Botching it in Bromley (Territory Claim)

[bellbound]

They've done their research. They know where the fae in Bromley are hiding out, their movements, their numbers. As far as intelligence gathering goes, it's not a bad effort. They have a plan too. This at least is an improvement over some past witches that Mogget could mention, though in his opinion the plan is rather crude. Samantha could get a lot more resistance than she bargained for.

Which, it turns out, is exactly the case. Of course, Mogget is the one on the ground with the other witches, trying to control a situation that swiftly spirals out of control. Samantha is nowhere to be seen; she gets others to do her dirty work.

He's not looking forward to telling her what went wrong.

[ooc: Planning post here, individual threads for each day below! Feel free to make your own subthreads and let me know if you have any questions!]

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[bellbound]

Yes, he's watching. And he notes that instinct to rush forward, even though Ghoul checks himself. Why does he care what happens to some random fae?

As for where... Mogget considers the question, but something else distracts him before he can answer. The Seelie has spotted the break in the circle. As one witch steps over the barrier, leaving the other within its border, the cat darts forward.

"She's bluffing–"

Too late. The Seelie bites – actually bites – the witch holding her, sinking unnaturally sharp fangs into the witch's arm, though she doesn't drink like a vampire would. Instead she takes off, jumping over the broken circle with her hands still cuffed. There's nothing Mogget can do; he runs forward to the injured witch, calling for her companion to help her.

It's Ghoul who is in the perfect position to stop the escaping fae. As he should.

[ghoulaid]

He should.

But he doesn't. The most he does is scuttle back with a bewildered look on his face, staying well out of her path as she flees. He hadn't expected her to attack like that, but, well, he can't say the witch didn't deserve it. He's already got an arsenal of excuses ready- it all happened so fast, she caught him by surprise, he didn't have a weapon, he was worried about the injured witch what's-her-name.

Damn those slippery fae, huh.

[bellbound]

It's becoming more and more obvious that the witches have no idea what they're dealing with. A few do, mostly the older and more experienced ones, but most have grown up in a city where summoning fae was forbidden and they've had very little exposure to fae tricks or tactics.

Or maybe the werewolf screwed it all up.

Once he's sure that the injured witch is being tended to, Mogget shakes his head at their stupidity and then turns back to regard Ghoul.

"Why aren't you chasing after her?"

The Seelie is literally handcuffed with iron; she's probably hobbling along the next street.

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul stares blankly. He very nearly asks what the hell he's supposed to do about it. If a team of witches with all their tricks can't subdue her, what's a single wolf got going for him?

But, he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. This could be a good opportunity for Ghoul to slip away. Perhaps a decent way to keep an eye on Lan until she can get some place safe, as well. "Shit. Yeah. I'll, uh. I'll get her, just-" Just stay the fuck with the witches, is what he's hoping Mogget will do. He backs off, striding away from the rest of them in a hurried sort of way.

If the two of them are lucky, she'll already have disappeared somewhere.

[bellbound]

Of course she had been subdued until Ghoul had decided to sabotage the circle. Now is his chance to make up for that, not that Mogget expects him to take it. He watches Ghoul go but doesn't follow, instead taking the opportunity for a short break. Stretching out his paws, yawning, that sort of thing. No point in moving on until the witches are ready, after all, and that bite does look nasty.

[ghoulaid]

Once he realizes he's not being tailed, he relaxes. Ghoul has no plans to capture her again, but he does want to do a bit of legitimate searching- she's still got those shackles on. If there's a chance he could remove them, he'd certainly be willing to try. But she likely isn't open to the idea of company at the moment. Hell, she's possibly hiding already. That's what he'd do if he were a weakened fae, probably.

Either way, he figures he's safe. It's not like Mogget can prove he didn't do his best to bring her back under control... right?

Right. Totally right. Definitely...

[bellbound]

No one orders Mogget to go after Ghoul so he doesn't bother. Ten minutes go by until the witches have recovered (one with a lovely bandage on her neck), and only then does Mogget get up, stretch and look around as they get ready to go.

Where is that damn wolf?

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul doesn't plan on coming back, honestly, and he assumes none of them would wait around for him anyhow. But then he gets to thinking that he should maybe go in to the shop. Leave a note in case she comes back, or something. Or make sure it's safe inside whenever she does finally return? It seems like a solid enough idea, and he has no place else he's assigned to be at the moment.

Imagine his surprise when he loops back around and finds Mogget again. "You're still here?"

[bellbound]

"Venomous bites are not so easily cured," the cat answers. The bandage alone was hardly a fix. "Why are you alone?"

He should have brought back his quarry. 'Should' being the operative word here.

[ghoulaid]

"Venom...?" What the actual fuck, he's for sure not going up against her now.

But he can't say that, of course. What he does is stares down at the ground, molding himself in to the very picture of awkwardness. Look, Mogget. Look at how sheepish and very sorry he is about his absolutely-not-intentional failure. "I dunno where she got off to. I can't tail 'em too good by myself." That, at least, isn't a lie. Witches and fae are by far the most difficult groups for him to track.

[bellbound]

"Another one gone and nothing to show for it." It doesn't matter whether it was intentional or not. They still failed. He turns back to the witches who are ready to leave. "May I suggest that we go without the mangy fleabag over here. He'll only sabotage us if he can."

The witch with the bandage on her neck is called Mary, and she looks both scared and confused. "I don't understand. He said you broke the circle and let the fae escape. I thought you were supposed to protect us."

[ghoulaid]

Ghoul makes a sound unnervingly close to an actual growl. "You shut the fuck up," he snaps as he stomps the ground near Mogget. He'd love to just outright stomp him, but attempting to scare him will do for now.

He turns his attention to the injured witch after he vents that little bit of frustration, and scowls at her. It's probably better not to confirm what he did or didn't do with the circle, so he leaves that one alone... "Yeah, I'm gonna try, but you don't need to be around if you can't stomach the idea of gettin' hurt. Shit happens." Sometimes shit he directly causes. Whoops.

"If they start tryin' to shove you in a cage, I'll be on 'em ."

[bellbound]

The cat darts away, retreating behind Mary's feet where Ghoul can't reach him. He has now successfully eroded the witches' trust in Ghoul since both of them look at him with doubtful expressions, but that's as it should be. The East End Pack alpha will hear about this, as will Samantha, and he can't imagine that either will be happy about it.

They move on to their next location and Mogget slips away to report back to Samantha, but not without reminding the witches to keep an eye on Ghoul. He needs it.