it is something he is fully aware of or to what extent he has control over it."

The Silent Strider looks back out the door following the rest of the pack heading out and said to the ahroun, "He gave me many stories and half truths as plausible justification for why his behavior and anger towards me has been so strong, when I attempted to resolve our differences."

He looks back to Rends. "None of these reasons answered my question."

The philodox looks to the floor, lost in thought. "It may be something that clung to him while we were in the abyss...or maybe...maybe his mind has broken. I do not know."

He looks back up, "I have taken a step of sorts towards ensuring he does not abandon Gaia, but it is all I could do without knowing more."

Zas sighs, "But I am willing to try anything."

Rends staggers back a step at the psychic assault. He shakes his head, clearing away the echoes of the terrible voice pounding in his skull.

"Alright. You're not a liar. But that's jest more concerning. He's so preoccupied with keepin' his secrets he never even realized he had a valid reason for actin' as he did."

He pauses for a moment, unsure.

"I think it started in the Abyss. I thought he was feelin' responsible fer what happened to Mocks, but I'm not sure about that no more. When I talked to him it seemed like he wanted to talk about anything other than what happened down there."

The philodox considers it for a moment. "Thinking on it and reliving that moment when we lost Mocks over and over...I think we all did it for awhile. Considering all the what if's and what could have been done."

Zas B'ul pursed his lips together. "If he is intentionally avoiding something about that, its a good starting point. We could--"

He quit speaking mid thought as an idea occurred. His face grew grim.

"Rends...how well could you see down there? Did you have eyes on everybody the whole time?"

A long pause.

"Brave in War said that some vampires can control us with their eyes, and we have also fought things like the Igohida that could take over people-and the abyss had foul creatures bound away all over the place. What if there is some bane thing that got to Eaton?"

Zas clears his head, "No. No way. The Forked Ash has garou looking for wyrm presence. We were there awhile. Somebody would have sniffed that out..."

Another idea hits him.

"Unless they couldn't. The Uktena we just saw in the dreams...one of them got corrupted and none of the others noticed until she went all out crazy and let the wyrm in....maybe when we were in the abyss-he got bit or something. He could be possessed and none of us be the wiser because he doesn't smell like the wyrm. The taint hides too deep."

Rends is quiet for a long moment, replaying his most recent dive into the Abyss. After a long minute's consideration he shakes his head.

"I can't account fer him the whole time we was down there. I was up at the head of the group most of the time with everyone else behind me, and they was too many of us there to keep tabs on every soul all the while. I don't remember him actin' funny down there, but that place got into my head. I weren't my proper self fer most of that trip and I was too busy watchin' Lune Stalker to worry about anythin' else on the walk."

He looks off to the side, then up again. Determination and anxiety are at war within his eyes as he locks them with Zas.

"I think you may be right. He took some hits down there, maybe he ended up swallowin' some Leech blood - I've heard that can corrupt anyone - or maybe it happened while we was takin' a rest. Maybe Gyrre whispered lies to him and made him an offer like he did me and Mocks..."

Rends pounds a fist into the nearby wall hard enough to bloody his knuckles.

"Damnit! This ain't how it's supposed to be! We're supposed to be beyond second guessing each other by now! But why won't he jest ask fer help? If he's liein' about somethin' he has to know they's somethin' to lie about!"

Zas snorts, "You know how proud and stubborn he can be. Does it really surprise you that he wouldn't come asking for help about something?"

The quiet indian man turned to look out into the bar below.

"Rends, we have to do something. No matter which way I look at it though, this is gonna seem like we are ganging up on him and it runs the risk of pushing him away."

He grits his teeth and clenches his fists, "We have no other option though. IF--if this were something just between him and I or that I was blowing out of proportion, that would be one thing. However, you have noticed a change in him too. He has lied to you. This means whatever is going on is bigger than just a squabble between him and I. This effects the pack."

The philodox turns to face the Fenrir after a long pause, "I think we should get Zoe to do a cleansing ritual. Purify us spiritually, maybe use the excuse that it's been awhile and we were fighting in the foul water of the new caern. Once we are out a good ways from town, maybe even wait til the following night after we have set up camp, we smell for the wyrm bringing all our gifts to bear. Get Fae and Zoe to join in....if we still can't pick up anything, we call him out. We interrogate him. We whittle down every falsehood or cover story he tries to throw at us like water wearing down a mountain until we get to whatever is lurking beneath the surface."

The Apache gives a firm and resolute nod, "If he refuses to share whatever he holds back beyond this point, I will know it is of the wyrm and that it jeopardizes the safety of the pack. If he confesses, we can figure out how to proceed. Either way, we will have an answer." Shaking his head, "I am not going to lose another one."

Rends shakes his head, obviously frustrated.

"I doubt that'd work. If we cleanse and cain't smell any Wyrm shit, then take action against him without anythin' more it'll make us look like fools to everyone and push him further away; he don't have to come up with a new story. All he has to do is say we're paranoid. All we've got right now is my gut feelin' and his bein' pissy with you which ain't a first time occurrence. We have to find a way to get him to confess..."

He trails off, looking sick.

"... Confess, or reveal what he's done willingly. We have to force his hand. Give him no other choice but to come clean one way or another. Failing that, we find concrete evidence of what he's done and use that as the foundation for our next step. Whatever that is. We cain't jest point fingers and beat him senseless. We gotta play this smart."

Rends pauses for a moment, nodding to himself. He turns back to Zas, eyes studious.

"First thing we need to know then, is why. Why would he go keepin' secrets and doing Mother only knows what in the first place?"

The philodox shakes his head, as if reconsidering something, "If we cleanse everyone and we still smell wyrm in the middle of nowhere, we have something. But we should be up front about it. The pack should know the real reason. I don't want deception--theres already too much of that."

He grinds his teeth, "If it turns up nothing, then your latter question is the crux of everything."

Zas hangs his head, "He has already settled on the idea that lying to us is fine-..."

He looks back up his eyes simmering with rage, "We can't afford to delay this. You and I have both caught him in numerous lies and tried to deal with this privately. He's making his choice and now we have to make ours. He's been given multiple chances to come clean and refused. We force this now otherwise we risk letting the pack tear itself apart. How can we work together without trust?"

Rends nods.

"We settle this before we get to the Final Legend and his ilk then. Let's talk to Zoe and Carver. I wanna make sure Zoe's on the same page as us. As fer Carver, I reckon if we all come at him Eaton'll feel like he's gettin' ganged up on and shut down. We can have Carver act as mediator; make sure we don't cross any lines ourselves."

He holds up a hand to shake with Zas.

"We settle this open and honest like. They's been enough lies already.

The philodox nods in affirmation, "I think that having Carver as mediator is wise. I do not think I can be impartial or objective about this."

Zas frowns, "Zoe is our medicine woman. She might even be able to see things we can't with her spirit ties. But, like us-I feel she might not be completely able to look at this situation without her own concerns tainting her judgement. She needs to be made aware of this, and I think she would agree that Eiger is better suited to be fair and open minded about this. He never went to the abyss."

Zas grips the ahrouns hand. "Agreed."