{"sf1_id":807761,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Storm Winds Brewing","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2390,"posted_at":"2015-01-15T15:11:00.000Z","tags":["Buildup","FAMILY","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/807761-storm-winds-brewing","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/807761","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=807761\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#86 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Billy\ndrove to the airport and after an extended hassle with the security team, was\nescorted to the airplane that had flown in from Italy. There was a delay as\npapers were checked and double checked. Billy railed at the delay, but knew\nbetter than to try to rush it along. These federal guys could get ugly if they\nthought you were trying to pull something over on them. And right now, he was\ntrying to pull something over on them.\n                Well,\nthe pope was. Billy was just the getaway driver.\n                In the\nend and after many dirty looks, the old bearded man in a monk's robe was\nescorted to the Rover. A box of moderate size was packed in the back. Billy\ncould speak nothing more than English, but the man put his hand on his arm and\na thought came across. \"Thank you.\"\n                \"No;\nthank you! We need all the help we can get, or I think we do. No one seems to\nbe saying much about this fella other than that he is a bad ass.\"\n                Leo\ngrinned a little. \"Bad - Ass?\"\n                \"Sorry.\nUmmmmm; maybe you might say nasty, or formidable?\"\n                \"One is a matter of attitude, the other one\nof ability. If he is indeed a bad-ass, then this may prove to be as challenging\nas I dread it will be.\"\n                \"You've\ngot that right.\"\n                \"Perhaps more than you can know. Shall we go\nsee the girl now? From what she has told me, she is the key to all this.\"\n                \"Sure\nthing pops!\"\n                \"Pops?\" was the confused mental reply.\n                Billy\nlet out a laugh and slapped the master on the back. \"Yep! You're plenty old\nenough to be Methuselah's  father!\"\n                When\nBilly got to the house Maggie came out and gave the master a hug. \"Sorry to\ndrag you into this Leo, but I think we need to have a show of force.\"\n\"It is most likely a true enough\nobservation. Can you tell me any more about this person against whom we are\npreparing to battle?\"\n\"I'll leave that up to my mom.\nShe's the one who screwed him, so if anyone will know his secrets, it'll be\nher.\"\nShe turned to Billy. \"Can you show\nhim into the house and then come back outside?\"\nHe gave her a questioning look.\n\"Sure little one, but why?\"\n                \"Because\nI have a favor to ask you, and I don't want to do it in front of anyone else.\"\n                He shrugged,\nhefted the wooden box out of the back and carried it up to the house. He was\ninside for a few minutes, likely making the introductions. Maggie felt she\nshould be in there, but she had more important things to consider.\n                When he\ncame back out, he was eyeing her warily. \"Tell me you aren't going to have me\ndo something I'll regret.\"\n                \"What\nyou do with your own emotions is your own problem Billy. I have a list of\nthings I want you to get for me. I don't care how you get them, but you have to\nget them before you leave Pittsburg.\"\n                He\nlooked down the short list and brief instructions. \"This doesn't make any sense\nto me. Well this one maybe,\" he said, pointing to a strange item. \"But what are\nyou up to?\"\n                \"Don't\nask.\"\n                \"I just\ndid.\"\n                \"Billy,\nyou're going to have to trust me on this.\"\n                \"Forget\nit. Either you tell me, or I'm not getting this stuff. I'm not the brightest\nbulb in the pack, but I'm not stupid either. If I understand what you want it\nfor, then I'll feel better about helping.\"\n                Her\neyes glowed red, then dimmed. \"If I tell you, you have to promise me you'll not\ninterfere.\"\n                He\npaused before answering. \"I promise.\"\n                \"Let's\nsit in the Rover. I don't want anyone to overhear us.\"\n                It was\nonly a short while later that they climbed out. \"I don't like it. Are you sure\nthere isn't another way?\"\n                \"I\ndon't see one. So you keep that trap of yours shut. It may not come down to\nthis, but if it does, you stay out of it, you hear?\"\n                \"I hear\nya. I don't like it, but I did promise.\"\n                He\nturned to go into the house but she didn't budge. \"Are you coming?\"\n                \"No. I\ntold you why I needed that stuff, but not my whole plan. That wasn't part of\nthe deal.\" With that, she turned and ran off through the neighboring yards and\nwas soon out of sight. Billy suddenly felt sick. How was he going to explain\nher disappearance? He knew where she was headed, more or less, but to tell her\nkin; now that was going to get him into a lot of trouble. It looked like it was\ngoing to be time to break the news and then head out on a shopping trip. \n                His\nnews was met with a mixed reaction. Leo seemed nonplussed by it, whereas her\nmother and grandmother went into hysterics. Billy sat in the middle as a storm\nraged around him. He caught only bits and pieces, because that damn old fella\nwas speaking in some language he didn't recognize, and the other two would\nrevert to Russian, and then those other two Russians joined in until he had\nenough. He slipped out the back, into the Rover and went looking for the stuff\non Maggie's list. He wasn't sure what she really had up her sleeve, but it\nwasn't likely to be good.\nThe first item was easy enough, and\nhe got the biggest one he could find. The third item was not too hard either,\nthough he got looks from the store owner when he cleaned them out. The fourth\nitem wasn't difficult either, and with someone of Billy's looks, wasn't seen as\nweird. But the second one on the list, now that proved difficult. He got\ndirected around to a few wholesale houses before he found one with sufficient\nquantities. He got some glares, but since it was hardly something that was on\nthe Homeland Security watch list, he was given as much as he wanted. He didn't\nknow how much she might want, so he bought a lot of it.\nWhen he returned, there was another\ncar in front of the house. He recognized his parent's vehicle immediately. He\nburst in and gave a shout. \"Hey, are you guys joining the party too?\"\nVerona gave him a sour look. \"This\nisn't a party dear cousin; it's a battle for our lives.\"\n\"Oh don't go getting all sad faced\non me. I've been in scraps my whole life. This one will be no different.\"\n\"Says you. Edward is gone, and now\nI hear Maggie is gone, and then you left. Where did you go?\"\nHe nearly stumbled over his words.\n\"I went to get some air. I hate it when folks fight.\"\nShe didn't know if she believed him\nor not. But that fact was, he would rather fight the demons of hell than listen\nto people argue. Besides, he came back which meant something. She turned her\nattention to the master.\n\"If Edward left without this\nequipment you brought, then what was the point in having you fly it across the\nocean?\"\n\"I am unclear on that. He knows the\nlimitations of it, so I could only assume that he intended it for someone else.\nI have seen his bad side, and it's not something you wish to be on. The suit\nwould only hinder him.\"\nAgain, Billy was left out of the\nconversation. Even if he had a ring, it wouldn't work for him. He held up his\nhand, his own silver rings glittering in the light. \"What are we all talking\nabout here?\"\nVerona turned to him. \"Leonard has\nbrought some sort of armor from back in his day across the ocean to help us\nout. But since Edward ran off, and Maggie ran off, who is supposed to wear it?\"\n\n\"Armor? Cool! Can I see it?\"\nLeo understood him, even if he\ncould not be understood in return. He asked for a crowbar, and Billy got a tire\niron from the Rover. The lid was pried off revealing the shining cuirass that\nhad lastly been worn by Cardinal Medici. \nBilly pulled it out, unharmed by the alloy, and let loose a low whistle.\n\"Now this is a museum piece! You\nwere going to have Edward wear this thing?\" \nVerona was frowning. \"I think that\nwas the idea, but who knows? Both of them are gone, and we're just sitting here\ntwiddling our thumbs. This sucks!\" \nBilly held it up to his chest.\n\"It's too small for me. You guys can change and squeeze into tight places, but\nnot me. I'm just big and dumb.\"\n\"You're not dumb son. I wish you\nwouldn't say that.\"\nBilly grinned. \"I know pops, but it\nhelps if I let people think that.\"\nLeonardo was looking over the\nothers. In the few hours that Billy had been gone, he had gotten acquainted\nwith the family as best as he was able. He had no clear knowledge of the tsars,\nonly that which he had gleaned from that wonderful inter-net thing the girl had\nshown him. What a wonderful way of sharing information, even if a lot of it was\nincorrect. \n\"I have a recommendation. There is\nonly one suit, and therefore only one person can wear it. Since this Billy here\ncannot wear it, which would be ideal, than another of you must, unless you\nchose to leave it here. But I think I know his mind, and I think I know who\nmust make use of it.\"\nHis eyes fell upon just one of them.\n\"Me?\"\n\"Yes, you. Think it over and tell\nme that it doesn't make sense.\"\nThey did think it over, in all its\nimplications. And so it was decided.\nThat proved to be only one problem\nsolved. Edward had no phone with him, and while Maggie had hers and his on her\nperson, they all knew she would have reverted to her feral form to gain the\nbest speed. One could barely imagine a wolf running through the brush carry a\nsmall purse in its mouth. But that was exactly what she was doing.\nShe still wasn't sure where Edward\nwas going, but she knew a vague idea of what he had planned. She loved him, but\nat the moment that emotion was inverted. She was never going to be able to love\na man who didn't include her in his plans. They were to be a couple, which\nmeant they did things together. His arrogance, no matter how well meaning, was\ngoing to be their undoing. This upcoming moment was going to be the ultimate\ntest of their relationship.\nShe slammed on the brakes. Maybe\nthat was what he had seen; the true final outcome of this inevitable meeting.\nShe stood there, catching her breath before continuing. She had failed to see\nthe greater scheme and maybe he had. Her eyes narrowed. Maybe her plan had\nalready been seen. In that case, it meant that she was on the right track.\nWell, hopefully she was. Until this mess was ended, she had no idea if what she\nsaw as being the only outcome was truly the right thing to do. Once she put it\ninto effect, there was no turning back.\nIt was something just as stupid as\nhe would do, and in fact, was maybe just as stupid as what he was trying to do\nright now. Only time would tell. In the meantime, she had a rendezvous with\nsome old friends. She didn't know if they could help, but their presence\ncouldn't hurt. \nA few hours away another car was\nstill travelling towards Pittsburgh. The occupants fretted and argued the\nentire way. \nFrom yet another direction, heading\nfor the same destination was one more car, occupied by too very worried people.\nHiding out had helped them to survive this long, but it looked like the time\nfor the shadows was over. There was going to be a gathering like none this\ncontinent had ever seen, not since the eighteen hundreds, and that particular\none had never been witnessed, so its result had never been documented. If the\nworld was lucky, the same would happen with this one. If not, the eyes of the\nworld would be on this little corner of the globe.\nEdward got off the bus and slipping\nout of sight, stripped, rolled in the miasma around a dumpster and loped off. A\ngood tracker might follow him, but he doubted it would ever be the case. They\nhad to know where he was to begin with, and he left no discernible trail in\nriding the bus. From now until he got to his destination, he should be home\nfree.\nLeeds was waiting. He knew that\nthis new interloper was coming his way, but not to what end. He would wait, and\nwhen this newcomer arrived, he would see what his intentions were. He was not\nabove talking. You never knew what you might learn from the unwary traveler.\nBut if this man; this silly, optimistic troglodyte thought to keep him from his\ndaughter, then he had a nasty surprise coming. Maggie was just entering her\nprime now, and she was therefore in need of being with her kind, not these\nsniveling, earth-sniffing furballs. They were no better than the regular\nhumans; in his eyes anyway.\nHe conversed with his kin and\ndevised a plan should the words of this fellow fall on deaf ears. Even if he\ndid approve of the words, he found he would not likely approve of their source,\nand as such, this man needed to die. It wasn't personal. It was merely an effort\nto survive in a world overrun with lowlife, disgusting apparitions of life. His\nkin had managed to live unmolested for centuries, only occasionally exposing\nthemselves to discovery. Most of those had finally lost their minds and had\nbeen hunted down and killed. \nSecrecy was the most important part\nof their existence."}