Forgotten Church(#1801RAJLM)
The old church is dark, dimly lit by outside light coming in through scum-encrusted windows during the day, and tomblike during the night. There is a coatroom in the back of the nave, with separate doors leading off to mens' and womens' restrooms, and two staircases, one going up to the balcony and bell-tower, and the other leading down to the basement. The double doors leading out to the street are at the back of the coatroom.
The hard wooden pews in the sanctuary are, for the most part, still intact. There are even Bibles and hymnals left in the shelves along the back of each row, although many of them look rather chewed on. The altar on a dais at the front of the church is empty, and the lectern that once stood next to it has been knocked over. Rotting red cloth hangs at the very front of the church; there might once have been a design on it, but it has long since faded or been eaten away.
Contents:
Kaz
Anneka
Rotem
Mural
Obvious exits:
Street Basement

Anneka loops her arms about her middle and leans back against a pew. She nods to Kaz, her brow pinching slightly. "I've been thinkin' a lot 'bout /that/."

Rotem sighs. "Don't get me wrong. I really like the kid. She's great. But I've gotta be an ass about this. I ain't going to take that. Lets just chalk it up to a lesson learned for the philo?"

Kaz flops onto the pew across from Anneka, watching her. "Hm?" It's evidently a request for expansion. To Rotem she just shrugs. "I wasn't here, so I dunno if you're overreactin' or not. But standin' up f'y'self's a good thing, sure."

Yi knocks, brief-like, before opening the door and stepping in. The door closes with a click, and she habitually scans the room and rafters before waving to the Gnawers. "Yo," she greets with bag in hand. "Anyone want this?" She digs in the bag and comes up with horridly pastel wrapped chocolate bars. Crunch, it looks like. Fun-size. Mm.

Kaz sticks up a hand from her position on the pew. It's probably the only thing of hers that's visible, to Yi.

Rotem smirks, getting up from his pew. "Food." he says quietly. As he moves over towards Yi.

Anneka starts to smile a bit, looking over at Kaz. "About what I say and how I'm saying it." She folds down into the pew then, curling in a crosslegged heap. Comfortable enough, evidently, that instead of getting up again she twists about and waves to Yi, grinning. "Hi! Cool-- candy!"

Yi lobs the package, unopened as of yet, in a smooth arc that plops down against Kaz's hand. Another package comes out of the bag and is tossed to Rotem before she draws out a third bag for Anneka. "Funny what people like to give on Easter. Guess the store manager figured he'd have to sell it all eventually." She shrugs, and gives Anneka the bag.

Anneka beams at Yi, tugs the bag down into her lap so she can peer inside. "Thank you!" There's the crinkle of chocolate bar wrappers.

Rotem snatches the bag from mid air. "Thanks Rhya." he comments before pulling it open. "Where you been?"

Kaz almost catches it, but fumbles. The bag drops onto her face, and she says, quietly, "Ow." It's a brief pain, though, and well assuaged by the chocolate, which she's soon tearing into. "Yer my hero, Yi." She rolls back over onto her stomach, to look at Anneka. "Think that'll be a thing to think about for, like, the rest of your life."

Anneka sinks down into her seat again, to the snap of bits of chocolate being broken from their bar. She glances over to Kaz, nods as her curly hair dips down to obscure her eyes. "Uh-huh. It's too important /not/ to." She nibbles on a triangular piece of chocolate.

Yi's bag apparently holds many more packages than just 3, as she scoots by Rotem with a nod, and plops into the pew behind Kaz. "Up at the bluff, watching the buffalo." She gets reminded of something. "Anneka...got you a place to swim, if you're willing to make the run sometime." She grins at the halfmoon, then answers Rotem more fully. "I was up at the bluff, seeing what I could do to get talens. Talens to see in the dark with. Soulcatcher-rhya thought it would be good to speak with Ming." She pauses, then adds, "Ming is a bat."

Kaz asks, quizzically, "Why a bat?"

Rotem cant help but laugh, "I'm sorry Kaz.." He is still laughing, in a good mood. "But you.. asking that..." he smirks. "I'm sorry.. its the ears."

Anneka almost drops her chocolate as she sits up straight and looks over at Yi. "You did? Excellent!" Candy, for the moment, is utterly forgotten as the girl starts to bounce a bit on her seat. "Where is it? The lake?"

"The sewers are dark," Yi answers with a musing tone. "So I asked Soulcatcher what spirit would he ask if he wanted to be able to see in the dark. Night animals like.. like owls and cats, they still use their eyes to gather light to see. But there's no lights in the sewers unless we bring it down there. So..Soulcatcher said a bat... because bats see in the dark, without their eyes." She looks at the pew in front. "Using their ears instead. I was hoping to catch Elan-rhya, and ask him if he could speak with Rat as well. I want to know what has happened to the rats in the sewers." She looks to Anneka and nods. "The lake."

Kaz, after Yi explains, says, "Huh. Yeah," and shoots Rotem a grin.

Rotem chuckles, looking to Yi. "I best Ming would love Kaz. Introduce them. Oh, and I talked to Big dog. He and me are going to meet a rat spirit at the burial mounds during the next phase of the moon. Want to come with?"

Yi smiles at Anneka's excitement, then looks over at Rotem. "Going to meet the rat that has something for you, na?" She shrugs. "If I can make it, sure. I'd rather speak with one of the city rats here, to find out what's going on closer to the actual problem... but we'll see."

Rotem shrugs. "Yeah. Elan is going to be M'translator. He says those spirits are shifty. So he'll be there for me."

Kaz says, blankly, "Rat spirits is shifty? Well, there's a new one on me."

Rotem nods to Kaz. "Big Dog told me so." He then bites into the chocolate bar, and smiles.

Anneka takes a huge, distracted bite from her chocolate bar, then looks down and blinks at the resulting crescent taken from it. Her giggle is just a bit muffled. "Umf. It's prob'ly gonna be too cold to swim, unless--" She glances over at Yi. "Will it be okay to be in Crinos at th'lake?"

Yi thinks. "Well, I don't know really... but if you did, I wouldn't do it above ground. I'm not sure how the buffalo will react."

Kaz predicts, "Mini stampede," while nibbling.

Rotem questions Kaz's prediction. "Mini?" he then goes back to his own candy bar.

Kaz explains, "There's only about 4 of them."

"Buffalo? Oh--" Anneka tugs a hand through her curly hair, and furrows her brow. "It'd be a bad idea, then, so I won't." She gets something of an impish grin, again. "I'll just hafta be real quick, or I'll freeze my toes off." Then she's nibbling at the chocolate bar again, her coat wrapped about her like a cloak.

Rotem gives a quiet, "Oh." before putting away half the bar in his backpack for later. "I was just curious. Hypothetically, lets say someone went. umm.. crinos, on elson street..." The cub fiddles with his backpack, "What would the punishment be?"

Yi lacks in chocolate to nibble on at the moment, curls the edge of her lip in a smirk reflecting Anneka's grin before glancing over at Kaz. Or rather, the pew holding the Kaz. "I was at the bluff, trying to figure out a way to go into the sewers and fight. Very small space in there, makes disadvantages for both groups, but I think the Wyrm is a lot more flexible that we are. You have any ideas on how to lure them out without Veil breach? At best, I can only say we should go into the Umbra and fight them, but it doesn't solve what's in the Realm." She glances over at Rotem, brow creasing. "Why do you ask?"

Rotem shrugs, "Hypothetically..."

Kaz says, dubiously, "I ain't no half moon. But lookit Baney. And he didn't even do Crinos, really. Well, not for the Veil part."

Rotem nods, and sighs sadly. "I need to talk to Elan. Think you can arrange that, Kaz?"

Kaz says, slowly, "/Elan/ ain't no half moon, neither. You want a /half moon/, or the boss?"

Yi shifts her gaze from halfmoon cub to asking ahroun cub. "Depends who saw them. But then, you never know who was really watching." She shrugs. "In my experience, they either went the easy way and got restricted to one form only and the edge of the bawn, or they were killed, and anyone else who saw the crinos also killed. Walkers are rather efficient at that."

Rotem nods, "The boss. This ain't tribal."

Kaz shakes her head. "Yeah, if it ain't tribal, why you lookin' for the tribal boss?"

Rotem shrugs. "Who should I be looking for? I don't know what to do with what I saw." Then after a breif pause, "Hypothetically."

Anneka is still nibbling away at the chocolate bar, but her gaze has drifted over to Rotem. She sits up a bit, tucks the bar away into a pocket. "You saw someone doin' this-- In the open, where human people could see?"

Yi arches a brow, but says nothing as she shuffles through the bag and opens a corner of one of the packages to draw out a small chocolate egg. This she unwraps carefully, caring not to tear the foil.

Anneka adds, quick as anything. "Hypothetic'ly."

Kaz repeats, "A half moon. Brittany or Adam or Matt or Lochnessa or Mark or..." She trails off. "Hypothetically, who was this?"

Rotem shakes his head. "Well then, I need to find one. Can you help me out?" He ignores Kaz's question, looking to Yi. "I just want to do whatever I'm supposed to."

Yi guesses the meaning of the long word by now, looking curious as she chomps half the small egg off with a crunch of the interior. She looks at Kaz. "Isn't Elson part of your pack's territory?"

Kaz, who has by now sat up, nods. "Yes. Well, part of it, anyway. Where /was/ this? Hypothetically."

Rotem sighs and rises up. "An alley, off elson. Where someone descided to make one of the guys into a fine red mist." The cub shakes his head. "And I'd just as much rather not report it if I don't have to. Not if they are going to kill the hooker. Hypothetically."

"And you didn't bother tracking the one who did it, to see who they were," Yi looks dubious. "Hypothetically."

Rotem looks to Yi, accusingly. "I know who it was." he says glaring at her. "I'm not an idiot."

Kaz says, quietly, "I'd be more worried about you, if I was you. Unless I'm misinterpreting your fuckin' hypotheticals and it ain't you."

Rotem shakes his head. "Ain't me. I'm the one who went and covered up the whole damn thing." The cub growls, obviously getting annoyed now. "I did the /right/ thing for once."

Yi waves off the glare. "So why are you so -concerned- about covering up the identity of the offender?" She crosses her legs and leans forward a bit, steepling her hands before asking, quite bluntly, "Who is it?"

Kaz relaxes slightly. "Well, cool. Sorry. I still wanna know who the hell this is."

Rotem sighs. "Helen. She went ballistic on some guy." The cub shakes his head. "This hooker saw it and went nuts. I eventually convinced her w-we were making a video, a hoax, to sell to the networks. You know, a scare about the whole bigfoot thing g-going on." The cub looks up, "That reminds me, she wanted a cut. I need a couple grande if we're not going to off her. I had to stop Helen from killing her too."

Anneka brushes her hair away from her eyes. There's a muffled thump from the crowbar in one of her pockets as it bumps against the back of the pew and the cub sits up, watching, her back stiff and straight. She's quiet, for the moment, but everything about the way she's sitting would suggest that her ears would be straight up and forward, were she lupine.

Kaz massages her forehead. "Jesus Christ. Well, we sure the fuck gotta take it to /someone/. Yi, you think it oughta be Lochnessa, or someone kinda more neutral?"

Rotem sighs, lowering his head. "Did I do the right thing?"

Yi looks surprised when the name is mentioned, but quickly regains the calm thoughtful demeanor. "Admittedly, it would be easier to handle if you had just killed the woman." She looks contrite at the statement. "I suggest telling Tecmessa, yes. She's Helen's tribe I remember..." Her eyes flicker to Kaz briefly before returning to her fingertips. "Have you kept track of the woman, Rotem?"

Rotem nods, "Yeah, she's just going out with her John's, nothing special." He glares at Yi, "/You/ of all people, want me to off the hooker?" he is now throughly confused. "The innocent hooker?"

"I said it would have been easier to handle if all witnesses were ... gagged." Yi looks up at the cub, remembering the woman. "If my thought is disturbing to you, that's how I am." Her gaze levels with his. "I don't want to kill the woman, no. But if she even tells one other about it, it could get worse. Contact the halfmoons of the Furies. I'm not going to go wading through their judgement system."

Rotem shrugs. "I'll find this Tecmessa person then. Where does she hang?"

Kaz sighs. "Sometimes, Rotem, t'protect th' Veil, we gotta do a lotta shit we don't want to cope with."

Yi nods solemnly, the unsteeples her hands and sits back to thumb the foil from the chocoegg. "I trust you took care of the body well enough." She looks over at Kaz, then back at Rotem. "You might find Tecmessa at the farmho--.. well, someone will find her. Kaz or myself."

Anneka has gotten pale and paler, but she continues to sit up straight, listening. Her eyes trail slowly to Kaz and she swallows, once.

Kaz shrugs. "Fuck, I can just track her down, if you want. I got the Rite. Wanna come with, Rotem?"

Rotem chuckles. "Elan says if I behave this week, he'll give the word about that too." The cub motions westwards.

Rotem rises up. "Sure, lets go." he smiles to Kaz. "Do you need a fresh fry, or do you already have one?"

The metis whips out a somewhat limp fry, and ties it onto a string. "I'm a boy scout, doncha know. Always prepared. C'mon."

Kaz adds, generally, "Anyone else wanna come, feel free."

Yi chuckles grimly at the fry, but then looks over at the two cubs before sighing with a shrug. "Sure."

Common Area(#2409RAJh$)
This is the central hub of the house. From here, you can still see the entrance foyer, as well as the stairway that heads to the second story. Towards the back of the common area is a set of glass doors that lead out to a courtyard. To the east, an arched doorway leads to what apparently serves as a library, office, and workroom, and to the west, an arched doorway leads to what appears to be a kitchen and dining area..
There are several chairs here, simple, elegant, yet functional in their design and intent. The room has a comfortable feel to it, but is a bit ascetic in design. The walls are off-white, the molding dark cherry wood and decorated with acanthus-leaf ornamentation at the corners. A pair of antique spears are hung crossed against each other on one wall, and a wall-relief depicting a scene of Grecian warriors hangs on the other. Above the mantle of the fireplace is a small statue of Artemis, on either side of that, dark metal candlesticks with ivory pillar candles. The entire room is a study in the contrast of light and dark.
Contents:
Rotem
Tecmessa
Obvious exits:
Courtyard Out

Tecmessa is, currently, sitting on one of the chairs, reading a book. There's coffee brewing in the background.

Yi knocks with a sharp, crisp three knocks.

Tecmessa looks up and frowns faintly. Rising to her feet, she gets the door, and gives both Yi and Rotem curious looks. "Hello, Yi." The implicit 'what are you doing here' is not spoken aloud, but it's practically audible anyway. "How fare you?"

Rotem follows behind Yi, a little uncomfortable. This is the fury house, and he is a male after all. He remains silent for now, obviously uneasy.

[Tecmessa's homid desc]
Raven black hair, dusky, olive tinged skin, and lithe movements all combine to make this woman interesting, although by no means riveting. But there is some element, perhaps the warmth of her smile, the tone of her voice, or the strength of her gaze, that for some undefinable reason draws people to her.
She's about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and her hair, braided tightly, goes down to the small of her back. As in any braid, there is always hair escaping it and being pushed back impatiently. Despite this occasional abruptness, her hazel eyes are warm and thoughtful. Tecmessa is neither excessively thin nor terribly bulky, and while her face, not at all the classic definition of beauty, is somewhat square, she seems happy in her own skin. She smiles freely and easily, and has a slight Greek accent that fades in and out.
In her mid-20s, she wears sandals, cargo-style pants with quite a fewpockets, and a billowy green shirt.

Yi looks up at the Fury before dipping her head in a respectable nod. "Hello Tecmessa," she greets. "We have some things to discuss with you that require a halfmoon of your tribe's opinion." She strays her eyes just briefly into the interior of the building before looking back up at the woman. Her eyes, in this case, aren't very smiling at all.

Tecmessa gives Rotem a somewhat longer look now -- clearly, it's not a particularly welcoming one, but she stands aside, and murmurs, "Please, come in." Once everyone's inside, she shuts the door, and gestures them to sit down. To Rotem, she adds, "I'm Tecmessa Ardenas. Feels the Balance. Half moon of the Furies, and Elder of the tribe. Daughter of Raven." She gives him an expectant look.

Rotem gets the hint, "I am Rotem Guttman. Flying Wolf. Warrior moon of the Bone Gnawers, cub, and sadly an eye witness."

Kaz trails in after the other two Gnawers, giving the place a curious once over. Apparently, she and the Fury are acquainted, as she just waves at her and peers into the kitchen.

Tecmessa nods faintly. "Eyewitness to... What, precisely?" She can't be called impolite, but warm, she's not, just now. Not to Rotem.

Yi clears her throat politely as she sits warily in one of the chairs. Posture a little stiff with formality, she speaks up, "A Veil breach, by one of your tribe."

Rotem nods solemly. "I was unfortunate enough to witness it." he adds quietly, "I tried to cover it up for her. She didn't seem to interested. She was seriously pissed."

Tecmessa's gaze travels from Rotem to Yi and back again. "She who?"

"Helen," Yi replies with a short sigh following after along with a look to Rotem. "Rotem can explain what happened."

Kaz opens the fridge and stares into it thoughtfully.

The Fury blinks, and then rubs her forehead. She mutters something in Greek, and then sighs. "Yes," Tec says, looking back up to Rotem, "That would be nice. Full story. I'll be using my Gift."

Megaera comes in through the front door, sees all these Gnawer's in the Furies domain and scowls. Actually, her face turns and interesting shade of red, before she beets that reaction down. She doubt that they even wiped their feet.

Yi stands up with polite formality as Megaera comes in. Her manners turn high frequency as she dips her head in a bow respectfully to the other Fury as well. A short glance over at the kitchen where Kaz is, and she's back to looking at Tecmessa and Rotem.

Eventually, Kaz closes the fridge and wanders back into the living room. "Hey! If it ain't my fellow McNugget. Heya, Meg, how you doin'?"

Megaera blinks. Good Gaia. They're even raiding the fridge now. "Well enough," she anwers the Gnawer. "What is going on here?"

Gesturing at Rotem, Kaz says, "He's got goods on Helen."

Rotem sighs, "Well, I was down on Elson Street, watching the people there. Yi got me on this whole, 'protect the hookers' kick. So I'm sitting there, and Helen walks on by. I call her over, and she just keeps walking. I of course am not discouraged by this, So I get up and start to walk towards her." The cub's stuttering worsens, "But before I get there, t-this dude comes up to her. I'm not sure what he said, but she didn't like it, so she goes to talk past, and he grabs her arm." The cub sighs, "So the next thing I know, they are in an alley, and when I get there, I see a crinos Helen, holding half of the guy." The cub sighs. "That is when one of the hookers turned to look at where the screaming was coming from." The cub shakes his head at this. "And the veil became a-a thing of the past."

Tecmessa frowns as she listens. "So Helen..." She grits her teeth, "Goes into Crinos in an alley, near a busy public street. I see. Go on, please."

Yi frowns slightly at her mention. As if she had anything to do with it. But she shrugs and lets the cub continue.

Rotem nods. "So This hooker is screaming /her/ head off t-too, I toss her in the alley, and convince her after a while that is was all a hoax, that we were taping it to sell to the TV folks. You know, get cash for the whole b-bigfoot thing going on. And she believed us, I think." The cub, looks up to Tecmessa, "I didn't want anyone to get in trouble, but they said I should come talk to you about it."

Tecmessa narrows her eyes. "And with all this screaming and commotion, no one /else/ noticed you?"

"It's Elson street," Yi replies. "Gunshots go unnoticed, screams aren't heeded. As would any other slum of a city be." She doesn't look happy at admitting that either. Tecmessa flicks her glance to Yi, but then back to Rotem. Who is, after all, the eyewitness.

Rotem nods in agreement with Yi. "Yeah, then Helen just walked off. Like nothing had happened."

Rotem growls softly. "She didn't even clean up the body. I had to."

Yi looks back to Rotem. "What..did you do with it?" Such a gruesome mess is never easy to clean up, if cleanable at all.

Tecmessa sighs. "Mother of us all," she murmurs, and shakes her head. "So this... witness... is still alive... Though she apparently believes it is a movie production. Did you happen to get her name?"

Rotem nods. "She goes on the street by the name Candy Cane." He chuckles at the ubsurd name. "Her real name is McMillan. I forgot her first name." he shrugs. "She isn't hard to find."

Megaera rubs at her face. "I have Questing Stone, we can use that to locate Helen and try to get a pinpoint on this human female."

Tecmessa says, "Mmm. I'll talk to Helen -- to impress the idea of /responsibility/ for her actions into her -- and then talk to this witness. I suspect I can pose as a newspaper reporter. I'd rather not kill her if I don't have to."

Rotem shakes his head towards Tecmessa. "She'll claim it was real. She wants our hoax to work. She is expecting a cut from the movie pay off."

"She frequents Elson's corners," Yi adds in. "Uses the money to support her child...amidst other things." The asian looks over at the other Fury. "I know the building of her ..employer.. but where she lives, I'd have to track. She moves around to not be taken by the police, or she gets kicked out from tenements." Her eyes go to Rotem. "That's not going to keep her from talking."

Rotem sighs, "Do what you have to, but I don't want to be around to see it." he mumbles, shaking his head.

Tecmessa's smile is faint. "Well, if she doesn't believe it's real, then I will know. Problem solved. But Yi is correct -- we do not need /more/ Bigfoot rumors, not at this time." The smile is wiped from her face. "No. You and Helen, you will have to, in fact, be responsible for her, if it comes to that. Helen," she adds, a little ruefully, "I do not think, will care much."

Yi shrugs at the judgement, looking to Rotem. "Basically, make sure she doesn't talk, and if she does..." The nomoon lets herself trail there, but everyone can guess what was meant to come after.

Rotem sighs. "Look, Rhya, I'm not doing it. Not to this one." He shakes his head. "Count me out." He speaks to both Yi and Tecmessa now, "She's one of the good ones, for god sakes. We're h-here to fight the wyrm, not help it. From what I un-understand, is whenever we kill, maim, hurt, its the w-wyrm that is happy. Now you want to go and off this woman? Well fine, I c-c-can't stop you, but I sure as hell ain't helping."

Megaera grunts, focusing her gaze on Rotem. "Then you would allow her to doom us all?"

Tecmessa's eyes flash. "No," she says, quietly, "You are. To protect the Veil? You most assuredly are. I agree completely that she should not be the one dying, but those are the consequences of actions."

Rotem glares at Megaera, and he was trying so hard to be nice. "She is good, she doesn't go off killing things randomly, I wish I could say that about your tribe though." The cub glares at her accusingly. "So she shouldn't have to pay for it." "I'm not a halfmoon," Yi interjects. "But I would say that judgement should have more weight on Helen's actions. We... the Gnawers... are not a clean-up crew after other Garou." Her words are soft spoken, but they are firm enough. "We can watch the woman. But you need to speak with Helen about her actions in the city, and find something appropriate as consequence for breaking the Veil."

The other half moon gives Megaera a sudden wary look, but answers Yi. "I am. A half moon." Tecmessa sighs. "He's right, though. I won't force him to kill her. Helen, /she'll/ have to. Plus, yes, believe me, other punishments. This is the /Veil/. It must be taken /seriously/." After a moment, she adds, "And I must apologize, on behalf of the tribe."

Tecmessa adds, "She'll have to, if it comes to that."

Rotem nods, apparently satisfied, not that it matters, as he is only a cub. "Thank you Tecmessa-Rhya." The cub bows his head. "I hope I didn't do anything to make things worse."

Its the half-moon, oh glorious joy. Megaera is touchy most of the time, but it always get worse during her moon. In a blur of motion is standing infront of Rotem, in Glabro, and holding him up by his shirtfront. ~Are you sugesting,~ she growls. ~That I would risk breaking the veil? DO you think that you, a pup, can insult the other Tribes that feely? Helen will be lucky to keep her skin, if I find her first.~

Yi's discomfort waxes and wanes according to the words of the conversation, but she does pipe up with a suggestion to Tecmessa. "Is there a place your tribe can watch her from? The woman I'm sure doesn't aid the Wyrm anymore willingly than we do. She does have a child, and only works because she has had bad luck with other jobs." The nomoon's eyes slide over to the Glabro, the Gnawer licking her lips to say something more, but shaking her head and letting Rotem defend himself.

Tecmessa quirks an eyebrow. "Us? We are not precisely in the City often. I could recommend she go to the Women's Shelter, look for help there, but I do not think we would be particularly /good/ at watching out for her." There's a sudden faint smile. "Unless we were to assign Helen to the task..."

Rotem doesn't fight her back. He states, very calmly, "No, I'm suggesting some of your tribe would. I don't k-know you well enough to say anything about you. But if it would make you feel better, feel free to hit me. If that sort of thing gets your rocks off." An odd phrase for any woman, let alone a fury.

Megaera smiles, showing a mouthfull of pointed teeth. ~I don't have any rocks to take off, but I could settle for your set.~

Rotem growls lowly, "Well, there is one rumor substantiated."

Yi clears her throat, softly and looks back towards Kaz before flickering her gaze to the glabro Fury. She starts to say something again, but hell this isn't her fight. Tecmessa clears her throat. "Rotem? Might I point out that you are on /our/ territory, and it might do well for you to muster some politeness? Perhaps even instantly?" She sounds fairly mild, really.

Kaz growls quietly and heads over to Yi.

Rotem sighs. "Forgive my impoliteness, It isn't my strong suit." He shakes his head. "I only ment to get my point across. The hooker shouldn't be harmed."

Oh, foo, and Megaera had something so interesting in mind. ~Only if it becomes nessicary to protect our own," the fury growls. Letting go of Rotem's shirt, she lets the Gnawer fall to the floor. Stepping back, she takes up a position behind Tecmessa.

Rotem rises back up to his feet. "Although, if you feel like sparing, for the practice, I'd appreciate it." he smiles towards Megaera. "It never hurts... Well it does, but its fun." The cub grins and walks over towards Kaz and Yi. He looks at Tecmessa, "I hope I haven't caused any trouble here. I only came to do what I was told was the right thing."

Kaz growls, "Y'see why we don' take you nowhere?" but her heart seems to be only half into the comment.

Tecmessa sighs. "No. While I do not appreciate imprecations against my whole tribe for the actions of a few, I do thank you for the information."

Megaera smiles at Rotem, showing off her teeth again. "If you feel the need to grow a new pelt."

Kaz mutters, "Feel free," to Megaera.

Rotem bows softly and steps towards Tecmessa. "You have me apologies. I do not intend to form a prejudice. Please forgive my words." He smiles to Megaera. "I only wish to learn from you. You seem a good warrior. And I never pass up the chance to be tutored."

Yi simply sighs with a shake of her head. Oh well, it was expected. "The woman will be watched. Other than that, I trust your judgement in dealing with the other unpleasantry." Yi looks amongst the other Garou and focuses upon Tec.

Tecmessa nods to Yi. "My thanks -- for both. I will update you on the Helen situation once we resolve it."

Megaera returns Rotems' gaze, not saying a thing.

Rotem smiles to Megaera, extending a hand. "No hard feelings?" he asks, looking to her. "I didn't mean to offend."

Megaera clasps her hands firmly behind her back and studiously ignores the Gnawer. He's just a cub, after all.

"Maybe you gotta stop /doin'/ it so often, then," mutters Kaz.

Yi gathers this meeting has been resolved, and bows to the two Furies with a small half-dip of her body. "Thank you for listening," she says before looking over at Kaz and Rotem. "Best be getting back to the city now."

Kaz hops back up off her chair. "Yeah," she mutters, glancing from Tecmessa to Megaera, "I think mebbe that's prolly best." Shaking her head, she adds, to Rotem, "C'mon, kiddo, we've caused 'nuff damage f't'day."

Rotem sighs and retracts the hand. "Well, I /am/ sorry." he sighs and steps back. "I hope I will be allowed back, if that is okay. If anything else happens." the cub steps away slowly. "Gaia be with you." He says softly, then follows Kaz.

Yi leads the retreat off the Fury land, helping herself out of the front door and holding it for the other two.

Mildly, Tecmessa says, "We don't tend to welcome men here, actually. Unless on business. But farewell."

Megaera waits until the gnawers are out the door, then checks to make certain that they have closed it properly.

Kaz gives both Furies a mock salute before wandering off.

Yi closes the door quite properly after, though locking it would be up to the Furies inside as they troop back to the city.

Forgotten Church(#1801RAJLM)
The old church is dark, dimly lit by outside light coming in through scum-encrusted windows during the day, and tomblike during the night. There is a coatroom in the back of the nave, with separate doors leading off to mens' and womens' restrooms, and two staircases, one going up to the balcony and bell-tower, and the other leading down to the basement. The double doors leading out to the street are at the back of the coatroom.
The hard wooden pews in the sanctuary are, for the most part, still intact. There are even Bibles and hymnals left in the shelves along the back of each row, although many of them look rather chewed on. The altar on a dais at the front of the church is empty, and the lectern that once stood next to it has been knocked over. Rotting red cloth hangs at the very front of the church; there might once have been a design on it, but it has long since faded or been eaten away.
Contents:
Rotem
Kaz
Mural
Obvious exits:
Street Basement

Rotem enters the church first, shaking his head. "I really am sorry, Yi. I didn't mean to mouth off, it just happens."

Yi shrugs with a close of the door afterwards. "Like you said, it happens," she replies. "I've some other question to ask you though." The nomoon heads over to the bag she left on the pew full of chocolate.

Rotem nods, following her. "S'up?'

"Anneka told me, apparently, you had a challenge in mind with her," Yi begins, drawing out another chocolate egg and peeling it slowly. "Why did you feel that need to?"

Rotem sighs, having thought this was over already. "I felt offended. Over how she phrased what she said, when me and Rags were having fun." The cub sighs. "I felt it was within my rights to challenge her. So we can establish who is in charge, and who isn't.

Yi is about halfway into peeling the egg as she pauses with a look up. "You can't just establish it without a challenge?" A leg comes up as she sits in a half-crosslegged position. "You have been a cub longer than she, but that time you allowed her to pass judgement over you." She goes back to peeling the egg. "While I'm not saying it's right to be a bully by challenging cubs who barely know what they've gotten into, you do have a rank and some responsibility." She carefully strips off the rest of the foil and sticks the egg in her mouth, chewing slowly. "She'd only mentioned you two should've taken it down to the basement." Her eyes look over at him. "You know better than to randomly shift, even if it is in the church."

Rotem sighs. "I didn't challenge her judgment, I challenged how she gave it." The cub shakes his head. "And before Kaz walked in, I sat her down, and said to her, in no unsure terms..." The cub pauses, "I said to her, plain and simple. "I can challenge you, but I don't want to, lets settle this between us." The cub looks back up to Yi, sitting down into a pew. "She wouldn't agree to it, so I had to go formal."

Yi brings her other foot up to sit cross legged. She swallows the chocolate and with a short thoughtful smack of her lips she replies, "Cubs can't challenge, formally. I guess though, it is a challenge in the sense of settling a dispute." Her eyes go to the cub. "You do realize, your first impressions to her were not exactly the best. Covering a random person in ketchup is not the best way to get their good graces."

Rotem snickers as he remembers the event. "Come on, admit it. It was funny as hell." The cub smiles. "You know it was."

Yi arches at brow at Rotem. No, she doesn't find it humorous. Maybe because she doesn't get it. Or maybe, because she knows ketchup stains are hard to wash too. "Well, I will let you two sort it out between yourselves. But, I don't want to hear about killing another over it. At best, you two can do some..challenge of wits or something." She handwaves whatever example there may be.

Rotem chuckles at this. "Nah, We'll settle it. And no, I was never planning on killing her. I was thinking to first blood, or submission. Not to the death."

Yi furrows her brow. "Not exactly a fair fight, don't you think?" Implying, Rotem would have more experience in fighting.

Rotem smirks at this. "Was it supposed to be?" He snickers. "It was ment to prove to her I'm more experianced. Nothing more, nothing less."

Yi snorts, digging out another egg and scratching off the tip of the foil. "More experienced maybe, but more tactful maybe not." Her eyes flicker from cub to egg. "Just act with more of a dominant back. You as a more experienced cub, should act like you are more experienced... both in matters of fighting, and in social manners." The egg peeling pauses.

Rotem nods, "Okay." He motions to the egg. "Toy inside?"

Yi blinks up at Rotem, then looks down at the egg. "Unless it's an ant, I don't want to know," she replies. Instead she digs around inside of the bag and tosses him a neon blue plastic egg. Something clinks lightly inside in the process.

Rotem smiles. "Thanks." and cracks it open. He looks happilly at what is inside.

A clear plastic package tumbles out, clinking again. Inside the package, some oddly shaped colored plastic pieces, each colored a different color and two of them with a ridge. A puzzle toy, once put together, eventually comes out to be a ball. A ball that is thrown against a surface, breaks into pieces, and put back together again. Joy. Yi looks up at the toy that comes out, then peels the rest of the chocolate to pop in her mouth.

Rotem smiles like a small child, snapping the pieces together. "Cool!"

You paged the room with 'It's not easily snapped together, of course. Takes steady hand-eye control.. I love those toy balls.'.

Rotem gets the ball almost put together then it all crumbles in his hand. "Damnit." He mumbles, starting over.

Yi looks over at the pieces, listening to the clank and clink. With a thought, she digs around in the bag until she comes up with a green plastic egg and ponders cracking it open to see what's inside.

Rotem smiles, finnally getting the last peice in, and tossing it at Yi's forehead.

Yi looks up just in time to see the ball and jerks back, though the ball does smack against a closed eye and plops into her lap, still intact. She blinks a few times, and picks it up. And retaliates by hurling it straight at the cub's face too.

Rotem doesn't dodge it, instead heading the ball like a soccer player. The ball disintegrates into its parts as it hits his head.

Yi laughs as the ball smacks the cub and breaks apart, though she cracks open her own neon green egg and has a look see. Another ball, except this one is red solid plastic rubber and swirled around like the earth and its clouds. She smiles and takes it out, bouncing it a few times on the pew in front of her. "So, I have another question for you," she says after a little bit of bouncing.

Rotem smiles,"The answers are Yes, no, yes, maybe, no we are just friends, and sometimes, but not in public." The pauses then looks to her, "Anything else?"

Yi cants her head to the side, but shrugs at the odd answers to questions. "I was going to ask if you had ideas of what to do about your lights. The sockets are too bit to fit in the sewer sockets. I had to wire them directly, but they don't seem to stay that way very long."

Rotem shrugs. "Yeah, take me /down/ there." he looks insistant this time. "I can't make something to fit a socket I've never seen." The cub sighs. "I know I'm not ready, so the best I can suggest is, wait until I'm rited, or find someone else."

Yi rolls the ball around in her hand, thoughtfully. "I don't have much say in letting you down there, and I don't think it's safe either. Not until you're rited, no. Would it help if I brought a socket back then?" She looks up. "I got about 5 lights in. Something was tapping into the electricity wires. It made one of your lights explode."

Rotem snickers. "Sorry, most electronics aren't insulated from spirits." the cub chuckles. "Sit on it, wait. I'll get rited sooner or later, and we can all go down and rumble."

Yi snorts with a short bounce of the ball off the pew, catching it again. "There's not enough space -to- rumble in. Barely fit two across, and can't even stand up in crinos."

Rotem smirks. "Not to knock the weaver, but she has some nice toys." He grins. "And we can smoke the realm stuff with 'em."

"Smoke them out? I doubt the slime has lungs to breathe with. Bloody hell, might even like the smoke." The Canto-Gnawer creases her brow more with frustration. "John's bomb worked in burning things, but it ruptured gas lines and cause the city some damage. Maybe it will get them thinking about what is down below again, but we still have to clean up what is down there." She relaxes some, thinking. "Maybe we can bake them out." Her tongue comes out briefly as if to mock the idea, before slipping back in where it belongs.

Rotem shakes his head. "Nah, you dun' get what I mean. You got slime, you got sludge, you got deadpet down there. Right?" The cub grins. "So they all got to stand, or sit, or whatever, right?"

Yi looks up. "There's at least a foot I gather, of muck down below. Fire would work, if it didn't retreat by simply collapsing into the murk as an animal would take shelter in a river."

Rotem grins, "That is even better."

Rotem says, "You got a sewer, right? You got a sewer treatment plant... somewhere, right?"

Yi shrugs. "The Wyrm probably has that too. We can't flush it all to the river either." The grip around the ball tightens, but she looks up at Rotem. "What we do know, is that Osprey Circle is where the central point is. We should just.. blow it up or something."

Rotem chuckles. "Well I heard about this book..." He smiles. "I don't suppose you could get a walker or two to let me work with them. Out of this book I heard about."

Yi shrugs again, twisting to face the dais and lean against the pew back. "Roger and John are working on the fire bombs, I think. But we need a more permanent way of holding the pieces we win back. What book are you talking about?"

Rotem says "Some book, Umm, anarchist manual, handbook, something like that."

Yi sighs and looks down at the pew, finding the wood grain interesting suddenly. "I think we just have to cut the head off the snake. Only, we need a big knife to do it with. Or at the very least, we need to see how long the snake is." She looks back up. "Once I talk to Ming, I'll ask him for talens, and then lead a scouting group down below. We'll find out what's really down there, somehow."

Rotem nods his head. "So, anything else up around here?" he motions around with his finger. "Anything I can help with other then the lights? Or maybe a chance to spend some more time in the shadow."

Yi rolls the ball around in her hand. "You haven't seen any of those gang members that came by have you? Ran into one not too long ago, but I made it clear enough we weren't to be bothered again."

Jarred steps through the door, looking imperious and devastatingly handsome as usual.

Rotem shakes his head. "Nah, but I guess that whole Helen thing counts as excitment." He smiles looking to Jarred. "Heya."

Leonard follows Jarred in, looking around the room curiously.

Jarred turns back to the Wendigo. "So this is it. Charming, in its own way..."

Yi tilts her head over at the two new occupants before sitting up. "Little Bear!" She hops over the back of the pew and heads over to her packmate. "I thought you would have found your way back to the bluff by now," she chuckles. Jarred gets a dip of her head. "How are you, Jarred?"

Rotem looks over towards the incoming Wendigo. He rises to greet the new guest, moving off towards him. "Hey, I'm Rotem, Flying Wolf. Warrior moon. Cub of the Bone Gnawers.

Jarred nods back to Yi with a smile, following suit with Rotem as well.

Jarred walks over to Yi, placing a hand on her shoulder as a brother would a sister. "How are you, Yi. It's really been too long, my dear."

Leonard offers up a rare smile to Yi's greeting, shaking his head. "Jarred found me and brought me here." He looks around, spying Rotem as he makes his introduction, and looks him over.

Rotem offers a hand out towards Leonard in greeting. The cub tilts his head, hinting, "And you are?"

Jarred nods to Yi. "Yep.. you know those Wendigo. They have no directional sense at all..." *wink*

Yi laughs at the 'my dear' part of the statement, tapping the Shadow Lord's hand thoughtfully. "Puzzled, occassionally frustrated, but otherwise sound in mind." She smiles and glances over to Leonard. "So you know where the church is now. This is where I usually am, if you ever find reason to come see me." She looks at the interaction between Leonard and Rotem, then smirks up at Jarred. "Every animal knows better in their natural habitat."

Leonard just gives Jarred a sideways look, before addressing Rotem fully. "Your elder." He looks back to Yi and nods, both at her description of the church and her assessment.

Rotem takes a step back. "Umm, yeah." he mumbles, walking back towards the pew. "Nice to meet you." If he's a philodox and using his gift, he might beknocked on his ass from the sheer magnatude of that lie.

Yi gives Leonard a brief arch of her brow. "Right, Little Bear. Your greetings seem a little sparing of friendliness, na?" She nudges the Wendigo amiably enough on his shoulder, but firmly enough to tell him at least dignify the cub with some form of clearer intro.

Jarred turns to Rotem and Leonard with a quizzical look. "Any reason you don't care to return the introduction, Leonard? The cub was trying to be polite."

Rotem shakes his head. "Forget it Jarred. It's okay. Really. I'm used to it." the ahroun sighs and moves back to the pew.

Leonard glances at Yi, then at Jarred. "Is everything so rushed here? The cub needs to learn patience. I'd have answered him in my own time if he'd given me half a chance."

Jarred just grins. "Still as crusty as ever, Little Bear. What a pity I owe you my life, eh? Or have you forgiven me that debt?"

Rotem smiles to Jarred. "Oh, I was at the fury house today. I bumped into Megaera again. Remember, 'stick' lady?" the cub smiles, hoping Jarred remembers the joke.

Yi shrugs at Leonard. "Like I told Soulcatcher. The city is always rushed. Always running out of time, always busy." She gives a short sigh, before turning her attention over towards Jarred. "Saved your life?"

Jarred says "Actually, no."

Leonard gives a ghost of a smile to Jarred. "Spared it."

Jarred returns the smirk without commenting further.

Leonard full-out grins at Jarred, more feral than amused though both are present, and looks at Yi. "You need to slow down. I don't even know what year it is."

Rotem mumbles under his breath, "Hick." as he rummages in his backpack.

Yi looks between the two galliards, then rolls her shoulder in a shrug. "Sometimes I don't know what day it is either." The ball in her hand is flicked at the cub's head for the comment.

Leonard either doesn't hear or doesn't give the cub's word any weight, moving further into the church for a better look around. "This place is yours?"

The ball bounces off his head and under a pew. The cub shrugs and continues looking around the backpack. "He is."

Yi moves off to retrieve the ball and answers, "It's not mine, but I claim the rafters up there," she points with a grin. Then she bends down to retrieve the ball from underneath a pew. "This would be Elan's church. The Gnawers' church." Her voice is muffled beneath the pew.

Leonard huhs. "Thought you were supposed to be poor." He glances at Yi, amused.

Jarred looks sharply at the cub. "Knock it off, Rotem. You have no idea who you're talking about."

Rotem shrugs. "That is correct for most of the people I insult." The cub leans back. "Sorry... whoever you are. I don't take kindly to some things and I go too far."

Yi thunks her head against the pew above her head, though she finally straightens with a brief rub of her head and no comment. "I work, Leonard. Cook, rather." She shoots a glare over at Rotem, but it melts away with resignation. "We're not poor, persay. It depends how you look at it."

Rotem grins. "We have /stuff/ we're the richest people there are."

Leonard nods to Yi, then looks at Rotem. "Who were you insulting?"

Rotem smiles. "Forget it."

Leonard stops and turns his attention to Rotem fully. "I asked you a question. When an elder asks you a question, you answer it," he explains.

Yi makes a short sound similar to 'kaaaaah...' and then slips the ball in her pocket. This is not her day with social situations.

Rotem shrugs. "I was insulting you. Similar to the way you insulted me." The cub looks up. "Cubs are treated as children, you seem to think they are slaves." the cub rises. "No offence, but I'm getting sick of it. Not just from you." The ahroun steps closer. "Yeah, I'll get beat for this. But I've had enough for one day. Respect those beneath you. Don't treat them like a three pound sack of SHIT!"

Jarred simply listens.

Leonard arches an eyebrow. "I treated you like a slave? Not answering a question fast enough for your liking is treating you like a slave?"

Rotem growls. "Not answering it at all, or talking about me like I'm not here. That is treating me like a slave." The cub retorts, hands on his hips. "And for once, I'd like someone to /respect/ those beneath them. I haven't gotten one shred of respect lately."

Leonard says "Have you earned any?"

Rotem says "I'd like to think so. I didn't lose an eye for nothing.""

Yi sighs and plops into a pew. "I think you'll find it hard to get respect at all when you're a Gnawer, Rotem. That's the way we're treated. Eye or no eye."

Jarred clasps his hands behind his back, moving back toward Yi with a slight smile as he listens to the interchange.

Leonard seems slightly confused now, and looks to Yi. "Among your tribe losing body parts is a call for respect?"

Rotem growls. "I /lost/ it fighting a Wyrm tainted Owl spirit, that I killed without any help. In order to save a Rat spirit it was chasing."

Leonard looks back at Rotem. "Again, no patience. I didn't ask you, I asked your elder. You need to slow down. Would you lke to know why I didn't answer you right away?"

"That doesn't make you king of the junk pile, Rotem," Yi notes softly. She simply shrugs at Leonard. "Gnawer cubs are at the bottom of the heap. No way around it." She closes her eyes and sighs again.

Rotem shakes his head. "If I say no, will you still tell me?"

Leonard says simply, "No."

Jarred turns, at that. "Rotem, Leonard has repeatedly proven his bravery and wisdom to this sept. He is trying to teach you now. I would advise you to step back for a moment and listen with a new ear."

Rotem leans against a pew. "Okay, I'm listening, because I trust Jarred." He looks to Leonard, "Well what was it?"

Leonard walks over and looks down at the cub, speaking slowly. "A few reasons. I wanted to know which name to give you. Among my people it is believed there is power in a name. We have several. I wanted to see what kind of person you were before I gave you that. I also wanted to see how far along you've come. I've heard of you. People say you are trouble. I see why. But you are still a cub, and you are still learning. In the short time I've been here, though, you have proven yourself to be impatient, disobedient, disrespectful of your elders and their guests, and rude. And you seem to feel like everyone is against you. Maybe that is why you are the first to attack, I don't know. But if you think you are the only cub who has ever been treated like this, you have not been listening to your elders. They were all treated like this. I was treated like this. Sometimes it made me mad. Sometimes I saw the wisdom in it. But fighting against it only makes it last longer. Think of it as a test. A test to see if you are ready to be garou. Right now, you are not ready." He glances at Yi. "You should take him out of this place, to the forest. Less for a skinchanger to be mad at out there. The scab makes him angry, this makes him hard to teach."

Rotem shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but you've met me at a bad time. I've been going from place to place taking abuse today and telling me /elders/ thank you Sir, may I have another. This is where I draw the line. I had enough of it." The cub rises. "I apologise if I've offended you. Just like everyone else today who descided I was their whipping boy."

Yi shrugs slowly. "Adam has already banned him from the farmhouse and its land. Final Strike takes up some of the woods, while I hear the wolves have the rest. What should I do? Leave him in the caern?" She looks to Rotem. "You -are- free to move between city and caern as much as you want. If you want to go to the forest, I have no problems with it as long as you keep in mind who else lives there." She lifts a hand openly in a shrug. "I said before, I am not a good teacher of cubs."

Rotem looks to Leonard. "You think you can do better? They've all tried, and I still end the day filled with the fire. You think you can change that, then I am more then happy to try whatever you want."

Leonard nods. "They do it for a reason. You have to learn to control your anger. Rage makes you dangerous, especially as an ahroun. One of the reasons you are treated as you are is to teach you to control that anger and not respond to it. Another reason is to help you learn your place. You will someday be a man, an adult in the eyes of the Garou, and you will treat cubs the same way, for the same reasons." He listens to the cub, and nods. "It is good to be filled with fire. It is who you are. But fire can help or it can hurt. You are using it to hurt, both your tribe and your people." He glances at Yi. "I don't know... That would depend on your elders. They may not want a Wendigo teaching their cub."

Jarred shrugs. "They've already allowed me that distinction. Clearly, I have failed, however. You are welcome to try..."

Rotem smiles jokingly. He jerks a thumb at Jarred. "They are letting me live with a Shadow lord. I don't think your tribe has a worse reputation."

Leonard nods in agreement with that. "I can't teach you how to survive in the city. Your elders may want that. But maybe I can teach you how to live with yourself."

Yi snorts and stands up, moving over towards the door. She's obviously not really in the mood for it, but she pauses at the door, debating whether or not to leave.

Leonard watches Yi curiously. "What's wrong?"

Jarred watches Yi go, beginning to follow her before she stops.

Rotem sighs, laying back in the pew. "No one can teach me how to live with the fire inside." the cub lays down. "But if you can, I'd be ever greatful."

Yi turns halfway, gaze narrowed. "For the first few days of my cubhood, I was locked in a closet. A dark closet where I had to sit and wait for someone to come and open the door. Why? Because I was being hunted by others for killing a gang's leader and his two best men." She looks over at the group. "I was kept in that ... prison... until the streets finally thought me dead. And then, I was let out and taught. Coming over by ship, I again had to sit in a box, full of dead fish and ice for a month. Wallowed in my own waste, only able to eat the fish I slept on." She hunches her shoulders and shakes her head to dispell the memory. "That is how I learned patience. But I will never subject any other cub to it if I can help it."

Leonard nods, slowly. He moves over to Yi cautiously and speaks with her in low tones, touching her arm.

Leonard whispers "Listen to me, pack sister. If you want this, and if your elder agrees, I will take this one to the forest and I will teach him how to live there. Maybe away from the scab he will be calmer and without any other distractions he will listen. I don't know. For you, I am willing to try. But I would never do that, not to him or anyone else, if that is what you're worried about."

Rotem watches Leonard for several moments, then lays his head on the pew.

Yi looks up at Leonard at the touch, dark eyes hard with restraint, and replies equally in a whisper.

Leonard senses "If you want to try, I don't object. But it is not my place to say. Only with Elan's approval can he go.""

Leonard nods to Yi's words.

Leonard whispers "I've already talked to him about something like this, where we teach Gnawers how to live in the woods and they teach my tribe how to live in the city. I don't know how he would feel about it being a cub, though. Ask him for me, if you see him. You should come too. Get out of this city, maybe clearing your head of the smell here will help you think clearer about what to do with the sewer." He seems concerned about you."

Jarred says "You know what? We all have our sob stories. Leonard's people have been subjected to more tragedy and villainy than any other Tribe. I just took a trip to see the sight of my family's death, only to find that it's been turned into a nest of fulsome banes and tained spirits. Life sucks. It's part of who we are. We need to get over it."

Rotem sighs. "Then why do we bother? If everything is so fucked up, try something else. Why stick to the same old ways?"

Yi looks back to her packmate, holding his eyes a moment then nods slowly. She turns from the door, then looks over at Jarred. "Of course," she replies, voice a little firm in that respect. "Tragedies happen everyday. We do what we can to fight them... and laugh while doing it." Then again, she doesn't seem to be laughing. Her eyes go back to Leonard, then gaze out towards Rotem. Her gaze half-lids, mind filled with thought.

Leonard rubs her arm, a bit awkwardly, then sighs and folds his arms. "The old ways aren't bad ways. At least some of them. But you have to know how things work now before you can see what might work better."

Rotem sighs. "You think you can teach me?"

Leonard shrugs. "We'll see, if Elan allows it."

Jarred looks up. "If he let me, he'll let you."

Yi looks over at Leonard, before reaching up to rub the back of her neck. She says nothing about it, for now.

Rotem sighs. "I'm sorry Jarred. I'm sorry I couldn't listen to what you tried to teach me." The cub sighs, and for once sounds sincere. "I'm sorry."

Jarred looks sincere as well. "All I know is that it says something, when a tribe's cub who has been taught by his elders, and another tribe's elder, still hasn't learned to keep himself under control..."

Rotem sighs hands folding one over the other. "Yeah. That I'm a hopeless case and should be culled. I know." He leans back and closes his eyes.

Jarred says "That may be true... I suppose it's up to you."

Leonard says nothing, just glances at Yi.

Rotem shakes his head. "My elders gave me one last chance. I'm wagering I just blew it. So no. Its up to them, now."

Yi's anger flares slightly, evident in her eyes and tensing posture. "You are not a hopeless case. If you were, why in the bloody hell would I keep trying to find some way to teach you?" Dark eyes flash. "You've learned by now that life is hard. You've learned by now, that fighting is hard. You've learned by now, that fighting Against your elders is hard." Her throat tightens as her jaws clenches, the nomoon fighting for some control. "If only you would learn that you need some tact in your words, some patience in your mind...some restraint of the strength you so clearly have." Yi balls her hand up tightly, turns, and punches the door of the church. The wood cracks, though nothing more. She takes a slow breath afterwards, slumping against the frame.

Leonard looks at Yi, alarmed at her outburst, then takes a look at her hand, frowning.

Rotem sighs keeping his eyes closed, but doesn't reply. He just sits there on the pew without saying a word.

Jarred turns to the cub. "I may not be able to teach you, but you still have a place to stay, if you wish it."

Rotem nods to Jarred. "Thank you." he says and looks to Leonard. "Unless I'm going to be staying in the woods."

Yi clears her throat, ragged with restraint as she looks at her hand. She picks out a piece of wood from it, tossing the bloody sliver away and sighs. She turns around, looking over to Leonard with the look of a tired soul. "Take him. Teach him. I'll deal with Elan later," she replies quietly.

Leonard hisses through his teeth, looking her hand over. He nods to her, brushing her hair out of her eyes gently. "You should shift up, looks like its broken." He glances at Rotem, nodding. "You'll be living in the woods."

Rotem grumbles softly. "Figures" and stands up, hands shoving in his pockets. "You come visit, okay?" he looks to Jarred, "Bring food, If you can." The cub winks and walks over towards Leonard and Yi. "I'm sorry I've gotten you angry again Yi. I'll go with... whoever this guy is. And I'll listen to him, give him a chance to teach me." The cub sighs. "I won't just ignore him like I usually do."

Leonard shakes his head. "No visits. Just you and me."

Rotem sighs. "Okay, if that is what it takes." The cub goes and picks up his backpack. "Well, lets go see if you can succeed where others have failed."

Leonard shakes his head. "Clothes on your back. That's it."

Yi looks at her hand again, the gesture more to drop her eyes than anything else, then looks back up as Rotem approaches. She straightens out her slump, asserting dominance even in midst of feeling self-defeat. "I don't know why I try so hard. But I'm sure it was the same when Li was trying to reach me." Her eyes flash with pain, physical and mental, and she opens up the door after. Her unbroken hand reaches up to feel the dent she's made in it. "Great...damaged the door again," she mutters.

Jarred looks at Leonard darkly for a moment, then to Rotem with the same expression, but says nothing. He simply turns and walks out fo the church silently, his dark-gloved hands still clasped behind his back.

Rotem shakes his head at this. "My stuff goes where I do. I'm a Gnawer. Tribal thing. We /don't/ leave our stuff behind."

Leonard shakes his head. "You're a cub, I'm a cliath. You do what I tell you. You're not a Gnawer until you complete your Rite of Passage."

Rotem looks over his backpack, then back to Yi. "I don't want to leave my stuff." He says quietly. Holding the backpack to him. "Can you get Julie to watch it for me?"

Yi nods at Rotem. "Your things will be fine. Leave them downstairs, in one of the rooms."

Rotem sighs. "Fine." he says, obviously unhappy, and he heads down towards the basement.

Leonard shakes his head. "And you call me stubborn."

Rotem returns from having buried his pack, and looks to Leonard. "Okay, anything else?"

Yi checks out her broken hand, then shrugs. "What should I tell Elan? That my tribe can't teach its own cubs properly?" She sighs and shakes her head. "Gnawer pride indeed."

Leonard smiles. "Sometimes things need a different approach, that's all. You haven't failed. He's just different. Feel free to come out and make sure I'm not turning him into a white-hating whooping savage."

Rotem chuckles at the thought, then leans back. "Thats okay, but if you do, you teach me how to scalp someone." The cub chuckles and goes to wait outside.

Yi grits her teeth to ignore the pain of her hand before she decides to shift briefly, gaining the healing benefits of her near-man form before shifting all the way to her lupine form. She chuffs quietly, with a flick of her ears. I trust you, Little Bear.

Jermantown Avenue, Industrial Sector
From warehouses a few blocks away from the river, across a chunk of city more than a dozen blocks wide, factories brood over the streets like dark dragons over their piles of treasure, greedy and all-encompassing. Huddling around the factories are smaller, less imposing buildings that are probably warehouses, or storage locations for trucks. The factories spill fumes into the air, darkening the area and blanketing it in a stench to mark humankind's domination over the world. Some of the warehouses stand empty, some are boarded over, and some, on the northern and western fringes of the area, have been converted to bars, with bizarre lighting, frequent brawls, and music that blares loudly at all hours of the night. There are no residences here for anyone to complain, and the factory workers populate the bars thickly. Throughout the area, trash and oil mingle together on alleyway streets, impeding the paths to the dumpsters at the ends of many of the alleys.
Contents:
Rotem
SCPD Patrol Car
Truck
Obvious exits:
Filthy Alley Forgotten Church East West

Leonard looks at Rotem. "You know the way to the woods?"

Rotem nods softly. "Yeah. I know it. You want to lead?"

Three-Blades comes out alongside Leonard, her hand.. or paw rather, healed with the shift. She sniffs around, briefly, before chuffing to them. I'll be around.

Leonard kneels, scrubbling her head fondly. "Come visit."

Three-Blades nuzzles the hand then flicks her ears to the cub. Best of luck. With that, she takes off towards some easternly direction.

[Later...]

Two Eagles Bluff(#3332RJ)
To the northeast, the foothills climb upwards into the steep, snow-capped crags and mountains. Here, the tall summer grasses bend in sporadic waves as the wind dances on the bluff. The evergreens and aspens give way to an open field that lends itself to a panoramic and picturesque view to the south and east. A small stream wends its way unobtrusively through the eastern edge of the mountain's crags, the scent and sound of trickling water clear on the hesitant but almost incessant breeze. Wildflowers litter the green of the grass, coloring them with touches of violet and bright oranges, yellows and blues. Tucked in along the sloped wall of the forested foothills to the northeast is a well-worn section of ground.
Contents:
Rotem
Leonard
Obvious exits:
Stream Cave Trail

Rotem moves towards the enterance of the hut, he crawls into it and then sits inside, moving to lean against the wall as he kneels. "Yo? You in here?"

Leonard's voice comes from out of the darkness. "Hush." He moves, there's a plop and a hiss, and suddenly it gets warmer. The sounds repeat two, three times, and Leonard pulls the flap closed. Its dark, its silent, its oppressively hot. The smell of spruce and something else you can't quite identify fills the small space, and you begin to realize what this is called a sweat as you begin to do so, profusely.

Rotem sits there quietly. He moves into the classic Gnawer style sitting possition, back against the wall, legs pulled up to his chest, arms wrapped about them,

Leonard's voice comes from the darkness again after a few minutes. "You alright?"

Yi comes up with the wind in her face and a short puffing. She must be trying to make an effort in reaching the place without taking the wolf, and lately has been working up to it. When she reaches the fire and the sees the sweatlodge, she blinks a few times, before moving towards the stream to dunk her face in. This done, she ees softly at the cold of the water and then moves to the fire outside. "Little Bear, are you in there?" she calls quietly.

Leonard moves to stick his head out of the lodge, wiping the sweat from his face. "Here. He's here too. Feel free to join us if you need to."

Rotem remains inside, working rather hard at keeping his lunch down. He doesn't say anything or move, just sits there, sweating like a pig.

Yi shakes her head with polite refusal, though she smiles back at the Wendigo. "I'll be fine out here," she replies. "If you need more stones, I'll pass them to you though."

Leonard says "Alright." He closes the flap before too much steam gets out and settles back in, telling Rotem, "If you feel sick, put your face against the ground and breathe deep. Air's cooler there.""

Rotem lowers his head and does as instructed, then sits back up after a few breaths. "I'll be okay."

Leonard nods. "Only a little while longer."

Rotem leans his head back. "No questions." he repeats in a whisper, then closes his eyes.

A few more minutes pass. "Alright, c'mon. Close the flap behind you to keep the steam in." He moves out of the hut and immediately runs for the stream.

Yi is faced away from the entrance of the lodge, so she doesn't see them but does hear them emerge. She sits crosslegged at the fire, enjoying the heat while waiting for them.

Rotem emerges as well, the flap thrown closed and he runs out, butt naked as he splashes into the streak as well. "COLLLD!!"

Yi continues not to pay them much mind, but there are hints of blush on her cheeks. Or is that just heat from the fire? Nonetheless, she doesn't avert her eyes from the dancing flames which reflect off her dark gaze. Her breathing is calm, slow, relaxed after a long run.

Leonard dunks his head in the stream, comes up sputtering, and then wades back up on shore and heads for the hut again.

Rotem follow suit. He then moves after Leonard. The cub is shivvering again, as he runs off to the hut.

Leonard calls for a few more rocks from Yi, letting Rotem enter first, then moves in behind him and retakes his seat. "Alright. That was for the body, this one's for the mind. You have any doubts or fears or are unsure of what's going to happen, hatreds or jealousies or bad feelings, get them out now, let them go with the steam up and away from you."

Yi looks up, then looks around for the tongs that hold the hot rocks. She finds them and brings them over to the lodge, passing them over to Leonard in the lodge. "Things going well I hope?" she queries softly.

Leonard pops his head out and takes them, nodding. "So far."

Rotem smiles. "Then I'm going to be in here a /long/ time." The cub resumes his earlier possition. Doubts could take a day, fears a day, unsure of whats going to happen..." The cub chuckles, "Knowing would help. Hatreds? Hmm.. Furies, Elders, you name it."

Leonard moves slightly, and with another plop foooosh, the steam intensifies. "As lon as it takes. Say them. Let them out of your mouth and up with the steam."

Rotem shrugs. "Okay, can we order some pizza in here then? S'gonna be a while." The cub closes his eyes. "Lets see... Doubts.. doubts.." The cub calls out louder. "Yi? you mind taking a hike for a while?"

Yi passes a few more rocks over to Leonard, then walks off. Her lightening footsteps sound like she is indeed moving off towards the stream.

Leonard's voice comes quietly out of the dark. "Don't worry about her. You give them strength by hiding them. Let them out and see them for the powerless things they are."

Rotem says "Okay now. Doubts. I doubt my future. I doubt if I will live to see my rite. If I will be culled. Then I doubt if I will live through my rite. I doubt if I will be able to take a place in our culture. I doubt if I want to. I doubt if I agree with the old ways. And the new ones. I doubt in the knowlege of my elders. I am told to protect the veil, and then I watch it rended. I am told to protect the weak, and then am told to kill them. I am told to survive is most important, then I am told I should throw myself headlong into the wyrm, if only to have a chance to kill it before I die." The cub sighs. "I know not what to do." The ahroun opens his eyes in the darkness, "I don't deal well with life. I can fight, I can battle. But in peacetime, I am lost. I am a bomb ticking away.""

Leonard says "That's why you're here. I'm going to teach you what a warrior does when there is no war to fight. There's more to being a warrior than war. You have a place here. You just need to find it."

Rotem nods towards where the voice in the darkness comes from. "I doubt our battle." The cub relents. "I have been told we will lose. I am told we must fight a doomed battle. And I have to ask... Why?" The cub leans back again. "The wyrm must be stopped. But if we already know we cannot stop it, why do we continue?"

Leonard says "If you know you're going to die, why continue living?"

Yi returns after awhile, replacing some of the water from the skin outside the lodge in case Leonard wants more water too. She then goes back to the fire, silent as she sits back down and watches the dancing flames again. Listening or not, she makes no comments, no indication she's there, listening to the crackle of the wood and observing the firelight.

Rotem chuckles. "You sound like me after battle." the cub smirks, "I am told I once said, if you can't die, you can't live." The ahroun smiles. "I don't understand it, but when I'm in battle, when I'm fighting something that wants to kill me. Only then do I feel alive. Only then do I feel like I'm right. Like I'm where I belong."

Leonard sighs. "We'll see if we can't help you with that. There's more here than we're going to make right tonight. For now, just let your questions go. Up and away. Forget them. I want a clean plate to start with for tomorrow. No doubts, no fears, no questions, just a cub who wants to listen and learn."

Rotem sighs. "And.. there is something else."

Leonard says "Go ahead. Now is the time for it."

Rotem says "I need to find a spirit, or jewdism. Have a long talk with it. I need some answers. I need to work out some things...""

Leonard says "We'll see how you do first. You may not be ready for that yet."

Yi lifts a stick and stirs the fire, smiling faintly as the sparks fly out free to the night. Then she returns to letting her eyes dance with the licks of flame.

Rotem says "So I guess that is it. Mind and body. Soul next?""

Leonard moves towards the door. "Bingo. C'mon." He heads back down to the water.

Rotem runs off down towards the water, and stops at the edge of it, not stepping in this time. He kneels down by the water and looks down at it.

Leonard jumps right in, splashing him, and wallows around for a few minutes, huffing.

Rotem looks up from his reflection, looking to Leonard. "You coming?" he asks, motioning to the water. "Or are we doing the spirit on this side?"

Yi is about lost in watching the flames, her eyes distant from her present location even if she sees the fire before her. The other two don't get so much as a peep out of her.

Leonard wades back up to the shore. "This side. The umbra here isn't for you."

Rotem arches an eyebrow and jumps into the water, emerging soon after and heading back to the lodge. "Why?" he asks, lifting the flap to enter.

Leonard says "What'd I say about questions." He enters first this time and pops a few more rocks into the water (adding a bit more from Yi's thoughtful leaving). "Now, spirit. What's this judiasm thing. Your religion?"

Rotem nods and sits down again. "Yeah. Only it doesn't fit in with Gaia and the triat. Leaves me in the lurch."

Leonard says "Why?"

Rotem shrugs. "I am your god, your one and only god, there are no others." The cub chuckles. "Then I go to the umbra, and bam, I got spirits left and right."

Leonard chuckles. "Spirits aren't gods. They're spirits."

Rotem shakes his head. "Jewdism is weird about that. Anyone who communicates with spirits is condemned to death." The cub shrugs. "Its like totally in opposition of what I know now."

Leonard sighs. "I will never understand white people."

Rotem smiles, "Leonard, You have no idea how much I envy you in that." the cub sighs, "I'd rather not understand most of them myself."

Leonard chuckles. "Then you came to the right place. Anyway, that one's pretty simple. Your religion was a human religion. You're not human. No more human religion. You're Garou now. You know the truth. To do otherwise is to lie to yourself."

Rotem sighs. "I can't just give it up that easily." The cub shakes his head. "It is how I was raised."

Leonard says "I didn't say it was easy. I said it was simple. Simple things are almost never easy."

Rotem closes his eyes and leans back. "So what do I do this time?"

Yi blinks a few times, then comes back to reality from her little mind trip. She turns her head to look towards the stream, then the lodge. Hearing the voices, she shrugs and then turns back to the fire. It's paranoia, perhaps.

Leonard is silent a moment. "That's up to you to decide. The way I was raised, you look after your family, your tribe. Now I have a new tribe, but I'm still a part of my old one, very much. But to be a true member you have to live with your tribe. There is no one Okanagan. So what do I do? I know the fight here is important, but I miss my family, my grandfather and my mother. I haven't seen them in two years, almost. I send messages, but its not the same." He goes quiet for a ime. "We all have these simple things to live with."

Rotem lays on the ground, his eyes closed, hands on his chest, There is a long silence in the hut. Then in a soft whisper Rotem mutters "I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle."

Leonard hehs. "Is that everything?"

Rotem considers this for a moment, then sighs. "I think I'll stay here a little longer."

A stone on a pair of tongs works its way into the lodge, glowing with heat. Otherwise, no audible signs of the Yi.

Leonard nods. "Don't stay too long. You've got a busy day tomorow. Up with the sun then to our basecamp." He drops one last stone into the water, then moves out of the lodge, and dunks himself one last time before checking his clothes. He moves both his and Rotem's damp things to the fire, laying them out on the ground, and goes to get a blanket to wrap around himself before motioning for Yi to join him by the fire.

Rotem remains in the lodge. He might have fallen asleep in there, or might just be thinking quietly. Either way, no sound is heard from him.

Yi joins Little Bear by the fire, as quiet as Rotem for a few. Then she speaks softly, as if the silence would be shattered by anything louder. "How goes?"

Leonard wipes some water from his face with the blanket. "It goes. I think this did some good. He'll be calmer tomorrow, and by the end of the day too tired to be much trouble. I'll keep him busy and try to get him to listen."

Rotem emerges from the tent after another ten or fifteen minutes, rising up and walking over to the water's edge. He sits at it for a moment, perched upon his toes, his knees bent. He then rises up and turns back to the fire, looking at the two. He doesn't say a word as he walks over and moves to sit down as well, still in the nude.

Yi gazes at the fire again, it seems the flames are fascinating, or maybe comforting with the heat and light they provide. "That sweatlodge, is very good at bringing out troubles," she observes quietly. After a short period more of silence, she adds on a different note. "I spoke with Soulcatcher yesterday. Of speaking with spirits, and earning names. He spoke of.. this one ritual. A quest, for visions." She looks up. "You know what he was speaking of?"

Leonard nods. "Just about every tribe sends their children off for one when they think they're ready to be adults."

Leonard glances at Rotem. "You wear the wolf tonight. You'll find it more comfortable to sleep in."

Rotem nods and looks to Yi. "Soon I must go to the mounds with Elan, it is almost time." the cub then bows and stalks off slightly. "I can go find my own place to sleep?" he asks, looking to Leonard.

Leonard says "Stay on the bluff for tonight."

Rotem shifts slowly down to lupus and walks around the fire, collapsing at the edge of it. His paws are laying out before him, his head resting on the ground.

Yi drops her eyes back to the fire, not looking at the cub, a faint smile on her features. "We were speaking of names, for his and Light Feather's child. We didn't come up with one, but it turned to a topic of what names meant. His, Robin's, and finally mine. I explained to him my name and its meanings, though he said he wouldn't have given me that name." She chuckles. "Then I asked him, well what would he name me? But he said, Names are discovered, not given.." She looks up to the Wendigo. "He mentioned questing for such a name. A little like going to the Silver River. But not as intense." She tilts her head. "Have you gone on one of those quests?

Leonard nods. "Twice. Once for my tribe. That's where Soulcatcher found me, when I learned what I really was." He smiles a little at the memory. "I thought they were all part of my vision for a while there. He and Duane can tell you some funny stories." He glances at the little Gnawer. "Other one was to find out what Grandmother wanted. That one was..." He exhales. "Wow. Intense."

Yi looks thoughtful, her smile not disappearing, though waning briefly. "Soulcatcher told me it may be good to go on one of those quests. If only for the sake of clearing my mind of somethings." She glances up and shrugs. "It is a strange idea, but not unknown. I know Sifu would go on such kinds of quests, meditating at the temple for days at a time."

Leonard nods, slowly. "Kind of like that. You go find a place, out in the wilds, where you know you'll be alone. You take some water, and you sit there and cry for a vision until you get one. Usually takes three-four days."

Leonard stretches and yawns. "Alright. I'm gonna sleep here. You're welcome to stay the night."

Rotem appears to already be asleep, his tail absently flopping around from time to time.

Yi muses over that idea, then looks over at the cub before peering back up at Leonard. "Maybe I will," she smiles, standing up. "I'll head over to the lake and have another run around it perhaps. What were you planning to do with him tomorrow?" The canto-gnawer, ever curious.

Leonard smiles. "Head up into the mountains and see how he hunts after a twenty-mile hike. Stay there for a few days, see if we can't get him to realize there's more to being a warrior than war."

Yi tilts her head, peering at Little Bear oddly. "I'm not sure how that will help him see that, but.. as I said, I trust you." She smiles, then turns a little wry. "And your tribe still owes me some lessons too, about the wild." She laughs softly, then shrugs it off. "I'll see you in the dawn, perhaps?"

Leonard nods. "Come early, we'll be leaving as soon as we greet the sun. Bring the rest of the pack up after a day or two. We'll show him the good parts of being one of Grandmother's Chosen."

Yi chuckles then nods. "I'll do that, maybe. Need to show you the other Gnawer cub. Soulcatcher said it was ok if she wanted to swim in the lake." With another shrug, she waves to the Wendigo and glances to the sleeping cub once before turning and shifting to the wolf.

Leonard nods, frowning. "Be careful. Don't let her do it alone."

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