"It'll depend on whether our expert recognizes it - you shouldn't do an exorcism until you know what you're dealing with. If they don't know offhand, we might go tonight to check out the zoo, see whether there are any clues there."

"You're not worried that whatever it is will infect you, too?" Because she kind of doesn't want to deal with possessed not-archangels, given what possessed high school students are like.

"We have reason to think we cannot be possessed but I agree that we'll need to plan to be very careful about that."

"OK. D'you want me to stick around for anything, or - I mean I can imagine circumstances under which having a probably possessable slayer around would just make things worse - "

"I don't think you should go to the zoo but you're of course welcome here as often as you'd like to come and as long as you'd like to stay."

"...OK. Maybe I'll visit later, then. I, uh, should probably go home tonight before Azalea starts worrying, though, if you don't think I'll be any help with the possessed kids. Thank you for the pizza and the books and the holding my classmates where they hopefully can't eat anyone else."

"You're very welcome. Hopefully tomorrow they will be as good as new."

"Yeah." She scoops up Wishbone. "We're superfluous, Wishbone. Let's go home. Maybe see if you can poke keyboards or something."

"If not I can have someone rig something up for him."

"That'll be good."

The possession expert doesn't recognize the exact problem with the kids, though he's passingly familiar with legends about people being possessed by the spirits of wild animals. He's going to need more information.

So they swear that for the next week they won't engage in any violence against humans or standard Earth animals without having verified with their brothers outside Sunnydale that the circumstances warrant it, unless so obliged by the oath about the Silmaril, and they go to the zoo and check out the hyena exhibit.

The hyena exhibit contains five hyenas, plus a symbol on the floor that almost looks like it might just be decorative, plus a very concerned zookeeper.

"Oh, good, are you from the school?"

"Yep."

"Listen, I think those kids might have awakened something they're not prepared for. We've got to get them back here as soon as possible."

"They sure did. A couple people are dead. You know how to fix it?"

He nods. "The hyenas were infected with something. Not a disease, something mystical. I learned the ritual when I was traveling in Africa - I've never had to use it before, but if you can get them back here, I think I can get the spirits to return to the hyenas."

He doesn't, in fact, intend to return the spirits, but he's pretty sure he can get the spirits to enter him, as he originally intended.

What a charming human being. "We have someone on hand who can probably do it, maybe you two can compare notes. What's the ritual?"

The zookeeper helpfully explains the ritual, including the fact that 'a predatory act' must be committed for the spirits to be moved, though he doesn't specify what it entails. He's privately pretty sure that murder should do the trick. He implies that it doesn't matter who commits the act, which is false; the spirits will pass into whoever does.

The ritual involves some stuff painted on the floor, which means the hyenas should be safe enough once this asshole is in jail and the exhibit is not specifically engineered to enable hyena possession. "Thanks so much. We'll go get the kids."

He nods and waits.

They put headphones on the kids and load them into Macalaure's car, which is more spacious than Tyelcormo's, and they update their ritualist. 

"I'm hoping we can just drop a chunk of steak into the cage and the hyenas will reclaim their spirits from there."

     "I'm not sure that's relevantly predatory."

"We could toss the zookeeper in," Tyelcormo says, scowling at the sleeping kids. 

     Their ritualist looks mildly alarmed. 

"- could, but we won't. If the steak doesn't work we can do, dunno, a rabbit."

"We should probably have that on hand," Macalaure says, "just in case."

"Great. Let's stop by a pet store."

Macalaure shoots a troubled glance at his brother but stops by a grocery store and a pet store. They go back to the zoo.

The zookeeper is waiting. He informs them that the hyenas are hungry.

He updates his plan to stabbing one of the kids in the middle of the ritual, figuring they'll be the easiest targets and that once all of the spirits have passed into him that he'll be able to fight off the other three adults in the room.

Macalaureë looks entirely serene, but Tyelcormo is only partially hiding intense dislike. It makes him come across - well, a bit predatory. They line up the kids and drop in the steak and start the ritual.

And, in the middle of the ritual, the zookeeper pulls out a knife and attempts to stab a sleeping Kyle DuFours.