[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hY2FjZWYuUTJ4aGJtTjVJRkJoZEhKcFkycy4x/burn-out-fade-away.regular.webp[/img] [@FernStone]Anya, Luca, Linqian[@Atrophy] Sully [@NoriWasHere] Lila [@Shin Ghost Note] Britney
[code]No Man's Land, aka Kari Wilson's (Wrecked) Yard[/code] [hr]

Things snapped back to an equilibrium. Someone - a girl - had made Sullysnap out of the stupor that seemed to have infected them all. The man had in turn come to his senses, intervened and taken responsibility for the [i]half-digested[/i] Sloane as Clancy pried her away from the corrosive embrace, then shared that responsibility with Drake once she was in a better state...

Clancy took Sully's letterman without complaint, having barely made eye contact with the man save to offer a silent nod of appreciation when he refrained from touching him. 

The truth was that the cold didn't bother him - in his world, it was [i]always[/i] cold - but he suspected the others would not have wanted to see him in the state that he was. Body and clothing alike were tattered in every respect, with deep, bloodless gouges in his flesh that concealed a black, skeletal void beneath the surface, a constant reminder that he was [i]less[/i] than what he [i]once was.[/i]

Looking on as Sully passed around the chalice to share its 'heal juice', a certain [i]longing[/i] tugged at him. Salt in the physical wounds he'd suffered, although the pain was was not of the body.  [I]It won't work,[/i] he knew, without having to ask. 

[i]Not that it was needed.[/i]

Slowly, he could [i]see[/i] the damage knitting back together, like paint slowly spreading out from a flat canvas. The shadows bedded beneath the surface appeared to recede as pale flesh seemed to reform over the gaps. His torso was in the worst state, where the [i]burst[/i] had torn an exit wound wide open from, with a gouge that ran through from navel to the small of his back. 

That would take a little [i]longer[/i] than the rest of him, so to spare the others staring he pulled the letterman on over his shoulders like a cloak. It was a little too big for him to wear without taking back the sleeves, and he doubted Sully would've appreciated such [i]modifications[/i] to his favourite jacket.

Besides, he didn't look the part of a varsity athlete.

Clancy paced over towards where he'd taken the [i]barrage[/i] from the two 8th Street assholes, or where he [i]thought[/i] he'd taken them, as he could only measur by distance from the imprint in the ground where the mound of animated meat had been during the chaos. If anyone had bled here, he could've only guessed by that coppery tang hitting his senses. The storm had washed any viscera away, and not a single shred of evidence that either of the four assailants he'd seen there remained.

Nor did the [i]other[/i] thing he was looking for. [i]Not there,[/i] he noted, and paced off again, impatient, [i]not here, either.[/i] 

Eventually, after minutes of searching, it dawned on him.

The axe was [i]gone.[/i] Stolen, most likely.

It shouldn't have bothered him. [i]Nothing[/i] in his life had lasted, but he'd found a cerrtain [i]permanence[/i] with its presence. Something about the weapon's unique properties, not unlike his own circumstances, had been strangely [i]comforting.[/i]

The subtle hint of frustration and [i]loss[/i] caused the hunger pang to gnaw at his consciousness again, accentuated by the coppery tang in the air. The meat here was [i]worthless[/i], moldering flesh and rotting bones which were so brittle that they broke like twigs.

[I]Later,[/i] he reminded himself.

[I]Focus.[/i] 

It was difficult to shake those thoughts away, but this wasn't the time or place to lose that self-control. The others wouldn't have understood it, and they had [i]enough[/i] to worry about without other things spooking them.

He saw the [i]odd[/i] girl, Lila. Except it wasn't just Lila. The feathers and [i]talons[/i] that bristled through her body, refusing to be willed away. The agonised expression she offered them as she asked for help, fo be [i]fixed.[/i]

There was some small comfort to be found in the shared suffering of the others. To know they understood what it was to be fundamentally weighed down by something beyond their cintrol.

Her and the skinny boy with the [i]Rot[/i] eating him away from within, along with anything else that came into contact with him. It made sense now - was this what Britney had done to them? Luca had all but [i]confirmed[/i] what Ashley had suggested during their conversations.

For a moment, Clancy shot Britney a withering glare, although he was doubtful she'd noticed. They were all too busy trying to make a headcount and figure out what would happen next.

Linqian caught his eye next, stripped down at [i]every[/i] level, he could tell she was grieving even now. A lingering sentiment of sympathy tugged at him as she speculated being alone. She'd been... [i]decent[/i] to him, and he understood her loss better than some. 

[b]"I can-.. keep an eye out. If you want."[/b] Clancy offered, [b]It's obvious.."[/b] he paused, gaze sweeping across them like a big cat sizing up a pack of hyenas trying to gnaw at the wilderbeast it just , [b]".. that Father Wolf [i]can't[/i] hurt me."[/b]

As if to emphasise the point, the black opening across his gut remained on display, only barely concealed by the jacket. 
  
[b]"I just need to deal with something on the way back,"[/b] he added, doing his best to cover up the guttural resonance barely echoing through the gouge in his throat, [b]"Would be easier if you know where that [i]Prom Queen[/i] or any of her [i]pets[/i] live."[/b]