[hr][center][h1][b][color=228B22]The Greenwood Coven
[/color][/b][/h1]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/c3LUb4m.png[/img][h3][color=goldenrod]& Sully McPherson[/color][/h3]
in collaboration w/ [@Punished GN]
[/center][right][code]Last Night, Greenwood's Base Camp[/code][/right][hr]
A gust of wind appeared, carrying leaves and other foliage…

Then, the Greenwood Coven appeared in the brushes… at their base camp. It was in the range of Amelia’s teleportation, and thankfully, Judas’ abstraction didn’t work in areas like this… they could hear the chaos of his fight against the PRA in the distance. Which meant that it was something chaotic going on. It wasn’t a fancy setup… it was set up like a generic camp, with tents, chests, and whatnot, hidden in the thick bushes.

However, their fearless leader, Ruby White, had already pulled out an emptied cigar, licked the edge, put her marijuana inside, rolled it, and had it lit in under a [i]minute[/i]. She took a very deep puff of it, then blew it out with a sigh… she rolled her eyes as she looked toward the sky.

“... That bitch ruined our plan!” Ruby hissed.

“I mean Rubes, it’s okay!” Jessica said as she tapped her friend on the shoulder before she shrugged. “We can’t do anything about it now!”

“She’s lucky they killed her,” Ruby started, “Because I would have shoved my entire staff up her ass and blew her apart!” 

“Again,” Pearl sighed. “She is deceased; there is no need to get worked up over it.” She then rolled her eyes.

“You might need to take a fatter hit of that!” James chuckled as he threw his axe over his shoulder.

“She said…” Noami mused as she turned to Sully. “... She said she was with the Sycamore Tree Coven… was that just bullshit or is that true?”

“Yeah,” Jess raised an eyebrow, “We got [i]another[/i] Coven in St. Portwell?”

“... You all are acting like there isn’t a new group of assholes calling themselves a Coven every other week,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

[color=goldenrod]“Sorry, were you talking to me?”[/color] said Sully, looking up dumbly. 

The large man was sitting on the ground in only a t-shirt and jeans, his jacket snatched by some biker jackass and his boots dumped next to a pile of sand where he’d given up on shaking them free of the debris. He was currently shifting through his backpack, shaking sand that had snuck in past the zipper out of a stack of compostable cups he’d bought, thinking that the old gang’s meeting at Auri’s shop was going to be raucous in the fun way instead of the way it had turned out to be. Enough heads were turned his way to answer his question.

[color=goldenrod]“I mean, they are with the Sycamore Tree Coven,”[/color] said Sully, scratching his beard and wrinkling his nose as he raked out more sand. [color=goldenrod]“Were, I mean. They were. The Sycamore Tree Coven isn’t…it’s not really...I mean, I honestly don’t know what they’re doing. By the time I met up with the old gang, everyone had decided to just go to a titty bar.”[/color] 

“Sounds confusing as all get out!” James laughed.

“Look, either you’re a Coven or you’re not,” Ruby asked. “Sounds like they’re just a bunch of assholes doing whatever…”

Sully held up the Chalice and wiggled a cup. [color=goldenrod] “Anyone else need a drink?”[/color]

“I could go for some Henny,” Naomi said before chuckling, “Shots all night!”

“Could love some whiskey,”

Pearl shrugged, “I’m good.”

“You sure? After that mission, I’ll drink myself into a coma!” Noami answered.

[color=goldenrod]“Hey, we don’t question those who choose not to imbibe. Nothing but love for the sober ones,”[/color] said Sully, passing generously overfilled cups around the circle. He smiled. [color=goldenrod]“Somebody’s gotta be able to take us through the drive thru when we all end up wanting drunk food.”[/color]

“I’ll go for some red wine,” Autumn said as she nervously laughed and glanced off to the side as she addressed the elephant in the room. “That was… [i]weird.[/i]”

“Yeah, who you tellin’?” Naomi said. “That psycho tried to kidnap Jess, then tried playing the victim!”

“You should have let them leave after she put Jess down,” Pearl said.

“Yeah!” Jess said, “Ya’ can’t fix crazy with a conversation, you know, sister!”

Naomi rolled her eyes.

“Like we were just going to let them waltz off like shit’s cool,” Naomi said.

“I mean, it was pretty cool when she just put me down and was going to leave us alone, you know…” Jess laughed as she rolled her eyes. “I meannnnnnnnn, I’ve been almost eaten by Emily’s pet monster so many times I’m not so rattled by it anymore!” She ran a hand through her hair.

“She mentioned a ‘quota,’” Autumn said, “I’m… I should have asked what she meant by that...”

“Don’t matter, she’s dead,” Jess said, “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s [i]over and done with[/i].”

Ruby took a hit of her blunt and then turned to Sully and said, “... Malik said that Emily was in Sycamore because some bitch named Britney gave her psycho-ass an abstraction.”

[color=goldenrod]“Well Malik should know that anybody who Emily thinks is a bitch must be a pretty good person then,”[/color] said Sully, acting like he knew who this Malik person was as he passed out the last cup and positioned himself on Ruby’s left. 

[color=goldenrod]“But yeah, I mean, Britney did but it was different times, you know? World was ending, snakes were stygianing, our bodies were changing, hair was showing up in—look, I’m saying we were young and dumb. At the time Britney thought it was the right thing to do,”[/color] said Sully with a shrug, holding his hand out. [color=goldenrod]“She’s actually a pretty cool lady. Y’all would get along.”[/color]

“... Well, bitch needs to learn that actions have consequences,” Ruby rolled her eyes. “Don’t let me meet her then, I’ll have some very choice words for her.”

His hand dropped as he turned towards Jess, [color=goldenrod]“Wait, who’s dead?”[/color]

They all looked at Sully before Naomi answered him with a…. 

“Alizee… whatever the fuck that crazy bitch name was?” She started, “You didn’t see her go up to the Wolfpack and get blasted? I did.”

“We [i]all[/i] did,” Ruby said.

[color=goldenrod]“Oh,”[/color] said Sully, lowering his head, his throat tightening. It must’ve happened while he was busy getting his ass kicked. He was glad he didn’t see it. He’d seen enough of his squad die back in the day. [color=goldenrod]“Alizée was deeply troubled. I think she really just needed some help. I…shit…”[/color]

“I… Maybe I could have cast my healing field a bit faster…” Kashmira mused out loud.

“There was nothing you could have done, Kash,” Naomi affirmed by putting a hand on her hand.

[color=goldenrod]“Yeah, c’mon kiddo you did great. Actually, you saved my life,”[/color] said Sully, forcing himself to be jovial for Kashmira’s sake as he fished a finger through the bullet hole in his shirt. [color=goldenrod]“See? You’re a goddamn hero.”[/color]

“By the way, who was that tall girl?” Jess asked with a grin. “Did her mamma breastfeed her until she was like fourteen or something?” She laughed at her joke as she slapped her leg.

[color=goldenrod]“Fifteen. That’s Britney. Why?”[/color] Sully nudged Jess. [color=goldenrod]“Want me to set you two up?”[/color]

Naomi and James twisted their face up, as they glanced at Ruby.

“Actually, [i]I[/i] would like a word with her,” Ruby said, taking another hit. “Me and my foot.” 

“Fearless leader,” Naomi injected. “How about we [i]don’t[/i] pick a fight with everyone and their mother?” She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, she was big as fuck!” James said. “She might knock you out!”

[color=goldenrod]“Plus Jess is in love with her. Boss, please, let love win,”[/color] said Sully, holding his hand out again, his eyes scanning the face of everyone except for Ruby to see if it was normal for her to bogart the weed. 

“Maybe I might try her,” Jessica laughed. “But, I don’t think I’m strong enough for all that!”

[color=goldenrod]“Wait, why were you all even at the strip joint?”[/color] asked Sully, turning to Ruby, emphasizing the word joint. He cocked an eyebrow and gestured widely to the group, playfully pretending that he was offended. [color=goldenrod]“And why wasn’t I invited?”[/color] 

Ruby leaned back… as she turned towards Jess. “Jess, start the campfire, we need it for… dramatic purposes.”

Jessica looked at Ruby blankly before she said, “... Sure,” and began to arrange the logs and sticks in a tent around a random rock…. And turned the rock into magma to light the campfire! Everyone arranged around the campfire, with Ruby sitting down with her legs spread and Amelia at her side. Kashmira sitting ladylike with her legs bent and closed, her hands together as she silently prayed to Shiva. Naomi, James, and Autumn sat next to each other, chatting. As Pearl just quietly sat to the side.

That was when Ruby took another puff, and her eyes were bright red. She raised a finger, and said, “Hate to put it like this, but you’re technically not one of us yet.”

The playful glint faded from Sully’s eyes as he nodded. 

“I mean,” Naomi said. “He’s pretty much one of us.”

“Yeah, and we need another guy here so you stop walking around the campsite naked all the time!” James added. 

“When I said I like it [i]natural[/i], I meant it,” Ruby told James before she turned her attention back towards Sully. “Yeah, but, you ain’t prove yourself yet, and with Sycamore back in the picture…” 

“... Kind of!” Jessica added with a smile.

“... I’m not sure if I can fully trust you anymore,” Ruby said.

“Yeah, and was that 8th Street bitch with the blonde hair with ya’ll?” Naomi added, referring to Eve.

[color=goldenrod]“What does she have to do with anything?”[/color] said Sully, a hint of sadness in his voice. He shrugged. [color=goldenrod]“Look, I don’t really know the current status of Sycamore. We’d all just gotten together because a couple of our friends died, killed by some sicko. None of us were really [i]with[/i] anyone. Honestly, it had been ten years since I’d seen her.”[/color]

Sully stared at the fire. Rolling with Sycamore had dragged him into a fight, nearly got him killed, got somebody else killed, and made him deal with buzzkills like Sloane and dickheads like Greyson. Greenwood on the other hand had already helped him out through some tough times, pulled him out of the grave, helped him escape a bunch of scary ass bikers, and (as far as he could tell) was psychopath free. The scales were heavily unbalanced. 

[color=goldenrod]“Look, Ruby, I like you guys, but I like some of those Sycamore cats too. We went through a lot together, and I’d be lying if there wasn’t a part of me that wanted to get the old band back, but that part of me is just stuck in the past. I wanna be part of this team. If I can find a way to make y’all trust me, perfect. I’ll do it. But if my presence here makes you all feel uneasy, hey, you know I don’t wanna be a burden,”[/color] said Sully.

 He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, [color=goldenrod]“Just give me the word and I’ll get out of your hair. Let you all handle business. There’ll be no bad blood here if I’m unwanted. The way I see it, we can still be friends.”[/color]

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” James said as he got up. “Why are you putting so much thought into what [i]Ruby[/i] says? She’s  high or drunk half the time; she probably forgets everything she says by the next day!”

“[i]We[/i] want you here, Sully!“ Naomi said. 

“... And I wonder why Ruby’s tryna’ pull [i]“technicalities”[/i] now when we’ve been ignoring ‘im half the time anyway!” James laughed. “Naomi here flip-flops between being a leader and a grunt herself!”

"Yeah!” Naomi concurred.

“And we lost a lot of people during our fight with the Nazis…” Amelia mused out loud.

“Look, Sully,” Jessica put a hand on her chest as she said, “Surely we can work out [i]something[/i]... And why is it that [i]I’m[/i] the one that’s most chill about almost getting eaten by an Apparition?” She laughed.

“How about we take a vote, our fearless leader?” Pearl suggests, “We vote on whether or not Sully is one of us and settle the matter once and for all.”

Ruby was silent.

It was dramatically long before she just shrugged. 

“Sure,”

“Everyone who agrees with Sully’s participation; raise your hand,” Pearl commanded.

[color=goldenrod]“I’ll even turn my head so nobody feels—”[/color] the words didn’t even get completely out of Sully’s mouth before Jess, Naomi, Kash, and James raised their hands without thought.

Then Pearl and Autumn raised their hands.

Ruby shrugged.

“Sure,” she said as she raised her hand, followed by Amelia. 

[color=goldenrod]“Yes-uh!”[/color] Sully pumped his fist, unable to hide his smile. [color=goldenrod]“You guys are the best!”[/color] 

“But, I wanna meet these Sycamore peeps for myself… ” said Ruby. 

[color=goldenrod]“Of course, Rubes! I’m more than just a pretty face and an infinite supply of hooch. Anything you want, Sully’s your guy! Just say the word and I can get a mixer going,”[/color] said Sully. He’d just talk with Auri. As the leader, she could easily get everybody on board for a little meet-and-greet. 

“I mean…” Naomi chimed in. “The Wolfpack are on our ass… and their ass, too. They seen our faces…”

“Yeeeeeeeeah,” James said. “I’m all for a jamboree, but I think we need to keep our heads down for a minute.”

“Hiding would be the best option,” Pearl said.

“Facts,” Ruby said. “But before you join us, you have to complete the initiation...”

Everyone else looked at her, confused.

“What initiation?” Naomi asked, “We ain't had to do no initiation!”

Ruby then took a long drag of her blunt… Then handed it to Sully. “To join us, you must take a puff of the blunt… Of friendship.”

“Don’t do it! She eats ass!” Naomi warned, laughing.

[color=goldenrod]“Well shit,”[/color] said Sully, tentatively looking at the blunt in his hand before taking a big hit and holding it in as he passed the weed back. [color=goldenrod]“That’s just one more thing we got in common.”[/color]

Naomi loudly gagged.

“Brooooooooooooo….” James laughed so hard he fell backward in his chair.

“We’re like blood brothers now, Sully… wait, hold on,”  Ruby said to herself as she reached into her pocket to withdraw… a pocket knife. She raised it to her hand, as everyone looked on in shock, confusion, and some strange arousal. “We can be [i]actual[/i] blood brothers, y-”

Before this could continue, James reached over and snatched Ruby’s hand, all while saying, “Nope, nope, nope, not today.” 

“You know what we need?!” Jess shouted as she stood up, walked over to their treasure chest, and pulled out a [url=https://www.jbl.com/dw/image/v2/BFND_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dw4b47d7e7/1_JBL_PULSE_5_HERO_34364_x2.png?sw=535&sh=535]party speaker[/url]. “Some fucking music! Let’s party!”

Then she had to wait a moment for it to connect to her phone. Meanwhile, Sully pulled out his own to silent the ring from a call he was receiving. The old contact photo of Auri smiled up at him through the cracks in his screen and caused him to hesitate, his finger hovering over the reject button. If Auri was calling it was probably something important. 

…Then the music started.

 [color=goldenrod]"Oh yeah, now this one's a classic!"[/color] shouted Sully, silencing his phone and thrusting the Chalice up to the night sky as it filled with beer, foam spilling over the rim. [color=goldenrod]"Let's go crazy!"[/color]

[center][hr][hider=Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE6EkmhGhVY[/youtube][/hider][hr][/center]