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Julie's face is drawn in thought, as her eyes remain closed. The
suggestion of a shower never sunk in, and she remains sitting in the
chair she has chosen.

Andrea's wiggled her damp moccasains off by this point, and has stripped
off her wet socks as well. The back of an empty armchair begins to
receive her wet clothes. "I wish I'd brough a spare set."

Coda finds herself in the bathroom, testing out the shower facilities.
There's nothing quite like a long, hot shower after staring down a
raging Garou.

Julie opens her eyes and gazes at Andrea through the veil of dirty
blonde braids. "P'rhaps there's some extras inna closet. Mebbe a'
leas' a bathrobe," the Gnawer cub offers.

Andrea strips down to her sports bra and panties, then bundles herself
up with the comforter from one of the beds. Julie gets treated to the
view of several light scars, including one on her inner left thigh.
"I'll look after my bath. You want to go next?"

Julie shifts nervously in her chair. "Um...me?" A leery glance is cast
towards the bathroom door. "I uh, I dunno."

Coda comes ot, wet and steaming from the hot shower, finishing drying
her purple hair. "Why not? Water's really hot."

Julie wrinkles ner nose, then shrugs. "I s'pose I cou'd rub a bit o'
soap over me." A sigh, and she pushes up from her chair, shucking her
jacket and letting it fall to the floor, heading for the bathroom.

Coda blinks at Julie's reluctance, and then remembers something. "Right.
'Gnawer."

Andrea shakes her head with a faint grin at Coda. "Me, I love hot water,
for all I live out where it's uncommon."

Julie glances over her shoulder towards Coda at the remark, but says
nothing, the door closing rather abruptly behind her.

Coda shrugs, sitting on one of the beds. "To each their own, I guess."

Julie returns after a bit, braids dripping wet, and, by golly, fully
dressed in the same clothing, though the tee shirt is clinging to damp
places on her shoulders and back. "All yers," she thumbs over her
shoulder, glancing to Andrea. "I ev'n saved you some hot water."

Andrea smiles at the young galliard. "Thank you, Julie. She then drops
the comforter and walks into the bathroom. She shuts the door, but not
completely. After a few minutes, steam occasionally drifts from the
crack.

Julie sits in a chair and looks at Coda. "Think tha' woman's gonna be
okay?" She means, of course, their 'challenge'.

Coda shakes her head. "No, I don't. I think she'll be better than what
she was, but she's still far from 'okay'."

Julie nods slowly, brow furrowed in thought as she absently flips wet
braids out of her face. "Wha'cha think she's gonna talk t' us 'bout
inna mornin'?"

Coda shrugs. "Don't know." She looks around at the two beds. "So. Which
one of us wants the chair?"

Julie shrugs, already sitting in one. "I will. It don' matter t' me
-where- I sleep."

Coda nods, flipping over the sheets on the bed she's on. "Right. I'll
take this one, then."

Julie gets up, arms crossing tight over her chest, shoulders hunching
forward as she walks to a window, peeking out through a crack in the
curtain. "Don' le' the bedbugs bite," she offers lightly.

Coda nods. "Right."

Andrea comes out with a towel wrapped around her and another being used
to dry her thick, curly hair. Wrapping her head up like a turban, she
begins rumaging around for guest clothes. "So," she begins. "How do
the two of you think it went?"

Coda shrugs, getting into her bed. "It wasn't what I'd expected."

Julie turns to lean against the wall by the window, letting Coda have
her say first, waiting until she is finished.

Andrea pulls a oversized T-shirt over her head. She raises her eyebrows
at Coda, obviously waiting to hear more.

Coda obviously wasn't going to tell more, but at the waiting silence she
continues, "I mean, it's a rite of passage, right? I was thinking more
along the lines of eating the heart of a stag, or something."

Julie bites her lip to keep from grinning at that, turning her attention
to look out the window again, though she continues to listen.

Andrea smiles a little, though she doesn't laugh. "There are plenty of
rites of passage that are something like that. Each rite of passage is
suited to the tribe and auspice and tempermant of the cub."

Coda scratches at an itch behind an ear. "So why this?"

Julie scratches absently under her chin, glancing back at the other two,
before glancing out the window again.

Andrea's smiles fades and she answers seriously, "Because it needed
doing, first of all. And because this sort of duty is something that
can fall any of our tribe. For you, anyway." She glances toward Julie.
"And a galliard's duty is to use words, to invoke feeling. Especially
in one's own tribe."

Julie peers aside, through a spill of damp braids, towards the two, a
blush starting to color the somewhat clean, hollowed cheeks.

Coda nods.

Andrea moves back to the bed that she's unmade already and again wraps
herself in the coverlet. "So, how do you think it's going? What do you
think you have left to do?"

Coda yawns. "We'll see in the morning."

Andrea arches her brows. She glances at Julie, to see if the Bone Gnawer
has anything to add.

Julie turns at this. "I be thinkin' it's off t' a shaky start, but inna
good d'rection. We'll know more inna mornin', but I'd say some
physic'l healin' is in order, p'rhaps movin' from tha' hollow. It
reeks o' rot an' death."

Andrea nods. "That's a good move," she says. "But move her to where?"

Julie frowns in thought, scratching at her scalp. "Well, I don' think
she's wantin' t' go far from where she is now. I mean, it don' seem
like she wan's t' leave the caern area. Mebbe if'n she is actu'lly
startin' t' feel ag'in, a spot with lotsa good vibes wou'd be good."

Andrea's faint smile returns. "And what do you need to do to get her
moved?"

Julie chews her lip, thinking, but a shake of her head indicates she
cannot come up with an idea. "I dunno, t' be hones'."
Julie then offers, after some thought. "She gotta have a -reason- t'
move, t' wanna move. Some sorta mot'vation."

Coda shakes her head. "She also needs a bath. She stinks of death and
rot, herself. I'm surprised she didn't attract anything nasty." She
shrugs dismissively. "If it was me, it'd be enough to put me on my
feet. But her... I dunno."

Andrea shakes her head. "Not that." She turns her question to the judge
of her tribe. "If you wanted to move the groundskeeper shelter at our
caern, what would you have to do?"

Julie's eyes light up faintly, dawning realization, and she bites her
lip to keep quiet.

Coda looks thoughtful. "Well, first you'd have to find a new spot for
it. Something nice... secluded... something that woudln't be easily
seen, but is still relatively easy to get to."

Andrea nods. "And once you picked it out, what would you need to do?"

Coda says "Well, then you'd need to move all your stuff over, in bits
and peices. If you're truely paranoid, which I guess would be a good
thing, you'd go different routs so as not to wear a trail. Then, you
destroy the old one, making sure not to leave any evidence that it was
there."

Julie listens to Coda, keeping her own ideas quiet for now.

Andrea nods again. She doesn't seem displeased by the answer, but it
also doesn't seem to be what she's looking for. She glances at Julie.
"Who claims the bawn?"

Julie caught off guard by this, blinks in surprise, then replies, "The
Caern spirits?"

Andrea glances to Coda to see if she has anything to add to this.

Coda shakes her head. "The Guardians."

Andrea nods. This was apparently the answer she was looking for. "The
spirits may or may not claim anything; they don't so much recognize a
bawn for itself as much as the spiritual strength that radiates from a
caern. But the Guardians and those concerned with a caern, yes. So,
what do you need to do?"

Julie nods at this, soaking up the information, and formulating more her
own ideas.

Coda gets what Andrea is getting at. "Ah, yes, you've got to tell them."

"Ask them," Andrea corrects gently. "So let's assume this is done. You
have healed her, if she needs it. You have bathed her, to remove the
stink of decay, and you have gotten the Guardians' permission to move
her. Is she healed?"

Julie shakes her head faintly, answering quietly for herself.

Andrea catches the motion and turns toward Julie. "What more must you
do?"

Julie glances down at the floor, hugging herself tightly. "Help her t'
realize it's okay t' go on livin', an' not t' blame herself for the
deaths of her pack."

Andrea nods. "You made a good start on that tonight," she says. "Both in
comforting her by reaching to her, Julie, and by invoking her anger
once she had been comforted, Coda." The theurge straightens, then
tucks the comforter more tightly around her legs. She ignores a roach
that comes up from under the bed right next to her hand. "I doubt
either of you know about what we call 'losing the wolf.' I've
personally only seen it happen a handful of times in my whole life,
and it isn't something we generally teach to cubs at the beginning.
But when she spoke of being unable to shift, Coda, she may not have
been lying. If despondant enough, or stressed enough, a Garou can lose
touch with the part of them that lets them shift, or feel Luna's gift
of rage." She smiles faintly. "The two of you worked well together
there, if in ignorance. But lets' assume you have spoken with her
again. What will give her the will to go on living?"

Julie cants her head, thinking, as she moves to the chair she has
claimed as a bed for the night. She sits in it sideways, throwing her
legs over one stuffed arm, and using the other as a pillow. "Well,"
she begins quietly, "she prolly needs t' be needed. An' -told- she is
needed by others inna caern."

Andrea's smile increases slightly. She looks now toward Coda again.

Coda nods. "Well, yeah. I mean, she's got to have a place."

Andrea nods again. She questions now, asking, "What if those in the
caern have no time or interest in involving her? Most of them are
Glass Walkers, and it's unknown how liberal they are."

Julie frowns. "Then p'rhaps t' move t' 'nother caern?"

Andrea nods. "That's possible." Again, the Ritemistress looks at Coda.

Coda shakes her head. "Then again, it's less likely for another sept to
completely accept a new Garou and give her meaning right off the bat."
Coda sighs. "To sound like so much psychobable, her senese of place has
to come from within. If she doesn't feel like she belongs, it isn't
going to matter /where/ she goes."

Julie sighs and rubs her face in frustration, not knowing where to go
with this. "She was right." Julie's voice is tinged with self doubt.
"She said we were jus' cubs, an' didn' know, an' she was righ'. Who're
we t' be able t' help her?" Perhaps this was a way for the cub to
voice her doubts, to get them out in the open, so they may be shot
down.

Andrea's answer is not immediate, but she does answer the voiced doubt.
"You are someone with the time to listen to her, and with the
inclination to help her. Many would not help a depressed bad-luck seer
that lost her pack, especially if she belonged to the lowest of
tribes." Andrea's gentle gaze turns on Julie at that last. The Gaian
says the phrase completely without rancor. Andrea then goes on to say,
"This was your rite of passage, but I don't think either of you would
have refused the task even if it was not. Would you?" She looks
between the two young women.

Coda shakes her head. "Probably not."

Julie grins sheepishly, then finally shakes her head in answer as her
gaze lifts to meet Andrea's. "No, I prolly woud'n've, either."

You say "There are those among the other tribes that would have. Even if
it was set as their rite of passage. You might not know from the Walk,
as we tend to gather the most liberal of Garou, but I would be
surprised if one Silver Fang cub in a dozen would agree to help such a
one as Broken Charge. Almost as few Shadow Lords or Get of Fenris
would have offered aid." The theurge looks, quite seriously, between
the two cubs. "Our tribes are important. We are the ones without pride
and the ones that have learned to put pride aside. Never forget that
here is none so low that they are useless, be they still of Gaia."

Coda nods.

Julie nods slowly. "Respect those of lesser station, for All are of
Gaia." Not to say that Broken Charge is 'lesser', except in her own
eyes at the moment.

Andrea nods in answer. Her lips quirk as she goes on. "That said, who
might be more willing to help her if the Glass Walkers do not, without
making her change caerns?"

Coda says "The 'Gnawers."

Andrea nods. "Or our tribe, but there are none that I know of in the
city. And as the saying goes, tribe sees to their own." Andrea
stretches her arms above her head and yawns. "I think you have a
battle plan," she says with a faint smile touching her expression.
"And I think you are no longer cubs."

Julie scratches at her scalp, brow furrowed in puzzlement. "I don' feel
no diff'ren'." She glances over to Coda, before looking back at
Andrea.

Coda quirks a grin. "Cool."

Andrea chuckles. "You will, Julie. You might need to grow into it.
Learning does not stop when cubhood does." White teeth show briefly as
her smile widens. "As the one that rited you, I have the right to name
you."
Andrea looks first at Julie. "Julie, you have shown yourself as one that
sees with the heart's eyes, in word and in action. As you join your
tribe with the new life of an adult, I give you a new name to shelter
beneath. Welcome to the first rank, Heartsight."

Julie blushes brightly, a timid smile spreading over thin lips. "Thank
you, Rhya," she manages to whisper.

Andrea next turns to look at Coda. A smile plays on her lips as she
continues, "Coda, your cub name has been particularly apt for how you
have lived among us, and so your adult name has a related meaning. You
see less with the heart than the mind, as shown with your blunt
speech. So have many wise men been, saying truths that some people
might rather not hear." Andrea's eyes drop to Coda's throat, briefly,
then return to the younger woman's dark eyes. "One was infamous for
it, and I give you his nickname to call your own as you join our tribe
as adult. Welcome, Gadfly. May your words always point out truths that
we need to see." She allows her smile to grow as she adds, "And since
not a lupus on this continent could puzzle out that name, I give you
also the lupus version: Sting-of-Truth."

Coda blinks. "Gadfly?"

Andrea shakes her head slightly. "I admit that we usually see such
within the new moon auspice, but a half-moon knows best the power of
the truth, and how to use it."

Coda shakes her head. "Who's Gadfly?"

Julie sighs quietly, stretching in her chair, before sinking further
into it sleepily.

Andrea tilts her head to one side. She says lightly, "I suppose you
didn't get to World History yet in school. The self-portrayed gadfly
of Greek times was the wise man Socrates."

Coda nods slowly. "Ah."

Andrea turns a soft smile on Julie before making a nest for herself on
her bed. "He has been quoted as saying that a healthy democracy needs
critism--thus, the biting gadfly. He wasn't very popular for his words
in his own time, but he's remembered today." She yawns and says,
"Julie, if you want, you can have the other half of the bed. I'm used
to sleeping in small places."

Julie yawns, then flickers fingers in sleepy dismissal. "I'm okay, used
t' sleepin' onna ground, this chair's nice an' comfy. Bu' thank you,
anyway." The last has a sleepy smile added to it.

Andrea falls back on her pillow and spreads out her drying hair to fan
over its white length. "Get some sleep," she advises. "Tomorrow the
two of get to start putting that plan to action."

Coda nods. "Works for me."

Julie mutters an "Uh huh," a yawn ending it and the Gnawer curls up into
the chair, falling quickly asleep. Soft snores rise from her as she
hits deep sleep almost immediately.

Over the next three days, the plan--in rough outline, anyway--does get
implemented. A couple of contacts are made among the more sympathetic
Glass Walkers in Broken Charge's favor, and her tribe seems relatively
happy to have another cubsitter, no matter what the theurge's
depressed words. Not all goes easily or well--not least the promised
bath--but as the evening of the third day after arrival comes, all
three Garou feel fairly satisfied that things will work. Danielle
Moore sees the trio home by opening a bridge for them back to the
Hidden Walk. The trip back seems shorter than the trip here.

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