(Eggsy/Zyaz Collab)<br/><br/>In southwest DC, just by a fenced in skatepark, Reine carried a bulky backpack over her shoulder. Despite the late hour, the street was all but quiet, the skatepark still filled with teenagers doing tricks under the flickering floodlights, showing off to their friends. Someone was playing music on a portable bluetooth speaker, loud enough to hear from the other side of the street.<br/><br/>The woman watched the teenagers for a moment, before moving on. Cities were nothing new to her, but it always took some getting used to after being on the road. A whole onslaught of smells, sights, and sounds. She turned into an alleyway, where two motorcycles were parked, illegally, next to a dumpster.<br/><br/>Of course, leaving a pair of bikes alone in a city alley at night wouldn’t have been an amazing idea. Luckily, Reine was not alone, accompanied by another woman who was currently seated sideways on one of the motorcycles. “Was this really the best place to park?” She complained, glaring at the dumpster that she was standing (or rather, sitting) guard by. Enhanced senses had advantages sometimes, but now was not one of those times.<br/><br/>Reine put her bag on the ground with a soft clink, and shrugged. “It’s secluded and parking is free.”<br/><br/>She knelt down, and unzipped her bag, pulling out what she had spent the past two hours scouring the area for. Several cans of cat and dog food. A whole chicken, condensation dripping off its plastic wrap. And the best of all, a hunk of fresh tuna. “Help me prep,” she said, pulling out a can opener and tossing it to the other woman.<br/><br/>Of all the awful smells, that chicken had to be among the worst. At least it was still somewhat sealed. Julie caught the opener when it arced near enough to reach out and grab it, then stood and walked over to the backpack, squatting down to get to work on the cans. She worked fast enough, occasionally glancing up towards the alley’s entrance to make sure nobody was around. She had no idea how to explain two strange women in a dark alley with a bunch of raw meat, and had no desires to have to try.<br/><br/>“You sure this is gonna work?” She asked, setting aside cans as she opened them. Alpha therianthropes and their animal communication confused her to a degree. She understood that they<span style="font-style: italic">could,</span>but it was<span style="font-style: italic">how</span>that confounded her. “I dunno how clever street animals are, you know. What are you hoping to get out of all this?” It wasn’t that Julie didn’t trust Reine’s ability, it was more that she didn’t trust whatever info some stray cat might give them. If it gave anything at all, she guessed it would just be a ploy to get more food.<br/><br/>Reine pulled off her ring and pocketed it. “Depends on the animals that come”. She pulled her knife from her boot, picking up the chicken. “Some are quiet, some gossip.” She used the knife to slice open the wrap on the chicken. Juice trickled down her fingers and dripped onto the cracked asphalt.<br/><br/>“Something’s going on” she continued, “I don’t know what, but two werewolves and a werebear have gone missing in the last month.” She spread a plastic bag onto the ground and placed the chicken on top, positioning her knife over the belly. With a strong push, she split the belly open, with a soft crack. Bloody juice pooled onto the plastic bag. “We need to find out what’s going on; find and warn our kind.”<br/><br/>Julie just kind of slowly nodded. She had no choice but to take Reine’s word for it, at least until the day she managed to become an alpha herself. God only knows when that would be, if it ever happened. As for what they were looking for, she could at least comment on that. “Yeah, anyone who can make a group like that go, that’s someone to be worried about.” Therians were no joke to deal with, especially werebears. Whoever, or whatever had caused their absence, could be a threat to them and anyone else who happened to live in the city. “Man, this year’s just been ten kinds of fucked up, hasn’t it?”<br/><br/>Finally finishing with the cans, she decided to let Reine handle the chicken herself, having no interest in fiddling around with the unrefrigerated corpse. “So, don’t suppose you’ve been leading any back here already? Or is this more a wait-and-see kinda thing?” Convenient as it would have been for her companion to have already lured some creatures around, none had decided to intervene yet. Hopefully, the wait wouldn’t take too long. The smell was already even worse than it had been just minutes ago, the scents of raw meat, pet food, and garbage all mixed together into some horrid blend.<br/><br/>Reine scooped out the chicken guts with her hand, a juicy feast for any carnivorous animal, and deposited them onto the plastic bag. Using more plastic bags to separate the food from the ground, she laid out the meat and the cans. “They’ll come,” she stated. She had picked the alleyway specifically for the pungent smell of the dumpster. Combined with the smell of the food, any scavenging animal in the area would smell it.<br/><br/>Sure enough, it was only a few minutes when a disgruntled black tomcat slunk into the alleyway, stopping a cautious twelve feet away from the two women. It glanced at Julie, then Reine, then at the food. Then it stared at the two women again and meowed.<br/><br/>Reine made a guttural noise in response, strange and inhuman.<br/><br/>The cat, apparently satisfied, padded forward to the chicken.