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Quiet is chewing on some of the dried jerky Patrick had left in the
cave, but with more idle abstraction than true hunger. She's lying on
the ground near the cave entrance.
Touch Deer walks out after his short nap. "Evening."
Touch Deer has just stepped out of the cave and is conversing with
Quiet, who lies on the ground chewing on a piece of Pat's jerky.
Cassandra comes up from the waterline, yawning and wandering seemingly
aimlessly.
Quiet thumps her tail at Touch Deer, who had come from the cave after
sleeping away the early evening. The jerky, slimy and well-chewed,
lies between her forepaws.
Patrick piles out of the cave, muttering something about belligerent
lunes. He pulls his windbreaker tighter around him as he calls, "Yo.
We out here enjoying the wonderful weather? Nothing like a good cold
rain for pneumonia, I hear."
Currently on this calm and cold fall evening in the general St. Claire
area, it is 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6.7 degrees Celsius). The wind is
coming from the south at 4 mph. The ground is wet and it is raining.
Skies are overcast with a definite chance of precipitation.
Touch Deer smiles and waves at Pat, then Cass. "Rain is good for the
spirit."
"No, I just have too much ass," Cassandra calls somewhat irriatedly, her
arms wrapped around her. "I need to freeze some of it off."
Not quite so somber as she once was, this young woman still carries a
somewhat brooding and cynical air about her. Dusky skin and an unruly
mop of ebon curls mark her as possibly being of Greek or Middle
Eastern descent. Her large, dark-brown eyes are sharp and watchful,
set into a wide-features face. Her sturdy, broad-shouldered frame is
still muscular and is only beginning to bear the marks of progressing
pregnancy, visible only if you're watching closely.
A wine-red T-shirt is thrown over black jeans, loose instead of tucked
in as usual. The jeans appear to have been altered -- the right leg
has been slit from hip to ankle, then hemmed back and laced with black
cords to show a hint of dark skin beneath. The outfit is finished off
with a pair of simple, muddy black sneakers, with no obvious jewelry.
The only visible markings on her is that of a blue flower, tattooed
onto the back of her left hand, the vine attached to it disappearing
into the sleeves of the jacket.
Patrick nods at Touch Deer, agreeing, "Especially pneumonia spirits." At
Cassandra's rebuttal, he grins, replying, "You're /supposed/ to be
eating for two."
Quiet flattens her ears with amusement, then suggests we go into the
Umbra, then.
Touch Deer laughs and grips his side, wincing. "That hurt, that really
hurt Patrick." He grins and laughs more before nodding to Quiet.
Cassandra shrugs a shoulder, clearly not liking the reminder, as she,
too, nods to Quiet. "Wherever." She seems unusually moody tonight.
Touch Deer sobers himself and moves into the cave to reach.
Quiet tilts her ears at the Fury, but saves her question after all get
out of the realm-side rain that troubles Patrick, at least.
You scramble through the manzinita brush and down into a cave.
Cave on the Island(#2648RAJh)
The entrance to this hole in the ground shows signs of many passings,
the rough edges of the soft rock are worn away. Inside, you find a
comfortably large limestone cave. Stalactites hang from the ceiling,
but are high enough overhead so as not to wound careless foreheads.
The floor of the cave has been smoothed out, and is surprisingly
clean, indicating that the dweller herein has taken pains to make it
so. There's probably room for two or three people to sleep stretched
out. A small fire pit resides near the entrance, and the air currents
fortuitously carry any smoke out of the entrance. A couple of
stalagmites have been hewn off and now act as low tables. Whoever
lives here shows a knack for making things comfortable.(+view)
A well worn passageway leads out to the narrow hidden entrance to the
cave. It's a bit of a scramble to get out.
Obvious exits:
Out
Cassandra clambers through the brush and down into the cave to join you.
You start to reach through the umbra.
Quiet's eyes stop on her reflection in the mirror.
The landscape shimmers and you are through.
Quiet gazes into the mirror, and suddenly she vanishes.
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.
Cassandra appears in a glimmer of light.
Touch Deer appears in a glimmer of light.
Quiet turns to the Fury, once all are around. Are you all right?
Cassandra, having reached safely, croses her arms across her chest and
tilts her head. "No less so than usual." She flops back in the Umbral
grass nearby. "Why?"
Quiet says you seem troubled, tonight.
Touch Deer stretches with the occasional wince and twitch. "Lost some
flexibility from the scarring, damnit."
Quiet says we are lucky it was not worse. The green fire is not
something to be taken lightly.
Cassandra blinks, startled. "You got hit with what?"
Touch Deer suddenly jumps to a shadow and crouches, saying at the same
time, "Something comes in from the lake..."
Cassandra grumbles, "-Now- what?" But she, too, immediately follows
Touch Deer's lead and ducks into what little shadow is left this close
to Luna's full.
Quiet turns her attention to the lake. A flash of white is easy to see
under the light of the moon, and the pearly shimmer of a horn. All too
quickly, a unicorn gaffling comes pell-mell toward Quiet, seeming all
the world like the seahorse herald from _The Little Mermaid_. Its
neighs come out quickly enough to sound like bleats. *Cub. Cub cub
cub!*
Cassandra stands up as soon as she recognizes a unicorn spirit, and
glances immediately at Quiet, more curious than worried.
The gaffling continues to dance around Quiet, its bleating cries
sounding more and more insistant. It seems to be insisting whatever it
is be handled /right now/ or the world will end.
Cassandra crosses her arms across her chest and glances over at Patrick.
"Am I out of my mind or is that a kinfetch?"
Patrick looks over at Cassandra and drawls, "Yup. To both."
Touch Deer is standing and peering at the little thing with a small
grin.
"'F I wasn't, Patrick, I wouldn't be here," Cassandra mutters under her
breath, one foot tapping on the ground.
Quiet converses with the spirit, actually managing to get it to calm
down enough to answer her questions. The others that don't understand
spirit speech get a one-sided conversation that apparently indicates
that it is indeed a kinfetch and the cub is alone and near
first-change.
Touch Deer wipes his hands on his loin clout. "Looks like it's going to
be an interesting night."
Quiet turns to her packmates. There is a cub, she says unnecessarily, at
the place of moving water in the city that is not near the river.
Cassandra sits back down on the grass, smirkig wryly. "For someone, at
any rate."
Patrick nods slowly. "Suuuure," he says to Quiet. "And you know where
this place is?"
Quiet says she thinks she knows. But if not, the spirit will lead me.
She tilts her head, looking around. Will you come?
Touch Deer nods. "Of course. Will we travel in the Realm or in the
Umbra? I can't take my clothes with me here, unless you dedicate them
to me.
"Hell, why not?" Cassandra blurts out, jumping to her feet. "If
dedicating clothes is all you need, Touch Deer, I cna do that much."
Touch Deer nods.
Patrick looks at his watch, then at the kinfetsh, and asks, "But do we
have time to dedicate a set of clothes?"
Quiet suggests we go to the city den, and Touch Deer can borrow some of
Whitestreak's?
Cassandra chews her lip as she looks at the kinfetch. "Prob'ly not this
close to full. Let's just go Realmside...or yeah, that."
Touch Deer nods. "I have a set of city clothes. Let's go."
Patrick looks his packmate up and down, finally remarking, "I can /give/
him a set. I'd rather not /loan/ him some."
Cassandra shrugs a shoulder moodily, already preparing to move.
"Whatever. Let's get this over with."
Touch Deer looks over at his Raggie packmate, and makes a gesture with
his hand reminiscent of some tribal sign-language. "De'nende taele
kine'de," he says with a grin.
Quiet leads off, after the flickering leonine tail of the unicorn.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Over by the fountain, Lawrence is sitting by himself on one of the iron
park benches that ring the fountain area. He looks a bit pathetic
sitting there alone under a streetlight, but there's a sort of feral
anger about him, a bitter and enraged glint in his eye that causes the
few people still out at this hour to give him a wide berth.
Pack> Touch Deer is heard to chuckle over the link. "I was here on my
Rite of Passage. I met a mage, Nicodemus, by that fountain."
Pack> Patrick mms over TeleJade. "The kid over there on the bench the
one we're looking for? A bit on the old side, isn't he?"
Andrea leads her pack behind her as she comes from Silverton Apartments
toward the fountain. She looks over her shoulder at Patrick.
Pack> Andrea says "Yes, he is."
Pack> Touch Deer says "Plan, Andrea?"
Touch Deer is between Andrea and the buildings, comforatably inside a
small amount of shadow.
Cassandra trails along behind the rest of the group, arms crossed across
her chest. She is moodily silent and watchful of the area in general.
Pack> Cassandra says "We're supposed to have a plan? What's a plan?"
Pack> Patrick says "Never had a plan fo one of these yet...."
Patrick walks comfortably along a step or two behind Andrea, looking
around at sotrefronts, into clubs, and generally seemingly mostly
window-shopping.
Pack> Andrea says wryly. "I never lead these things."
Andrea moves on into the fountain area.
You stride over to the grassy mound and after skirting an iron bench,
reach the white marble fountain.
Osprey Circle Fountain
Situated in the center of the grassy mound is a white marble fountain.
The smooth stone of the fountain sparkles and sends off bright shafts
of light whenever a stray beam bounces of its shiny surface. Perched
at the top of the fountain is a soaring osprey. Directly below the
osprey, gentle jets of water spurt up into the air, making it seem
like the spray is propelling the osprey upwards toward the sky. White
marble, about a foot wide, rings the center of the fountain, allowing
the formation of a watery basin. Iron benches sit slightly back from
the fountain.
The asphalt roadway of Osprey Circle rings the grassy mound.
Touch Deer strides over from the asphalt roadway of the circle.
Touch Deer follows the young lady, moving with her to the fountain. He
gazes into it idly while placing his hands on the rim.
On the asphalt roadway, Instead of following the others, Cassandra leans
against a storefront. "see anything you like an' can't afford,
Patrick?" she asks in a tone that attempts to be good-natured and
almost succeeds, apparently ignoring the pair headed for the fountain.
Lawrence glances over towards Andrea and Touch Deer as they come closer
to the fountain; he pays a bit more attention to the man, perhaps
catching sight of the deerskin gloves and moccasins, but nevertheless
soon looks back towards the bubbling water. His body rigid, his arms
folded over his chest, his whole manner radiates tension.
On the asphalt roadway, Patrick shakes his head. "Not much," he admits.
"Then again, it's easier shopping during the day, when stuff can more
easily be seen."
On the asphalt roadway, "Yeah it is." Cassandra stands up and comes a
little closer to Patrick, whispering quietly in his ear with a glance
over to the fountain.
Touch Deer walks around the fountain slowly and with the air of an idly
wandering sight-seer. He seems to be watching his reflections, or else
examining all the small coins in the fountain's bottom. He eventually
is on the other side of Lawrence, but some distant away, with Andrea
positioned on the other side of the young man on the bench. He looks
up at Andrea. "Have a quarter?"
Pack> Patrick says "Suuure ... grab him & drag him Umbral. You can do
that, can't you, Andrea? Damn, this might not be /that/ difficult."
Pack> Andrea says "ANyone watching?"
Pack> Touch Deer says "No one I see...two men walk down the street far
off, but won't hear anything unless he shouts. I can prevent that."
Andrea shakes her head at the ahroun. She's moved closer to Lawrence,
but still not within his 'space.' At least, if the area weren't
deserted should wouldn't be.
Pack> Cassandra sends IC: I can create a distraction.
On the asphalt roadway, Patrick continues looking into the windows,
commenting occasionally and shaking his head at something Cassandra
asks.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Full Moon phase (89% full).
Pack> Andrea says "Wait and see if anyone seems to notice anything? If
not, I'd rather you slip after us quickly. Full moon or not, it is the
city."
Pack> Patrick says "I could Shroud the light for a bit, making it look
like it'd blinked out. They tend to do that on occasion."
Stifling whatever emotion's running through him, Lawrence stands up,
digs through a pocket, and goes over towards Touch Deer. "Here," he
says, holding out his upturned palm containing a quarter. "Here you
go." It's meant as an act of kindness, but it's a bit disconcerting
considering the nearly-palpable aura of tension rolling off the young
man.
Touch Deer takes the quarter with a gloved hand and nods to Lawrence.
"Thankyou. Are you allright, young man? You seem anxious about
something..." His voice is covered in a deep Native accent.
Pack> Touch Deer says "He's ready to blow. I can feel it. He'll likely
Frenzy."
Pack> Cassandra says "Jus' be careful, you two. Cubs can fuck you upreal
good without knowing what they're doin'."
Pack> Patrick says "Quash that first."
Lawrence shakes his head, a little too hastily. "M'fine," he mutters.
"Thank you." The politeness seems second-nature to him, the deception
does not; nevertheless, he returns to his place on the park bench.
Pack> Touch Deer says "Andrea, do you have a Gift that can calm him?"
On the asphalt roadway, Cassandra leans over, appearing to talk quietly
with Patrick about something or other by the storefront windows. Only
occasionally does she shoot wary glances in the general direction of
the fountain.
Touch Deer tosses the quarter in and walks a step closer to the bench.
"Excuse me, but I'm not from around here. Do you know how I would get
to the Park?"
Lawrence's brow furrows. "Harbor Park, you mean? You... probably don't
want to go there, you know? It's in a bad part of town. I mean, a
bunch of people got shot there just last weekend."
Andrea stands loose while the Wendigo talkes to Lawrence. She watches
the Gaian cub with a faint smile and what would be unnerving
steadiness, from anything but a petite and harmless-looking woman.
Pack> Andrea says "Yes, I do."
Touch Deer furrows his brow. "Oh, I hadn't heard. Maybe not then. During
the day, I'm sure it's not so bad?" He speaks in low, soothing tones.
Nothing extremely calming, but he does the best he can.
Pack> Touch Deer says "I think we're ready...whenever you decide,
Patrick and Cass."
Lawrence shakes his head again. "Like I said, it's in a bad part of
town. There's a lot of gangs and crime down there, you know? I guess
you could go down there, but I wouldn't. Not without a few friends at
least."
Touch Deer listens and nods as the young boy talks, gradually taking
small steps towards him. "Are you from around here?"
Tension suddenly and inexplicably seems to drain from the young man, and
he finds himself relaxing almost before he's realized it. "Kindof," he
answers. "I go to school at King. We had a cross-country meet with
Saint U's tonight, and I was a little too keyed up to go straight home
afterwards."
Touch Deer smiles and leans against the fountain. "I see. I'm from Kent
Crossing myself.."
"You're a little far from home this late, aren't you?" Lawrence asks.
Touch Deer nods. "I'm visiting my friends."
"Oh." Seemingly having run out of things to talk about, Lawrence puts on
a small smile. "Well, it was nice talking to you, mister, but I should
probably get going. It's a school night and everything."
Touch Deer raises a hand. "All good medicine."
Pack> Cassandra says "Come on, Patrick. This week, please. I'd like to
go to bed."
On the asphalt roadway, The light above the fountain suddenly flickers,
and as the street is abruptly plunged into darkness, a woman's cry of
anguish cuts through the cold rain from the direction of the
storefront, and the silent sounds of something falling to the pavement
quickly follow behind.
Lawrence's attention leaps over towards the noise. "Shit," he mutters,
and begins running in that direction.
Andrea, whose eyes had shifted from Lawrence to her reflection, moves
in that second to grasp the cub's forearm before he can leave. Leaving
the bulk of his startled wrestling to Touch Deer, who moves in with
agile swiftness to immobilize the cub, she concentrates on pulling
Lawrence across the gauntlet.
Touch Deer, indeed, is upon the young man suddenly as he turns around.
Coming in from behind, he immobilizes Lawrence with an effective arm
lock that is painful to try and resist. Swiftly, he pushes Lawrence
forward and towards the storefronts where Andre concentrates on
pulling him across the gauntlet.
A ripple of Umbral wind swirls about you, and the Gauntlet parts.
Andrea seems to shimmer momentarily, and then vanishes.
Umbra: Osprey Circle
With little true essence to support it, what is a sparkling fountain in
the physical world is rendered here in the faintest strokes of a
simply wet brush. From its vague outline, one can tell that it is an
impressive edifice, topped with some sort of bird of prey. More
arresting than the ghostly fountain, however, is the small grassy
knoll, really barely more than a mound that gleams startlingly green
against the spectral grey of its surroundings.
Just to the west of the fountain and knoll, small points of light dance
brightly within the gauzy veil of buildings. About the size of mugs,
bookends, and other bric-a-brac, these glowing motes speak of care and
craftsmanship.
Southeast of here, greasy black waters lap at a rotting pier. The bright
spirits fade farther to the west, to a dull grey. Finally, at the
horizon, the wisps of grey ephemera take on a darker, more malevolent
cast.
Lawrence appears in a swirl of wind and light.
Touch Deer appears in a swirl of wind and light.
Cassandra appears in a swirl of wind and light.
Patrick slips sideways near the storefronts, but quickly heads over
towards the fountain and the rest of the pack.
Grappled and then stunned by the abrupt change in scenery, Lawrence
blinks. He doesn't quite have the presence of mind to cry a protest
for a few long seconds after the end of the journey across the
Gauntlet. "What the hell?"
Cassandra follows after a few moments, rubbing at her shoulder. "Fuck.
Don't think we got seen. Let's blow before the damn spiders decide
we're a good late night snack."
Touch Deer nods and is in clear agreement with his packsister. "Let's go."
Andrea nods agreement with Cassandra, even as she turns to the cub.
"Lawrence, I apologize. We'll explain as soon as we're somewhere
safe."
"I don't-- I don't understand," the young man protests. "What is this
place? Who are you guys?" He tries to pull away from Andrea and Touch
Deer.
Touch Deer keeps a firm grip on Lawrence's shoulders. "We won't hurt
you, but you must come with us."
Patrick says with a half-grin, "It's the same place you've been for the
last God-knows-how-long, just a little different. And we're friends,
despite the way it probably looks. We're just not wanting any of us,
you included, to get hurt."
"Spider meat if we don't get outta here, kid." Cassandra's grin attempts
to be reassuring. "I promise, we'll tell ya all the stories you'd ever
wanna hear once we're someplace safer. Even Luna's full ain't safe
here."
Pack> Touch Deer says "Any moon-paths around here?"
Lawrence struggles ineffectually against Touch Deer's grip for a few
moments before Patrick's explanation seems to mollify him a little.
"Where are you taking me?"
Patrick looks around at the rest of his pack. "Apartment? It's close."
Touch Deer nods. "Good idea."
Cassandra nods. "Works for me."
Andrea keeps her hand on the young man's wrist. She and the rest of her
pack are wreathed with a dark aura of protective shadow. The theurge
nods agreement with Patrick, then lets go ot let Touch Deer escort
Lawrence alone. She does smile reassuringly at Lawrence and says, "It
isn't far."
Touch Deer keeps a grip on one arm, above the elbow.
Patrick looks at the strands of light attaching Andrea & Lawrence and
hazards, "Guess you'll be able to bring him out okay, too, then." With
a grin at Lawrence, he says, "We're headed to Silverton Apartments.
You would've passed between St. U's and here." With that, he leads the
way.
Patrick heads off to the west.
Lawrence nods slightly, warily, and seems to collapse inwardly a little
at the mere sight of what's around him. Some little bit of tension has
returned to his features, but it could just as easily be shell-shock.
He allows himself to be led to whatever place the group has in mind.
You walk down along the slowly dying, grey path. Spirit lights fade as
you progress, turning leaden and dull. Still farther down the 'road',
the wisps of spirit matter turn dark and forboding.
Umbra: Demilich
Veiled behind the gauzy almost-walls of umbral buildings, man-shaped
flickers of light gyrate in a frenzy of excess. Always inconstant, and
often hidden, the glimmers of light, each one a person in the physical
world, often flare into sudden brilliance, only to die immediately
down to barely smoldering embers. Webs of tangled steel and glass
obscure the dancing lights, wrapping the frantic diorama in their dark
skein.
One building in particular stands out among the lights. Almost painfully
dark, it holds malevolent court over the other sections of the web.
Flickers of lifeless light burst from its webbed windows in a sensual
assault.
The dark morass trapped within the ephemera here fades slowly as you
look to the east. Turning first a dull, neutral grey, it then gains
more vibrance and light at the horizon.
Contents:
Touch Deer comes in from the long stretch of 'road' to the east.
Cassandra comes in from the long stretch of 'road' to the east.
Lawrence comes in from the long stretch of 'road' to the east.
Patrick hurries through the darker area, hoping to get through it before
Lawrence asks too many questions.
Patrick moves to the west, away from the cacophonous medley of light and
sound.
You skirt wispy shadows of reckless people and weave your way to the
west.
Umbra: Silverton Apartments(#3372RJ)
Unlike most of the city, this area is filled with colour and a semblance
of life. The buildings seem to part, revealing a small pool in the
middle of a small block of adobe houses. Strands of web connect the
stacked houses to each other, and to some of the surrounding Umbral
buildings, with more web running from each house across the clearing,
over the pool. The buildings themselves vary in size, shape, and
decoration, from one which looks like a traditional Pueblo Indian
dwelling to a couple covered in webs and with pictographs resembling
computer graphics.
Outside the glen, the shadowy outlines of buildings of the city still
rise, reminding you that you have not left the realm of the Weaver,
merely stepped into a small respite. All around, the webs stretch from
building to shadowy building outside the small clearing lending to the
general gloom of the Umbral city, while small fractal spiders scuttle
occasionally along the webbing, their small iridescent bodies
glimmering slightly.
Cassandra arrives from the east, backlit by disturbing flashes of light.
Lawrence arrives from the east, backlit by disturbing flashes of light.
A fairly attractive young man in his mid to late teens, Lawrence carries
himself with a quiet dignity and seriousness that's not usually
present in others his age. About six feet tall and with the lean build
of a runner, he wears his brown hair in a conservative cut so that it
stays out of his face and chocolate-brown eyes. He's of no distinct
ethnicity, pure American Mongrel. Humor doesn't seem to come very
easily to him these days, and he seems somewhat withdrawn and
inwardly-focused.
He dresses in fairly typical clothes for someone his age: button shirt,
jeans, sneakers, and a King Senior High School jacket with a varsity
letter sewn into it.
Patrick hrms. "Remind me to put a mirror in the living room," he says,
and works on slipping into his bedroom.
Patrick goes over to the pool and stares at his reflection in it.
Cassandra splits off from the rest of the group as they walk, walking a
littlefurther out to the side. You could swear she's running
interference, especially since she waitsfor everyone else before
reaching herself.
Patrick's Bedroom(#2968RJU)
Obviously the room of someone who enjoys actually living in his room,
most likely a teenager, in case you didn't know already. An oak
dresser sits against the north wall, across a closet door from an
armoire, both of which are carved in what looks like some sort of
Native American working. A window in the east wall looks out over the
street outside, the single hole in the off-white walls. A queen-sized
waterbed extends into the middle of the room, its headboard against
the south wall, small knickknacks of varied sizes and description in
the headboard itself, blue satin sheets on the bed. Pieces of clothing
litter the bark-brown carpeting here and there around the room,
confirming that the occupant of the room is definitely male. A couple
of bookcases sit along the west wall, both mostly filled with books,
both sitting to one side of the door back out into the hallway.
The door back out into the hallway is in the west wall. Over the
waterbed on the south wall is a large mirror, brightening the room.
Contents:
Andrea brings the cub back over the barrier, this time ending up in a
very different place.
Lawrence seems just as shell-shocked by his arrival back in the real
world as he did by his trip into the Umbra, so much so that once in
the Realm he sinks to his knees and cringes a little. "I don't
understand any of this," he says, obviously trying very hard not to
whimper the words.
Cassandra immediately gets off the waterbed and goes to stand by the
door. "If you did, I'd be fuckin' shocked. Andrea, mebbe you'd better
explain. You want anything t'drink, kid?"
Patrick looks around his somewhat-crowded bedroom and ushers people out.
"We need to sit him down, give him some time to relax, and start
explanations."
Touch Deer lets go of the young man gently and takes steps back away
from him.
Andrea moves back toward the cub and helps guide him into the den.
"Come. We have a place to rest, and we'll explain."
Upstairs Den, 120 Silverton
The doors to the bedrooms are to the west, with a bathroom between the
bedrooms. Just west of center, a spiral staircase leads back down to
the living room.
Cassandra exits the east bedroom and comes out into the hall.
Touch Deer exits the east bedroom and comes out into the hall.
Lawrence exits the east bedroom and comes out into the hall.
Patrick exits the east bedroom and comes out into the hall.
You head down the stairs to the first floor.
Living Room, 120 Silverton
As you look around the living room, one thing that strikes you is the
sheer incongruity of the furniture. A somewhat beaten couch squats
along the east wall, with a nice rustic endtable beside it, a brass
lamp on the endtable. A somewhat rugged and worn coffee table lies
spread in the middle of the room, contrasting with two nice-looking
recliners on the west wall, on either side of a window overlooking the
atrium. To the north, to one side of the hallway, is an entertainment
center, with a TV, VCR, stereo, and Sega Saturn game system all hooked
up together. On the other side of the hallway is a 'bookcase' made
mostly of plastic milk crates, with some books tossed into it
haphazardly and others neatly stacked within. Along the south side of
the room is the bar separating the kitchen and living room.
The atrium is back out the front door. The bedrooms are to the back, one
north of the other, with a bathroom between. A wrought iron spiral
staircase leads up to the second floor just west of the center of the
room.
Cassandra comes down the spiral staircase from the top level.
Touch Deer comes down the spiral staircase from the top level.
Lawrence comes down the spiral staircase from the top level.
Patrick comes down the spiral staircase from the top level.
Andrea continues to guide Lawrence, getting him on one end of the couch
and herself beside him. She then says, soothingly, "First, relax. I
know you don't understand yet, but we're not going to do anything to
hurt you. What do you want to know first? Who we are or how we got you
here?"
Touch Deer stayed behind in Pat's room for a moment to throw on a shirt
and jeans. Now properly covered up, he joins everyone else. He sits by
a wall facing the couch and lets Andrea talk.
Cassandra immediately goes out to the kitchen, adding, "And d'you want
anything t'drink?" she calls. "Anybody."
Lawrence's hands, which he keeps in front of him, have balled into
fists, and he desparately avoids looking anyone in the eyes. "I just
want to know what you're going to do with me," he says. "I want to go
home."
Andrea' face tightens a little in sadness, but she says, "You are home,
Lawrence. We're your people."
Lawrence shakes his head slightly. "What do you mean?" he asks. "I've
never even seen you guys before tonight. What do you mean, 'my
people'?"
Touch Deer looks suddenly at Cass with a sharp expression on his face.
Andrea answers obliquely. Her voice makes an unquestioned statement.
"You've been feeling the anger rising. The rage. You may have had
dreams of killing, as I did, or worried about your control when
someone got you angry."
Lawrence bows his head suddenly, his cheeks flushing crimson with
self-consciousness. "It's just hormones," he declares clinically.
Cassandra shrugs a shoulder at Touch Deer and, abandoning the kitchen,
walks over to the front door and leans against it, gradually sliding
down to it on the floor with her back to the door, as moodily silent
as she was in the city.
Andrea shakes her head. "Human hormones aren't that strong. Not as
strong as the anger that runs in our people." Her gesture takes in her
whole pack. "All our people."
Lawrence looks up at Andrea with a kind of plaintive desparation. "I
have these dreams," he says. "Of wolves and forests and blood. And all
the kids I grew up with don't even like to be around me anymore. And I
just... sometimes... really want to *hurt* people. Like, rip them
apart with my bare hands. That's not normal!" He's a bit hysterical by
the end of all this, but fishes for enough clarity of thought to ask,
"Are you telling me my problem is that I'm not human?"
Patrick glances over at Andrea and observes wryly, "Quick study."
Touch Deer smiles and looks at Lawrence.
Almost at the same moment, a female mutter comes from the door, in what
sounds remarkably like Cassandra's voice. "Damn, he's quick." The
mutter comes sleepliy and may not be heard by everyone.
Touch Deer says "Before we get any farther, why don't we introduce
ourselves?"
Andrea meets Lawrence's gaze frankly and says very seriously. "That's
exactly what I'm saying, Lawrence. You, and I, and Patrick and
Cassandra and Touch Deer. e're not humans. We're Garou. Werewolves
that fight for Mother Earth." She gestures to each packmate as she
names them, right as Touch Deer suggests introductions.
Lawrence's eyes roam back over to Cassandra, and he studies her for a
few moments before returning his attention to Andrea. "If I'm a
werewolf," he reasons, "then how come I haven't sprouted fangs and fur
and everything? It's a full moon, isn't it?"
Andrea's gaze also goes to Cassandra and she stands. She half-turns to
Touch Deer and asks, "Touch Deer, if you can explain that why I get
Cassandra to bed?"
Touch Deer smiles and speaks. "Because those are just legends. Myths
that humans believe in since they cannot know the truth of our
existence. But there is /some/ truth in that legend...you have become
very angry and stressed this past week, yes? When Luna, the moon,
becomes full, we are easily angered.
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