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Burial Mounds(#3207RJ)
This wide clearing in the midst of short, dark pines is obviously a
burial ground of some sort. The air is a bit cooler up here in the
foothills than below, and the majestic peaks of the nearby mountains
rear up over the eastern treetops. There seem to be several separate
groups of burial mounds, somber rows of graves marching back eastward
into the forest perpendicular to the trail by which you entered. In
addition to these, there is a vine-covered boulder ringed round with a
circle of graves standing under the edge of the somber evergreens to
the east. Finally, in the exact heart of this area open to the sky, a
single black finger of stone is sunk into the grass.
Each mound has a small flat stone inset in its surface, carved with a
name and three glyphs. The air is preternaturally silent and somewhat
eerie.
(+view to examine the markers.)
Contents:
Sepdet
Sky's corpse
Anubis
Always Hungry's Corpse
Thorn's Corpse
Thom Crowley's Corpse(#2654C)
Obvious exits:
Path
Whitestreak comes up the trail from the west.
In death, Thorn retains much of the dignity that was his heritage in
life. His massive Crinos frame with its pure white, smooth skin is
marred only by the gory wound at his throat.
Anubis says, ~No. All of the Dead are here except for Horus, and I
believe I can work with that. We await the Living.~
Anubis sits at the far end of the clearing with Sepdet. Anubis' back is
to the path.
Currently on this breezy and chilly fall late afternoon in the general
St. Claire area, it is 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 degrees Celsius).
The wind is coming from the east at 7.85 mph. The ground is normal.
Skies are hazy with a small chance of precipitation.
Whitestreak comes up quietly and slips over to one side, carful not to
interrupt the Striders.
Quiet pads in not far ahead of Whitestreak, her breath a white cloud in
the chilly air. She moves towards Anubis and Sepdet.
Anubis stands slowly and turns toward the center of the clearing. He
gives a grave nod to Quiet and Whitestreak.
Sepdet lifts her nose at that, eyes half-closing, seeking a remembered
scent. Her tail raises slightly, a half-hopeful gesture, and then she
moves forward to greet Quiet and Patrick with a quiet lowering of head
and ears. She licks Quiet's muzzle and returns to her place.
Quiet inclines her muzzle in return, a stray moonbeam catching the
diamond glitter in her right ear. She splays her ears at Sepdet as the
smaller wolf comes in toward her. After being greeted, she says, I
have thought on your words.
Soulcatcher comes up the trail from the west.
Anubis closes his eyes and sits quietly, waiting.
Sepdet dips her eyes at Quiet wistfully. Good. You can tell me what you
have learned, after tonight.
Quiet turns her head as another approaches, settling down on her
haunches near the two Striders. She looks mildly pleased at the
approach of the Wendigo, whurfing softly.
Mike comes up the trail from the west.
Soulcatcher's soft tread into the burial mounds is near silent. He
lingers away from the gathering ntil he hears Quiet's welcome. Making
his way forward, he greets the others with a chuff of his own.
Mike contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Mike shifts into Lupus form.
Whitestreak stays quietly and (unusually for him) anti-socially away
from the others, a short distance from the mounds in the direction of
the Story Tree.
Anubis opens his eyes and stands. He looks around the clearing for a few
moments.
Anubis looks at his two packmates. Shall we wait for Chaser?
Blinks-at-Fire trails in after Anpwhotep, and stands behind him, out of
anyone's way.
Whitestreak chuffs non-committally. She needs to say farewell as much as
any, but if she chooses to show it in her way, then that is her
business.
Quiet's expression becomes faintly pained. She glances at Whitestreak,
then lowers her eyes in an uncomfortable lupine shrug. It is as
Whitestreak says. She may choose to say goodbye alone.
White Veils comes up the trail from the west.
White Veils pads in, lurking at the edges of the gathering. Her scent
gives her away immediately though.
Anubis nods. Chaser will appear in her own time, I am sure.
Anubis contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Anubis shifts into Crinos form.
Sepdet licks her teeth, tasting the wind. Her eyes flicker between
friends, tribe, family, but she keeps still and quiet for now,
standing at relaxed attention below and a few feet to the side of
Anubis.
Anubis walks over tothe side of the clearing, picks up something from
the snow, and returns to the center of the clearing, near the bodies.
He sets a small earthenware jar down by the bodies.
Anubis lifts each of the bodies in turn, spreading them out in a radial
pattern of sorts, the head of each garou pointing toward compass
points: Thom south, Justice west, Thorn north, Always Hungry east.
Anpwhotep tilts his head curiously, reading the words on the jar...
Anubis sits cross-legged beside Thorn's body, and waves Patrick and
Quiet over.
Whitestreak pads forward slowly to get a little closer to the ceremony
as it starts.
Quiet stands, her tail held in a neutral position angled away from her
body. She raises her head slightly as she pads toward Anubis.
Chaser comes up the trail from the west.
Brian comes up the trail from the west.
Anubis looks around at the woods one more time, as if giving Chaser just
a few more minutes.
Brian walks, slowly, into the area surrounding the burial mounds from
the direction of the caern. He does not proceed into the clearing past
the shelter of the pine trees.
Anne slips out of the woods, not from the path, and pauses in the
shelter of the trees to look at the area and the people already within
it.
Anpwhotep contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Anpwhotep shifts into Crinos form.
Anubis looks at Patrick and Quiet, and nods. ~Chaser is nearby, I think.
That, perhaps, will have to do.~ He pauses. ~Crossing has been
together since the reawakening of this caern.~
Anpwhotep stands more easily, able to more comfortably pay his respects
in this form.
Anubis says, ~Shortly after our formation, we lost one of our members.
Now, long afterward, we have lost another. Such is the way of our
people.~~
Quiet shifts upward fluidly as Anubis begins to speak, a yellowed shadow
behind him.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Crinos form.
Anubis says, ~Thorn was unique; a Silver Fang born of Garou parents.
Despite such a beginning, he proved his worth before Luna and Gaia in
service to this place. But more so, I think, he proved it in his
service to the Garou of the caern, and of Crossing.~
Sepdet reaches upwards, taking her stepfather and former alpha's elbow
in a light touch as she listens.
Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Sepdet shifts into Crinos form.
Anpwhotep gently covers Sepdet's hand with his own.
Chaser watches, silently, a shadowy presence in the woods beyond the
clearing's edge. A faint rustling betrays her position as she moves
forward a few feet, toward the open area of the dead and toward the
figures of her packmates.
Anubis says, ~This pack is, as much as anything, family to me. I have
spent most of my Garou life as a child not only of Owl, but of
Raccoon. Harbor Park still bears memory of the times that we came
together. Thorn was, as much as Crossing ever had one, the Alpha of
Crossing. His death is a painful blow to this pack, sept and caern.~
Brian slouches one shoulder against the dead trunk of a deciduous tree
sheltered by the close-grown pines. He does not watch the proceedings,
merely listening from a distance.
Whitestreak turns slightly as he hears the rustling, but doesn't quite
turn enough to see Chaser, just enough to acknowledge her presence
while watching Anubis.
Anubis lifts his head. ~However, it must be remembered that Thorn, born
Metis among the Fangs, had a personal struggle of his own. His was a
scorned birth and upbringing. He was, as far as his original caern was
concerned, not worthy even to fight in Gaia's honor. And yet in the
end, he died in the most honorable way any Garou can hope for:
defending the sanctity of one of Gaia's sacred places and giving his
life in its service. We are here to mourn his passing, but also to
honor his bravery, honor, courage and strength.
Edwin comes toward the mounds, yet doesn't step fully free of the
treeline. He hangs back, staring over the gravestones.
White Veils shifts her forepaws a little.
Anubis reaches over and lays a hand on Thorn's forehead. ~Buffalo,
Magpie, and Cougar, I am sure, are proud of you this day. You have
called Mother Rat to return to this place at last, a fitting show of
your strength. And I know that Raccoon is with us; sad, and yet
honored.~ He falls silent, looking at the ground beside Thorn as he
retracts his hand.
Anubis frowns, and looks around the group, and those gathered on the
fringes. ~Without Thorn, I would not be the Garou I am. I will miss
him.~ He takes a deep breath, and looks at the remnants of his pack.
~Quiet, have you anything you wish to say now?~ His manner is oddly
informal for the normally by-the-book Philodox.
Quiet glances at Anubis, taking a deep breath. She steps foreward, to
his side, next to Thorn's dead body. She again shifts fluidly as she
steps, now shrinking down to homid. Though she has no jacket, she
doesn't seem to notice the cold.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Homid form.
A wry smile touches the theurge's lips as she looks down at the corpse
with a fondness. Andrea shakes her head, saying, "Thought I should say
my words in the form you always seemed to prefer, since you said the
two of us were mixed on our breed forms at birth. I had to go to the
city after you died. I went to Harbor Park, like we did so long ago.
It's clean now, and still beautiful. The ghosts are still at rest. I
took a book, and I found something by someone named Masters that I
thought I'd like to share with you, here at the end."
Sterling comes up the trail from the west.
Andrea tilts her head upward as she recites. Her eerie gaze does not
seem to look at anything in particular.
"They have chiseled on my stone the words:
'His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him
That nature might stand up and say to all the world,
This was a man.'
Those who knew me smile
As they read this empty rhetoric.
Fire-Eater comes up the trail from the west.
Andrea's lips tilt upward as she finishes.
My epitaph should have been:
Life was not gentle to him,
And the elements so mixed in him
That he made warfare on life,
In the which he was slain.'
While I lived I could not cope with slanderous tongues,
Now that I am dead I must submit to an epitaph
Graven by a fool!"
Andrea drops her eyes to Thorn's body. She says, more softly. "We're not
fools, Thorn-yuf. We remember all you were, not only the glory. Rest
well, and may you soon return to another life, with a more honorable
start than you were granted in this one. I will try to fill your shoes
as best I can."
Andrea steps back, shifting back into her ritual form, the warm fur
covering her blue-pale skin.
Andrea contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Crinos form.
Anubis looks at Patrick. ~Whitestreak?~
Whitestreak pads forward, shifting into his birth form as he reaches
Thorn's body.
Whitestreak shifts into Homid form.
Patrick looks down at Thorn, and up into the sky, his words barely loud enough
to be heard through the clearing. "I remember you from that damn Coppertone
tee shirt to the pure white robes of a noble Silver Fang. From the
cringing apologizing metis, to the Ritemaster of one of the biggest caerns
and biggest septs around. From a tattooed albino to pure white nobility.
I'm gonna miss ya, Thorn. Have a good trip with Falcon high overhead and
Raccoon playing at your heels."
Patrick backs off again, shifting back down.
Anubis's mouth curls upward slightly. Without looking in any particular
direction, he calls out, ~Chaser!~
Chaser slips into the clearing quietly, winding from the shadows at its
edge and pausing there, hesitant. Her movements are
uncharacteristically slow, and uncertainty marks her posture--but,
after a moment's pause, she closes the distance between herself and
the pack, living and dead.
Anubis watches Chaser quietly.
Edwin leans silently against a tree.
At first, the she-wolf does not look at any but Thorn. She is silent as
she makes her way to the side of the Crinos, bearing herself with only
a faint ghost of the Get's usual pride. Leaning down, she touches her
nose to the pale, color-marked muzzle, perfectly still for a moment,
eyes closed. She straightens slowly, a little stiffly; as she meets
the eyes of the pack she remains silent, but the dullness in her gaze
and the uncollected posture of her body betray the grief behind the
silence.
Chaser draws back a few short steps from the body, and ducks her head
away slightly, taking her eyes from her packmates. The unspoken signal
is clear: that is all.
Anubis stands quietly. ~Mask, I think, should also have a chance to
speak. Will you speak for him, Moon-Laughs-Quiet? Or give his thoughts
to those who listen?~
Quiet tilts her furred head, the expression more than vaguely lupus. She
then seems to drift off, her eyes again seeking the play of shadows in
the nearby trees. She smiles, the expression odd on the crinos face.
~Mask says that he will miss Thorn and his music, and we must all give
him twice as many shinies from now on.~
Quiet sobers as she says more seriously. ~As our totem said when Thorn
died, more shinies, less death.~
Anubis smiles, wolflike, and nods. He stands, and lifts the earthenware
jar from the grass. He removes the cover and begins walking among the
graves, leaving the others for the moment.
Anubis sprinkles a black powdery substance from the jar over a grave
here, another there, another there. The powder itself seems to suck in
the light of the gibbous moon, casting something of a pall over the
place. Oddly enough, some kind of electrical energy seems to build
with each grave he so sprinkles, about 10 in all.
Chaser's gaze strays, again, to the still body of Thorn. She remains
silent.
Anubis returns to the circle of dead, and gestures to those on the
periphery. ~The rest of you should join us, now. We must wish farewell
to all who have gone to Gaia.~
White Veils pads forward.
Sterling strides forth, rippling into the Crinos form that holds Honor
amoung the Garou for this solemn occasion.
Sterling contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Sterling shifts into Crinos form.
Oaken comes up the trail from the west.
Eligio Sacateca comes up the trail from the west.
Oaken slips in quietly.
Lucas remains characteristically silent, where he and Fire-Eater stand.
Eligio Sacateca slips in right after, almost as quietly.
Anne takes a few steps out from under the trees, but does not join the
members of the Sept to which she is only a guest.
Anubis holds out the jar as he waits for the others to gather closer. ~I
honor Thorn, in the end, with the company of those whom he now joins,
for a last time at the doors of Death. But it is his memory, which you
all will aid me with, that will bring such.~ He pours the last bit of
dust onto a pile of bone fragments atop a leather pouch on the snow.
Brian, perhaps surprisingly, does not speak, merely remaining where he
is and watching the prodeedings through his own grim silence.
Anubis says, ~Crossing has spoken of Thorn's passing, and what he meant
to us. No one has to speak, but those of you who wish to say a
farewell to Thorn, do so now.~~
Edwin remains where he stands.
Sepdet glances at her stepfather and releases his arm, drawing a step
closer.
Anubis looks around the group, waiting quietly.
Slowly, a mist begins to rise from the graves around the group and the
bone fragments at Anubis' feet.
Sepdet walks forward and crouches down next to Thorn, ducking her head
unconsciously even though she doesn't have his gaze directly on her
now. ~When I was first here, you were the most amazing thing. I
remember Horus making you my Moon Elder, first night I was here. You
were like me! I couldn't believe it. But I watched you, and learned
that here, at least, we'd be able to make up for mistakes not our own,
and serve Gaia.~ Her hands cradle the air in half-signs as she speaks,
she's so intent on what she's trying to put into words.
Sepdet says, ~It was only through many moons, working with you, getting
into trouble with you, talking to you about Phoenix, sharing spirit's
talk, that something changed. It was only after you took me into your
cave, when I was healing, that I realized the elder that was once a
role model was now my friend. It was good, sharing your fire.~ She
lifts her head. ~It was good talking to you. It was good working for
you. Sorry Coyote gave you trouble sometimes, rhya.~ She grins.
~Somehow, even after that challenge, you're still rhya to me. Go quick
and easy on the road you have now; you've more than earned it. And I
brought you a little somethin', like I promised.~ She sets a small,
incongrous rectangular carboard object down in the snow beside the
body. ~There ya go.~ Then she straightens and drops back to her
place.~
As Sepdet speaks, the mist thickens, and forms slowly begin to congeal
out of it, over the graves and the bone fragments in the background.
For the moment, they are indistinct.
Anubis looks around the group, waiting for others to speak if they wish.
Anpwhotep steps up to Thorn's body and crouches, resting a hand on his
shoulder.
Sterling steps forward to speak, eyes alert to those who know him better
to go before.
Anpwhotep says, ~You were one of our best while alive, and I'm certain
you'll always be that. If wishing could make any difference, I'd wish
to be there as your friend when you return to us. You were one of
those who *desrerved* respect, rather than demanding it. If only more
were so wise.~
Eligio Sacateca does not make any attempt to speak, only bows his head
out of respect.
Anpwhotep bows his head for a moment, then returns to stand beside his
daughter.
Sterling's form alights in a spiritual, muted nimbus, reflecting Luna's
own above. ~Thorn-Rhya, Ritemaster and chosen to represent the First
Tribe as Elder amoungst this Caern, our time together was shorter than
it should have been. Last of our tribe to be welcomed by you, I am now
the last to see you as you leave. Fly high on Falcon's wings, and may
your return be unburdened by the shame of your sireee and dam: You
deservee no less."
As Anpwhotep and Eligio pay their respects, the forms begin to take on
substance. The first to appear is a young girl with a fierce face, her
form shadowy but distinct. For the first time in years, Crossing stands
as the whole it once was.
Sterling steps away, glow fading as does her presence. The floor is for
others, now.
As Sterling closes, other forms appear in the mist, Maury, not long dead
herself. A short woman with blue hair standing in a mohawk with a
snide grin on her face. A tall metis with deer antlers atop his head.
Chaser's stance tenses, subtly.
Anubis looks around at the others, waiting to make sure he does not move
onward before all have finished.
Quiet's stance, in contract, becomes more welcoming. Her lips shape the
words silently. ~Jumps-Fences.~
Anpwhotep gazes at his missing friends and smiles openly.
Whitestreak relaxes slightly, in an odd mixture of relief and confusion.
Soulcatchers' eyes move to each of the apparitions in turn, as if
memorizing them.
Annie Jumps-Fences' face does not alter -- though her form is here, it
does not appear that she can hear Quiet's soft greeting. She watches
those gathered silently, as do the shadowed forms of Toxic, Maury and
Actaeon.
Oaken blinks away something and stares, almost glares, at one of the
mounds.
Anpwhotep murmurs softly, his eyes glistening as they drink in the forms
gathered in the mist....and looking hopefully for another...
Anubis closes his eyes. ~For those who are not hear to speak their
remembrances, we wish you speed to Gaia's comfort, Thorn-Slowly-Wins.~
As he falls silent, another form fades into substantiality over the
small pile of bones beside Anubis: a tall man with white hair and a
red bandanna.
Edwin's eyes wander over the apparitions, recognizing most of them,
though not all.
Anpwhotep stiffens slightly at the newest figure, then his head bows.
Eligio Sacateca raises an eyebrow at this latest apparation but keeps
his place and his silence.
Anubis says, ~Also tonight we commend to the mother the spirit of
Justice, great one among the Silver Fangs. I knew her, and she too is
a great loss to us. I remember challenging her as she claimed the
Alphaship, and proved her worthiness. I honor her now, and ask those
of you who knew her to speak at this time.~~
A soft, pitched sound escapes Chaser's throat, and she very nearly takes
an involuntary step toward the last arrival. Falling silent, she
merely watches--sometimes studying the Strider, sometimes watching the
faint apparition of her lost packmate of years past.
Lucas Moonblade nods gravely at the spirits, his glacial-blue eyes
respectful as he lowers them a fraction in shared respect.
Horus' apparition seems the least stable, and begins to fade almost
immediately as Anubis moves onward to Justice.
Sepdet glances with faint guilt at Horus, trying to concentrate on each
of the others for a moment with a fond glance. Then she returns her
attention to the new-fallen, eyes bright.
Sterling's only comment to the fallen Alpha is a lift of her Klaive, tip
to brow, and then lowering from the salute. There simply aren't words.
Edwin hugs his jacket around him in the cold. He says simply from the
back, "Thanks."
As people pay their respects to Justice, the shades of Thorn's old
friends begin to fade, and others begin to solidify -- apparitions of
the dead Fangs. Aubrey. Hand-of-Gaia. Horatio. Ned.
Whitestreak contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Lucas's only response is to bow toward the corpse of the dead alpha, a
deep bow of respect from the waist. His klaive glimmers almost
sullenly in the moonlight, then is lost in shadow again.
Whitestreak shifts into Homid form.
Sepdet lifts her hands, palms-forward, to Justice. ~Honor from one who
honored you, Rhya,~ she says simply.
Eligio Sacateca remains characteristically silent.
Patrick steps up again. "Okay, so I won't shut up. She was a bit
stiff-necked, but she *could* take a joke, eventually. And she kept
the sept before everything, even her own stiff neck. For that, even
disregarding everything else, she should be honored."
Patrick contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Patrick shifts into Lupus form.
Quiet's haunted eyes glimmer with a humor as Patrick speaks. She then
says, in a low and carrying tone. ~May your paths be free of darkness,
Justice. Mother guide you.~
Anubis looks around, waiting to see if any others will speak up. Other
forms in the background remain indistinct, but present. No faces are
visible, but it feels as though a crowd rings the entire group.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he slips into Crinos form.
Oaken licks dry lips. ~Join with the family whose loss you mourned,
Justice-rhya. You will be avenged.~
Anubis moves on to the next body, Thom Crowley. ~Thom Crowley ended his
life honorably. He died at my hand after killing Justice. We can
condemn him for his failure, or we can honor him for his life before
his corruption and for his knowledge that the right thing to do was to
have his life ended for his failure. In this, I can command or advise
no one. Each of you may speak to him as you wish.~
Eligio Sacateca does not speak though his eyes glitter darkly.
Sterling steps forward to speak of Thom.
The apparitions of the three dead Fangs look down solemnly on the
occasion.
Sterling's body sheds no light for Thom the Black as she begins. ~Long
ago, Falcon taught us that light was the only way to fend off the
darkness, and ever gave we follwed this. Thom, foolishly brave Thom,
thought he could find another way, that he could resist the whispers
of the Wyrm. As mighty as we are, however, none are that strong. In
the end, Falcon's light shown through, and he did let it be ended
before it was too late. For this, showing us to be ever vigilant
against a heedless approach, if nothing else, we send you to the rest
eternal.~
Sterling steps from the speaking circle.
Eris comes up the trail from the west.
Edwin lowers his head, hair obscuring his face. He reaches over and
scratches his upper left arm. "We were alike in so many ways.... You
always tried to be the honorble one, howling our victory.. Before....
And after? In the very end, you did the right thing. Go well brother."
Quiet's hands twitch and she rubs them together in a washing motion. She
says, her low voice rough, "I will remember Preybreaker."
Eris comes in carrying a rose, notices everyone standing around and
stops in her tracks and blinks twice.
Edwin eyes Sterling for a moment, then sighs.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he slips into Homid form.
Eris breaks out of her silenced shock and sidesteps her way towards
Sepdet, warily watching the shadows.
Anubis looks around the group for others who wish to speak.
Sepdet's face pales slightly at the sight of the Fury, concentration
broken for a moment. She beckons her over to Michael, as discreetly as
possible, but remains silent.
Anpwhotep notices Eris' arrival and subtly gestures her over.
Eris stops moving as she notices Justice's face amongst the dead. Her
jaw drops and she stares.
Whitestreak chuffs once. We no longer nip at your heels, Preybreaker.
You must make this last run, this Last Change, alone.
Lucas Moonblade allows himself a disapproving frown as others give even
this much honor to one that turned to the dark. He shakes his fair
head slightly at the Truthcatcher's questioning look.
Anubis steps onward to the last body in the circle: Always Hungry. ~I
knew her almost not at all. Others must speak for her honor, for I
knew her not.~ He looks at the Fangs gathered here.
Edwin still stands amidst the treeline.
As if to second Lucas' opinion, the countenances of the three dead Fang
spirits seem to lighten as Anubis moves on to Always Hungry.
Quiet pauses, then offers. ~May you find someone to satisfy your hunger
for learning in your next life, Always-Hungry. My cubs will miss their
silver-furred friend.~
Pack> Quiet grins. As Thorn had, well, no silver fur. :)
Eris closes her eyes tightly and she turns, walking stiffly over to
Anpwhotep.
Sterling's voice rings forth yet again, but this time tinged with
sadness. ~The Lupus are rare enough amoungst us that the loss of any
one of them is a crime as much as a shame. To have lost one as a cub,
before her Falcon's Wings had yet spread, is the cruelest of
mockeries. It shall not happen again. Rest beyond, knowing your
sacrifice here will stand for as long as I.~
Edwin brushes his hair out of his face. "Wish I could have gotten to
know you better, but you would have thought that it was one big trick
that I was trying to play on you huh?" He shrugs. "Never could change
your mind. You were a Fang."
Eris leans over and whispers hoarsely to her packmates, then turns and
abruptly leaves, her face ghost-pale.
Abruptly, from far deep in the heart of the forest to the south, a lone
throaty howl picks up a dirge. Wolf cries join in, from yapping pups
down to some of the oldest voices that sound like thundrous moans. The
ghostly chorus continues for some moments, faint and indistinct,
before the leading voice weakens, falters, and fades away.
Eris heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Lucas's icy gaze softens to a mere chill as he turns toward the
bravely-dead cub. His voice is mellow and carrying. "Wind to your
wings on the way to the homeland, little one. May Phoebe's face shine
bright on your way."
Anpwhotep bows his head to Always Hungry. ~You were open and honest and
always eager to grow. May your hunger be fulfilled in the West. You
were a light to us, little one. May those you are with now see your
brightness and honor it, as we who never got to know you well enough
do now.~
Anubis says, ~From the spirits they drew their strength, and to the
spirits they shall return. Moon-Laughs-Quiet, Falcon, Cougar and
Raccoon await. I leave it to you to commend their spirits to the
journey.~
Anubis steps back into the crowd of dark, shadowy figures of the
long-dead.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Homid form.
Blinks-at-Fire steps forward from where he has been lurking behind
Anpwhotep, and looks on Always-Hungry's still form. I remember the
first time we met. I envied your noble bearing, your confidence.
Blinks smirks. You annoyed me, because you made things happen even
though you were a cub, leaving me no excuse. I honor you for that
lesson, Always-Hungry.
Blinks-at-Fire bows deeply and respectfully to Always-Hungry, as he
never would when she was alive, then returns to stand beside
Anpwhotep.
Andrea nods at Anubis as she steps forward again, her form shrinking
once more. She stops at each body and puts a small object on their
respective chests. First Always-Hungry, a tiny silverish rabbit,
poised as if to run. Then on Thom, Andrea's fingers almost hesitantly
leave a small dark feather, tipped in white. Next to Justice, she
places a few wilting leaves that remain a vibrant green. And last, on
Thorn, Andrea gently lays down the match to the glittering diamond
stud she herself wears in her right ear.
Andrea contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Crinos form.
Anpwhotep nods to Blinks and murmurs softly.
Quiet calls out, leaning her head back toward the cold sky. Her breath
is a white plume. ~Falcon, as you have watched their tribe, guard
their winds. Cougar, lend your child your swift paws once more on her
last journey. Raccoon, guide him so that he will not need your sharp
talons, on this last path.~ A heartbeat pause, then, ~Eagle, if you
wish, gift he who was yours a last time with the sight to keep him
from darkness.~
Above Thorn's body the shadows shiver, a flash of bright eyes and banded
tail. A distant screech lashes out from the treetops on Justice's side
of the clearning. A flutter of wings sounds close by, with a bright
flash over Always-Hungry.
Over Thom there is nothing at all.
Edwin steps forward slightly, blinking in shock.
Anubis closes his eyes.
Anpwhotep bows his head sadly.
Quiet bows her head, and says simply. ~Goodbye.~
Among the shadowy figures of the dead flashes of light begin to randomly
appear and disappear, almost like heat lightning. An almost subsonic
thrum of near-human voices carries through the area.
Sterling looks to Luna, nestled in the sky. If she were looking for a
sign, it has alreeady passed in silent darkness.
Edwin gazes up into the sky, muttering, "Hypocrit...."
Blinks-at-Fire swishes his tail with a cool, controlled anger at the
fickleness of the spirits.
Anubis says quietly, but with great authority, ~Enough. Their time here
is done, and they will rest as they will. As all of the dead should.~
A flicker, and the figures in the fog begin to melt away.
Sepdet casts a hollow glance at Edwin and takes a quiet breath,
focussing again on the three who go with guides. She stands easily as
the spirits of the dead begin to flicker, strangely at home and
grounded in this place, watching them go with a silent prayer.
The wind begins to pick up, swirling the fog rapidly away.
Edwin looksdown at the talon'd scars on the back of his hands, a scowl
on his face.
Anubis shatters the earthenware jar to dust in his hands, and the wind
fades away, leaving only the gibbous moon shining down on the
clearing. ~Go now in peace. Gaia guide you, and Luna watch you,~ he
says to those gathered.
Edwin shakes his head in disbelief.
Sepdet kneels and touches the ground with one hand, inclining her head
to Anubis. Then she slips out.
Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Sepdet shifts into Lupus form.
Edwin contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Edwin slips into Crinos.
Silver-In-Night's helmet contorts and blurs with him, crawling across
his scalp and flattening out until it is just a tattoo of itself
emblazoned-large on his brow.
Hope-Star heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Silver-In-Night draws his claws across the talon'd scars on his hands.
The marks that Eagle gave him. Blood flowing up on their surface.
Anpwhotep contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Anpwhotep shifts into Lupus form.
Anpwhotep nudges Blinks. Sepdet and I go to talk to our packmate. We
will be back.
Anpwhotep heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Fire-Eater shakes herself and bumps her Alpha gently with her shoulder,
staying close to him as they leave the Mounds.
Anubis lets out a soft howl for the departed.
Fire-Eater heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Sterling looks to Lucas, a reminder of the Moot.
Quiet adds her voice under Anubis, the traditional ending for this
ritual.
Sterling then slips away.
Sterling heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Whitestreak joins the howl, half a key off Anubis's and farther off
Quiet's.
After a moment, Chaser softly joins in the howl, her presence almost
missable under the other three.
Eligio Sacateca tilts back his head and joins the chorus with a
too-human-sounding echo of his tribemate's own howl, then slips out,
back towards the Caern.
Eligio Sacateca heads westward into the woods, following a faint path.
Anubis contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Anubis shifts into Lupus form.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Oaken contorts and blurs as he slips into Lupus form.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Lupus form.
Oaken echoes Anubis's howl with one of his own, full of loss.
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