I predict a riot.

[al-shairan.livejournal.com]

“The silence often of pure innocence persuades when speaking fails.”
- Shakespeare

Monday lunchtime, near the sheriff's office, on Main Street

This has proved almost too easy. The clouds are rolling in, air heavy with the promise of rain, and I stand in my Danika body wearing an old coat with the collar turned up against the cold, jacket short enough to show a few inches of a tidy, worn work dress and a calflength of wool stocking. My shoes wear the signs of good, honest farm labour, and my blonde hair is frizzing round my face in the damp air. I look very distressed.

"Did - was there really a man arrested for... for beating on a girl?" I say to an old woman gossiping with her friend on the street. My fingers flutter together anxiously.

"Oh yes," she says, "it's a horrible thing. They think also he did in a girl as worked at - well, the brothel, my dear," she says, lowering her voice over that salacious detail, eyes gleaming with prurient interest. "They think he chopped her up."

"Oh," I say, and I faint very neatly to the ground. It's not long before I have half a dozen people round me - offering water, saying they will take me to the Dormouse, fussing with my coat collar to let me breathe.

"I should've said something," I say, and I burst into tears. That gets me sat down on a bench, an old woman's arm around my shoulders, and a very handsome young man crouched at my feet. "I should - "

"What is is, dear? Do you know something about what happened to those girls?"

I shake my head tightly.

"I know - I know - him," I say quietly. "He - We went out a couple of times, and he was - he was real nice to me, and -" The old woman gives me a handkerchief. "You know, I ain't really dated much," I say, shamefaced, "cos my momma's sick a bunch and I'm busy out on the farm, and he just - he was real nice, and when he -" I turn my face away, and I can feel the vibrating tension from the boy at my feet, his desire to be a hero. "He - I thought it was my fault," I say, and then there is a furious chatter rising from the little crowd, and the conversation spreads in ripples.

"Some carnie's been carving up our girls," one man says fiercely. And there is discussion of me and of Melania - ah, yes, that explains some of what I saw in her - and how we're hard working girls, salt of the earth girls, and who is this monster and why hasn't he been strung up? What the hell is wrong with this town that a murderer and molester can be caught redhanded and he's cosseted in jail? And did you hear that he attacked that nice Mrs Beddau (I wonder if at any other time Glass has been described as nice) when she went to visit him in prison? He should be put in the old stocks in town. People would show him how they felt, alright. They'd show him very clearly indeed.

I manage a brave, trembling smile for the boy at my feet, and he springs up, ready for something, anything, if it will make me look at him like that again. And I nestle in against the arm of the old woman as the crowd grows larger and voices grow louder, and I wait for the storm to break.

[OPEN]

Comments

[simon-klavec.livejournal.com]

I hear it as a murmur at first, and then in folks in the street all slowly walking down Main to the corner of Silk. Wash my hands and knife and step out onto the porch of the shop, drying my hands as I look.

Can see the edge of a crowd, near the sheriff's. Lots of folks coming on or off their lunch, so the crowd's getting bigger. Louder, too.

Nothing good comes of where this is going. Strip off my apron and think about shrugging into my jacket - but it's best to remind folks I'm part of the town. Walk easily down past the Store, and then down near the crowd. Not part of it, but if things start turning uglier I'll do what I can.

Seems to be focused on one girl. Must be in from the farms, since I don't recognize her right off. Still seems familiar, though.

Must be about that man they brought in. I try not to judge before a trial, but it doesn't sound good for him. Heard he got hurt in jail, too, which won''t help things with the cigani either. If someone's using this for their own ends, I won't be happy. There's still no mayor, and it's not unusual for folks to play a bad situation like this for politics.

For now, though, I just watch.

[valmont-vicomte.livejournal.com]

There's a bad mood rippling through town; I can feel that as soon as I step out of the Miskatonic. There's a lot of muttering about the man they caught who they think killed that poor Vale. I think of sweet Kora, shot dead, and of that gigolo - I don't remember his name, though I saw him at the Boy when I first visited - who just disappeared one night. This town seems friendlier than most toward whores, but it is still not kind.

I see a familiar face at the edge of the crowd, and I walk around.

"Good afternoon, Simon," I say. "Do you know what's going on?"

[jack-hollow.livejournal.com]

Miss Miao wanted ta see him. Guess I can understand, but after the last mess wasn't leavin' her alone fer a minute. Said she never saw him, an' came back out ta the office proper, an' I offered her coffee. Can hear people talkin' outside, an' that bad wasp-nest feelin's in me again, and...

Dammit.

There's a rumble in the crowd outside, the sound a' bad mood risin'. I ain't liking this. "Ah. Miss Lei?" I say hesitantly. "I'd-- feel a bit better if I could walk ya back. Maybe after this calms down a bit."

[lei-miao-shan.livejournal.com]

Mr. Hollow was kind enough to come to Follow Me Boy and tell us that he had caught Vale's murderer. He asked if I thought that I could identify him, perhaps say if he was a former client, or one of Vale's friends, or if he had been seen lurking around the house. I said that I could not say if he was a client or no, that confidentiality still holds, but for the others I could and would. Mr. Hollow suggested that perhaps a camera could be found, or a sketch could be drawn and brought to me, but I said no, no. I would see the man who did this to Vale with my own eyes. Mr. Hollow was uneasy, but he agreed, and he waited while I dressed.

I suppose that perhaps I was hoping to recognize this man, to be able to point to some motivation for what he has done. But I did not know him. He is a nondescript looking man; trimmed beard going ragged with confinement, and bloody with fresh wounds. I did not know him, not as a client, not as anything, and that somehow was more upsetting than anything.

Mr. Hollow was very kind. He escorted me back into the office, brought me a hot cup of sweet coffee. And I sit, my hands wrapped around the mug. I cannot fathom this. I cannot. I know well that men can be cruel, but this...

"Ah. Miss Lei? I'd-- feel a bit better if I could walk ya back. Maybe after this calms down a bit."

"I am sorry?" I look up, realizing that I was lost in my thoughts. "What is happening?"

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

"Let's start a riot, a riot... let's start a riot..."

The song has been looping through my head for the last fifteen minutes or so, the words a insistent buzz that I cannot block out to save my life. Deciding that I'd rather see what the cause of such noise is instead of trying to tune it out, I throw on a pair of jeans, an oversized burgandy sweater, my study boots and my coat and head off in the general direction of the noise.

It's easy enough to locate, a large crowd gathering in front of the sheriff's office. Angry, so loud and so angry! The imp moves in agitation, and I set one hand on my stomach, the other in the recesses of my pocket, where my iron club that extends with a flick of my wrist is.

"Let's start a riot... a riot..." I mutter under my breath, wondering and waiting...

[aerika-dragon.livejournal.com]

I did come into town this morning to take purchase of some goods, and now I wonder what kind of a place we have come to. I have never seen this in Ladon, this gathering of wrath, not even when they did drive us out.

The red-haired woman, I have seen her before. I was not sure, until she put her hand upon her belly, that it was her in truth, but now I know her. What can she be doing here, gravid as she is? Would she endanger the babe, still cradled in the egg of her belly? I am a stranger here, and some do look at me with anger, but I cannot let this be.

I edge my way through the crowd and put my hand upon her arm. "Sister," I say. She is no sister of my faith, but any woman bearing life beneath her breast deserves respect. "There is danger here. Let me take you home."

[pirate-mystic.livejournal.com]

Always knew it was the damn carnival. Din't I say so, more than once? Heard about the feller, and by the description I know who he is. Remember what he was like, that time we all forgot. Heard he done some poor little girl from the farms, too. Man like that, there ain't a scrap of good in him.

And now they got him safe in there, an that sheriff who come round to the 'Boy's protectin him. Only one thing to do with a mad dog, an it ain't lock him up an feed him. Supposed to be protectin the damn town, not rabid animals. Town's been goin to the bad a long time now, an it's past time we all did get up and do somethin about it.

Other folks ain't happy either. Mood out here's gonna turn ugly, an you ask me, that ain't a bad thing this time out.

I ain't takin chances. Got my huntin rifle slung across my back, pistol in my belt. Musket in the crook of my arm. Ain't fixed my bayonet yet, but I ready. Oh yes, I ready.

[tess-thiess.livejournal.com]

I'm just headin' t'the cafe t'get a treat fer me 'n Kate t'share lunch when I see a bunch 'a folks clustered 'round some poor girl as looks like she's from one 'a the farms. There's some shoutin' and a bunch 'v angry faces too, and it's got all the makin' 'v a mob.

Reed's standin' out by the front 'a the 'Boy with some powder-guns, lookin' real grim. "What's goin' on?" I ask as I walk over. I ain't too popular in town with a certain set 'cause 'a me 'n Kate, but no one seems t'pay me any mind. "Is it that fellow as got caught?"

I was glad t'hear 'v that. I know John's friendly with some out there, but aside from Syl I ain't had much use fer the carnival-folk, and part 'v it's 'cause they bring men like that 'round.

[regularblack.livejournal.com]

I promised Vilena I'd go to town with her, to get some things we just can't live without and to buy something from the bakery. She says she hates baking all the bread we ever eat and there's no sense in baking more than she needs to for just us. She's still a bit moody over the other day and I feel guilty about that. Maybe that's all not such a good idea, I think when I see the crowd starting to form outside the Sheriff's office. Vilena hasn't noticed yet, still dithering over things in the bakery. I step just outside the door to listen. Something bad, nothing good. I see Valmont on the edge of things and think about asking him what's happening. But I don't want to leave Vilena alone.

"What is it?" I turn and Vilena is there with her parcel under her arm. She stands up on her toes, trying to see what the crowd surrounds. I put a hand on her arm and she looks back at me. I think the apprehension is plain on my face.

"I don't know," I answer. "I don't think we want to know." That crowd is restless and I think we're stuck on the wrong side of it.

[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

I feel so sick, throat all closed up. I knew Vale, she was sweet. I didn't mind her job, I mean a job's a job, and she deserved respect, not to be - to be -

I brush tears away from my eyes. They're angry tears, though, not sad ones.

"What is it?"

"I don't know."

A pretty girl and a craggy guy are peering over the crowd.

"They caught a murderer," I say. "I hope they string him up." I spit on the ground, and just then a rock flies over my head and hits the sheriff's door. Oh, this isn't going anywhere good, and I should be worried, but instead I feel myself giving this funny little smile, all teeth. I hope that fuck can hear the crowd from his cell. I hope he's scared.

[jack-hollow.livejournal.com]

Step outside onta the porch and take a quick look 'round. Not movin' too far from the door, don't need anyone rushin' past--

Ah, hell. There is someone out there with a damn gun-- more'n one. think I recognize her, and that makes me worry less for Miss Miao. But it sure don't soothe my mind any. Not up ta smilin' right now, but I keep my voice pleasant, even though it hurts. Oh people, I know what ya want, I understand, but this ain't how it's done.

"Afternoon, folks," I say polite. "C'n I help ya?"

[syl-thorn.livejournal.com]

We ain't stupid, nor bloody 'blivious. Mighta taken us a few days t'see't, since Ben'dict's th'sol'tary type an'ere ain't much work ferrim t'do. 'e's taken off ferra few days atta time b'fore, an' ain't nobody fretted. But by th'time a week'd passed, we knew somethin' wuzzup. An'en we heard th'rumours 'bout th'murderer'a those whores gettin' caught, an' we put two'n two t'gether.

Somma th'older carnies got t'gether; me, Nu, Hux, Lou, few others. We talked 'bout what t'do. Ain't th'first time one'a th'fam'ly's gotten 'rrested jes' cuz we happened t'be 'round when thin's'n town went bad. Gen'rally, we got'em out, leg'lly 'r otherwise. Buttis time't's diff'rent. This time we can't pull up stakes'n leggit soon's our fella's out. This time, we break'im out, 'r even if'n we ask real nice 'bout warrants 'n prob'ble cause an' mosta th'town don't like't, we won't be able t'get out b'fore th'torches 'n pitchforks. It ain't good.

We dunno if'n'ey act'ally got proof, 'r if'n th'sheriff jes' found a juicy scapegoat. We don't know much'a nothin'. Jes'at no matter what happens, thin's ain't lookin' good ferrus.

We didn't really gettis far'n th'talk, but I d'cided t'check thin's out fer m'self. Th'sher'ff seemed a reas'nable sort, th'one time we talked. C'n't least talk t'er, see if'n'ere's any act'al ev'dence, 'n see if'n Benedict's okay. An'en...well. Figure thin's out.

But I round th'corner onta Main Street, an'I hear a sound't I know. Sound't still makes m'blood freeze up. Sound ovva bloody mob. An'I see where'ey are.

Fuck. Oh fuck. We's in so much shit right now.

[docconstantine.livejournal.com]

Heard them out there, how could I not? And it's a sound I know all too well.

A mob.

I have a pretty damn good guess as to why, and as soon as I close up the office and poke my head out the door....

yeah. this is going to get ugly.

Grab my kit and head over to the crowd, skirting around it, wincing at the comments I am hearing. Nod to Wanda, and she gives me a ghost of a smile before turning her attention back to the crowd. Look around to see who else might be here, up and down the road---

Well, we may not be the best of friends, and I may have settled in town, but we're family, still. Besides, the town needs to see that one bad apple in the bunch does not poison the lot. start to walk down to where Syl is standing, and I give a passing glance to the sheriff's office--- oh fuck me softly with a rusty chainsaw!

Miao's in there. Look at her for a moment, then back to Wanda. She catches the rapid movement of my head and looks to me questioningly. I point to the office and mouth the words 'Miao's in there'. Her eyes go wide and she cranes her neck to look... her face falls at first, then she takes a deep breath and nods at me. I nod back, a little relieved someone else knows and will try to look out for her. Normally not a task I would ask a pregnant woman to do, but Wanda told me over dinner she's suddenly become veery hard to kill. Given her husband, I am inclined to believe her.

Right.

Get over to where Syl is standing and give her a tight smile as Deputy Hollow is stepping out. "Hey. Think he can talk him down?" I ask, wondering if anyone else from the show will be coming.

[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

Fuckin' town aint bin run the right way since the old sheriff died, that's what you get for havin' a woman in charge of law Pa says an' I think Pa's right. I mean when we beat on that Thiess pansy we got put in a cell for a night an' that ain't right, I mean he's a fuckin' freak. Makes me sick. An' ok he got banged up for a week but now he's out, an' he broke my buddy's arm an' he damn near killed Reaves. An' now there's some guy who goes out rapin' farm girls an' killin' hookers? I mean it ain't just killin' them as bothers me, I mean it's harsh but if a girl goes out sellin' herself she's gotta expect trouble, but he ate her, an' now he's just sittin' pretty in a cell?

No sir. I ain't standin' for that nohownoway. An' now that big gangly deputy's comin' out, tryin' to smooth things over. I don't want to catch his eye case he's still mad at me, so I stand at the back, but I pick up a pebble an' I throw it so it hits the door just behind him.

"Stop fuckin' protecting freaks," I shout, an' I feel real good about it after a whole week or so of feelin' shitty ever since I got banged up.

[jack-hollow.livejournal.com]

That's torn it. No stoppin' it now, I think, an' hope ta Christ Miss Miao's got the sense ta hide herself.

I understand 'em, I do, that's the hell of it. I understand they're mad and scared and want the drift trade gone, I know what he did ta Vale, what he nearly did ta Miss Lannie, I know where the keys are and the rope, I know what string him up they want, I'm sure--sure--he's gonna die anyway, I I I--

non ministrari sed ministrare

Got my hand over my badge, and the little points of it are prickin' at my hand.

Mab took off her star so she could stand up with a friend and be ready ta kill a man. Me, I can't do that. I can't. I love this town, an' maybe can't stop it, but I can't let it do this.

An' the rock misses me an' the guard from the 'Boy's snarling about how she said an' the tide is risin'. Wasp's nest kicked open. Fire in the cornfield. Oh Christ.

"Joe Davis," I say, lookin' up, "last I heard you sure as hell didn't think bein' in a cell was bein' protected." An' that ain't gonna stop him, no, or anyone else, an' if I had sense I'd say I was gonna bring him out and get a few extra minutes ta get him and Miss Miao safe but I ain't much good at lyin' an' I'm afraid I might do it if I said it. An' then another rock comes in an' that one bounces hard off my shoulder an' I don't flinch but if I were flesh an' blood I'd be bleedin', and the crowd moves in three steps an' now ain't no-one keepin' their voices down.

[romana-zindel.livejournal.com]

I'm out walking in the main street, to see what I can see. Since it's only my second day in town, there's still a lot I haven't explored, so off I wend, peering in shop windows and thinking of what to buy first when I got my job at the Miskatonic.

It's then that I see the crowd-- dangerous, says something in my head-- and lots of people who I assume live in town, clustered 'round like bees, buzzin' and just ready to sting. The slightest touch could make 'em all swarm up and do somethin' mighty awful to whoever disturbed 'em, and I try to skirt 'round and duck in a doorway to see what's gonna happen next. I'm suddenly feelin' quite girlish with not even a knife on me, who knows what they'll get up to once they've got goin', and someone's throwin' rocks.

I spot Deputy Hollow in the midst of everything and hope like hell he's not going to get hurt, he seems so nice. I squeeze myself further into my door hidey hole, hoping no one sees me back here, or that if they do, they don't try to take advantage of me or anything sneaky like that. I'd hate to be hurt on my second day in town and have to come back home limpin' to May and Ma 'n Pa.

[kateohara.livejournal.com]

It's almost time to close up the store for lunch, and I close up the register and realise I can hear a lot of sound from the street outside. The voices rise to a shout, and I grab my jacket from behind the counter and open the door to the store. There's a girl in my doorway, and I almost bump into her.

"I'm sorry, miss," I say automatically, and then wonder what on earth she's doing. "Are you alright?" I look across the road, and there's a crowd outside the sheriff's office. I feel my throat get dry. "What's going on, do you know?"

[tess-thiess.livejournal.com]

Everythin' happens fast. There's got t'be no more 'n two minutes 'tween Reed tellin' me 'bout this animal locked up in jail 'n her shootin' the deputy, and 'fore I can even ask her what she thinks she's doin' she's surged forward with the crowd, tryin' t'break her way in.

I move with the crowd, 'cause 'f we know he's guilty there ain't no need fer pause. The law ain't caught no one that I've heard of, 'cept Johnny. There's bin more murders in the last year than I can remember hearin' 'v in my lifetime, and no one's bin caught.

Well, this one has and we're damn well goin' t'do somethin' 'bout it.

I can't get close t'the door, but it makes sense fer those with bars 'n such t'start takin' it down anyways. I catch an elbow hard in my ribs, and losin' my air makes me stop fer a minute.

And clearin' my head, it's then I realize I'm near chokin' on somethin'.

Power.

I hardly even need t'think when I pull my knife 'n prick my finger. "La, la, la," I chat, just t'give me somethin' t'hold on to. There's a pressure in the air, hard, like just 'afore a storm and it just keeps risin'. "La, la, la," I chat, pullin' at the power, the anger 'n frustration 'n righteousness. It's hard, like pullin' taffy, but there's just so much that I get my hands into it and yank.

I'm feelin' light-headed from it but I ain't hardly touched it. I dunt have a charm ready so I push it into my knife, the blood on the tip lettin' the power inside. It's perfect fer this, all that rage and thirst bein' drunk up by the blade. My eyes feel hot 'n my breath is goin' red and I can near see the power in storm clouds like blood.

"La, la, la," I chant.

[tereixa-zann.livejournal.com]

Oh fuck me sideways with a rusty corkscrew and call the kid Tesla, we are screwed.

Donner wouldn't, would he? I mean--Christ, I know what they say about us, and we've been here so long the sharp line between they and us was even starting to fade a little, but there were dead women, and I wonder if any of what they're saying's true.

Saw a coupla people headin' out, and I thought about it, and worried, and then I found some stuff to put together in a way I don't usually put it together and headed out. I'm not in the damn crowd, you wouldn't catch me there for anything, but the nice thing about the weather we've been having lately is that it's warm enough there's no ice and dry enough that the buildings aren't too slippery...

I don't do the work anymore, not unless they need help with something for some reason, but I was a flyer. And the Apothecary's a low building, I think even Xay could climb that in his sleep. Stretch out on the low slate roof and take a look. Shit. I can see Syl and Nu and Silence out of it to my left, and no-one's looking at them too hard, and looks like the Doc and Johnny are with them and neither of them's trying to break skulls. Not that I'd expect that from the Doc, I really really wouldn't.

Pull a little closer to the edge and I can see the mob roaring, one thick ugly crowd trying to tear down their own jail to get at Donner, sick and angry. I can see blood, an old man going down in the press and I'm sure he's screaming but you can't hear a damn thing over the crowd (and then I pick out someone screaming about her daughter or something and I try to stop listening). It's hit the point where it's feeding on itself and all the pain and pushing and screaming just gets everyone striking out and screaming back, the kind of writhing dance where you tear yourself to pieces.

Spot someone standing still, then, and take a closer look. Oh, honey, I'm sure I'd like you a lot if we met differently and I hear you were one of Syl's friends, but right now I am really not feeling that you're doing anything to help the situation, not with your hands like claws and the blood practically ready to mist off you. You're too much a part of this pattern, and you look too damn happy about it.

I've got nails and ball bearings, but I don't want to go there before I have to, I really don't--I don't even want her to fall down, not here and now, that's a good way to get herself killed. So I load the zip gun with a cork and thank god she's holding pretty still right now, chanting something as the air's getting heavier and heavier--

Pull the trigger and think of something Louis says: a hit! A palpable hit! Her shoulder or her face or something, not sure exactly, but I'm sure I got her.

[chester-excolo.livejournal.com]

I was just havin' a mid day nap and then I wake to a roaring like a storm but closer to ground. I trot out from under the porch of the house I've napping under and see that nearly everyone in town has gathered in front a the sheriff's. This don;t look good. At all. I need a closer look without getting trampled. So I fade out an then in again in Mab's backyard.

Almost immediately my fur stands up on end and my ears flatten at the sheer noise. Oh holy crap! Sounds like a mob...And it's smashing into the building right in front of me. I can also feel power building out there someone's drawin' on the crowd to do somethin' Can't tell for what though. Especially when it snaps and breaks suddenly. I flatten myself to the ground without thinkin'. That's bad. When a spell like that shatters before it's fully formed. Lots a bad things c'n happen. I gotta warn Mab.

[leah-pontarlier.livejournal.com]

I was heading into town to see Mike and I start up Silk road but I can see a huge crowd up there filling the corner and spillinng into the street and it does not look happy like the festival last summer. There is screaming and pushing. It looks like everyone is fighting everyone else. I can figure out for myself that I should not get any closer, so instead of continuing forwards I go sideways into a nearby street, one of the small ones.

I come out by the bakery.

[edmund-white.livejournal.com]

Johnny took off into the crowd. I don't blame him, I think saw his sister go down. I know I'd want to make sure were safe if I were him. And if Tess is out there, Kate'll probably be too. Hope he can find them, and maybe bring them back here.

Look back into the shop- somehow I've collected a troop mostly consisting of angry young women. Lot's of glaring and complaining going on, but at least Molly Kincaid only hit Rob the one time. Poor kid's gonna have a black eye for a few days, but at least I got a grip on her before she ran him over and escaped out the back. Think the bruise on my shin'll heal up well enough though. Jamie must not bruise easily living with that little firebrand.

Now Rob's at the back, watching the door with the big oven paddle, and I'm at the front- trying to get people who look like they need shelter from the crowd in where its relatively safe. Periodically I open the door to look around or let someone in- on one of these checks I see a blonde coming up the side street, looking like she can't decide what to do. Looks familiar- think she's the one Karina and Maryk have been taking care of, but I'm not sure. Either way, she's welcome here, "Miss! You need somewhere to wait this out? You can come in here with us if you like. If not I suggest you go the other way, and fast," gesture to the inside of the shop with the hand not holding my biggest rolling pin.

[regal-vigilante.livejournal.com]

I didn't leave for long, really.
Took Sarge and rode out to the Carnivale- figured showing up on him would look more imposing. More official. Maybe get me some actual answers about who runs the damn thing. Got over well enough- hell even got a roustie to tell me where Management's caravan was. And the way he said it- I knew it was MANAGEMENT. Creepy even to me.
But when I knocked, no one answered. Stood there for a bit, tried again. Got the distinct feeling that I'd get no help and turned to leave.

And then the wards from the office started screaming bloody murder. I boosted onto Sarge and took off as fast as I could back to town. Would have made it in minutes if I hadn't hit that trouble on the bridge. People milling around and muttering about the "girl-eating-freak" I was harboring. How maybe someone should go start biting chunks out of him and see how he likes it. Once they realized who it was on the horse, they started pulling at my saddle and reins. Trying to pull me down. As I tried to fight through them, the tone of the ward-noise changed. Started telling me that one of mine'd been hurt.

Thumped my heels into Sarge at that- no point talking to these folks right now anyhow, and I've got the feeling that there's worse waiting for me at home.

[jack-hollow.livejournal.com]

Get back up and slam the basement door, lock it, and oh, thank Christ. Mab's here. "Locked up, basement's dark," I say, runnin' one hand through my hair. Hear someone else comin' through the back window, and I'm about ta panic when I recognize Constantine. "How bad out there?"

[pirate-mystic.livejournal.com]

Ain't gettin us fuckin anywhere, and I had about enough of this. Feller's come up into the window, an I think I know his face well but I ain't carin to place it right now.

"Get back," I holler at the folks around me, an give the nearest a good shove. Gives me room to turn my musket around an drive the butt hard through the window into the man's face.

[catherineknight.livejournal.com]

Isidore and I were practicing, an activity that has become a welcome routine, when we heard the sounds. We could see nothing, but the sounds were loud enough to carry through the streets. Shouts. The roar of a crowd. Gunshots. We pause in our training and we listen. It doesn't seem to be coming this way, but....

But.

I have a duty. And I think that Isidore does as well.

By mutual agreement, we drop our practice swords and run. My armor is kept in a storehouse near the stables, and I am practiced in putting it on quickly and cleanly. I am still buckling my breastplate on as I jog into the stables. Hirondelle is waiting; she smells my anxiety the moment I come in, and she stands rock-still as I buckle her own armor in place. I have kept it polished and ready. A knight always does.

I wish that I had my sword, my sword or my gun. But for this, for a crowd of squabbling townsfolk, perhaps they won't be necessary. There are blunted, wooden weapons for practice left laying about; I snatch up a club and a blunted wooden lance. They'll look intimidating, if nothing else.

Hirondelle arches her neck and prances as I mount up. She is eager. And when we trot out into the yard, I see Isidore waiting at the gate, mounted and armored.

In some ways, I'm eager too.

[isidore-excolo.livejournal.com]

Boaz is restless. He can hear the violence, and he knows what it must mean when I armour him so quickly. I take a cudgel and a blunted lance from among the Abbey's stores and wait by the gate.

Catherine's own plate and chain takes longer than my own chain, and so she comes out a minutes later, her mare lifting her feet playfully as she trots to meet me.

"We should assess things first," I suggest as we turn out the gate. "I'd rather not ride down townsfolk unless it's necessary." I've meddled in the affairs of other places, though. I am not too concerned if we need to hurt people to calm the violence.

[jamie-kincaid.livejournal.com]

"Wasn't planning on it. figured there was so much chaos, no one would notice me." I shake my head, stopping quickly as it makes the blood flow faster into my handkerchief. Wanda's rubbing my back, trying to comfort me and I reassure her as I reply, "I know you weren't, Wanda. I just want you to be more careful with yourself, and with me too."

Arkady's friend comes closer to Wanda and as angry as she is, she threatens to not hit him. I try to laugh but cough instead. Damn nosebleed. I hate nosebleeds. Wanda makes a complaint before saying hello to Chester. In a rough voice that doesn't match his furry body, he says, "Nice to see ya too, Doll," before pointing out that Miao is safe with Mab.

I suggest we go to the bakery since the girls are already waiting there for us and Wanda says, "Oh yes, because Molly, Vilena and I and our tempers together will just help matters." She's smiling a little and that's more than enough for me as she gives in, "Fine, fine, I'll go. Molly'll probably kill me for hitting you though, if you're ready to live with that."

I introduce Wanda and I to Arkady's friend before laughing again, this time with less coughing. Teasing Wanda, I reply, "She likes you too much to kill you. She might smack you around a few times but that's about it," and I shrug before adding, "You know how feisty redheads can get, especially about people they love."

Arkady suggests, "We should get off the street, before it gets any crazier than it already has." I nod, "That's a great idea. We can use Silk-Cut Road and take the back way to the bakery. That way we can completely bypass the crowd."

He turns to his friend, asking, "Jarmyn, you coming with us or do you need to get back to the Whitechapel?" In a mess like this, I'd be surprised if the Whitechapel was open and Jarmyn agrees before asking Chester what he wants to do. Chester thinks for a minute and says, "Down...I gotta report back to Mab on the situation."

I clasp Wanda's hand in mine as I stand up and say to Chester, "Please tell Mab that Wanda's safe with us and that we'll be at the bakery, waiting this out, if she needs us." I doubt she will but you never know with a crowd like this, and it roars, reminding me that we have to get moving, and soon too.

[mistresswanda.livejournal.com]

I am barely listening as introductions go around and plans are made to move us. I am staring at the chaos down the street, now compounded by people in armour on horses. They keep telling me Miao might be safe, but I still don't feel right trying not to get to her. What if someone decides to torch the building?

Jamie stands, taking my hand and pulling me up. The child within me is kicking like crazy, and it's almost enough to make me double over, but I don't. Don't need anyone else fretting over me more than they are. She wants her sire, and know's he's near. Shhhhh, please settle, your father is... busy... I think, stroking a spot on my belly. He'll find us in his own time.

"Please tell Mab that Wanda's safe with us and that we'll be at the bakery, waiting this out, if she needs us." Jamie's voice cuts through my internal conversation with my daughter, and I look down to realize Chester is planning on leaving. "Don't worry about me, just make sure everyone is safe inside there." I jerk my head back to the mob.

"Well, come on boys." I sigh, raking a hand through my hair, not really wanting to leave and do nothing. "Lets get moving."

[lei-miao-shan.livejournal.com]

I followed Mr. Hollow and Mr. Klavec's orders. I walk up the stairs, holding tight to the bannister, and I use the key to let myself into Mab's apartment. It is warm and quiet up here, and I find a chair that is light enough for me to drag over to the door. And there I sit, my hands in my lap. The door is not locked. I have the key in my hand, and I will wait. If they break in downstairs, the others may need to take refuge here. I will not lock them out.

I hear glass breaking, and screams for outside. There are hoofbeats, and a terrifying howl. I clench my hands in my lap until my knuckles turn white. I will wait. I will wait.

[docconstantine.livejournal.com]

I bolt up the stairs to find the door closed. I put my hand on the handle to turn it, but I think better of it. If Miao is up here alone, she may be waiting by the door with something to bash an intruder over the head with.

"Lotus Flower? You okay in there?" I call though the door, wondering if she'll hear me over the din from outside.

[jwatson-cookie.livejournal.com]

I come around the building, carrying the wood in both hands. There is an odd murmuring going on in the streets that hits me long before I round the corner. As I do, I arch an eyebrow at the sight of it. They are far too far to see what is going on properly, but I still stand there thickly for a moment. I try to peer further down the street with no luck.

I haven't seen any functions since I got here, and it might be nice to go out and meet some folks, but the more I look at how they move, and hear the voices on the wind, the less convinced I want to join whatever activity it going on. They don't look happy, but it's all I can tell with their hollering and waving stuff. What in the world could it be?

I shake my head a bit. I notice that I am still standing, like a fool, with my load. I quickly turn away from my curiosity for long enough to drop it off in the kitchen. I think for a second, about what I can do to get a better look. My eyes slowly drifted upward as I thought about how tall the building was. I take off quickly, heading up the stairs. I skip two at a time with my long strides. I can feel the excitement of what could be happening building in me. It didn't take long at all to reach the roof access. I fumble with the latch for a moment, since I am moving too fast to be careful, but as I get outside. I move over to the north edge.

Time to get a better look at what all the fuss what about anyways.

[norn-verdandi.livejournal.com]

The scent of chaos called to me, singing and howling until I paid attention. Excolo's rolling like a drunken, mad thing, feeding on its own dark energy as it tries to turn on itself and as much as I want to wade into the fray. I won't. Not yet anyway, and from my perch atop the Sheriff's office, I watch the scene unfold, small horror upon horror.

Garm's in my hand and for the moment, I'm unseen but if this riot keeps getting worse, I'm revealing myself and jumping in. I'm just waiting for the right time. My companion's invisible as well but I can see him clearly with the ointment on my eyes, but unlike me, he's impatient. Odin knows that when he gets into his worst troubles. His sharp eyes scan the screaming mass before he leans forward slightly, pointing out where the breached window is in Mab's house as he asks, "Now?"

I smile, saying, "No." He sighs heavily before asking, "Will I make it home before Glass realizes I'm gone?"

Pulling my hair back from my face, I tilt my head and reply, "Maybe. We'll try but I'm not promising you anything." I smile sweetly and offer, "Actually, you can leave anytime you like. All you have to do is get off the roof. On your own." He doesn't like that and I laugh at the face he gives me. "Stop fidgeting. We're just waiting for the signal."

He looks over the edge again, hanging on tightly to balance himself before looking back at me impatiently. "There are knights on horseback, people are firing guns and a few people have already been trampled. What, may I ask, was the signal again?"

My smile's a thin one as I reply, "Miao screaming or Mab falling." I look at him straight on as I continue seriously, "If that happens, you go home and lock the doors. Thomas already knows to not let anyone leave but he'll need help defending the Tavern if the riot moves that way."

[iago-excolo.livejournal.com]

How the fuck I ended up here, I couldn't tell anyone. Well, I could but that's a tale unto itself. Verdi's stronger than she looks and I suppose being invisible helps as well. She said it wouldn't last more than hour or so and I truly hope that will be long enough.

Her feeble offer to leave when ever I'd like, ohyes, as if that's possible. I snort, not liking how vague she is about how. Fuck me. I hate when she's vague, and now I have to wait for 'the signal' as well.

For the fourth time, I ask what the fuckin' signal is, and lo and behold, an answer, "Miao screaming or Mab falling. If that happens, you go back and lock the doors. Thomas already knows to not let anyone leave but he'll need help defending the Tavern if the riot moves that way."

I give her a mock-salute, a grim smirk on my face as I say, "Yes, ma'am." I look back to the tavern, praying my love stays safe and sound behind its walls as I begin to consider how I might make it home quickly enough to do what Verdi wants.

[valmont-vicomte.livejournal.com]

I try to get to the sheriff's office, but the crowds push me back. I see Jamie, Arkady and Jarmyn drag Wanda away, so they will all be safe. I glance back to the office, and I'm sorry to break my promise to Wanda, and sorry not to attend to Miao, but I turn my back on it and start pushing through the crowd to get to the library. My promise to Hermia is most important, always. And once I know she is safe, I will go back to the Whitechapel and hope to any god who might be charitable enough to listen that Alice is there and safe and well.

[catherineknight.livejournal.com]

Hirondelle is beginning to sweat, the hair on her flanks darkening with moisture. I'm sweating too, despite the cold weather, and I flick wet hair that's come loose from my helmet out of my eyes. It's only beena few weeks since we came here, and I hate having to press her so hard. At least no one in the crowd has tried fighting us.

Isidore turned Boaz loose and the gelding is now trailing behind us. A dangerous act, to my mind; Boaz is striking and kicking at anyone who gets too close, and I don't know how long it will be before he forgets the command and either panics or wanders away. But I don't have time to take his reins, assuming he would let me. And Isidore has disappeared into the crowd; I can't see him at all anymore. All I can do is keep guiding Hirondelle through the edges of the mob, driving people back.

Another group of men is moving in from the side, waving makeshift clubs and bricks. I turn Hirondelle's head towards them and we rush them at a hard canter, scattering them like birds. Cowards, all of them. Not a single warrior in their ranks; just angry peasants taking courage from the mob.

Out of the corner of my eye I see one of them creeping up behind me, his club clutched in two grimy fists. Hirondelle pivots at my signal and rears as I raise my own cudgel. The man breaks and runs, dropping his weapon. Hirondelle drops back on all fours, and I take a moment to breathe before pressing her on again. I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up.

[nunaunet.livejournal.com]

Blonde girl goes running off with her woman, an' I don't blame her altogethah, ayuh. 'Bout the only thing a sensible person can do, an' she don't owe me nothin'.

Mob's closing in, an' though Zann's shooting at them best she can, they'ah still good at throwing rocks, ayuh. Getting pretty sick of this. Syl grabs my arm, an' I squeeze her hand then put her aside some. Don't know if it'd fuck things up if she was touching me when I do this, you ken?

Ain't hard to talk to the watah. Big lot of it ovah by the rivah, of course, but theah's also all the watah in the street, damp beneath the cobbles in the alley. Bring youahself up, I tell it. Come on, honey. I've been everything you've been an' then some. Come on an' show these bastards a thing or two.

Watah starts seeping up from the ground, an' I take hold of Syl then.

"Could get messy, sweet," I say. "If you can't swim, now'd be the time to tell me an' I can hoist you up on my shouldahs, ayuh."

Guttahs filling up with watah, trickling then rushing, an' then the guttahs ovahspilling an' watah coming out of the cracks in the pavement. Watah flowing ovah our feet, now, an' it's surprising people enough that they slow down. Can feel the rivah. Think she's listening to me. Don't you worry, girl. I need you, I'm gonna call for you. Syl an' I start rushing down the alley, an' people are aftah us, but the watah gets highah an' it slows them some. Calf height now in this narrow space behind the buildings, an' I push the watah out onto Main Street. Should make those fuckahs slip up at least, ayuh. An' then we'll see if I feel the need to drown any of them.

[syl-thorn.livejournal.com]

Nu squeezes m'hand an'en pushes't away. I don't hardly notice. 'm 'bout ready t'risk th'blindness charm; c'n grab Nu'n guide'er, if'n nothin' else, annat least Zann's onna roof 'n outta reach. 't's soundin' like a better choice'n gettin' th'shit kicked outta me (if'm lucky). Annat's when I re'lize m'boots're wet.

Nu takes hold'a m'arm, "Could get messy, sweet. If you can't swim, now'd be the time to tell me an' I can hoist you up on my shouldahs, ayuh."

"I c'n swim," I says. C'n feel th'magic now, flowin' from'er inta th'earth, callin' th'water, rain 'n snowmelt, up from th'street. Good thin' I c'n bloody swim; s'already's high's our ankles. Don't stop Nu'n me, though; while th'crowd's freakin' out cuzzere sudd'nly wadin', th'two've us shove one fella inta 'nother 'n take off down'n alley. Hear shoutin'n splashin's'ey start after us, but th'water's pretty damned deep'ere an'ey's slowed right down. "Bitch, I could kiss you," I says t'Nu's we leg't. "Why couldn't you'a been 'round last coupl'a times I hadda mob after me?"

[regal-vigilante.livejournal.com]

It was so nice of Reed to toss her coat over the window after she broke it- gives me something to shield my hands when I toss myself out.

Kick someone as my legs swing out, drop into a crouch when I land then elbow someone in the jaw as I rise to my feet. The people on the porch are starting to realize who's jumped out now, and while a couple are still coming at me I can see a few people trying to get away. in the back of my mind, where I'm calm and rational through the whole thing, I muse how its funny that I've never really let my temper go in this town- but even still people seem to fear it.

Now that I'm outside I have a better view. Mostly folk are just pushing, which is fine. The less people who are armed the better off I am. And now I can see the horses instead of just hearing them; the one I can see looks like its trying to disperse the crowd. Even better. But most interesting of all, is the water gushing up from the river- will have to have Chester ask around later, since I don't think this is when the banks should be flooding. And if it is, it was quite opportune to say the least. But I'll take it as a good omen.

Fight my way to the porch railing and climb up onto it; and kick another person in the shoulder on my way up. Pull out the revolver since its louder, and fire into the air- that gets attention. The noise is usually loud, but right now it seems deafening and it draws the eyes of the crowd to me.

"I don't know what brought you all here today, but I know why. And I'll tell you this: I will not let you have him. Not because I'm protecting the bastard- but because I'm protecting you. I know you might not believe me, but keeping him here if for the best- what is the worth of this town if you dispense Judgement with no Justice? Judge him, find him guilty, and I will hang him myself in front of the whole damn town! But judge him! If you just lynch this man, you become the monsters, not him! So knock the door down, take him if you want! but if you kill him like this, you won't be killing a monster- you'll be killing your own humanity!" I feel the crowd's mood start to shift- and I think I'm getting through. Hope I am at least, I'm very exposed here, "When the Council wants to judge him, I'm ready. Until then he gets three basic squares a day and a blanket- same as any other bastard in my lock-up."

[catherineknight.livejournal.com]

When the gun fire Hirondelle tosses her head but does not shy; our horses are trained from an early age to be used to gunfire. But it does get my attention, and I see a red-haired woman standing on the porch railing holding a pistol above her head. "I don't know what brought you all here today, but I know why. And I'll tell you this: I will not let you have him. Not because I'm protecting the bastard- but because I'm protecting you. I know you might not believe me, but keeping him here if for the best- what is the worth of this town if you dispense Judgement with no Justice? Judge him, find him guilty, and I will hang him myself in front of the whole damn town! But judge him! If you just lynch this man, you become the monsters, not him! So knock the door down, take him if you want! but if you kill him like this, you won't be killing a monster- you'll be killing your own humanity! When the Council wants to judge him, I'm ready. Until then he gets three basic squares a day and a blanket- same as any other bastard in my lock-up."

I assume this woman is the sheriff, and I like her immediately. I'm also relieved; there is sweat running down my back, and Hirondelle's sides are heaving. I have to stop her from bending her head to drink the water now pooling in the street. I wish I could let her, but she's hot and the water's cold; I can't risk her colicking. Instead I put pressure on the reins, raising her head, and I direct her through the crowd. They've started muttering and backing away now, and it's not hard to make our way to the sheriff's office.

"Well said," I say before stripping my helmet off and raking my sweat-soaked hair back. I can't see Isidore anywhere, though I hope he's alright. "Is everyone inside alright? I'm sorry we couldn't stop them from getting in."