Jarred strolls the street casually, hands in his pockets, clearly enjoying the night air. He hasn't seemed so at ease in a long time. Perhaps he's come to some realization, or perhaps he's completely stoned.

No surprise is greater than when a tough street gangster realizes a girl shorter than he is far more competent at fighting than he'd expected. Still, the young man has other things to worry about in his dream lands, and the Gnawer is busily looting the body for cash, watch, and whatever else comes to mind that could be sold for value. One of the few things her sharp eyes slip across is a package of marijuana, which she stops and inspects before slipping it into a jacket pocket. At the sound of footsteps, she looks up and behind her cautiously out of the alley entrance way.

Jarred's sensitive ear picks up the faint shuffling sounds from the alley, and the Shadow Lord comes to a lazy stop. His eyes probe the dimness of the alleyway, then widen slightly before sliding down to the prone figure laying in the grime of the street. "Yi?"

Yi stiffens at her name, eyes immediately narrowing in defense as she looks at the Shadow Lord. Immediate recognition sparks her mind into motion and she stands up from her mantling crouch over the unconscious punk, straightening her jacket. "Hello Jarred."

Jarred glances once more at the unfortunate lad. "A would be assailant, I presume? One would think they'd have learned by now the futility of a life of crime, whether its a matter of survival or not... Is he dead?"

Yi shakes her head, lifting up a watch she pilfered off the punk. "No," she responds quietly. "And not an assailant. A victim." The Shadow Lord gets a quick smirk from the Gnawer as she slips the watch over a bandaged hand and wrist. Fake is better than none, after all.

Jarred smirks as well, turning to enter the alleyway, hands still carelessly thrust into his pockets. With a polished black shoe, he turns the punk over a bit, looking at his grimy face, now oddly peaceful as he sleeps. The smirk fades. "A victim of what? Circumstances? Fate? The ravages of the Weaver?"

Yi's smirk turns into a faint smile as she sniffs softly. "Of his own human nature," she answers, lifting up the small package of marijuana from her pockets. It's like showing a prize, but with the Gnawer it's less of a trophy. "Out for a walk?" she queries, throwing away the topic of the unconscious man the way one would toss out trash. "Or were you looking for me?"

Jarred shrugs. "Just walking, but I'm glad I found you just the same. It's been a long time since we've talked. Perhaps it's been better that way, I suppose, but I do miss our occasional talks. Do you need help with him, or will you just leave him where he lays?"

Yi glances down at the streetpunk, and shrugs. "He wouldn't want my help. His friends should come back, sooner or later," she notes before turning her gaze back to the Shadow Lord. There's a calmness about her that veils what turbulence could be swirling within. An amorality, not necessarily immorality. "It has been awhile since we've met, hasn't it? You have been...busy?" The marijuana is pocketed once more with no second thoughts. "Perhaps we can go...elsewhere to talk. I doubt he," she inclines her head at the punk below, "will be happy to see me when he wakes."

Jarred looks down once more at the strangely frail looking urchin. "Indeed... have you eaten? I'm rather hungry, myself."

Yi shakes her head in answer. It's about this point she does appear to be rather pale, and slightly gaunt around the eyes. Like she hasn't had a good night's sleep for awhile. Still, she doesn't seem eagerly awaiting food. "I will follow your lead," she says quietly, awaiting the Shadow Lord's decision.

Jarred nods. "You should eat. We'll go to the Rat & Raven. It's a good pub with good food. I eat there often."

Rat and Raven Main Room(#2828RJM)
A relaxed atmosphere characterizes this room: less rowdy than a bar, less formal than a restaurant, the pub is filled with a friendly hubbub that spills out from tables and the bar itself. Several tables are scattered across the floor, each with room enough for two or three people at a time to walk between them. The tables are a dark wood, kept clean by the waitresses bustling around to accept orders. The patrons range from low twenties to their mid-fifties, or thereabouts, both male and female. Paintings decorate the wall, one each of the 'mascots' of the bar, a rat to the left of the door, a raven to the right, both depicted with a nobility not commonly offered to, at least, the rat. The other paintings include a three-masted ship, sails spread to the wind, that matches the tiny ship in a bottle behind the bar.
Contents:
Jarred
Obvious exits:
STreet

Jarred walks in, gesturing to one of the wait-staff.

The waiter greets both of you with a smile. "Seating for two? Right this way, please."

Entering after the Shadow Lord, Yi quickly assesses the contents of the pub; the people, the decorations, the atmosphere. Nothing escapes a fleeting, scrutinizing glance.

Jarred follows the waiter to a booth off in a slightly less busy corner of the greatroom. He waits for Yi to sit before doing so himself.

Yi slides into the booth, sitting closer towards the wall to gain an outward scope from her position. As menus are dropped off, she picks one and scrolls through it. "So, what has kept the mind of a singer busy, these days?"

Jarred's face clouds very slightly as he sits. "Seems I haven't done much singing lately. Been concerned with other developments, not the least of which is my upcoming challenge for fostern. Again. When I allow it, the subject weighs on me more than it should. It may not be easy to understand this, but I'm in a very precarious position with my tribe. I am elder, but not of greatest rank among us. I need that rank to gain a certain measure of legitimacy, though I am certainly the right wolf for the job. Also, it seems that an attack will be made on the hospital, which, you might recall, had distrastous consequences the last time it was attempted."

It doesn't take long for Yi to remember. "It was my first battle here, alongside the others here," she says quietly. "It seems that the heirarchies yearn for new leaders, new ranks. Since I last heard that Brian left..." She puts down the menu to observe the pub. "What will you do, if you move up the ladder?"

Jarred looks at Yi for a moment. "The Shadow Lords of the Hidden Walk simply... exist. There are 4 of us. Two are Metis, One is Lupus, and I am the fourth. My goal is to rebuild the tribe's presence here. Our counsel is disregarded here because of our small number. That must change. Of all the tribes, even the Shadow Lords have their place... their ultimate purpose. Our advise may not often be popular, but there is need of our foresight and pragmatism, even in times of relative peace. With Otter gone, there is no credibility. I must return that to our tribe."

Yi's features flash confusion for a moment. Otter, to her at least, is the young sprite of a Gnawer halfmoon. Then again, there were, there are, so many at the Hidden Walk she has yet to know. Everytime it seems there's a new face. "The powers of one should not be underestimated," Yi intones quietly with a nod. "I do not believe I've met the others of your tribe." Her voice fades as the waitress returns for their orders.

The waitress smiles warmly. "Have you decided what you'd like?" She glances down to Yi.

Jarred waits for Yi's order before giving his own.

"Just soup... and this," Yi points down at the menu, near the sandwich section. A simple club sandwich. "And water." The Gnawer didn't seem to have trouble picking out something, but it didn't seem like she knew what she was looking at either. Not that the waitress noticed or anything.

"Would you like some french fries or salad with that, honey?"

Yi glances up at the waitress, again the moment of confusion passing. Why was she still here? "Uh..." The Gnawer glances back at the menu, only to shrug away the futility of reading a language she's not that familiar with. "Fries." Simple, and hopefully the weakness of language doesn't show /too/ much.

Jarred looks over, smiling, and perceives what the waitress did not. "I'll have the same..." The waitress nods and wanders off to the next table under her charge. The Shadow Lord looks vaguely guilty. "Sorry about that. I totally forgot that English wasn't your first language."

Yi shakes her head and shrugs away to assuage any guilty feelings. "Nothing that you can help, in that," she says while handing the menu back to the waitress. She waits for the girl to leave before tilting her head at the Shadow Lord. "You know... I never got to apologize, for my actions, and words." The Asian girl gauges Jarred for a reaction.

Jarred freezes, the paranoia of that former situation returning for the briefest of moments. "I... you acted as your conscience dictated. No one can expect more than that. It was a... hard time. For everyone. It haunts me still."

That event is far behind however, the least of her worries truly. "There was nothing to prevent it. As Gaia wills, so it is," Yi notes softly with another fade as a couple glasses of ice water are placed upon the table by the waitress, who leaves promptly. "I just wish to amend the gap that I guessed had grown."

Jarred looks up. "Which gap is that? I'll clear it now."

Yi takes a short sip of her water, and sets down the glass to cup her hands around it. "A gap in the friendship between us. Since I'd left, I hadn't spoken to you at all after accussing you of culling...the cub." She lowers her eyes down to the water. "But it is no longer important, and what suspicions there may be, do not exist anymore." She takes a deep breath. "So." She glances up. "Let us begin again, as friends."

The Shadow Lord's eyes cloud over again, this time with what appears to be genuine emotion, though his voice remains carefully steady. "That gap may have existed for you, but it never did for me. It's in my nature to lash out with strong words at those I perceive as aggressors. But those flashes of temper never last long. I realize that the damage was done and I couldn't cross over to where you all were after the incident with Rotem, but I still held hope for an eventual reconciliation."

A faint smile plays over the newmoon's lips, her head bowing in a dip to the man before her. The motion is held for a second or so, and released just as the waitress arrives with the pair's food. Yi adds in a quick 'thank you' and glances back at Jarred. By her submissive nature now, it seems she is waiting for the Shadow Lord to eat first.

Jarred takes a drink of his water, and pops a french fry into his mouth, his eyes raising critically to the ceiling in an exaggerated gesture of finickyness. "Excellent. This is really quite excellent." He smiles at the other, hopeing she realizes he's joking. While the food here is good, it's certainly not 'excellent'.

Yi does indeed catch on that Jarred is joking, but the waitress simply shrugs and continues on her way to serve other tables. The pair of them must seem rather strange... in an innate way. Yi samples her own fries, dipping them in what seems to be clam chowder from a can. "Sure it is," she suggests with her own quiet nipping of the fry's soggy end. Dinner with a tribe elder. How nice.

Jarred says "I'm assuming that you've heard about Kaz's challenge to Elan, yes?"

Yi nods, only barely covering the next to sheer ravenous appetite that's built up over the course of the day. "Though she would rather I call her Kaz...without the honorific ending." She shrugs lightly. "I've heard about many things that have happened. But the old problems are still here. The sewers. The hospital."

Jarred nods as he takes a bite of his sandwich. He swallows before continuing. "If anyone can tackle those problems, it's Kaz. She's rather... tenacious. Just between you and I," Here the Shadow Lord adopts a mock-conspiratorial aire. "I'm planning on buying one of the early additions of the comic and presenting it to her as a gift before her challenge is complete. It'll be my own way of 'mending gaps'."

Yi, in the middle of swallowing, drinks a bit of water to help the food slide down better. She clears her throat mildly before blinking at the Shadow Lord. "I thought her challenge was complete?" The Gnawer newmoon looks confused. "But I'm sure she would appreciate congratulatory gifts, anyway..."

Jarred cocks his head. "Her challenge for Fostern, yes. But that's not the challenge I was speaking of. The other night, Kaz challenged Elan for Tribal Eldership, and he accepted."

Yi blinks again, surprised this time. "She did?" The newmoon 'hunhs' with an odd grunt and nods with the new information. "It seems... I'm still out of touch with what is happening here." The Gnawer shrugs. What else is new...

Jarred waves that off. "I wouldn't worry about that. It only happened a few night ago, and there were very few witnesses. As a Galliard, I'm responsible for spreading the news."

Yi nods again, though her gaze travels to the half-eaten sandwich on her plate. Her brow furrows with some thought, face gaining a distant quality to it. That is fleeting however, as she pushes down questions that are set to simmer. "The world truly changes swiftly, doesn't it."

Jarred takes a deep breath. "It does indeed... And most of us are only along for the ride."

Yi continues picking at her plate, wondering inwardly about some matters. "And we're all just trying to find our footing in it, before we slip off." The newmoon glances up at Jarred. "Is there anything else to know that is new?"

Jarred says "Only that a new garou has come from the Sept of the Western Eye. Her name is Irene. She's a Gaian Philodox. She introduced herself at the caern after Kaz's challenge."

"A great number of faces come to this sept," Yi comments thoughtfully. "It must have quite a history to attract so many." The young newmoon glances up as the waitress comes by to ask if their meal is going well.

Jarred nods. "It has a very auspicious history, no doubt about that. But the Caern of the Last Days was my home, and to it my thoughts always seem to return."

Yi twists a very wry smile at that, hiding her own bitter memories of home beneath a dark curtain. She asks politely for the check, and turns back to the Lord. "Will you be taking action there, as well?"

Jarred shakes his head silently before answering. "No. I probably will not return there. The caern is broken and desecrated, and the caves are infested with Wyrm filth. It will never be the same. The Sept I once knew is no more."

Yi lowers her gaze in retrospect and a moment of silence passes for the fallen. "For now... then... a goal... to build upon what strength remains, and continue on." The newmoon says it with conviction, as if it meant more to her than just speaking of fallen caerns. And, the check comes. Finally. And she reaches for the bill first.

Jarred has the check before Yi can get to it. "Certainly not, Yi. I'm the elder here" He smirks at that. "And I invited you, remember? The bill's mine to pay."

Yi returns the smirk, though dips her head in acquiesce. "Then I owe you, Jarred." Asians and their gift-giving policies.

Jarred grins back. "How well I know. But that's what we Shadow Lords /do/, isn't it?"

Yi rises from her seat to slide out of the booth. "Indeed, you know yourselves well," she smiles. "I'll be seeing you then. Good night, Jarred."

Jarred nods and rises out of politeness. "Good night, Yi."