[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/LRt9Ofi.png[/img]
[img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/a_ZXp74cmcnxAvQSBK0nee5IJqvtSKuclfYouJxS7HA/https/fontmeme.com/permalink/231126/fd923e18179d11fb770a1c53aea6dd00.png?format=webp[/img][/center][right][b]Interactions:[/b] Sully, Alizee, and the Greenwood Coven [/right][right][b][code]Flowers and Canvases[/code][/b][/right][hr]

With Alizee pulling away and backing up enough, the Void Heart manifested enough that she was fine again. Stormy was definitely hit in the stomach, but he was sturdier than that, so it wasn't so bad. For a brief moment, Stormy turned his attention to the child for a moment, something didn't seem right about him. Why was he still here, after seeing what he did? And why was he trading words with these fucking guys? Stormy turned back to the Wolfpack, while one of them shouted about a guy named "Joe Skinner." He would've said something if he didn't notice the air getting warmer. This wasn't something that just happened on its own, and sand didn't just start appearing, either. Stormy could tell, quickly enough, that something suspicious was going on. Something [i]paranormal.[/i] If he pulled a shield out now, it would set someone off. But he only had so long before his Phantombane aura started to dwindle. Meanwhile, Alizee was fucking [i]walking over to them,[/i] at the demand of their loud-mouthed member. That was a problem, and Stormy didn't like the look of the one with the axe, in multiple senses of the term "dislike," given his stupid fucking Brosatru look that he as going on. He was the only one that had anything visible indicative of a channeler. But it was still possible everyone among them was also an Adept and [i]armed.[/i] Stormy wore his channeler under his sleeves, after all. 

This went to shit way faster than any of them likely expected. Even worse, while the air got warmer, one of Wolfpack's members started ordering the strange child around. He had a lot more backbone than Stormy would've expected from a child. Maybe he [i]was[/i] paranormal like them. He resisted, only for a bullet to rip through the air, causing him to slump down onto the ground.

That was the moment when Stormy decided to put a stop to all of this. 

He brought his arm up, and swung it forwards in Maggie's direction with enough force to knock someone off their feet. Green light burst forth, hardening into a glowing shield that went flying at her center mass, with [i]extreme[/i] prejudice and an intent to put her out of fighting shape as quickly as possible. If they wanted to draw guns on children then they were going to deal with [i]real[/i] threats from adults. Many people in the world of magic believed that guns were the definitive weapon to defeat all of magic. Fireballs? Gun. Teleporting? Gun. Zombies? Shoot the Lux user. This was, of course, the reason Stormy felt vindicated in being the one who stood up to the Wolfpack first: Guns did not mean a damn thing to him, because he was Stormy fucking Carson.

[color=00ff98]"Someone help that kid, [i]now."[/i][/color] With his shield sent after Maggie like a derailed train, Stormy walked up between everyone, standing in the proverbial No Man's Land dividing the Wolfpack from the Sycamore and Greenwood members. If any of the Wolfpack members got much closer, they'd feel his Phantombane aura start to repel their Apparitions. He brought his glowing hands up, and a pair of red Lux-proof shields exploded into existence across his arms. But he didn't stop there, as copies of the shields appeared on his left and right, in two rows of five, daring anyone to pass. The parking lot was bathed in the soft green light of the very spells that saved many lives a decade ago. 

He raised his voice loud enough that everyone in the parking lot could hear it. Every Wolfpack member, every "friendly" paranormal individual, and, ideally, the members of Greenwood that Alizee had wronged. [color=00ff98]"Whatever [i]grievances[/i] you have with any of these people, legitimate or otherwise, you are grown [b][i]adults![/i][/b] Does it make you feel powerful, pointing your gun at a child?  If any of you raise another gun, or use magic again starting [i]right now,[/i] I will [i]break you all![/i] Turn around, and leave! You are not taking anyone of us with you."[/color] That last part was said entirely for Alizee's sake. Stormy wasn't happy with her, but she was one of them. Her problems were their problems, and he refused to throw her under the bus. Stormy fully intended to put stick his own neck out for everyone who wasn't a Wolfpack member right now. If someone followed his example, then maybe this reunion wouldn't be so difficult after all.

[center][img]https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/external/9VNc0PShCsBZTPLizLytdKicOWm18zBLbjSaekXYQmc/https/i.imgur.com/8FMvh2h.png?format=webp[/img]
[img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/710908524602851461/1177007458569424977/rumburak.png?ex=6570f09d&is=655e7b9d&hm=c11b4f1ccfb409d103f805b6d508371d626f69a375d515170c7c3f7453133268&=&format=webp[/img][/center][right][b]Interactions:[/b] Drake, Sloane, Kali and Luca [/right][right][b][code]Flowers and Canvases[/code][/b][/right][hr]

[color=6644ff]"If we knew it was [i]our[/i] Father Wolf, it wouldn't be a mystery,"[/color] Jack commented as he picked up the card Sloane dealt him. He held it between the fingers of his shadowy hand, and pressed it into his palm, where it seemed to disappear completely against the "skin." He still had it on his person, though. [color=6644ff]"I agree that he'd have to be familiar with us. These wolf carvings appear anywhere on earth before a victim's death. So either our killer is someone capable of macro-scale movement, like [i]me,"[/i][/color] He emphasized that fact so no one could say he didn't own up to it later, [color=6644ff]"Or this is the work of numerous individuals. Both are equally likely, and the second option could imply anything from a criminal network to a particularly unique abstraction. The only common link are the wolf carvings... Do we have any of them with us that we can study? There could be forensic information that would give us some direction."[/color]

Jack couldn't blame Sloane in the slightest for not trusting them. Everyone was a suspect in a murder case. Moreover, Jack was the one unhinged enough to play with the fabric of existence. For all they knew, the killer could've secretly discovered the secrets of his Voidwalking, and was using [i]that[/i] to pick them off. From someone else's perspective, it could've been Jack himself doing that. Jack wasn't so sure he could reasonably trust any of them either. At least not yet.

[color=6644ff]"Unfortunately, we shouldn't trust each other so much at the moment. But I would like to at least ask all of you for a chance to [i]earn[/i] one another's trust. Auri meeting went poorly, because we can't trust her to be an effectively leader. If we don't trust each other, then we'll only stay divided. We could be stronger and safer together, once we've found a way to rule ourselves out."[/color] 

And then Sloane said it plainly: Father Wolf was in the Coven. Jack wasn't surprised at that conclusion. It made sense, how else would anyone explain the dead members? 

[color=6644ff]"How much can we narrow it down, knowing that? Who else among us could appear anywhere on earth at a moment's notice? I've experienced time at a slower pace than everyone else, having been outside Shimmer for most of the decade. I should be able to remember them all... Victoria could produce portals that led to anywhere. I remember working closely with her to track down the Snake through other worlds."[/color] He looked over at Drake, her brother. [color=6644ff]"Can you rule out the possibility that it'd be her?"[/color]