Finding loopholes
Jun. 25th, 2010 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shelbyrouCurrently the moon is in the waxing Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (91% full).
It is currently 12:10 Pacific Time on Fri Jun 25 2010.
Around the Lone Boulder
The sparse forest gives way here into a vast clearing, entirely devoid of trees or heavy underbrush for great distances all around. Low, thick grass, a palish green in color, grows everywhere underfoot; it sways ever so gently in the chill winds that seem to settle in across this open expanse with unusual frequency. The occasional darker shoot or dandelion weed makes its way up amidst the rest, but the hilly territory is on the whole a uniform color, reminiscent of a moor. Adding to the image is the single, ponderous old stone, a grey-brown in color, settled uncannily in the dead center of the expanse as if it has perched there alone since the dawn of time. Grass grows up around the weathered boulder, but its vaguely-flattened top clears the grass by a good many feet, at least chest-high to a good-sized man. The sky, often grey, is a presence in this sudden openness, appearing from amidst the treetops to arc high over the grass and stone.
Woodland tracks lead off into the forest to the north and south, while the boulder itself stands at the center of the clearing.
Obvious exits:
Forest Boulder
It's not a hot day, but the humidity makes it a touch oppressive. Anyone might feel that. It is the garou who will find that sense of pressure augmented by the growing fullness of the unrisen moon. All in black, today, Chandini again waits at the Lone Boulder, though this time she is not relaxed enough even to lean back against it. Tensions tightens all the lines of her angular body, visible to the acute even at a distance.
Freedom picks his way through the grass, hands in his pockets. The ragged white shirt he's wearing today is sweat-stained already, and burrs cling to the rolled cuffs of his jeans and stick all his shoelaces together. Nonetheless, with moderate cheer he stops a respectable few yards away from his teacher to duck his head and wait for the rest of the class.
Stops-Too-Late slinks in from upwind, tail curling between her legs and ears flattening once she's gotten a good look at the Fury. She clearly considers turning and sneaking away again but after a moment she enters the clearing and shifts back to her birth form. Eyes down, shoulders small and body language contained, she approaches the boulder, stopping some ten feet or so from the other Garou to murmur, "Good afternoon, Chandini-rhya. Hello, Freedom."
Trotting out of the forest and panting already, both from the run and the frustrating heat, Rift Mender appears quietly approaching the boulder. As she draws closer to those already gathered, she draws through the forms to settle into Homid, her pace unwavering until she stops beside her tribesmate. Jacey, touched by the heavy moon yet seeming relaxed for it, glances up at the Fostern with a small grin. "H'lo, Chandini-rhya," the girl greets, then to the two Ragabash cubs, "Shelby, Freedom-yuf."
Her knobby shoulders are taut, but Chandini's smile to each of the three cubs is genuine. "Namaste," she says generally. "Shelby, Jacey, do you know each other already?"
Freedom smiles at Shelby, and downright beams at Jacey's greeting. He crouches down to catch a little more breath, chin on his hands and gaze fixed on Chandini.
The Silver Fang glances up at Jacey's greeting with a subdued smile for both of the Fianna. "Yes, Chandini-rhya. We've met."
Jacey nods to confirm Shelby's claim. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," she echoes.
"Good." Chandini surveys her troops and seems to find them good. "Freedom-bhai. Do your clothes change with you, now?"
Freedom nods, and heaves himself back to stand again. "I got those taken care of, Chandini-rhya."
The Shelby-shaped part of the troops clasps her hands in front of her, seems to think better of it and swings them behind her back.
Jacey bounces up and down a little on the balls of her feet, glancing from Freedom to Shelby quietly.
"Accha! Then," Chandini says, taking a step back, "since not everyone has been running so far today, and there is the moon to run off as well as the body to loosen, everyone take your wolf form and run--" she waves to a different spot from last week's target, but one about the same distance away "--there and back. Twice. The first time slow, the second fast. Start together, yeah?"
Freedom shifts from human to wolf form in fits and starts--it's not exactly a smooth process yet--then turns, tail wagging, to the others to see about getting going on this run. Walk! Walk. Slow bit first.
Shelby is definitely keeping at least one eye on Chandini and half of the other on Jacey. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," says she and shifts - more smoothly than Freedom, to be sure. Once four-footed she gives herself a shake and waits for the others before starting off at a trot.
Jacey, after an actual jump into lupus, nips lightly at Freedom. Slow run. The Galliard then takes off after Stops Too Late in bounds before settling into an easy trot beside the Fang.
Chandini leans forward a little, as though she will be running with her students.
Fish-Herder adjusts his pace to match that of the other cubs, though it's with some visible effort that he keeps from bounding forward, or off to the side, or around anyone else in circles. Slooooow run is slow. He peers back towards their teacher once, and otherwise sticks with the group.
Stops-Too-Late flinches away from Rift-Mender, almost dancing sideways, before settling with a sneeze and an apologetic flick of ears. She continues at the trot - boring trot! - allll the way to the far side of the clearing, and seems perfectly happy to keep going at the same pace all the way back, too. Slow, she reminds Freedom with the briefest curl of lip.
Rift-Mender seems almost amused by Freedom, jaws cracking into a lupine grin. The Fang's reaction is replied to with a snort and a small, teasing, show of teeth. The Galliard bounces closer to the Stops Too Late, then breaks off to bounce after Fish Herder, but she never surpasses the speed set by the Fangly Ragabash.
"And again," Chandini calls, as though the cubs would have forgotten already. Her fingers twitch at the need to hold still, though she is certainly using the opportunity to observe them all.
Fish-Herder whuffs out a tiny sigh, not intended to reach the ears of Chandini, but keeps obediently to the pace the others have set. Slow, slow, slow your wolf... Right until it's the second round, with permission to go fast, and he's off like a shot towards the trees.
There's a shape approaching from those trees ahead, and Fish-Herder's burst of speed causes the other wolf to pause, ears up and nose working. It continues forward after a few seconds: Golden's scent travels unhindered on the breeze, and he seems to be taking pains to avoid sneaking up on the gathering.
Stops-Too-Late's ears go back, but that's the most protesting she does of Rift-Mender's teasing. At the boulder she pauses, letting the other Ragabash dart ahead. She, on the other hand, picks up the pace only a little, though her scent wavers and disappears. She even manages to keep control of it when the Strider's scent makes his presence known.
Rift-Mender looks about to take off after Fish Herder, excited at the allowance for a faster pace now. But the Fang's reaction to the second round gives her pause. The Galliard pauses at the Boulder, watching Stops Too Late for a breath's space then looking in askance to Chandini. Can this one help her move faster?
"Nay, not this time," Chandini says. "Just run." And then, apparently deciding that it's a 'need' after all, as the cubs reach her and turn back for their second lap, Chandini suddenly laughs, blurs instantly from homid to lupus, and flings herself into a breakneck run matching Freedom's speed and his joy in it. She is nearing the far point when the wind brings her Golden's scent, and she tumbles to a stop and back into homid, almost before her momentum has passed. "Sonahari-bhai!" she calls, and then, in case either her running or her stopping has put the cubs off their stride, "Chalo! Keep going."
Fish-Herder did bounce into a half-stop--more of a leap into the air, instead of forward--at Chandini's change, but he continues gladly with her permission. Puffs of dirt and fragments of grass fly up beneath his paws as he dashes onward.
Golden navigates between the last trees and undergrowth between him and the clearing, and pants a greeting to Chandini. Falling Star makes cubs run around. He tilts his head, watching their progress with interest. He shakes himself out and shifts to homid, then rocks back on his feet. "Just letting them get their Rage out? Or something else?"
Stops-Too-Late is loping, really, somewhere between her previous jog and an actual run. This is work, say the lay of her ears and her business-like posture. She does pick up the pace a little more but not much, instead concentrating on keeping her scent away, her ears up, and her path arrow-straight back to the boulder.
Rift-Mender affects a shrug in wolf form before taking off running. She bolts past the Fang easily, flashing her teeth at the other cub in passing. Once reaching the point of return, she leans into the run, or starts to, her pace slowing as she spies Tim and Chandini talking. Deciding against it for now, the Galliard picks up the pace and chases after Freedom, though there's plenty of ground to make up and not much left before reaching the boulder.
Chandini walks back to the boulder behind the racing cubs, smiling at Tim. "That, yes, but also for practice, and also for loosening the body, yeah?" To Stops-Too-Late, Fish-Herder, and Rift-Mender, she calls the by-now familiar instruction, "Walk around until you have your breath back. Take human form again only when you can breath easily and stand still, yeah? That is how I will know you are ready."
Fish-Herder reaches the return point first! ...and plows to an enthusiastic stop, nearly tumbling over his own front paws. He shakes himself off briskly, and begins walking around in wide circles, with no protest over the slow pace this time.
Tim nods in agreement and follows after Chandini, and examines the cubs--Fish-Herder in particular, who (to go by the narrow-eyed once-over the Fianna gets) he doesn't recognize. "Mind if I watch?"
Golden-rhya, the scentless Fang greets the newcomer with more animation than nearly anything yet today. Tongue lolling, she waves her tail at him before skewing an ear at Chandini and turning away to pace her own circles, these well away from the Ahroun.
Rift-Mender slows to a trot before reaching the boulder, soon after stopping. Golden-rhya, she greets with a chuff, tail wagging as she glances toward the Strider. The Galliard seems on the verge of shifting to homid when her head lifts and looks toward the north, ears erect at some sound. She whuffs and looks an apology to the Ahroun, only explaining with a Must go before running once more.
The Fury appears to consider the Strider's request seriously. "Nay," she says at last. "I am not minding. I think I am pleased." She watches Rift-Mender go, brows pulling together briefly in concern. Then, to Tim again, though she has gone back to watching the remaining two cubs, she says, "These two are your moon. Later, we can talk about how they should be taught."
Fish-Herder returns Tim's examination with a bright-eyed look and a wagging tail. He continues walking around in slow circles, tongue lolling.
Watching Rift-Mender depart, Tim replies, "Yeah, sure thing." The distraction in his tone might indicate he has no idea what he's agreeing to, until he disproves that by saying, "Sneaking up on them a lot's a good way," in a droll manner. He gives Stops-Too-Late a conspiratorial look, then eyes Fish-Herder. The sense he is waiting for something from the cub is obvious.
Stops-Too-Late stops to watch Rift-Mender go, her sides still working. She turns a bright-eyed look on the elder Ragabash and points out, You already sneak up on me, before shifting smoothly back to homid. She may not entirely have her breath back, but she's certainly able to hold still, one hand wrapped across her middle.
"Mm," Chandini says, eyes dancing. "I am thinking perhaps I will not be doing that while the moon is quite so large." She considers Shelby, gaze lingering on that hand around the middle. "Shelby-behen. You put your scent away while you were running, and it is still away now." She's in homid, but she appears to have no doubt on this subject. "Why?" She doesn't sound disapproving, just interested. It's probably a test - everything is - but not a judgmental one. And then she puts her hand up to Shelby to ask for a brief pause, and says to Fish-Herder, in an awfully mild voice, "Freedom, is there a reason you have not made your introduction?"
Freedom shakes himself off, and shifts back to homid. "Because you told me not to change back to this form until I had my breath back, Chandini-rhya," he says, sounding a little puzzled. "Should I have disobeyed that to introduce myself sooner? I'm not sure how sequencing on etiquette and orders is supposed to work." He turns to Tim, and ticks off the points of the introduction on his fingers as he says, "Freedom Connolly, Ragabash, cub, of the Fianna. My apologies for not getting to it sooner."
Tim nods at Freedom, and in exhcnage says, "Tim. Golden for when that doesn't work. New Moon from Owl's Tribe. Good to see more of Cole's folks around." He raises his eyebrows at Freedom's indicated need to shift. "Not too clear on the body language for your introduction? You might want to practice it--we've got some folks around here who don't speak human languages, English or otherwise."
"I'm practicing, Chandini-rhya," the Silver Fang replies while the others get their introductions taken care of. She keeps her eyes on Tim or the boulder rather than the Ahroun, save for polite eye-flicks to Chandini's middle to prove she's not being rude. "I already know how to run, but I still need work on using my Gift while I'm moving. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to do that. I didn't think it would bother anyone."
"I do not think it did bother anyone," Chandini says. "Only, I was curious." She considers Freedom. "The answer to my question, then, is not 'Because I was doing as you said,' but, 'because I cannot make my introduction except in my birth form,' yeah? TK. It is another thing to learn, and you have many." She nods. The tension is still riding her, despite her brief run, but she seems experienced at keeping it in check. "So. Now, you will each try to get to the top of the boulder without using the path that is cut into it." The sides of the boulder are steep, but rough enough to provide hand- and foot-holds, and while they are high for a chunk of rock in the middle of a clearing, they are not especially high in an absolute sense. Still, it's nothing like a stroll.
Freedom ducks his head obediently to Chandini's correction, and turns to survey the boulder o' doom in front of him. "Huuuuh," he says to himself quietly, and sets to it, slow and cautious in working out where he can start working himself up the side.
Tim glances at the boulder, and seems to decide if he could or couldn't scale it in that brief time. As he declines to join the cubs, it's not clear if his assessment is right or wrong, but he watches Freedom and Shelby's progress with interest.
Shelby eyes the boulder, eyes Chandini, then Tim, and suddenly grins. "Yes, Chandini-rhya!" she chirps and jogs over to join Freedom at the rock. Except she? Is cheating, and surges into Crinos to have a go. Half again as tall as she was seconds ago, she makes fairly short work of navigating the boulder's side, claws and talons digging into the rock and propelling her to the top. Her scent wavers as she ascends, then pops back in as she fades back down into homid, looking cheekily triumphant.
Freedom works his way up much more slowly, sticking to his homid form all the way to the top. For once, 'skinny' and 'short' are working for him, though 'doesn't like picking up heavy objects' is not. By the time Shelby's hit the top, he's only halfway up, working his foot onto yet another point.
Chandini smiles. She flicks a sidelong look at Tim, and then goes back to watching the cubs. She doesn't seem distressed by either's performance.
Tim can't suppress a quiet laugh at Shelby's solution, though that leaves him with more time to watch Freedom move up the rock in a traditional manner.
Shelby's beam widens just a touch; she circles the flattish top to find the other cub and lay down, offering a Glabro'd hand down. "Grab on," she encourages, wiggling her fingers encouragingly.
Freedom hesitates fractionally, and decides that this is Within The Rules, taking Shelby's hand accordingly. "I just need a little more muscle," he explains, scrambling up. "Or, I don't know, less clothes."
Chandini laughs. "Very good. And down, now, however you choose." As last week, her tone is entirely courteous, for all that she speaks in the imperative and leaves out such touches as 'please' and 'thank you' where, from her manner, they might easily go.
Shelby isn't so strong, even in Glabro, that she just pulls the other cub to join her, but it's an easier lift than might otherwise be. "More practice," she agrees, and looks sidelong first at Freedom, then at the ground. "I'm going to jump." Not in Glabro, not in an arm-flailing, leg-churning journey to the ground. No, instead she pauses long enough to reach Hispo and almost carefully launch herself off the edge of the rock, there to trot back to the adults and shift back into Homid, still quite pleased with herself.
Freedom sticks to homid yet, clambering back down the rock much faster now that strength challenges are just an excuse to slip down a few more notches to the next hold. At about the one-third mark, he leaps down, landing on his feet with a tiny stagger to mar the neatness of the move.
The tall ahroun scratches the back of her neck, thinking. "Accha. I would like you two, in human bodies, to get one of you to the top before I can reach it, climbing. Don't move. Tell me only if you understand."
Tim looks at the two cubs, Chandini, and finally the boulder, again with that assessing expression. His gaze flicks out to the forest as he makes some sort of mental calculation, then he looks back at the other Garou and crosses his arms, awaiting the outcome.
Nine-tenths of Shelby's triumph drains away at Chandini's next suggestion-cum-order. She, like Tim, looks to consider the boulder and Freedom, then back at the Ahroun. "Stay in Homid, you mean. And you don't want Tim-rhya to help." She nods once, unhappily.
Freedom nods agreeably. "All human, just one at the top, competing against you. Got it."
Chandini turns her attention to Tim. "Sonahari-bhai? Are you wanting to help?" She sounds amused, interested, perhaps a little testing.
"Help us," Shelby interjects hastily, thumbing at Freedom and herself.
"Now that'd be a little unfair. I'm halfway to the top of that thing just standing here," Tim replies, the very essence of faux modesty. He even holds up his hands. "I'm just watching." 'Right now' lingers unspoken.
Shelby pahs at the Strider, the last of her amusement fading away as she looks back to Chandini and shrugs. "All right. Freedom, since you're closer and she's faster, you start climbing and I'll boost you when I get there, ok?"
Freedom shrugs, and says to Shelby, "I'm not so pessimistic that I'm against even trying to do it the way we were told..." He nods to her explanation, turning towards the boulder.
"So," Chandini says decisively, and sprints the few steps between where she stands and the boulder, leaps for the side, finds handholds and toe-holds for her bare feet, and starts to swarm up it. It becomes clear for anyone who takes the time to watch her that she not only has the physical ability, she also has years of practice climbing, and possibly even a certain amount of practice climbing this rock.
As the Ahroun begins, Tim advises Freedom, "Don't mistake pessimism for opportunism." Then he settles in to, as he said, watch.
Freedom bounds towards the rock, and takes a similar leap for a few extra feet to start with. It's not half so precise as his teacher's, but he's going for the same path he took the last time, so he knows where to grab on and start scrabbling up.
"Hurry!" is Shelby's not-that-helpful advice, as she follows her own words back to Freedom's side. She dithers over what to grab, finally stooping to clasp an ankle on the way up and give it a shove. "I can only help you so far," she warns, stealing a look at Chandini and promptly back to her task.
Soon, Chandini, having ascended on something of a diagonal following the contours of the stone, is swinging one hand up, over the top of the boulder, groping for the footholds she needs. She shakes her head sharply, sending drops of sweat flying.
Freedom rocks in Shelby's sudden ankle-grip, and ends up using the top of her head for a convenient foot-hold. "So follow," he suggests, scrabbling as fast as he can. Faster than his first time up, but he's still trailing by feet when Chandini hits the top.
Tim's eyes move between the cubs and Chandini; he doesn't seem surprised at the outcome, though there's the distinct notion that he's making mental notes.
Shelby acks and starts to duck away, realizes what she's doing and reaches up to steady Freedom's ankle instead. "Euyrgh," she points out and brushes her hair free of grit almost absently. Another boost lifts the other cub out of her reach; she prowls a few feet around the base of the rock as if judging the path. The Fang makes a couple of half-hearted tries at the rock as well, falling off the first. The second is more successful, though it's obvious she has no experience at this, and Shelby's barely two feet off the ground when Chandini wins.
She hasn't won until she is on the top of the stone--but that comes a moment later. Getting both hands to the edge, Chandini lets go with her feet, hangs, and then pulls herself straight up the side of the stone, pulling her feet up after her and onto the top as soon as she's high enough. She shakes her head again, flushed and radiating enjoyment, and smiles at Freedom as he approaches.
Freedom doggedly continues to the top of the boulder, and drags himself up to the top. "That," he says, between breaths, "might've worked better for us with more planning. Oh well."
Shelby doesn't even bother to finish but pushes off the rock, dropping heavily into a three-point crouch before looking up. "Feel better now?" she asks politely, and tilts a wry smile at Freedom. "Or worked better if we were better at climbing, and Chandini worse." She shrugs anyway, and stands, dusting off first her hands, then her clothes, and sending a look to Tim. "What next, Chandini-rhya?"
Tim snaps his fingers and points at Freedom. "Exactly." He makes an effort to stop himself from spewing out a long list of possibilities, and then after the inevitable list of questions. He's standing some feet from the boulder, surveying Chandini and Freedom, who are on top of it. He looks to the Fury in particular, waiting to see what she has to say.
Chandini drops loosely to sit with her feet dangling over the edge of the rock and wipes her face on her sleeve. "It is Freedom who has the right of it, this time," she says. "We will do this again. I tell you this now, so that you may do whatever you think is best between now and then, yeah?" She looks down at Shelby seriously. "If you could do everything the first time, what good would you gain from the teaching? Only pride, I am thinking. You will get that together with everything else."
Freedom calls down to Shelby in a faux-whisper, "Next time we can rig the ropes beforehand."
A young teenage boy with brown hair makes his way into the clearing from the north. His eyes gaze over the large clearing and those assembled here before he continues walking toward the group. He wears a slight smile and carries himself with a confidence that doesn't seem to encroach on cockiness. He stands a respectful distance away from the group, just watching for the moment.
"What better planning?" Shelby asks with a shrug that's meant to be rhetorical; she flashes a grin up at Freedom before sobering to look at the Fury. "There's no way I'd ever attack an Ahroun, especially not on this moon, and Tim wasn't going to help so we couldn't slow you down that way. Only way to beat you up there is to be faster than you, and you've obviously practiced, so...," she shrugs again. With all her attention up on the people on the rock, she misses Michael's entrance.
"Stop thinking so narrowly," Tim says to Shelby, almost laughing. "Look around you. Look at this clearing. Think about your options." There was probably going to be more, but he stops himself, and then he notices Michael. He tips his chin in a greeting.
Chandini regards Shelby with an expression gone suddenly remote. "So? Well, you may keep failing if that is what you prefer." She shrugs. Turning, she lowers herself halfway down the rockface and climbs the rest, and it is only once she reaches the ground that she turns toward the newcomer, but not with any apparent surprise. "Chandini Mukti Bhaskar," She says, brief but not unfriendly, though the fullness of the moon is in the tension of her shoulders and the sharpness of her gaze. "Falls on her Enemies like a Star to the Earth, ahroun of the Black Furies and child of Rat."
Freedom drums his feet against the side of the boulder, looking over the clearing. "I mean, I see plenty of ways to build a ladder, or something along those lines, but that's not exactly the same as trying for immediate speed against someone else." He's talking half to himself, and moves to follow Chandini down a moment later.
The boy listens to the lesson for a moment, even glances around the area as well. His attention is on Chandini when she climbs down from the boulder. He keeps his gaze off past her shoulder. "Michael Schroeder. Also known as Grudge-Ender. Cub and story-moon of Fenrir." He says with a smile. "Viv-rhya said I should check out the lessons here."
"Yes, Chandini-rhya, Tim-rhya," Shelby agrees neutrally, her eyes sliding away from both of the elder Garou to rest somewhere on the middle ground instead. She adds, "Hello, Michael," before busily turning back to ensure she isn't in Freedom's landing spot or something.
Tim continues to keep himself from saying things, though that doesn't stop his eyes from indicating he has Many Ideas (some of which may or may not pertain to the quandry at hand). He moves to lean against the boulder and wait for Michael and the Ahroun to exchange pleasantries, in the process giving Chandini a significant Look.
Chandini puts her hands together, palm to palm, fingertips pointing upward, and bows her head over them. "Namaste, Michael. I am glad your Jarl wanted you to come." She lowers her hands and steps back, to include all three cubs in her field of vision. Her gaze travels over Tim, and she smiles involuntarily at his expression. "Accha. Are you known to the others?"
Freedom has the skill (or luck) to not land on anyone when he bores with climbing down carefully and drops the rest of the way. "Freedom Connolly, Ragabash cub of the Fianna," he tells Michael, with an easy smile. It's followed by a slightly less easy sideways glance towards Chandini, to see if he's finally getting this whole introduction process down properly.
"I would have made it to these sooner, but it appears I'm my tribe's only skald for the time being." He says with a shrug. He gives Freedom a friendly smile. "Always good to meet another Fianna! Pleasure to meet you Freedom-yuf!" He smiles and waves to Shelby as well and nods respectfully to Tim. He just seems to be really friendly for a Get. "So I know I kinda came in half way. What's the lesson today? How does this whole thing work?" He seems eager to get started.
Shelby murmurs something to the other Ragabash cub after his introduction, adding a nod to punctuate her words. A look at Tim and she wrinkles her nose at him and looks thoughtful, then busies herself brushing at her clothes while Chandini fills Michael in. ("The ladder's a good idea. We could hide it in the grass. Otherwise, I don't see how to be faster than her.")
Tim raises an eyebrow at Shelby; the look on his face almost makes the expression a dare. And then he blinks and is watching Chandini with interest, also wondering what could come next.
Mouth already open to reply, Chandini is arrested by Shelby's inaudible whisper, turning raised eyebrows on the Fang cub. A small smile flickers on her mouth. Then she looks away and says, generally, "Will someone tell Michael what we have worked on today?"
Freedom grins at Shelby, and clasps his hands behind his back. The very picture of innocent attention to his teacher. "Running about in various ways," he says promptly, "slow--and together--and then fast. Then climbing the boulder, both in general and cooperatively."
Michael nods as Freedom explains. "Basically learning how to move as a unit? As a pack?" He smiles. "Sounds like fun." He starts stretching out his legs to get himself limbered up.
The Silver Fang misses Chandini's tell, engrossed as she is in keeping all the invisible bits of fluff and inevitable specks of detritus from settling in and making themselves comfortable on her clothing. "Not... exactly?" she puts in, but looks then between Tim and Chandini. "Or maybe so. I don't know."
A howl rises up from out of the north, the song a simple, short announcement to those at the boulder. Rift Mender comes! The Fianna Galliard must have been running as she announced herself, as not too long after the note cuts off does the gray lupus form appear loping across the clearing and toward the small gathering.
Tim looks up at the cloudy sky, gauging it, and then down at his watch. His eyebrows bob and he pushes off from the rock. "I should probably get going. Thanks for letting me watch." The later is addressed to Chandini first, and the cubs second with a look for each of them.
"Namaste, bhai," Chandini says with another bow. Rift-Mender's howl and approach takes her attention next, and she smiles, waiting for the Fianna galliard to approach before she continues. "Welcome back, behen. Now, I think, we will do some stances. Jacey, I have seen you do this before, but I do not know how you have changed in the time since we worked together last. All of you, side by side, yeah? Standing so you are about the length of an arm away, each from the other. Shoulders down, head level, feet as far apart as your shoulders are wide, knees a little bent. Chalo." From her tone, there's no mistaking that last word for anything but a 'go on,' or 'now do it,' however foreign the word itself may be. It may be an oversight, in all that detailed instruction, that she said nothing about the hands, but she doesn't seem to be waiting for questions this time.
Freedom trots over into place to line up with other cubs, and begins focusing on the required stance. He has another quick smile for Jacey on her return.
The Get cub is momentarily distracted as soon as the howl carries into the clearing. He turns around giving the gray wolf a bright smile. "Afternoon, sis!" His attention snaps back to Chandini as she gives instructions. He lines up and gets into the instructed stance. Since it wasn't specified yet, he decides to put them into fists and holds his arms up, ready to block or throw a punch if need be.
Shelby says, "It was nice seeing you Tim-rhya," as the other Ragabash straightens. More - if she'd say more - is cut off by Chandini's instructions; she throws Tim a rueful half-smile before stepping into position, checking her spacing against Freedom and extending her other arm in a silent demonstration of where her personal space is. "This is like what August has me doing." Apparently what August also has her doing is bringing her arms up to her waist, though she can't seem to settle into the stance.
Rift-Mender whuffs in greeting to the two Fostern first, before giving a brief greeting to the other cubs. Her form pops up to homid following that, while listening to Chandini's instruction, then takes a place at one end of the line. She drops into stance as described by the Ahourn, knees bent, feet a little less than shoulder width apart and left one almost a pace ahead of the other. Jacey then, too, lifts her hands to roughly face level and shifts her weight slightly so she rests on the balls of her feet.
Tim returns Chandini's bow, murmuring, "Namaskar," under his breath, and starts in the direction of Edgewood. He pauses at the edge of the clearing and looks back, both to give Jacey a smile and to watch the cubs line up. He stays there, poised to leave for several seconds before actually doing so. He shifts to lupus and moves into the undergrowth with little sound.
"Relax," Chandini says, and waits for the cubs to drop at least some aspects of the stance before she says, "You did well getting into line quickly and without fussing, yeah? Again. Feet even with each other, the width of your shoulders apart. Shoulders down, chin level, knees bent a little." She doesn't single anyone out as she refines her instructions about the foot placement.
Freedom wiggles his feet back into place again, looking to his left and right to see if he's lined up properly.
Michael drops his arms and waits for further instructions on what to do with, apparently not sure if he had jumped the gun or not. He remains in his stance, his feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent slightly. He stands staring straight ahead, listening for further instructions.
Shelby shakes out her arms and each leg in turn, Tim escaping without further acknowledgement from the Fang. Rather than answer Chandini in words she simply repeats the stance, slightly happier about this attempt. She bounces a little in place, testing the feel of her center of gravity, and adjusts one foot perhaps a centimeter.
Jacey looks to her feet then to Chandini. A sheepish grin crosses her face and she settles into the stance the Ahroun actually asked for. "Sorry, Chandini-rhya," the little cub says quietly. "Getting ahead of things." Swinging her arms back and forth a bit, she shifts her weight, then lets her arms hang relaxedly at her sides.
The ahroun inclines her head to Jacey. "Hands up at chest height, one in front of the other," she proceeds. "Right leg forward, feet still the same distance apart, only now not beside each other, yeah? Forward leg bent, back leg almost straight, your weight very low. Chalo." All the while, her eyes flicker over the four cubs, tracking Jacey and Michael's familiarity, Freedom's quick learning, Shelby in the middle. It's hard to read her opinion, and she is, in general, so excessively readable that this can only be because she does not have much of one at all.
Freedom follows instructions ever so carefully, though he's still got that tendency to check to his left and right to see if he's doing it the same as everyone else.
A slight smile grows on the Get's face as he settles easily into the instructed stance. His right leg bent and left leg back. He puts his hands up, pretty much where they were before, ready to block or attack as needed. It definitely seems he's familiar with the stance.
Right leg... forward? Shelby frowns to herself as she follows these new directions, looking at each limb in turn to make sure they're doing what they ought. She bounces again and drops lower, trying to settle things, but doesn't look precisely happy.
Jacey grins, probably laughing inwardly at herself, and drops into the stance. This time with her right foot forward rather than the left, she still seems comfortable in how she holds herself. Again her hands come up, still roughly at face level and relaxed. As the Fianna Galliard sets herself up, the grin fades and a readiness seems to come over her.
"Relax," Chandini says. "Shelby and Freedom know already: we will train in many skills here. One of them is listening carefully and doing exactly as one is told. You may speak with them about why this is, but not now. The rule is, when you do not do this, we will do it again. The reason is that obeying is a skill which requires practice just as much as climbing or fighting does. No one is good at it without work, just as no one can speak a new language without work. There is magic, but this is not that, yeah? It takes work. There is no shame. Only there is working to do better. Some of you will be better at striking, some at kicking, some at climbing. Some of you will have to work harder at listening to what is asked of you and doing it than others, but everyone has to work, and everyone can succeed. Do you understand?" She looks from one to another, though mostly at Jacey and Michael, and there is only genuine concern that she has communicated clearly in her expression, her tone.
Freedom nods quickly, his expression distant as he focuses on holding the stance in the place it's been described.
"Yes, Chandini-rhya!" Michael calls out as he keeps his stance He glances down momentarily to ensure he is bent deep enough, before his eyes gaze forward again.
"Lots of practice," Shelby mutters half under her breath, but it's amused. Louder: "Excuse me, Chandini-rhya, may I be excused? August-rhya is expecting me." She doesn't break stance, however, until the Fury gives permission.
Jacey breaks her own focus for a moment, glancing briefly to Chandini. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," she replies as she shifts her feet a fraction, adjusting her stance shortly. The focus comes back up, still relaxed and breathing easily, poised and waiting further word from the Ahroun.
It is currently 12:10 Pacific Time on Fri Jun 25 2010.
Around the Lone Boulder
The sparse forest gives way here into a vast clearing, entirely devoid of trees or heavy underbrush for great distances all around. Low, thick grass, a palish green in color, grows everywhere underfoot; it sways ever so gently in the chill winds that seem to settle in across this open expanse with unusual frequency. The occasional darker shoot or dandelion weed makes its way up amidst the rest, but the hilly territory is on the whole a uniform color, reminiscent of a moor. Adding to the image is the single, ponderous old stone, a grey-brown in color, settled uncannily in the dead center of the expanse as if it has perched there alone since the dawn of time. Grass grows up around the weathered boulder, but its vaguely-flattened top clears the grass by a good many feet, at least chest-high to a good-sized man. The sky, often grey, is a presence in this sudden openness, appearing from amidst the treetops to arc high over the grass and stone.
Woodland tracks lead off into the forest to the north and south, while the boulder itself stands at the center of the clearing.
Obvious exits:
Forest Boulder
It's not a hot day, but the humidity makes it a touch oppressive. Anyone might feel that. It is the garou who will find that sense of pressure augmented by the growing fullness of the unrisen moon. All in black, today, Chandini again waits at the Lone Boulder, though this time she is not relaxed enough even to lean back against it. Tensions tightens all the lines of her angular body, visible to the acute even at a distance.
Freedom picks his way through the grass, hands in his pockets. The ragged white shirt he's wearing today is sweat-stained already, and burrs cling to the rolled cuffs of his jeans and stick all his shoelaces together. Nonetheless, with moderate cheer he stops a respectable few yards away from his teacher to duck his head and wait for the rest of the class.
Stops-Too-Late slinks in from upwind, tail curling between her legs and ears flattening once she's gotten a good look at the Fury. She clearly considers turning and sneaking away again but after a moment she enters the clearing and shifts back to her birth form. Eyes down, shoulders small and body language contained, she approaches the boulder, stopping some ten feet or so from the other Garou to murmur, "Good afternoon, Chandini-rhya. Hello, Freedom."
Trotting out of the forest and panting already, both from the run and the frustrating heat, Rift Mender appears quietly approaching the boulder. As she draws closer to those already gathered, she draws through the forms to settle into Homid, her pace unwavering until she stops beside her tribesmate. Jacey, touched by the heavy moon yet seeming relaxed for it, glances up at the Fostern with a small grin. "H'lo, Chandini-rhya," the girl greets, then to the two Ragabash cubs, "Shelby, Freedom-yuf."
Her knobby shoulders are taut, but Chandini's smile to each of the three cubs is genuine. "Namaste," she says generally. "Shelby, Jacey, do you know each other already?"
Freedom smiles at Shelby, and downright beams at Jacey's greeting. He crouches down to catch a little more breath, chin on his hands and gaze fixed on Chandini.
The Silver Fang glances up at Jacey's greeting with a subdued smile for both of the Fianna. "Yes, Chandini-rhya. We've met."
Jacey nods to confirm Shelby's claim. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," she echoes.
"Good." Chandini surveys her troops and seems to find them good. "Freedom-bhai. Do your clothes change with you, now?"
Freedom nods, and heaves himself back to stand again. "I got those taken care of, Chandini-rhya."
The Shelby-shaped part of the troops clasps her hands in front of her, seems to think better of it and swings them behind her back.
Jacey bounces up and down a little on the balls of her feet, glancing from Freedom to Shelby quietly.
"Accha! Then," Chandini says, taking a step back, "since not everyone has been running so far today, and there is the moon to run off as well as the body to loosen, everyone take your wolf form and run--" she waves to a different spot from last week's target, but one about the same distance away "--there and back. Twice. The first time slow, the second fast. Start together, yeah?"
Freedom shifts from human to wolf form in fits and starts--it's not exactly a smooth process yet--then turns, tail wagging, to the others to see about getting going on this run. Walk! Walk. Slow bit first.
Shelby is definitely keeping at least one eye on Chandini and half of the other on Jacey. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," says she and shifts - more smoothly than Freedom, to be sure. Once four-footed she gives herself a shake and waits for the others before starting off at a trot.
Jacey, after an actual jump into lupus, nips lightly at Freedom. Slow run. The Galliard then takes off after Stops Too Late in bounds before settling into an easy trot beside the Fang.
Chandini leans forward a little, as though she will be running with her students.
Fish-Herder adjusts his pace to match that of the other cubs, though it's with some visible effort that he keeps from bounding forward, or off to the side, or around anyone else in circles. Slooooow run is slow. He peers back towards their teacher once, and otherwise sticks with the group.
Stops-Too-Late flinches away from Rift-Mender, almost dancing sideways, before settling with a sneeze and an apologetic flick of ears. She continues at the trot - boring trot! - allll the way to the far side of the clearing, and seems perfectly happy to keep going at the same pace all the way back, too. Slow, she reminds Freedom with the briefest curl of lip.
Rift-Mender seems almost amused by Freedom, jaws cracking into a lupine grin. The Fang's reaction is replied to with a snort and a small, teasing, show of teeth. The Galliard bounces closer to the Stops Too Late, then breaks off to bounce after Fish Herder, but she never surpasses the speed set by the Fangly Ragabash.
"And again," Chandini calls, as though the cubs would have forgotten already. Her fingers twitch at the need to hold still, though she is certainly using the opportunity to observe them all.
Fish-Herder whuffs out a tiny sigh, not intended to reach the ears of Chandini, but keeps obediently to the pace the others have set. Slow, slow, slow your wolf... Right until it's the second round, with permission to go fast, and he's off like a shot towards the trees.
There's a shape approaching from those trees ahead, and Fish-Herder's burst of speed causes the other wolf to pause, ears up and nose working. It continues forward after a few seconds: Golden's scent travels unhindered on the breeze, and he seems to be taking pains to avoid sneaking up on the gathering.
Stops-Too-Late's ears go back, but that's the most protesting she does of Rift-Mender's teasing. At the boulder she pauses, letting the other Ragabash dart ahead. She, on the other hand, picks up the pace only a little, though her scent wavers and disappears. She even manages to keep control of it when the Strider's scent makes his presence known.
Rift-Mender looks about to take off after Fish Herder, excited at the allowance for a faster pace now. But the Fang's reaction to the second round gives her pause. The Galliard pauses at the Boulder, watching Stops Too Late for a breath's space then looking in askance to Chandini. Can this one help her move faster?
"Nay, not this time," Chandini says. "Just run." And then, apparently deciding that it's a 'need' after all, as the cubs reach her and turn back for their second lap, Chandini suddenly laughs, blurs instantly from homid to lupus, and flings herself into a breakneck run matching Freedom's speed and his joy in it. She is nearing the far point when the wind brings her Golden's scent, and she tumbles to a stop and back into homid, almost before her momentum has passed. "Sonahari-bhai!" she calls, and then, in case either her running or her stopping has put the cubs off their stride, "Chalo! Keep going."
Fish-Herder did bounce into a half-stop--more of a leap into the air, instead of forward--at Chandini's change, but he continues gladly with her permission. Puffs of dirt and fragments of grass fly up beneath his paws as he dashes onward.
Golden navigates between the last trees and undergrowth between him and the clearing, and pants a greeting to Chandini. Falling Star makes cubs run around. He tilts his head, watching their progress with interest. He shakes himself out and shifts to homid, then rocks back on his feet. "Just letting them get their Rage out? Or something else?"
Stops-Too-Late is loping, really, somewhere between her previous jog and an actual run. This is work, say the lay of her ears and her business-like posture. She does pick up the pace a little more but not much, instead concentrating on keeping her scent away, her ears up, and her path arrow-straight back to the boulder.
Rift-Mender affects a shrug in wolf form before taking off running. She bolts past the Fang easily, flashing her teeth at the other cub in passing. Once reaching the point of return, she leans into the run, or starts to, her pace slowing as she spies Tim and Chandini talking. Deciding against it for now, the Galliard picks up the pace and chases after Freedom, though there's plenty of ground to make up and not much left before reaching the boulder.
Chandini walks back to the boulder behind the racing cubs, smiling at Tim. "That, yes, but also for practice, and also for loosening the body, yeah?" To Stops-Too-Late, Fish-Herder, and Rift-Mender, she calls the by-now familiar instruction, "Walk around until you have your breath back. Take human form again only when you can breath easily and stand still, yeah? That is how I will know you are ready."
Fish-Herder reaches the return point first! ...and plows to an enthusiastic stop, nearly tumbling over his own front paws. He shakes himself off briskly, and begins walking around in wide circles, with no protest over the slow pace this time.
Tim nods in agreement and follows after Chandini, and examines the cubs--Fish-Herder in particular, who (to go by the narrow-eyed once-over the Fianna gets) he doesn't recognize. "Mind if I watch?"
Golden-rhya, the scentless Fang greets the newcomer with more animation than nearly anything yet today. Tongue lolling, she waves her tail at him before skewing an ear at Chandini and turning away to pace her own circles, these well away from the Ahroun.
Rift-Mender slows to a trot before reaching the boulder, soon after stopping. Golden-rhya, she greets with a chuff, tail wagging as she glances toward the Strider. The Galliard seems on the verge of shifting to homid when her head lifts and looks toward the north, ears erect at some sound. She whuffs and looks an apology to the Ahroun, only explaining with a Must go before running once more.
The Fury appears to consider the Strider's request seriously. "Nay," she says at last. "I am not minding. I think I am pleased." She watches Rift-Mender go, brows pulling together briefly in concern. Then, to Tim again, though she has gone back to watching the remaining two cubs, she says, "These two are your moon. Later, we can talk about how they should be taught."
Fish-Herder returns Tim's examination with a bright-eyed look and a wagging tail. He continues walking around in slow circles, tongue lolling.
Watching Rift-Mender depart, Tim replies, "Yeah, sure thing." The distraction in his tone might indicate he has no idea what he's agreeing to, until he disproves that by saying, "Sneaking up on them a lot's a good way," in a droll manner. He gives Stops-Too-Late a conspiratorial look, then eyes Fish-Herder. The sense he is waiting for something from the cub is obvious.
Stops-Too-Late stops to watch Rift-Mender go, her sides still working. She turns a bright-eyed look on the elder Ragabash and points out, You already sneak up on me, before shifting smoothly back to homid. She may not entirely have her breath back, but she's certainly able to hold still, one hand wrapped across her middle.
"Mm," Chandini says, eyes dancing. "I am thinking perhaps I will not be doing that while the moon is quite so large." She considers Shelby, gaze lingering on that hand around the middle. "Shelby-behen. You put your scent away while you were running, and it is still away now." She's in homid, but she appears to have no doubt on this subject. "Why?" She doesn't sound disapproving, just interested. It's probably a test - everything is - but not a judgmental one. And then she puts her hand up to Shelby to ask for a brief pause, and says to Fish-Herder, in an awfully mild voice, "Freedom, is there a reason you have not made your introduction?"
Freedom shakes himself off, and shifts back to homid. "Because you told me not to change back to this form until I had my breath back, Chandini-rhya," he says, sounding a little puzzled. "Should I have disobeyed that to introduce myself sooner? I'm not sure how sequencing on etiquette and orders is supposed to work." He turns to Tim, and ticks off the points of the introduction on his fingers as he says, "Freedom Connolly, Ragabash, cub, of the Fianna. My apologies for not getting to it sooner."
Tim nods at Freedom, and in exhcnage says, "Tim. Golden for when that doesn't work. New Moon from Owl's Tribe. Good to see more of Cole's folks around." He raises his eyebrows at Freedom's indicated need to shift. "Not too clear on the body language for your introduction? You might want to practice it--we've got some folks around here who don't speak human languages, English or otherwise."
"I'm practicing, Chandini-rhya," the Silver Fang replies while the others get their introductions taken care of. She keeps her eyes on Tim or the boulder rather than the Ahroun, save for polite eye-flicks to Chandini's middle to prove she's not being rude. "I already know how to run, but I still need work on using my Gift while I'm moving. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to do that. I didn't think it would bother anyone."
"I do not think it did bother anyone," Chandini says. "Only, I was curious." She considers Freedom. "The answer to my question, then, is not 'Because I was doing as you said,' but, 'because I cannot make my introduction except in my birth form,' yeah? TK. It is another thing to learn, and you have many." She nods. The tension is still riding her, despite her brief run, but she seems experienced at keeping it in check. "So. Now, you will each try to get to the top of the boulder without using the path that is cut into it." The sides of the boulder are steep, but rough enough to provide hand- and foot-holds, and while they are high for a chunk of rock in the middle of a clearing, they are not especially high in an absolute sense. Still, it's nothing like a stroll.
Freedom ducks his head obediently to Chandini's correction, and turns to survey the boulder o' doom in front of him. "Huuuuh," he says to himself quietly, and sets to it, slow and cautious in working out where he can start working himself up the side.
Tim glances at the boulder, and seems to decide if he could or couldn't scale it in that brief time. As he declines to join the cubs, it's not clear if his assessment is right or wrong, but he watches Freedom and Shelby's progress with interest.
Shelby eyes the boulder, eyes Chandini, then Tim, and suddenly grins. "Yes, Chandini-rhya!" she chirps and jogs over to join Freedom at the rock. Except she? Is cheating, and surges into Crinos to have a go. Half again as tall as she was seconds ago, she makes fairly short work of navigating the boulder's side, claws and talons digging into the rock and propelling her to the top. Her scent wavers as she ascends, then pops back in as she fades back down into homid, looking cheekily triumphant.
Freedom works his way up much more slowly, sticking to his homid form all the way to the top. For once, 'skinny' and 'short' are working for him, though 'doesn't like picking up heavy objects' is not. By the time Shelby's hit the top, he's only halfway up, working his foot onto yet another point.
Chandini smiles. She flicks a sidelong look at Tim, and then goes back to watching the cubs. She doesn't seem distressed by either's performance.
Tim can't suppress a quiet laugh at Shelby's solution, though that leaves him with more time to watch Freedom move up the rock in a traditional manner.
Shelby's beam widens just a touch; she circles the flattish top to find the other cub and lay down, offering a Glabro'd hand down. "Grab on," she encourages, wiggling her fingers encouragingly.
Freedom hesitates fractionally, and decides that this is Within The Rules, taking Shelby's hand accordingly. "I just need a little more muscle," he explains, scrambling up. "Or, I don't know, less clothes."
Chandini laughs. "Very good. And down, now, however you choose." As last week, her tone is entirely courteous, for all that she speaks in the imperative and leaves out such touches as 'please' and 'thank you' where, from her manner, they might easily go.
Shelby isn't so strong, even in Glabro, that she just pulls the other cub to join her, but it's an easier lift than might otherwise be. "More practice," she agrees, and looks sidelong first at Freedom, then at the ground. "I'm going to jump." Not in Glabro, not in an arm-flailing, leg-churning journey to the ground. No, instead she pauses long enough to reach Hispo and almost carefully launch herself off the edge of the rock, there to trot back to the adults and shift back into Homid, still quite pleased with herself.
Freedom sticks to homid yet, clambering back down the rock much faster now that strength challenges are just an excuse to slip down a few more notches to the next hold. At about the one-third mark, he leaps down, landing on his feet with a tiny stagger to mar the neatness of the move.
The tall ahroun scratches the back of her neck, thinking. "Accha. I would like you two, in human bodies, to get one of you to the top before I can reach it, climbing. Don't move. Tell me only if you understand."
Tim looks at the two cubs, Chandini, and finally the boulder, again with that assessing expression. His gaze flicks out to the forest as he makes some sort of mental calculation, then he looks back at the other Garou and crosses his arms, awaiting the outcome.
Nine-tenths of Shelby's triumph drains away at Chandini's next suggestion-cum-order. She, like Tim, looks to consider the boulder and Freedom, then back at the Ahroun. "Stay in Homid, you mean. And you don't want Tim-rhya to help." She nods once, unhappily.
Freedom nods agreeably. "All human, just one at the top, competing against you. Got it."
Chandini turns her attention to Tim. "Sonahari-bhai? Are you wanting to help?" She sounds amused, interested, perhaps a little testing.
"Help us," Shelby interjects hastily, thumbing at Freedom and herself.
"Now that'd be a little unfair. I'm halfway to the top of that thing just standing here," Tim replies, the very essence of faux modesty. He even holds up his hands. "I'm just watching." 'Right now' lingers unspoken.
Shelby pahs at the Strider, the last of her amusement fading away as she looks back to Chandini and shrugs. "All right. Freedom, since you're closer and she's faster, you start climbing and I'll boost you when I get there, ok?"
Freedom shrugs, and says to Shelby, "I'm not so pessimistic that I'm against even trying to do it the way we were told..." He nods to her explanation, turning towards the boulder.
"So," Chandini says decisively, and sprints the few steps between where she stands and the boulder, leaps for the side, finds handholds and toe-holds for her bare feet, and starts to swarm up it. It becomes clear for anyone who takes the time to watch her that she not only has the physical ability, she also has years of practice climbing, and possibly even a certain amount of practice climbing this rock.
As the Ahroun begins, Tim advises Freedom, "Don't mistake pessimism for opportunism." Then he settles in to, as he said, watch.
Freedom bounds towards the rock, and takes a similar leap for a few extra feet to start with. It's not half so precise as his teacher's, but he's going for the same path he took the last time, so he knows where to grab on and start scrabbling up.
"Hurry!" is Shelby's not-that-helpful advice, as she follows her own words back to Freedom's side. She dithers over what to grab, finally stooping to clasp an ankle on the way up and give it a shove. "I can only help you so far," she warns, stealing a look at Chandini and promptly back to her task.
Soon, Chandini, having ascended on something of a diagonal following the contours of the stone, is swinging one hand up, over the top of the boulder, groping for the footholds she needs. She shakes her head sharply, sending drops of sweat flying.
Freedom rocks in Shelby's sudden ankle-grip, and ends up using the top of her head for a convenient foot-hold. "So follow," he suggests, scrabbling as fast as he can. Faster than his first time up, but he's still trailing by feet when Chandini hits the top.
Tim's eyes move between the cubs and Chandini; he doesn't seem surprised at the outcome, though there's the distinct notion that he's making mental notes.
Shelby acks and starts to duck away, realizes what she's doing and reaches up to steady Freedom's ankle instead. "Euyrgh," she points out and brushes her hair free of grit almost absently. Another boost lifts the other cub out of her reach; she prowls a few feet around the base of the rock as if judging the path. The Fang makes a couple of half-hearted tries at the rock as well, falling off the first. The second is more successful, though it's obvious she has no experience at this, and Shelby's barely two feet off the ground when Chandini wins.
She hasn't won until she is on the top of the stone--but that comes a moment later. Getting both hands to the edge, Chandini lets go with her feet, hangs, and then pulls herself straight up the side of the stone, pulling her feet up after her and onto the top as soon as she's high enough. She shakes her head again, flushed and radiating enjoyment, and smiles at Freedom as he approaches.
Freedom doggedly continues to the top of the boulder, and drags himself up to the top. "That," he says, between breaths, "might've worked better for us with more planning. Oh well."
Shelby doesn't even bother to finish but pushes off the rock, dropping heavily into a three-point crouch before looking up. "Feel better now?" she asks politely, and tilts a wry smile at Freedom. "Or worked better if we were better at climbing, and Chandini worse." She shrugs anyway, and stands, dusting off first her hands, then her clothes, and sending a look to Tim. "What next, Chandini-rhya?"
Tim snaps his fingers and points at Freedom. "Exactly." He makes an effort to stop himself from spewing out a long list of possibilities, and then after the inevitable list of questions. He's standing some feet from the boulder, surveying Chandini and Freedom, who are on top of it. He looks to the Fury in particular, waiting to see what she has to say.
Chandini drops loosely to sit with her feet dangling over the edge of the rock and wipes her face on her sleeve. "It is Freedom who has the right of it, this time," she says. "We will do this again. I tell you this now, so that you may do whatever you think is best between now and then, yeah?" She looks down at Shelby seriously. "If you could do everything the first time, what good would you gain from the teaching? Only pride, I am thinking. You will get that together with everything else."
Freedom calls down to Shelby in a faux-whisper, "Next time we can rig the ropes beforehand."
A young teenage boy with brown hair makes his way into the clearing from the north. His eyes gaze over the large clearing and those assembled here before he continues walking toward the group. He wears a slight smile and carries himself with a confidence that doesn't seem to encroach on cockiness. He stands a respectful distance away from the group, just watching for the moment.
"What better planning?" Shelby asks with a shrug that's meant to be rhetorical; she flashes a grin up at Freedom before sobering to look at the Fury. "There's no way I'd ever attack an Ahroun, especially not on this moon, and Tim wasn't going to help so we couldn't slow you down that way. Only way to beat you up there is to be faster than you, and you've obviously practiced, so...," she shrugs again. With all her attention up on the people on the rock, she misses Michael's entrance.
"Stop thinking so narrowly," Tim says to Shelby, almost laughing. "Look around you. Look at this clearing. Think about your options." There was probably going to be more, but he stops himself, and then he notices Michael. He tips his chin in a greeting.
Chandini regards Shelby with an expression gone suddenly remote. "So? Well, you may keep failing if that is what you prefer." She shrugs. Turning, she lowers herself halfway down the rockface and climbs the rest, and it is only once she reaches the ground that she turns toward the newcomer, but not with any apparent surprise. "Chandini Mukti Bhaskar," She says, brief but not unfriendly, though the fullness of the moon is in the tension of her shoulders and the sharpness of her gaze. "Falls on her Enemies like a Star to the Earth, ahroun of the Black Furies and child of Rat."
Freedom drums his feet against the side of the boulder, looking over the clearing. "I mean, I see plenty of ways to build a ladder, or something along those lines, but that's not exactly the same as trying for immediate speed against someone else." He's talking half to himself, and moves to follow Chandini down a moment later.
The boy listens to the lesson for a moment, even glances around the area as well. His attention is on Chandini when she climbs down from the boulder. He keeps his gaze off past her shoulder. "Michael Schroeder. Also known as Grudge-Ender. Cub and story-moon of Fenrir." He says with a smile. "Viv-rhya said I should check out the lessons here."
"Yes, Chandini-rhya, Tim-rhya," Shelby agrees neutrally, her eyes sliding away from both of the elder Garou to rest somewhere on the middle ground instead. She adds, "Hello, Michael," before busily turning back to ensure she isn't in Freedom's landing spot or something.
Tim continues to keep himself from saying things, though that doesn't stop his eyes from indicating he has Many Ideas (some of which may or may not pertain to the quandry at hand). He moves to lean against the boulder and wait for Michael and the Ahroun to exchange pleasantries, in the process giving Chandini a significant Look.
Chandini puts her hands together, palm to palm, fingertips pointing upward, and bows her head over them. "Namaste, Michael. I am glad your Jarl wanted you to come." She lowers her hands and steps back, to include all three cubs in her field of vision. Her gaze travels over Tim, and she smiles involuntarily at his expression. "Accha. Are you known to the others?"
Freedom has the skill (or luck) to not land on anyone when he bores with climbing down carefully and drops the rest of the way. "Freedom Connolly, Ragabash cub of the Fianna," he tells Michael, with an easy smile. It's followed by a slightly less easy sideways glance towards Chandini, to see if he's finally getting this whole introduction process down properly.
"I would have made it to these sooner, but it appears I'm my tribe's only skald for the time being." He says with a shrug. He gives Freedom a friendly smile. "Always good to meet another Fianna! Pleasure to meet you Freedom-yuf!" He smiles and waves to Shelby as well and nods respectfully to Tim. He just seems to be really friendly for a Get. "So I know I kinda came in half way. What's the lesson today? How does this whole thing work?" He seems eager to get started.
Shelby murmurs something to the other Ragabash cub after his introduction, adding a nod to punctuate her words. A look at Tim and she wrinkles her nose at him and looks thoughtful, then busies herself brushing at her clothes while Chandini fills Michael in. ("The ladder's a good idea. We could hide it in the grass. Otherwise, I don't see how to be faster than her.")
Tim raises an eyebrow at Shelby; the look on his face almost makes the expression a dare. And then he blinks and is watching Chandini with interest, also wondering what could come next.
Mouth already open to reply, Chandini is arrested by Shelby's inaudible whisper, turning raised eyebrows on the Fang cub. A small smile flickers on her mouth. Then she looks away and says, generally, "Will someone tell Michael what we have worked on today?"
Freedom grins at Shelby, and clasps his hands behind his back. The very picture of innocent attention to his teacher. "Running about in various ways," he says promptly, "slow--and together--and then fast. Then climbing the boulder, both in general and cooperatively."
Michael nods as Freedom explains. "Basically learning how to move as a unit? As a pack?" He smiles. "Sounds like fun." He starts stretching out his legs to get himself limbered up.
The Silver Fang misses Chandini's tell, engrossed as she is in keeping all the invisible bits of fluff and inevitable specks of detritus from settling in and making themselves comfortable on her clothing. "Not... exactly?" she puts in, but looks then between Tim and Chandini. "Or maybe so. I don't know."
A howl rises up from out of the north, the song a simple, short announcement to those at the boulder. Rift Mender comes! The Fianna Galliard must have been running as she announced herself, as not too long after the note cuts off does the gray lupus form appear loping across the clearing and toward the small gathering.
Tim looks up at the cloudy sky, gauging it, and then down at his watch. His eyebrows bob and he pushes off from the rock. "I should probably get going. Thanks for letting me watch." The later is addressed to Chandini first, and the cubs second with a look for each of them.
"Namaste, bhai," Chandini says with another bow. Rift-Mender's howl and approach takes her attention next, and she smiles, waiting for the Fianna galliard to approach before she continues. "Welcome back, behen. Now, I think, we will do some stances. Jacey, I have seen you do this before, but I do not know how you have changed in the time since we worked together last. All of you, side by side, yeah? Standing so you are about the length of an arm away, each from the other. Shoulders down, head level, feet as far apart as your shoulders are wide, knees a little bent. Chalo." From her tone, there's no mistaking that last word for anything but a 'go on,' or 'now do it,' however foreign the word itself may be. It may be an oversight, in all that detailed instruction, that she said nothing about the hands, but she doesn't seem to be waiting for questions this time.
Freedom trots over into place to line up with other cubs, and begins focusing on the required stance. He has another quick smile for Jacey on her return.
The Get cub is momentarily distracted as soon as the howl carries into the clearing. He turns around giving the gray wolf a bright smile. "Afternoon, sis!" His attention snaps back to Chandini as she gives instructions. He lines up and gets into the instructed stance. Since it wasn't specified yet, he decides to put them into fists and holds his arms up, ready to block or throw a punch if need be.
Shelby says, "It was nice seeing you Tim-rhya," as the other Ragabash straightens. More - if she'd say more - is cut off by Chandini's instructions; she throws Tim a rueful half-smile before stepping into position, checking her spacing against Freedom and extending her other arm in a silent demonstration of where her personal space is. "This is like what August has me doing." Apparently what August also has her doing is bringing her arms up to her waist, though she can't seem to settle into the stance.
Rift-Mender whuffs in greeting to the two Fostern first, before giving a brief greeting to the other cubs. Her form pops up to homid following that, while listening to Chandini's instruction, then takes a place at one end of the line. She drops into stance as described by the Ahourn, knees bent, feet a little less than shoulder width apart and left one almost a pace ahead of the other. Jacey then, too, lifts her hands to roughly face level and shifts her weight slightly so she rests on the balls of her feet.
Tim returns Chandini's bow, murmuring, "Namaskar," under his breath, and starts in the direction of Edgewood. He pauses at the edge of the clearing and looks back, both to give Jacey a smile and to watch the cubs line up. He stays there, poised to leave for several seconds before actually doing so. He shifts to lupus and moves into the undergrowth with little sound.
"Relax," Chandini says, and waits for the cubs to drop at least some aspects of the stance before she says, "You did well getting into line quickly and without fussing, yeah? Again. Feet even with each other, the width of your shoulders apart. Shoulders down, chin level, knees bent a little." She doesn't single anyone out as she refines her instructions about the foot placement.
Freedom wiggles his feet back into place again, looking to his left and right to see if he's lined up properly.
Michael drops his arms and waits for further instructions on what to do with, apparently not sure if he had jumped the gun or not. He remains in his stance, his feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent slightly. He stands staring straight ahead, listening for further instructions.
Shelby shakes out her arms and each leg in turn, Tim escaping without further acknowledgement from the Fang. Rather than answer Chandini in words she simply repeats the stance, slightly happier about this attempt. She bounces a little in place, testing the feel of her center of gravity, and adjusts one foot perhaps a centimeter.
Jacey looks to her feet then to Chandini. A sheepish grin crosses her face and she settles into the stance the Ahroun actually asked for. "Sorry, Chandini-rhya," the little cub says quietly. "Getting ahead of things." Swinging her arms back and forth a bit, she shifts her weight, then lets her arms hang relaxedly at her sides.
The ahroun inclines her head to Jacey. "Hands up at chest height, one in front of the other," she proceeds. "Right leg forward, feet still the same distance apart, only now not beside each other, yeah? Forward leg bent, back leg almost straight, your weight very low. Chalo." All the while, her eyes flicker over the four cubs, tracking Jacey and Michael's familiarity, Freedom's quick learning, Shelby in the middle. It's hard to read her opinion, and she is, in general, so excessively readable that this can only be because she does not have much of one at all.
Freedom follows instructions ever so carefully, though he's still got that tendency to check to his left and right to see if he's doing it the same as everyone else.
A slight smile grows on the Get's face as he settles easily into the instructed stance. His right leg bent and left leg back. He puts his hands up, pretty much where they were before, ready to block or attack as needed. It definitely seems he's familiar with the stance.
Right leg... forward? Shelby frowns to herself as she follows these new directions, looking at each limb in turn to make sure they're doing what they ought. She bounces again and drops lower, trying to settle things, but doesn't look precisely happy.
Jacey grins, probably laughing inwardly at herself, and drops into the stance. This time with her right foot forward rather than the left, she still seems comfortable in how she holds herself. Again her hands come up, still roughly at face level and relaxed. As the Fianna Galliard sets herself up, the grin fades and a readiness seems to come over her.
"Relax," Chandini says. "Shelby and Freedom know already: we will train in many skills here. One of them is listening carefully and doing exactly as one is told. You may speak with them about why this is, but not now. The rule is, when you do not do this, we will do it again. The reason is that obeying is a skill which requires practice just as much as climbing or fighting does. No one is good at it without work, just as no one can speak a new language without work. There is magic, but this is not that, yeah? It takes work. There is no shame. Only there is working to do better. Some of you will be better at striking, some at kicking, some at climbing. Some of you will have to work harder at listening to what is asked of you and doing it than others, but everyone has to work, and everyone can succeed. Do you understand?" She looks from one to another, though mostly at Jacey and Michael, and there is only genuine concern that she has communicated clearly in her expression, her tone.
Freedom nods quickly, his expression distant as he focuses on holding the stance in the place it's been described.
"Yes, Chandini-rhya!" Michael calls out as he keeps his stance He glances down momentarily to ensure he is bent deep enough, before his eyes gaze forward again.
"Lots of practice," Shelby mutters half under her breath, but it's amused. Louder: "Excuse me, Chandini-rhya, may I be excused? August-rhya is expecting me." She doesn't break stance, however, until the Fury gives permission.
Jacey breaks her own focus for a moment, glancing briefly to Chandini. "Yes, Chandini-rhya," she replies as she shifts her feet a fraction, adjusting her stance shortly. The focus comes back up, still relaxed and breathing easily, poised and waiting further word from the Ahroun.