newham territory claim (25th - 27th ~and beyond~)

[ghoulaid]

As with most things involving werewolves (or just Ghoul in general), it happens fast and without much warning. Tensions between wolves and vampires have been high lately- there have been a number of small spats throughout the month, but nothing particularly noteworthy or lasting happens.

The 25th seems to be a day like any other, until night falls. It starts small, with a handful of wolves deciding to strut their way around Newham like they own the place. The pack has been feeling stable and stronger lately, and the wolves themselves are ornery. Why not take back what's theirs?

Word spreads quickly, and by the 26th, the wolves have committed to a full-blown invasion. It's when the fighting begins in earnest, and each side takes turns rapidly gaining and losing ground. The standoff continues in to the 27th, with neither group able to make their claim stick. Newham is a lawless mess, unsafe for either faction as violence continues to escalate. No one seems to find surrendering an option. There's no telling how long this will last, or how much damage Newham will suffer for it.

Comments

26th

[thelastjoy]

Girl's not doing much fighting either, other than an odd sucker punch as she weaves through the crowd. She's not here to get more blood on her hands. It's pack business and none of her reservations were strong enough to keep her away.

She slides to Laura's side in the middle of the night, walking up skittish and wincing sympathetically at the poor soul Laura's trying to tend to. She offers antiseptic wipes from her back pack. "Emptied a bunch of first aid kits. Figured we could use it."

[cabins]

The first thing Laura wants to do is scold Girl for being here. She shouldn't be- she's far too young to see this sort of carnage. Laura's hardly a seasoned veteran, though she is First Aid and CPR trained. A lot of these wounds, unfortunately, are way above her pay-grade, and those wolves were sent on to the actual doctors and nurses amongst them. Those with cuts and scrapes, nothing more than a few stitches wouldn't fix, Laura was capable of aiding.

But instead of scolding her, she takes the wipes from her. "Thank you. That was incredibly smart of you." Looting for first aid. She knew some were looting for money and other valuables.

"Stay here- if you don't mind." She glances up over the top of her glasses toward Girl. "I'd like to talk with you." The scolding will at least be private.

[thelastjoy]

She shrugs off the compliment, heat rising up the back of her neck. It was what little she felt she could contribute, given the circumstances. Some part of her had hoped, childishly and foolishly, that showing some initiative would be enough to prove her place here. That she wouldn't be told to go home. From the tone Laura takes with her, Girl is sure she's missed the mark.

It's tempting to run off. There's enough chaos Girl thinks she could slip away unnoticed. But she kneels to help Laura instead, eyes focused on the patient.

"I don't plan on leavin' 'til it's over," she says, talking more about the fighting than sticking to Laura's side. She nods anyway. She can take getting yelled at, even if her lips curl in disgust as the thought. "So just tell me what you need me to do here."

She opens back up her bag, expression hopeful. Maybe if she makes Laura think she's useful, the lecture won't be quite so bad.

[cabins]

Oh, she likes the initiative. She likes it a lot. But that isn't the problem. This is a battlefield. It's no place for children, and Girl is still so young.

She knows, she realizes, better than to straight up tell Girl to go home. She's the type who would sneak back out and get herself killed. If someone sets their mind to something, they'll find a way.

"Put some rubber gloves on, if you're going to help," she tells her calmly. "and then hand me some gauze?"

[thelastjoy]

She smiles, brief and relieved. She's young and inexperienced enough she can almost believe this will be the end of it. To mistake permission to help as permission to be here.

Girl starts pulling things out of her bag as Laura speaks, carefully putting on gloves. "I can do that," she says eagerly, handing over a roll of gauze and holding a pair of small scissors.

[cabins]

It was better that Girl stay here with her, out of immediate danger. She'd be a tasty snack for any of the vampires out there right now. Laura thought idly of how Marius had sent Gavroche on errands to keep him away from the barricades in Hugo's Les Miserables. How appropriate.

"Thank you." She takes the gauze first and starts rolling it around the other wolf's arm. When she's done enough, she takes the scissors and cuts the gauze. "Medical tape?" She sets the scissors down, but only for a moment.

[thelastjoy]

"It's no problem," she says, shrugging a shoulder carelessly. Her attention is one what Laura's doing. She'd watched plenty of people get patched up back from her old pack, but that was years ago. Girl had been too young to learn from it then and it's clear she cares a lot more now.

Girl digs in her bag for a moment, handing over the tape. She glances at their patient, flashing them a thin smile. "Gonna be okay, then?"

[cabins]

Laura nods. "Yes. Nothing too bad. You'll want to try not to agitate the wound further if you can avoid it." She uses the tape to adhere the bandage to the young man's skin.

She pulls her gloves off. "You can go," she says to the man, then turns back to Girl. "But you should probably stay."

[thelastjoy]

Girl leans back, watching the man leave with a troubled expression. She wants all of the pack to make it out of this in one piece, so of course she's glad he's going to be okay. But if there's nothing more to be done for him, that leaves her and Laura alone.

"I'm staying," she mumbles. She waits until the man has turned a corner before meeting Laura's eye. She keeps her voice soft and steady, not looking for confrontation. "Are you gonna try to convince me to leave now? Lecture me?"

[cabins]

"No." She says simply. "If I tell you to leave, what's to stop you from coming back? Coming back and getting hurt? Telling you to hide isn't going to do anyone any favors, and will only put you and others in more danger."

She takes off her glasses for a moment. "But you're going to be my assistant for the day." It would keep Girl out of trouble, give her a sense of purpose. And that way Laura could keep a close eye on her, too.

[thelastjoy]

"I'm not here to put anyone in danger," she says, not sure if she should be agreeing or protesting. Girl wants to believe she's only here to make things easier, take a support role. She also wants to make Laura believe she's not going to cause problems. She doesn't want to get banned from coming back to things like this, if Laura decides to rat her out to Katherine. "And I wouldn't hide anyway."

She chews on her lip, taking a moment to think over the proposition. There wasn't really a choice if she wanted to stay. "You're right. I'd just come right back. Might as well stay with you, I guess."

[cabins]

"I know you're not. But that doesn't mean we wouldn't bring danger to ourselves in order to protect you." She smiles a little.

"Exactly, and while you're at it, I'll show you a few things. We always need more people trained in First Aid." There were other ways to show that you were valuable, other ways to help. Fighting wasn't the only one.

"I do want to thank you for scavenging for these, however." She gestures at the bag. "It's going to be incredibly useful."

[thelastjoy]

Girl pales, shaking her head. "I wouldn't want any of you to do that."

It hits a little to close to things she's seen before. Never again does she want to be the kid people got hurt trying to save. Logic would say that should push her to stop running into these situations in the first place. Too bad being a teenager kept her from seeing that logic.

"Didn't think you used to be a nurse or anything." She squints at Laura, mentally trying to rewind their conversations and tidbits she's heard around the den. "Where'd you go and learn how to sew people back up?"

Girl ducks under the gratitude. A little sigh of relief escapes her. She's glad some else agrees. "It's not a big deal. Been around packs before so I know how much these things come in handy and how little everyone else seems to think about them." She shuffles things around in her back pack, glancing up at Laura shyly. "I would wanna learn though. How to patch people up and stuff. People like us can always use it."

[cabins]

"And hopefully, it will never come to that." Her smile is warm.

Laura tosses her gloves in the near-by trashcan. "It's part of teaching- you want to be able to do basic First Aid. I'm also CPR certified." Which, in addition to her older age made her a much better candidate for playing nurse than a foot soldier.

She also lacked the moonlight jewelry that aided so many of her pack-members.

"Precisely my thought, Girl. Alright, first things first- wash your hands up to the elbow."

[thelastjoy]

Girl starts peeling off her own gloves, balling them inside-out the way she's seen in hospital shows. She tosses them out after Laura's, hiking her bag back up on her back. "Yeah? And is all this considered basic?"

It seems more than that to her. But what did she know about injuries, really? Or teaching, for that matter.

"I have disinfectant?" Her voice raises at the end in question, pulling a bottle out from a pocket on her bag. "Unless you got some water and soap hidin' out here."

[cabins]

"More or less. Some of it is actually basic sewing knowledge." Which was a lovely morbid thought for you. Still, that's how Laura knew how to stitch someone up.

"That'll do for now. We've got the immune system for it, but usually, soap and hot water, 30 seconds. Always switch gloves between patients."

[thelastjoy]

Her nose wrinkles slightly. She's watched people get stitched up before, back when she was younger. It had never bothered her back then, but she hadn't been the one holding the needle. "Haven't done a lot of that. But I can figure out a needle and thread."

She nods, pouring out the solution onto her hands and rubbing furiously. She hands the bottle to Laura. "Right. Better safe then sorry." Girl eyes a woman stumbling up the street from them. "Should we go stitch up the next guy?"

[cabins]

"Good to hear. These needles have the thread already attached. There are two types- the plastic one that you pull out later, or the one that dissolves. We're using the latter."

Laura applies the gel and nods. "Yes- we've got plenty of work ahead."

[thelastjoy]

"Okay." At least they wouldn't have to remove the stitches later. "Sounds good. Wasn't ever all that good at threadin' those things anyway."

Girl pulls out more gloves, handing some over Laura's way and turning toward the next patient. "Right. Probably gonna be a long night."