A Birth day

"It'll be fine," Angus told Ruby. "Moira isn't half as nuts as your mother is."

"You realize that really isnt' saying much, Angus," Marcus teased. "Let's go, Jessie, shall we?" How about we head straight, towards the sinkhole?"

"Let jack and I head northwest towards the longhouses," Angus said. 

"That leaves use heading northeast towards the fields, the worker cabins, and the building site for the new summer kitchen," Edward said. "Signal if you find anything, Folks." 

They started a walk through the woods, and Archangel seemed to need to stay with Angus and Jack. Angus felt a certain amount of anxiety that didn't feel like his. 

"Does Jess ever get a case of nerves, but they don't feel like her nerves?" Angus asked Jack quietly. "Its sort of an electrical energy sensation that feels a bit like anxiety, but I know it isn't mine. It's really creepy. It's got me being especially on guard."

"Stay close, Ruby," Edward told her as they started into some of the darker parts of the woods. "Thestrals are carnivorous, so if they're hungry, they could be wanting to feed either on maybe some fish or frogs or any sort of night time creature. If we're lucky, they just went out for a snack."

"Hey, Jessie," Marcus asked, "since we're heading that way, has there been any progress in filling up the sinkhole or do we still have to worry about an enormously deep drop?"

Jessie looked at Marcus and nodded " sure I'm ready" he said as he walked with Marcus " Yeah they were about half way done from the last report but I think the fence it still up and around it for now" Jessie said to Marcus.

Jack looked at Angus and he chuckled " some times if the residual energy is stronger. why you getting that feeling because if that's the case were on the right track for something" he said not wanting it to be Moira and James.

Ruby stayed with Edward and looked at him " I didn't know they were carnivores, I've not got that far in the bestiary I'm actually on hippogriff's." she told him as they walked and she scanned the area in front and around them so not to run into the Thestral's by surprise. " I'm surprised there's not more signs of them" she said

"Okay, so if we fall in the hole, we'll only fall halfway to China instead of waking up in Beijing. Good," Marcus quipped. "Actually, in all seriousness, I rather hope we find James as to Angus finding James because I don't want Angus thinking he's going to take down James by himself or some other kamakaze plan."

"From what Robert's told me," Edward told her, "he spends insane amounts of money on meat for the thestrals because if he didn't the owls and Archangel and just about any other flying thing would have been food a long time ago. Thestrals' prime way to hunt is to fly and capture things in the air because they're so damned fast--ridiculously faster than any broom that's ever been made. Robert prefers to keep them full enough that they're too full to even think about hunting. And he keeps them grounded with a spell that stops them from flying. So, I don't think they'd have taken to the air because I don't think the spell has worn off. Robert tends to overlap it rather than to let it fade off." 

"Maybe you're right," Angus said to Jack. "If we dont find the thestrals, we don't find them. I really just want to find the kids and get them home. It's so like Sam and Anise to try to dash off to help something in trouble. I think when they saw the thestrals leaving the barn area, they thought they'd just go get them and bring them straight back, but it didn't go that way....Wait. Somebody's trying to call my gran. I can hear their urgency in my head, not a voice or words as such. Maybe its Anise. And I'm not sure why they're trying to summon my gran. It's getting stronger as we get closer to the longhouses."

Jessie could not help but laugh at Marcus as he said they would only fall half way to China " oh that's a good one" he said chucking now as he listened more " yeah that would work really well, let them find Sam and Anise but not good for them though" he said as they walked on closer to the sink hole " oh if we find anything else here please if its alive we take it home if not we leave it alone, please" he said .

Ruby listened to Edward and nodded " good thing or we'd never find them" she said tripping and her had landing in something warm " eww, what did I land in" she asked looking at Edward as she held up her hand for him to see.

Jack chuckled and nodded " just go with it mate, and we'll find them, they get hungry so have to come home to eat eventually" he said as they walked " I would love to catch up to James though and take him down a peg or two" he added " I just hope he hasn't found Sam and Anise before we do" he added.

"Whether I take anything home with me depends on, first, does it want to eat me? If it does, screw it. It's not coming home with me," Marcus said to Jessie. "Second, even if it doesn't want to eat me, is it going to cost me an arm and a leg to feed and is it going to burn my house down or something? Wait. What's that?" He stopped and cast a lumos maxima to be able to see. "Ah. That's our route to Beijing right there," Marcus pointed to the partly filled in hole. He shone his wand down into the hole. "I don't see anything down there. What about you? Your beady little werewolf eyes see anything I don't see?"

"Ew. That?" Edward looked at her. "That looks and smells very much like werewolf poop. Humans are housebroken, werewolves aren't always. And then there are some who are just rude bastards. There's a creek about about 20 feet to our right. I suggest you rinse that stuff off."

As they neared the longhouses, Angus' felt something yank him to turn to the right and start to walk quicker. He knew full well the cliffs were that way, but he was being drawn sharply that way. There was high danger here, and he knew it. Every cell in his body was on high alert.

"Wands, Jack," Angus told him, feeling his attentions being divided. Something was strongly pulling him that way. He looked between the trees and he saw the thestrals dashing off to the east, running in fear. Thestrals didnt run from much. He hoped maybe Jessie and Marcus or Ruby and Edward would be able to catch them. 

The next thing he saw almost made him panic. He saw James and Moira. James had ahold of Anise and Moira had Sam. Sam was getting mouthy, as usual, and Moira had had enough of it. She struck him in the back of the head, and Sam went limp. She'd knocked him out. Anise panicked, and James yanked her back against him like she didn't weigh anything at all. He was hissing things in her ear.

"James!" Angus shouted, running now, forgetting everything but getting his kids back, "let her go. You let her go right now."

"Well, if it isn't Captain Clumsy," James taunted. "This belongs to you, does it? Well, well, well, how sweet is that? And she's already a werewolf. I think I'll keep her, and she can just give me cub after cub after..."

"I'll kill you," Angus seethed

"Yeah, yeah, yea. You and what army, Pee Wee? Your threats bore me," James said, bored.

Jessie looked at where Marcus pointed his wand and looked down into the pit " nope nothing down there but rocks and dirt" he told him. He moved towards Marcus but paused " I smell something in the direction Jack and Angus went its phew stinks like.." he paused as his eyes went wide. " werewolf" he told Marcus and looked at him wondering if he would head in that direction and help whom over had found it.

Ruby gaged as she quickly moved to the creek and washed her hand " well that proves there are werewolves around" she said and shivered " remind me to wash this hand again when were back home with anti bacterial soup" she said using her top to dry off her hand.

Jack looked at the fleeing Thestral's and slid out his wand he could smell something bad in the air and looked at Angus who seemed to be following his own sense. He walked slightly behind Angus and paused hearing him talk to James and Moira. he gave a low growl when Moira hit Sam and knocked him out. He heard James ask how Angus would stop him. Jack growled and stepped out of the shadows " with me brother" he said gripping his wand tight in his hand. " I have beaten you twice before , now drop the kids and leave or this time we'll make sure you never harm anyone again" Jack threatened his muscles tense " I never thought you would be so dumb to come back here and try this again." Jack shook his head " must be all these knocks on the head and I see your hair has gown back. A little" he said walking in a semi cercle behind Angus like a wild animal getting read to pounce but also checking out the lay of the land to get the best strike.

Edward was looking around. He wasn't seeing any sign of any thestrals or of the kids or anything else, but an uneasiness was building. Something wasn't right. And then he began to smell flowers. 

"You smell that?" Edward asked Ruby. "That was Caprice's favorite scent. Something isn't right. We're not where we need to be. We need to head towards Jack and Angus. She'd only be trying to alert us if we needed to be doing something. Grab hold. We need to go west in a hurry." He reached out his hand to her so they could apparate to the longhouses.

As Jessie and Marcus were standing on the edge of the hole and Jessie picked up on the scent of werewolf, something made the hair on the back of Marcus's neck stand straight up, and he shivered. He turned to his left, and there, standing in the moonlight was a full-on solid looking apparition of Caprice Donohue in full mission wear. 

"Jessie! Look! It's Angus' gran. He's in trouble, sure as the world," Marcus said, feeling terror in his veins now because he was certain Jack and Angus were in trouble. "Where, Caprice? Where is he?" She spun around, her arm extending straight as any compass needle and she pointed to the northwest. Marcus knew the only thing in that direction was the edge of the cliff. "Jesus," Marcus gasped, not waiting on Jessie, he sprinted, running through the woods in the dark as fast as his legs would carry him.

"I'm tired," James hissed at Angus. "You know that? I'm tired of you stupid humans cheating me out of what is rightfully mine. Not a one of you is worth the glue it takes to hold your cells together. So, you know what? You won't hand over what belongs to me, so I'm going to start taking what belongs to you." He grabbed Sam and dragged him over and dropped him on the ground at his feet. "I'll start with these two, and then I'm going to get rid of the rest of them, one by one or en masse--whatever it takes. I'll take your kids and then...." Angus saw him grabbing up Anise, and he saw James' eye glaze over. James was going to kill, and Angus knew it full well.

"James, no. No, not my kids," Angus said, going closer, slowly, step by step, hoping to strike a bargain, watching James look at him incredulously. Here was one of Robert's top fighters, offering to take the place of his kids, offering to make himself a sacrifice in hopes that his kids would live. It was something James couldn't begin to understand, and it completely distracted James, making him focus in on Angus instead of anyone else there. "Let them go," Angus told James calmly and steadily, dropping his wand on the ground and raising his hands in an unarmed surrender. "Look, they're just kids. They don't have the power to give you what you want. I'll make you a trade. Them for me. Take me, Take me instead...."

Marcus could hear Angus begging James to let the kids go and to take him instead. Marcus knew James just too damned well. There was no reasoning or bargaining with a madman. The fact was that James killed because he enjoyed doing it. James was never going to bargain with anyone, and hearing Angus trying it made Marcus sharply aware of his job duties to keep Angus safe. If there was any power under heaven that could make Marcus move faster, this was it. Angus wasn't going to do this, not on Marcus's watch. He raced forward just as Angus was trying to offer himself to James, and Marcus made one quickly calculated leap and he tackled Angus to the ground, covering Angus's body with his own.

Ruby watched Edward and looked around smelling in the air " yes I do, flowers" she said looking around the area she heard Edward and took hold of Edwards hand as he ported them to where Angus was. Jessie heard Marcus and nodded he looked where he was looking and saw what Marcus saw " wow okay , follow the spooky lady" he said and moved with Marcus towards where she was pointing quickly watching he moved quietly to drag Sam out of the way he quickly ported to the main house and place him on the couch before returning to where he had been crouching in the bushes.
Sa feeling him move away from them glancing back he saw Jessie disappear then reappear moments later without Sam.

Jack watched as Angus spoke to James , he felt there was no way James was going to give up Anise that easily but also knew he was after power and Angus could give him that. He also saw Marcus move slowly to step in-between Angus and James Jack motioned to Jessie to move behind Angus and looked over at where he now saw Edward and Ruby entering  the clearing.

At the duplex, Simone went to the freezer, got an ice pack and began tending to Sam's head. Ginger and Victor came from their rooms, and when Victor heard from Simone what was happening, he went to Edward's tower and got Edward's axe and came back downstairs.

"Vic..." Simone began.

"Granddad is going to need this," Victor said, flicking his wand to apparate, betting they were somewhere near the longhouses.

Edward apparated Ruby and himself to the longhouses, and although he couldn't get a good clear view, he could see there were people over by the cliff, northeast of them just through the trees. Edward went that way and came upon the sight of James holding Anise hostage, and Marcus shielding Angus on the ground, with Jack and Jessie moving in position to be able to take on James if they had to. Sam wasn't anywhere in sight now.

Victor apparated in just south of the longhouses, but he could hear voices. He approached carefully.


"Geez, Belby," James rolled his eyes. "Overreact much? I didn't say I wanted him."

"I'm not overreacting, you great furry toe rag," Marcus said. He glanced down at Angus. "You in one piece, Mate?"

"I was better before you dashed my head on a rock," Angus scowled. 

"Sorry 'bout that," Marcus said. He got up, and he helped Angus to his feet, grabbed Angus's wand and shoved it back in Angus's hand. "Do anything else stupid, and you and I are out. Got it?" he hissed in Angus's ear in a whisper.

"Let go of my daughter," Angus demanded.

"Or what?" James laughed.

"Don't think I can't slice and dice you."

"Really?" James was truly amused now. "Werewolf, remember? You can't begin to move quick enough to have at me. Oh, and look. You brought the family fossil with you."  

"Go ahead and amuse yourself for the moment because we're not going to do this very long," Edward said. Victor walked up beside him. 

"Brought you something, Granddad," Victor said quietly. Edward glanced over and saw Victor with his axe.

"Good boy," Edward said, taking the big battle axe from Victor. He took a couple steps forward, purposely spinning the axe to let it glisten in the moonlight. "I'm glad you're having fun, James, because I'm rather in the mood for a little fun myself. What do you say?" James saw the axe, and he took a half a step backwards. The sight of Edward Donohue with his axe was intimidating for any werewolf anywhere.

Ruby stood next to Edward and saw Victor with Edwards Axe. She said nothing but flicked her wrist and drew her wand transfiguring her clothing to her mission wear so not to mess up her regular clothing as she walked over to stand with Angus. " he asked you to let our daughter go, before it goes badly for you." she said looking at James. Ruby made sure she kept eye contact to show she meant business.

Jessie moved behind Moira in the bushes quietly since he had not been seen yet ready to slice her neck and take Anise back to the duplex. He looked at Jack making hand gestures to what he would do, Jack gestured to him to wait and he nodded. .