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shelbyrouIt is currently 13:01 Pacific Time on Mon Mar 5 2012.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (84% full).
The Scarred Forest (North of I-90)
The forest is thinner here than it is south of the highway, though it is still difficult to see for very far. Signs of human habitation break the stretch of woods every few miles; roads, paths, farms, and the occasional out-of-the-way home remind you that civilization is encroaching, though in this area, the battle is not yet decided. Hardwoods mix with towering firs and smaller trees, still concealing some of nature's hidden places from the nearby humans. Streams and small pools are scattered throughout the forest, some large enough to swim in, some small enough to freeze solid for most of the winter.
Fresh stumps dot the woods, and almost all of the trees still standing are disease-scarred around the bases of the trunk, some only superficially marked, some deeply wounded; not a few are dead.
Once hauntingly quiet and sparsely populated with wildlife, these woods have fully come alive again. The scents and sounds and glimpses of animals, birds, insects are now as rich here, among the scarred trees, as they are anywhere.
This region stretches almost 50 miles north from I-90 into the Sun Lakes area, where the disease that scarred the trees appears to have been at its worst.
Obvious exits:
Tiny Cabin Great Oak Grove 23 Hawk's End Southeast Interstate 90 Grotto South
Since having been brought back to the camp, the cub hasn't wandered far. Even now the impression of his uncle's small camp can be seen, though he's not within it, spending time in lupus and circling wide around it in something akin to a patrol despite a continued favoring of a shoulder.
The oak grove may be within Equinox' territory, but it's been made abundantly clear that the Shadow Lords are Not Welcome within. Shelby emerges from within the trees, huddling deep into a coat that's just this side of a parka. She watches the cub approach, waiting until he's within hailing distance before shifting down to lupus.
True Arrow's ears snap up at the call, head lifting. His tail wags slowly, small movements when he sees Shelby, ears then splaying when he approaches her cautiously.
Bright Eyes waits regally, the Fang's head, ears, and tail lifted as she regards the cub's approach. Still, for all her stillness there's no malice in her. You guard, she notes. No dogs?
Dogs came once, True Arrow explains, head craning around to turn an eye on the mostly healed bites on his shoulder. Ears and Wildfire were there. Something else came with the dogs then left.
Shadow, she guesses with a baring of teeth, and gives his shoulder a professional once-over. Dogs still hunt you?
True Arrow seems to think so, though he doesn't know why. Circle Breaker thinks uncle is hunting. There's something of confusing in that, lacking insight for the important answer to why.
Bright Eyes shakes out her coat in lieu of a shrug. You do not?
True Arrow doesn't know. The cub's ears splay further, head bowing a bit. He was there, when the Caern was attacked. Hard to argue with Circle Breaker.
You are a cub, not stupid. The Fang shakes out her coat again and eyes the Shadow Lord. thoughtfully. Shift. Human words are easier. She follows her own order, returning to homid.
True Arrow shifts to homid as well, though there's a slight reluctance to leaving behind the warmth of fur. He shrugs more deeply into his jacket, casting a glance up at Shelby.
Shelby says, "You were saying? You don't think this uncle of yours is behind this? Or something else?" She casts a look toward Andrei's camp, but other than keeping her voice pitched for Ky's ears alone, doesn't bother to try and disguise their conversation.
The boy standing before you still has some growing to do, measuring at roughly five and a half feet tall on a lanky, if rather averagely built frame. His normally short-kept dark brown hair is now shaven clean, without even enough length left to be considered peach fuzz, and clear blue eyes are set into a face that's more cute than handsom. He's got some way to go before his body will begin to show more of the stature and build that's brought on by adulthood, with odd lines and angles setting him firmly still in adolescence.
Ky carries himself with some confidence, an easy grin quick to tick into his expression. His skin is still pale, though no longer with a sickly cast, the pink of health colors his cheeks though he's still thin, as though recovering from a long illness. One forearm still bears a scar, easily recognizable as the Shadow Lords' tribal glyph.
"Andrei thinks it was Gerik," Ky answers, pushing his hands into his coat pockets. "I think I agree with him. I saw him there... when the Caern was attacked. But I don't know why Gerik would... why he'd do anything like that."
"If he's turned to the Wyrm, he could be doing it for any number of reasons," Shelby says with a verbal, if not a physical shrug. "None of them very comforting, I'm afraid. Last year we fought a Theurge - the Warder, if I remember - who'd become Tainted and managed to taint half of a Sept's totems. They had two."
Ky nods, looking toward the camp. "I think... I'm done wanting to know why. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't even remember any of it." He looks up at Shelby again, a little worried. "The attacks seem like they're coming more often. The howling happens a lot now."
Her, "I know," is dry even as she shivers deeper into her coat. "And it feels colder, even if the thermometer doesn't think so. If the situation were different I'd let you and Andrei go to Edgewood. A hot meal and a hot shower do wonders. Unfortunately, the attacks are coming more often."
"I know I didn't have control over it," Kyler says, "and that I already said it before, but I'm sorry we brought trouble. And that we're... here." He pauses, then actually grins up at the older Ragabash. "And I could really use a shower. Only so much cleaning can be done in wolfskin."
Shelby quirks half a smile in return. "At least it's snow, not rain. Else you'd smell like -wet- dog." Briskly, "Well, hopefully we'll be able to track this - your uncle down in the next few days. You don't deserve to live like this, on someone else's charity." She pauses, then asks, "How have your lessons been coming along?"
Ky pulls up one shoulder, grin remaining though it falters a little. "I'll find a way to repay you," he says, "if I... If I manage to survive to Cliath." He looks toward the ground, toeing at an errant twig. "I'm tired of going over Litany and creeds and things. Wishing I could start learning more about my auspice."
Shelby looks sympathetic, truly, she does. "That's a Nik-thing, unfortunately. I can tell you how I'm a Ragabash, or Tim could, but we're neither of us Shadow Lords. But you were raised knowing you were Garou, weren't you? In, or at least around, a Sept?"
"I know," Kyler answers. "Nik-rhya was..." But it's given off with a shrug. "I was. Grew up around it, and... They started teaching us at seven, if we were going to be Garou."
"So you already have a thorough grounding in the technical aspects, if not the practical." The white-haired woman shivers again as a particularly brisk gust brushes past the pair. "Tell me this, then: if Nik were to come to you tomorrow and ask if you were ready for your Rite of Passage, why would you tell him no?"
Ky shrugs again, though it's an action meant to brace against the chill. "I can recite the creeds and the Litany, tell you what tribes there are, talk about auspices and... Pretty much anything. And some of it I understand. But some if it... I haven't learned yet. How it works. If Nik-rhya thinks I'm ready, if he told me to go, I'd face whatever happens. But now..." the boy shakes his head, looking up at Shelby. "I'm not ready yet."
"You've fought the Wyrm." The Silver Fang nods toward his now-covered shoulder. "You know the creeds and the Litany. What else do you think a Cliath ought to know?" She asks again, stressing the words faintly, "Why don't you think you're ready? Not me, not Nik, not your uncle. Andrei. You."
Ky bites the inside of his lower lip, brows drawing together until a crease forms in the middle. "It's more than just... that. Knowing things, or fighting. I just... I'm missing something. I don't think I'm ready for it. I still mess up. Still... It's like... being an adult but not being able to make adult choices. And I'm trying, just... Not sure if Grandfather Thunder will take me yet."
Shelby regards him, not without sympathy. "I didn't know either, before my Rite of Passage. I think that's common. Not helpful, maybe, but common." She shivers again before half-laughing. "What I missed most was being able to walk around by myself. First thing I did after... well, after, was drive into town and get coffee. What about you? What are you looking forward to?"
"Honestly," the boy asks, looking up at Shelby. "Just being alive to make it to Cliath. I think... Pizza will be next. If I'm allowed to go anywhere."
Shelby affects a look of mock hurt and outrage. "Oh! Those pizzas I brought you mean nothing, I see! No no, I'm a teenage boy, I want -everything- on my pizza, not just a paltry three items!" She sniffs, lower lip wobbling. Really, the Academy will be handing her an Oscar any moment.
"You could make it up by bringing more pizza," Ky says, innocently enough though he's got a teasing grin.
"/Hah/!" Shelby barks an injured laugh, tossing her head and looking off at an innocent tree. "I see how this is. Malign my pizza, then try to guilt me into bringing you more." She sniffs again and shoots him a sidelong look. "I'd run for it, if I were you. When I catch you...!" She takes a step toward him, then another. World's slowest chase!
"You'll what," Ky counters, chin coming up a little without trying to challenge the Silver Fang, though his expression remains mischievous. He backs away a step, and then a second, grin broadening.
"I'll bite you," she promises with a widening of eyes. Another step and she begins - still slowly - to shift, bulking into Glabro. Up come 'monster' claws to threaten. "Better run!"
Ky laughs, but turns to run, hands coming out of his pockets to aid in balance through the woodsy terrain.
Shelby, it must be said, cheats. Well, sort of. She continues with the world's slowest shift until she's in lupus. Once there she darts forward to nip at his heels and generally be annoying, though she doesn't actually try to draw blood.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (84% full).
The Scarred Forest (North of I-90)
The forest is thinner here than it is south of the highway, though it is still difficult to see for very far. Signs of human habitation break the stretch of woods every few miles; roads, paths, farms, and the occasional out-of-the-way home remind you that civilization is encroaching, though in this area, the battle is not yet decided. Hardwoods mix with towering firs and smaller trees, still concealing some of nature's hidden places from the nearby humans. Streams and small pools are scattered throughout the forest, some large enough to swim in, some small enough to freeze solid for most of the winter.
Fresh stumps dot the woods, and almost all of the trees still standing are disease-scarred around the bases of the trunk, some only superficially marked, some deeply wounded; not a few are dead.
Once hauntingly quiet and sparsely populated with wildlife, these woods have fully come alive again. The scents and sounds and glimpses of animals, birds, insects are now as rich here, among the scarred trees, as they are anywhere.
This region stretches almost 50 miles north from I-90 into the Sun Lakes area, where the disease that scarred the trees appears to have been at its worst.
Obvious exits:
Tiny Cabin Great Oak Grove 23 Hawk's End Southeast Interstate 90 Grotto South
Since having been brought back to the camp, the cub hasn't wandered far. Even now the impression of his uncle's small camp can be seen, though he's not within it, spending time in lupus and circling wide around it in something akin to a patrol despite a continued favoring of a shoulder.
The oak grove may be within Equinox' territory, but it's been made abundantly clear that the Shadow Lords are Not Welcome within. Shelby emerges from within the trees, huddling deep into a coat that's just this side of a parka. She watches the cub approach, waiting until he's within hailing distance before shifting down to lupus.
True Arrow's ears snap up at the call, head lifting. His tail wags slowly, small movements when he sees Shelby, ears then splaying when he approaches her cautiously.
Bright Eyes waits regally, the Fang's head, ears, and tail lifted as she regards the cub's approach. Still, for all her stillness there's no malice in her. You guard, she notes. No dogs?
Dogs came once, True Arrow explains, head craning around to turn an eye on the mostly healed bites on his shoulder. Ears and Wildfire were there. Something else came with the dogs then left.
Shadow, she guesses with a baring of teeth, and gives his shoulder a professional once-over. Dogs still hunt you?
True Arrow seems to think so, though he doesn't know why. Circle Breaker thinks uncle is hunting. There's something of confusing in that, lacking insight for the important answer to why.
Bright Eyes shakes out her coat in lieu of a shrug. You do not?
True Arrow doesn't know. The cub's ears splay further, head bowing a bit. He was there, when the Caern was attacked. Hard to argue with Circle Breaker.
You are a cub, not stupid. The Fang shakes out her coat again and eyes the Shadow Lord. thoughtfully. Shift. Human words are easier. She follows her own order, returning to homid.
True Arrow shifts to homid as well, though there's a slight reluctance to leaving behind the warmth of fur. He shrugs more deeply into his jacket, casting a glance up at Shelby.
Shelby says, "You were saying? You don't think this uncle of yours is behind this? Or something else?" She casts a look toward Andrei's camp, but other than keeping her voice pitched for Ky's ears alone, doesn't bother to try and disguise their conversation.
The boy standing before you still has some growing to do, measuring at roughly five and a half feet tall on a lanky, if rather averagely built frame. His normally short-kept dark brown hair is now shaven clean, without even enough length left to be considered peach fuzz, and clear blue eyes are set into a face that's more cute than handsom. He's got some way to go before his body will begin to show more of the stature and build that's brought on by adulthood, with odd lines and angles setting him firmly still in adolescence.
Ky carries himself with some confidence, an easy grin quick to tick into his expression. His skin is still pale, though no longer with a sickly cast, the pink of health colors his cheeks though he's still thin, as though recovering from a long illness. One forearm still bears a scar, easily recognizable as the Shadow Lords' tribal glyph.
"Andrei thinks it was Gerik," Ky answers, pushing his hands into his coat pockets. "I think I agree with him. I saw him there... when the Caern was attacked. But I don't know why Gerik would... why he'd do anything like that."
"If he's turned to the Wyrm, he could be doing it for any number of reasons," Shelby says with a verbal, if not a physical shrug. "None of them very comforting, I'm afraid. Last year we fought a Theurge - the Warder, if I remember - who'd become Tainted and managed to taint half of a Sept's totems. They had two."
Ky nods, looking toward the camp. "I think... I'm done wanting to know why. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't even remember any of it." He looks up at Shelby again, a little worried. "The attacks seem like they're coming more often. The howling happens a lot now."
Her, "I know," is dry even as she shivers deeper into her coat. "And it feels colder, even if the thermometer doesn't think so. If the situation were different I'd let you and Andrei go to Edgewood. A hot meal and a hot shower do wonders. Unfortunately, the attacks are coming more often."
"I know I didn't have control over it," Kyler says, "and that I already said it before, but I'm sorry we brought trouble. And that we're... here." He pauses, then actually grins up at the older Ragabash. "And I could really use a shower. Only so much cleaning can be done in wolfskin."
Shelby quirks half a smile in return. "At least it's snow, not rain. Else you'd smell like -wet- dog." Briskly, "Well, hopefully we'll be able to track this - your uncle down in the next few days. You don't deserve to live like this, on someone else's charity." She pauses, then asks, "How have your lessons been coming along?"
Ky pulls up one shoulder, grin remaining though it falters a little. "I'll find a way to repay you," he says, "if I... If I manage to survive to Cliath." He looks toward the ground, toeing at an errant twig. "I'm tired of going over Litany and creeds and things. Wishing I could start learning more about my auspice."
Shelby looks sympathetic, truly, she does. "That's a Nik-thing, unfortunately. I can tell you how I'm a Ragabash, or Tim could, but we're neither of us Shadow Lords. But you were raised knowing you were Garou, weren't you? In, or at least around, a Sept?"
"I know," Kyler answers. "Nik-rhya was..." But it's given off with a shrug. "I was. Grew up around it, and... They started teaching us at seven, if we were going to be Garou."
"So you already have a thorough grounding in the technical aspects, if not the practical." The white-haired woman shivers again as a particularly brisk gust brushes past the pair. "Tell me this, then: if Nik were to come to you tomorrow and ask if you were ready for your Rite of Passage, why would you tell him no?"
Ky shrugs again, though it's an action meant to brace against the chill. "I can recite the creeds and the Litany, tell you what tribes there are, talk about auspices and... Pretty much anything. And some of it I understand. But some if it... I haven't learned yet. How it works. If Nik-rhya thinks I'm ready, if he told me to go, I'd face whatever happens. But now..." the boy shakes his head, looking up at Shelby. "I'm not ready yet."
"You've fought the Wyrm." The Silver Fang nods toward his now-covered shoulder. "You know the creeds and the Litany. What else do you think a Cliath ought to know?" She asks again, stressing the words faintly, "Why don't you think you're ready? Not me, not Nik, not your uncle. Andrei. You."
Ky bites the inside of his lower lip, brows drawing together until a crease forms in the middle. "It's more than just... that. Knowing things, or fighting. I just... I'm missing something. I don't think I'm ready for it. I still mess up. Still... It's like... being an adult but not being able to make adult choices. And I'm trying, just... Not sure if Grandfather Thunder will take me yet."
Shelby regards him, not without sympathy. "I didn't know either, before my Rite of Passage. I think that's common. Not helpful, maybe, but common." She shivers again before half-laughing. "What I missed most was being able to walk around by myself. First thing I did after... well, after, was drive into town and get coffee. What about you? What are you looking forward to?"
"Honestly," the boy asks, looking up at Shelby. "Just being alive to make it to Cliath. I think... Pizza will be next. If I'm allowed to go anywhere."
Shelby affects a look of mock hurt and outrage. "Oh! Those pizzas I brought you mean nothing, I see! No no, I'm a teenage boy, I want -everything- on my pizza, not just a paltry three items!" She sniffs, lower lip wobbling. Really, the Academy will be handing her an Oscar any moment.
"You could make it up by bringing more pizza," Ky says, innocently enough though he's got a teasing grin.
"/Hah/!" Shelby barks an injured laugh, tossing her head and looking off at an innocent tree. "I see how this is. Malign my pizza, then try to guilt me into bringing you more." She sniffs again and shoots him a sidelong look. "I'd run for it, if I were you. When I catch you...!" She takes a step toward him, then another. World's slowest chase!
"You'll what," Ky counters, chin coming up a little without trying to challenge the Silver Fang, though his expression remains mischievous. He backs away a step, and then a second, grin broadening.
"I'll bite you," she promises with a widening of eyes. Another step and she begins - still slowly - to shift, bulking into Glabro. Up come 'monster' claws to threaten. "Better run!"
Ky laughs, but turns to run, hands coming out of his pockets to aid in balance through the woodsy terrain.
Shelby, it must be said, cheats. Well, sort of. She continues with the world's slowest shift until she's in lupus. Once there she darts forward to nip at his heels and generally be annoying, though she doesn't actually try to draw blood.