on a steel horse I ride

Darcy's mismatched gaze surveyed tha battlefield below with a practised eye. Cade was hardly foolish enough to waste the best of his fighters first. This was merely the first wave. It had to be. If this was the only army Blue Moon had then it was strikingly pathetic. Cade was not a foolish man. An irritating one perhaps- but not foolish. Those dogs were numerous. Their baying all but drowning out the hiss of their vampire handlers and yet they were little more than pawns and fodder. Cade, certainly, was seeking to test Syn's own defenses. To find a weak point perhaps, before sending in those far more experienced canines and likely far older vampires whose age and power would be far more substantial. How ready Darcy was for that assault. His own forces were quick to respond to his command- spreading out along the rooftop, reaching for guns or summoning their own powers into play. Those who desired to be closer to that action were equally swift in leaping down from the roof and into the parking lot below to take on their assailants head on. This would be enough not only to repel Cade's first wave- but push it back. Risque, surely, would make her appearance and take command before that second wave arrived and yet Darcy was nothing if not determined to set up that battle like a row of dominos for his beloved to strike down.

It was Tetradore's voice from behind that prompted Darcy to look away from that battle, if only briefly, the smoking barrels of his own guns so readily finding another target as he snorted softly. Tetradore looked as enthusiastic as always about being present and yet it was the WerePanthers query on what Risque had done this time that seemed to promote a rare moment of peace between the otherwise irritable men who so often found themselves at odds with one another. It was no lie that Darcy had desired that war be carried out on their own turf and yet- he had been content enough to wait for Cade to bring it. Risque, it seemed, had felt otherwise if that stolen canine was anything to go by. Cade, evidently, had taken significant offense to Risque's pilfering. Enough to bring that war to their very doorstep. Tetradore's own brow furrowed in contemplation. As if they had all the time in the world to attempt to understand their shared Mistresses innerworkings.The vampire attempting to climb their walls so apparently failing to concern the panther in any sense as Darcy snapped that order to either pick up a gun or turn into that feline he so often portrayed. It was at that singular moment that Risque seemed to glide from within the shadows and onto the rooftop. The leather of her outfit appeared very near as if it had been poured on with each and every curve highlighted to perfection and yet, in turn, that suit showed decidedly little flesh in comparison to her usual attire. That, in the least, was strikingly sensible. Yet, tonight, it was hardly her figure alone that Darcy's gaze lingered upon. Rather, his mismatched eyes roved over the weapons that adorned her figure like trinkets. Knives, her favoured whip- and a sword. It had been near a century since he'd last seen her carry a sword. How....glorious she looked holding that. Darcy, in that moment, was very near distracted from that battle that raged below. At least until his lover's words seemed to find him. Her every syllable near daring him to argue and yet oh, how well Darcy knew this game. The vampire so hardly foolish enough to dare to argue with her here and now. The Southern cowboy content to remain nothing short of silent in response. They did, after all, have larger problems to face tonight then a disagreement on whose plan was better to follow. Risque's attention however so hardly lingered upon him long as she commanded Tetradore to change, sending the WerePanther off to shift before her figure wandered closer to his own- her eyes cast over that battlefield. Her utterance of her suspicion of Cade prompted a nod from Darcy in turn.

"Dese vampires, dese dogs, day is nothin' but fodder for our fangs an bullets. Day is young, barely trained. Either day is a distraction or an attempt ta find a weakness in our ranks. Dare is no way dat dis is his main force. Cade's oldin dem back."

Blue Moon, after all, was near notorious for the victories it had one over other covens. Victories Darcy had no belief had been won by juvenile vampires and young WerePups. The sudden surge of power from within Risque herself was hardly missed. Darcy was entirely capable of feeling that wave as she reached out to her felines with silent authority, organising them as she saw fit to begin to take out the masses below. The southern cowboys' own attention returned to those walls once more. Several more vampires had begun to attempt to scale them. Their speed and strength so little match for the silver of his bullets. Darcy, for now, so barely required to move to dispose of those fools as the sound of his gunfire saw vampire after vampire topple from the wall to slam back down into the ground below. Dead before they struck the floor or were torn apart by the waiting fangs of one of his lovers' cats. Was this truly Cade's version of a war? He had yet to break a goddamn sweat. Risque's own hand lifted then, several bladed stars tossed with lethal precision into the masses below as the scent of blood rose freshly onl the night breeze. That....was an intoxicating scent. One that tugged at the tendrils of his own control and saw that hunger claw at his throat. Not yet. No. Not yet.

They still hardly knew what Cade was planning and yet Darcy was near certain the other leader, or his mate, would hardly show themselves until they needed to. How certain Darcy was that Cade merely sought to draw Risque out- perhaps himself as well. After all, Syn's armies would fold in upon themselves if Risque and himself were both eliminated. Cade and his mate would effortlessly seize control then. Why fight army agianst army when taking out that Alpha Pair on either side would win the war. Risque and himself need be distinctly...careful as to where they placed themselves tonight. It was the approach of a single, far older, more well trained vampire that seemed to ensnare Darcy's attention in the same moment as it gripped his lovers. That vampire, as he raced in and out of the squabbling pawns below, seemed to have far more skill. A skill he was determined to focus upon Risque's collection of tigers as he began to dispatch them....all too easily. Risque's hiss for Tetradore to take care of that interloper hardly seemed to prompt any level of hurry within the Alpha cat as he slowly made his way forward. As if this battle was hardly worth his time. That fucking fool. Tetradore had no idea of what was coming. How certain Darcy was of that. A sudden shout from a lookout above drew Darcy's gaze away from tetradore and toward their own walls. That lookout hardly survived beyond that shout as a towering vampire all but tore his head from his shoulders. That man was larger than Randall. Cade's older, far more experienced vampires were coming. Darcy could feel that shift in power below as that hulking giant of a vampire turned his attention to Risque and himself- that beast crashing down onto the roof- only to race towards them. Right as more vampires began to scale the wall upon the other side, hauling themselves up onto the roof to join that fray. God damn it.

Risque, hardly perturbed by that haulking man, was quick to hurl one of her stars towards him- only for that blade to enrage him all the more. Darcy's own lips pulled back from his fangs, that hiss of outrage echoing across the rooftop and yet how readily he trusted Risque to handle that beast of a man as she handled all men. His own attention, for now, fixated upon those elder vampires scaling the walls. Lorelai, one of their own, was quick to spot that threat in turn. Her fingernails, grown out like the claws of Wolverine, had already slashed open the face of one of those vampires as Darcy hurled in place. His guns fired in rapid succession. One, two, three, four- each bullet striking a vampire in turn. Two of them were sent toppling from the roof and yet the other two were stronger. A single silver bullet was hardly enough to end them as it did their comrades. Those guns where twirled effortlessly in Darcy's hands before being slipped into the holsters at his side. This battle was far better fought at close range. A burst of speed saw the cowboy near explode from his place on the roof, colliding with the first of those assialiants in a cacophony of hissing and fangs before what was left of that enemy vampire was thrown from the roof in dismembered parts. Darcy's gaze shifted to that second interloper. The blood of the first vampire coated his hands and ran down face. His tongue swept across his lips, tasting that scarlet-hued liquid in clear delight. That second vampire, for the briefest of moments, seemed to near...hesitate at the sight of the Southern cowboy and the dismembered body of his comrade that had been thrown onto the ground below.

Oh how Darcy would enjoy this. Both vampires collided in that burst of speed once more. The fangs of that enemy, briefly, managed to tear into the flesh of Darcy's shoulder before his own fangs found the vampire's throat. Those rows upon rows of teeth doing as they did best. As his very species of vampire was designed to do as they ravaged that flesh, tearing his head from his shoulders only for that beheaded body to slump uselessly to the ground at his feet. That head was tossed over his shoulder as if it were no more than trash. Perhaps Cade was going to make him sweat after all. Darcy's gaze was quick to shift back to his mate, that steady thrum of power that was so uniquely her own assuring him of her continued state of living as she engaged with that hulking beast of a man. How readily he might have enjoyed watching that show, watching her carve him apart like he had seen her do time and again and yet....what was that sound?

The barking of those dogs was a near constant thrum amid the hisses and screams and roars of big cats and yet this bark was...different. It was deeper, heavier, the sound cutting through. A burst of speed brought the vampiric cowboy to the edge of the roof once more, his gaze cast downwards and toward tetradore who still tussled with that older vampire and yet....something was making its way through the throngs of battle and towards them. That dog was unlike anything Darcy had ever seen. The creature was....colossal and yet, despite its size, the animal moved quickly. Far more alarming however was what Darcy could only presume was its fur. Layer upon layer of white....dreadlocks seemed to protect the creature. Had it not been running Darcy was hardly assured he would know which end was its head and which was its goddamn ass. The creature looked, for all the world, like a possessed fucking mop. Yet that mop was carving its way through Risque's cats like they were fodder. It's unique fur seemed to act as a shield. Its gigantic jaws crushed weaker felines as it raced toward Tetradore and the elder vampire he fought with every intention of overwhelming his lover's prized pet. Just when tetradore seemed to be getting the upper hand on the vampire. How...satisfying it might be to watch that panther die. Darcy, for the barest of moments, almost content to watch that very thing unfold and yet- Risque would be more then merely displeased if she found out he had let her precious pet die.

"Tetradore! On yar left!"

That warning was shouted mere seconds before that mop dog launched forward in an attempt to knock Tetradore off of the vampire he fought, the panther's claws, just like the others, likely to slash uselessly at the dreadlocked dog as its jaws aimed to tear the Panther apart. Darcy, for several seconds merely....stared at that creature before the sight of several more of those dogs racing onto the battlefield saw him pivot back toward Risque.

"Darlin', we need more of yar bigger cats on da ground. Dares some possessed fuckin' mops attackin an day shreddin yar smaller cats. Day can't get through dat fuckin fur."

Risque, he knew, would know just what felines or vampires to send as another burst of speed saw Darcy leap from that roof and onto the ground below, his hands reaching to grab that mop like dog in an effort to haul it off Tetradore. Darcy made every effort to grasp onto those dreadlocks and haul it backward. The animal was utterly determined in its task to tear Tetradore apart.

"Jesus fucking christ- where is dis animals fucking neck? I'll fuckin rip its throat out if I can find it. Fuck."

Darcy

I'm wanted, Dead or Alive