Calling a Friend (Chase/Porter) - Raz0r's Mainland Sanctuary

His brow rose.

"So ye are mostly concerned wi' a lack of information. So ye have a problem with th' way th' Harpy is handling information. Which does not, under any definition of the terms, mean that you have free reign to go rogue."

She blinked. Then blinked again. Then looked to Jamie. And Jamie's phone went off at him. Text message.

((PM inc))

"I haven't gone rogue, Your Majesty. Again, I have no intention of breaching your Traditions I don't plan on destroying any Kindred, not even those claiming allegiance to the Sabbat. However, I do intend to take actions to defend myself and those I call family, up to staking another kindred and putting a building on top of him."

"So th' problem is tha' ye dinna have faith in my Court. That doesna make me feel any better, lad."

He shook his head, "It's not a lack of faith, Your Majesty. I am keenly aware that you have very capable people in your court. I would stand by Ethan, Ra'idah, Grace, even Raz0r's skill sets. I have at least three in the past. But they're stretched thin, Your Majesty. For a week, we believed we had no Sheriff, we believed she was dead and gone. We are assaulted in our havens, kidnapped on the streets where we hunt and we fear for our safety. Not because your court lacks the skills requisite to deal with these threats, but because there are simply too many for them to deal with. they simply can't be everywhere at once."

"And yet, instead of comin' t' me t' offer services, or goin' to any one of them to offer the same, ye decided that startin' up a shadow-group t' handle threats was a better option? Causin' those in my Court, tha' ye have already expressed bein' "stretched thin" as it is, t' spend their time tryin' like hell t' find out who ye are, what level of threat ye are t' th' safety of th' Domain, an' wasting their precious time chasing you down, when ye could have kept them from havin' to do a bloody thing about it? How the fuck do ye think that makes any sense?"

"I hadn't begun taking actions other than to put together a team. The fact that they heard about me at all in any regard aside from recruitment leads me to think that somewhere, some member of your domain jumped to a conclusion. As for not coming to you, the last time we met... well let's just say I didn't feel like getting punched into Torpor again, kidnapped and twisted by a Tzimisce..."

His brows rose.

"As I understand it, ye got punched over a clan matter, and it was nowhere near my office."

"Details are a bit fuzzy, half my body disintegrated and all. That being said, I'd planned on coming to you after the team was assembled so I knew what I had to work with, what resources I had to bring to you before jumping to any presumption that any of the intended individuals were going to say yes. They're capable, but it was a choice they'd make. I wasn't going to try and force any of them."

He shook his head.

"Tactically, it was a dumb move. Sorry, but your arrogance, an' aye, I'm goin' to blame it on ye bein' English, is wha' has got ye into this mess. If ye had come t' me before even startin' to put all this together, then ye would have been free an' clear. As it stand, ye have wasted a good amount of my time, my Court's time, an' a lot of resources tha' could have been saved with one visit or phone call. I dinna take kindly to that."

"You don't take kindly to anything an Englishman does, whether it's helped or hindered you. But I'm not going to bother arguing semantics with you tonight. I'm going to presume that regardless of how this all turns out, you don't want the help of an Englishman for any number of reasons. So the only real question, Your Majesty, is what now?"

He turned to Ethan.

"What do you think, Seneschal?"

Ethan crossed his arms loosely and leaned back against the corner he was in to the right of the door.

"Well, I've heard Mr. Covington claim that he hadn't begun to take any actions other than to put together a team and that," his voice now sounded rather like Chase, "somewhere, some member of your domain jumped to a conclusion." His voice returned to normal, "and, from what I can see, that member was Mr. Covington himself, as he sent the letter to you." Ethan shrugged. "Should he wish to serve the domain in its defense, I see no issue with that, but he should be working through the Scourge or the Sheriff... as it is, he's stepped on both their toes and threatened to step on yours."

He looked back to Chase.

"What have ye t' say about that?"

"The letter was not a declaration to defy you or your traditions. It was a declaration of intent to serve your domain. The intent was not to step on the toes of your court. Any action I or my group would have taken would have been brought to Your Majesty's attention. In the end, while they would have known about our group, we would have functioned as a separate entity, allowing them to concentrate on the more important issues and greater threats."

He again looked at the Nosferatu.

"Ethan?"

Still leaning against the wall, he nodded. "You didn't exactly declare any intent to violate the traditions, but there was so much insinuation that you were going to that it would be hard to argue otherwise. As for being a separate entity from the Sheriff or Scourge, who would you report to? Who would have oversight of your group? And better yet, how do you think keeping track of you and your reports won't take away from their nightly duties otherwise?"

When the prince had to hold his tongue, the senschal was his voice... and so it was.

And this is why Ethan is a pimp.

Raz0r's eyes glaze for a moment, and she speaks in an almost male voice. One that Chase would recognize.

"Protect the weak from the mighty, tolerate not the hand of tyranny, Show mercy and compassion to those who deserve it, and above all else, never forget that when Injustice becomes Law, Rebellion becomes Duty."

Then her voice changes, taking on the timber of a woman. Again, Chase would recognize it.

"I can give you the power I wield, but it comes at a price. You must swear to protect the weak, to fight tyranny and injustice, you must be willing to give, selflessly of yourself for the sake of others, as we were meant to."

Her eyes came back to the room, looking directly at Chase.

"This you swore. And what that says to me is that you and yours believe yourself above the laws of the Kindred. Beyond them."

He pointed at Raz0r with one hand. And turned to stare at Ethan.

"The fuck just happened?"

Ethan's mouth opened and he looked mildly shocked... his hands came up and his head shook side to side in a 'I got no idea, man...' gesture.

This is a nice corner...

She turned to look at Jamie.

"Those voices came from his head. That is the oath he swore when he took on the mantel of King Raven. We should also be speaking to his Childe, Mike Wood."

He growled. Literally.

"Bring me th' wee lad, an' stop wi' th' weird voices. It makes me twitchy."

Chase's gaze came to rest on Raz0r, a look of betrayal on his face, not because she'd brought him here, or because of the questions, but because she'd violated his mind. She could have bugged his entire haven, but to enter his mind under the guise of friendship, to use that against him, that was something that not even he would have considered doing.

"Mike isn't aware of any action I've taken in this domain as King Raven. There is no reason to drag him into this issue."

"My oath did not speak of broken traditions, my oath spoke of fighting, of standing against what was morally wrong. I can do that without violating traditions, and I have for centuries. Yes, I have been the assassin for various Princes countless times, to dole out their justice when secrecy was needed to preserve stability. But more times have my arrows simply been stakes to incapacitate Kindred who's wickedness crossed a line. I cannot explain my oath to creatures who do not have the humanity to understand why I gave it, or to those who would not care. You would call my oath foolish, naive, and so my breath, unnecessary as it is, would be wasted on explaining it to you. Not for lack of knowledge or wisdom, but because to you it is a thing which does not matter."