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Umbra: Lake Arthur

In the center of a vast rippling lake stands an island, an outcropping
of pure, untainted stone. Groves of ancient trees, their foliage an
incredibly deep green, stand sentinel over the raw granite. A single
tower of weathered grey rock juts from the island's southeastern end,
its sides creased and scarred by the elements. A delicate waterfall
sparkles in Luna's light as it cascades from the tower's peak into the
calm lake below, veiling the rough granite in shimmering silver.

The lake waters surround the island, but Luna has provided a path that
leads east across the crystal liquid.
Contents:
Kate
Whitestreak
Anubis
Obvious exits:

East

Swallowing, the Get drops to her knees, then to sit on the ground with
both legs curled beside her--it seems wrong, somehow, to stand above
her packmates so. She looks out over the trees, at neither of them,
and then closes her eyes to speak to the one who is always with them:
"Mask?"

Anubis wraps his tail around his haunches and over his forepaws, in his
classic style. He lets out a soft, half-whine sort of sound,
completely uncharacteristic of him.

Long seconds pass in the dusky shadows of the Umbra. After Kate's call
there is momentary silence. Then the sounds creep back again:
rustlings in the tall grass, the soft call of some bird spirit hidden
in the dark. The crunching of the grass grows louder as the raccoon's
familiar shape comes waddling from the island's center.

Anubis whuffs a soft greeting. ~Mask.~

Kate lets out a sigh, and opens her eyes. She says nothing, holding back
speech as she so often does, merely looking at the pack's totem and
patron and friend.

Whitestreak contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Whitestreak shifts into Homid form.

Patrick shifts, still sitting, into a more comfortable position, then
gives the familiar raccoon a somewhat sad smile. "Hey, Mask."

The raccoon buck waddles closer. He has grown, both up and out, in the
years the pack has run together. The gleam of his dark eyes is the
same, the measuring glance of the rangy buck willing to fight for a
pack and its treasures. He stops a few feet from the gathered, rocking
back on his haunches. A soft chitter returns the greetings offered
him.

Anubis shuffles back a bit, not actually standing so much as sliding
backward a bit. Where his front paws were, a gleam of metal shines
amind jagged brown of dull bedrock. It is a small silver nugget, about
the size of a superball. He looks down at it, not saying anything to
Mask yet.

Patrick looks over at Anubis's movement, then to Kate, then back to the
raccoon. He swallows a time or two before managing to get out, "Shit.
This is gonna be harder than I thought."

Kate swallows, and glances uncertainly to Anubis. Then, awkwardly, she
fishes in a jeans pocket for a scrap of shiny quartz, and flips it out
at the raccoon with a pained look in her eyes. She doesn't say
anything wither, just yet. Perhaps she can't.

Anubis lies down on his stomach, takes the nugget in his teeth. He
inches forward on his belly, like a chastened puppy, and lets it fall
from his teeth at the 'coon's feet.

The gleam in Mask's eyes sharpens at the gleam of silver. He tilts his
head questioningly, then rubs his paws together. The motion is that of
anticipation, but something is missing in his manner. Something of the
eagerness that the acquisitive spirit usually shows. The quartz
crystal flips toward him first and he moves that way, picking it up
with deft paws. His head swivels back around at Anubis and he gives a
distressed chitter. The crystal suddenly appears in his mouth and he
moves to the lupus's side, cold nose pressed against the Strider's
short fur.

Anubis's ears droop. ~This is my last gift to you, old friend,~ he says
quietly to the Raccoon. ~All of our last gifts.~

Mask reverently sets the quartz shard next to the silver nugget with one
smooth motion of his head, his furry body still very close to Anubis.
He then turns back, whispers drooping a little. *Knew. Knew wouldn't
be long. After Quiet.*

Patrick grimaces slightly at the gifts, then more at the raccoon's
behavior. "This *really* sucks," he mutters to himself as he reaches
into his pocket and pulls out a dreamcatcher fashioned of shining
silver and multifaceted clear glass and metallic beads. "Here, dude.
It's a closure thing. I had a little more help with ... with this
one," he says as he holds it out for the raccoon.

Mask's eyes brighten a little as he rears back on his hind legs to
stretch out a questing paw. The dreamcatcher pattern on his stomach is
clearly visible, though his eyes are still black--not the shifting
color of tigereye.

Kate's head is bowed, her face partly shielded by the spiky hair that
falls forward. Finally, she looks up, tears clear in her eyes and on
her cheeks; a few splash to the rock with the movement. "I wish it was
different," she says simply--the words of the adolescent she was, more
than two years ago, when they came together.

Anubis rolls his eyes up to look at Kate without taking his head off the
ground. ~All things must move forward.~ He doesn't sound very happy
about the necessity, however.

Patrick stretches his arm out a little further to put the dreamcatcher
within Mask's reach, smiling faintly through the tears silently
trickling down his face.
Patrick glances to the other two, observing, "Doesn't keep moving on
from sucking," as he holds out the dreamcatcher.

Mask pulls his paws back and tilts his head to one side. He then
chitters to the Get. *Anu right. Been good to walk together. Good
times. But paths change. Split.* He looks in her face with a intense
scrutiny, then at Patrick. *Not cry. Still Mask friends, right?* His
right paw reaches out, rests lightly on the woven ornament.

Anubis sits slowly back up, but not as neatly as before or usual. He
addresses Mask softly. ~Thank you for ... everything, old friend. For
holding us together.~ He nods. ~Always friends.~

Kate nods, dashing away tears with back of a hand, backing away from the
guilts the tears represent. "Yeah. Always."

Patrick's grin broadens a little. "Yeah, sure, Mask. For good." He
sniffles a bit, then says in a forced-joking tone, "If anyone starts
singing _Friends are Friends Forever_, I'll shred 'em."

Anubis looks at Patrick, baffled.

Mask wrinkles his nose a little, then laces his paw's fingers around the
circle of the dreamcatcher. His spirit voice takes on an old wheedling
tone. *Maybe even leave shiny sometime, for old time?* He looks at
Patrick then and says, perfectly straightfaced. *Coon don't sing.*

Kate covers her eyes a moment, regaining her calm. A faint, bittersweet
smile touches her lips as she looks toward Mask again.

Anubis's ears slowly come back up. He stands, walks over to the 'coon,
and unashamedly licks Mask's face.

Patrick chuckles softly at Mask's reply, and answers, "Sure. Once and a
while, just for the heck of it. Won't miss ya that way, as much."

If raccoons could giggle, you have the feeling Mask would be laughing.
As it is, his chittering noises are a close substitute. True to form,
his right paw never loses grasp of the shiny dreamcatcher.

Kate nods to the spirit, the gesture one of farewell. "See y'around."
She doesn't look away.

Patrick reaches over to muss the hair between Mask's ears in an
affectionate gesture. "Thanks for the fun, 'coon."

Mask pulls the dreamcatcher from Patrick's loose grip, then stoops to
gather the crystal and the silver nugget to his chest lovingly. The
silver circles of Kate and Anubis's first gifts show in the fur of his
front legs as he hugs their final offerings as he did their first. He
looks up at the mussing, then chitters one final phrase to them all.
*Love you.*

Patrick bites his lower lip. "Love you, Mask," he says simply, tears
once again trickling down his face.

Kate ducks her head quickly, to hide more tears; her eyes are tightly
closed. "Love you," she whispers. "Thanks."

Anubis steps back. ~Go well, Mask. May you get all the shinies you ever
want. Love you.~

The pack's final gifts disappear as all the gifts have in the past. Mask
goes from Anubis, to Patrick, finally to Kate, a final friendly tug on
each with his quick and eager paws. Then, he turns and waddles into
the shadows, out of sight. Gently, the mental bond between the pack
dissolved, leaving each alone in the night.

Anubis whuffs quietly, a lupine sigh. ~I will be leaving before Luna's
face goes dark, pa- ... my friends. I thank you both, as well. For
making me who I am today.~

Kate nods, looking up to study the Strider; she reaches out a hand,
gingerly, toward him.

Anubis steps toward her and leans into her, pressing against her
briefly. ~Watch yourself, Chaser. I worry for you some times. Keep my
Lupus brothers well.~

Kate nods, and scratches behind the Strider's ears a moment. "I'll be
here," she says hoarsely. "Around." She releases him, and rises,
glancing to Whitestreak as she gets up.

Patrick is still sitting, looking out to where Mask faded into the
darkness. "I miss not having you people in my head already."

Anubis nods. Weird.

Kate nods, and offers him both hands to pull him up. "Yeah," she agrees
quietly. "It's . . . alone."

Patrick takes Kate's hands and stands up. "Thanks," he says to her, his
eyes conveying more gratefulness than just his words. After a moment,
he looks over to Anubis, asking, "Running off into the Wyld blue
Yonder again?"

Kate rakes a hand back through her hair, and turns away from them,
walking to the edge of the rock and looking out over the lake.

Anubis nods. ~Until the fall of this caern, old friend. I will be back
at the End, but not before. Keep 'em laughing, as you have taught me
to laugh.~ He leans against Patrick's leg for a moment. He looks at
the ground, unable to look at his former packmates as he says this.

The purity spirit that haunts the island hovers low over the dark water.
Patterns of light and shadow play in the fluid air.

Kate looks back, over her shoulder. "Luna guide you, Anubis-rhya." The
words, simply stated, hold a measure of pain that shows in her eyes;
she turns away again quickly.

Patrick reaches down to rest a hand on Anubis as the Strider leans
against his leg. "Well, shit. I'll miss you, too, old friend. Yeah,
Luna and Owl guide ya." He bites his lower lip again as he looks away.

Anubis steps away from Patrick after a brief moment. ~Luna guide you
both, and keep you safe. And thank you,~ he says. With that, he too
disappears into the woods.
Anubis moves across the moon path to the east.

Kate takes a deep breath, and looks across at Patrick. "I'll see ya,"
she says roughly, turning to walk away before the night's grief takes
over.

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