Dante steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Dante has arrived.

Sepdet emerges from the area of the clearing with Dante, head bowed slightly. ~What's up?~ she asks the Gaian softly.

Dante says "Oh... just wanted to see how you were doing... and I had somethihng to share I thought you might find ... amusing, perhaps."

From the quiet of the brush, Yi's brown form steps out. Her coat riddled with burrs and other signs of directionless wandering, she glances at the two Garou and balks. Ears flat to her head, she pauses, wondering whether to dart back into the bush, or actually communicate with another face.

Sepdet rolls her shoulders. ~Well. Other than wanting to break stones every time I see them...~ she sighs. ~I offered healing to Nightflash and Ethan, however. Following in her footsteps is probably the hardest path I have taken so far.~ She touches the feather in her hair lightly, then shakes her head to clear dark thoughts away and focus more fully on the present. ~Tell me.~

Dante glances for a moment to Yi's form, before returning his gaze to Sepdet. "The reason Ethan said he could not learn Contrition from me is that I insisted he perform it to you, as well as Brian and Joseph as a condition. But... as you may have heard, he's not really sorry. So it wouldn't work anyway. Amusing, but sad. Steven's had too much influence on the boy, I'm afraid."

Sepdet's mouth turns down again. ~Considering what he just called me? I think not.~ Her jaw tightens. ~And there are some things one cannot forgive. I will not kill them or lay hands to them. I will even offer healing to the ungrateful wretches, since they are still part of the sept. But beyond that--~ she breaks off, noticing the Gnawer's arrival, and brightens very slightly, giving her a wan smile. "Yi."

Dante wavers for a moment, about to say something. But he doesn't, letting the Gnawer's presence interrupt, instead.

Three-Blades whuffs a greeting, though it is probably even more apparent in lupus that she's not all that cheery. Instead of continuing, she backs up into the brush, a few twigs bending to give her body room. She sits slowly, grunting for Dante to continue. She isn't going to interrupt anything crucial.

Sepdet takes a step towards the Bone Gnawer. ~I wanted to talk to you sometime,~ she says unpressingly to the no-moon. ~Are you two acquainted?~ Sepdet pages to the room: Er, the first sentence was directed solely at Yi. ;)

Dante nods, looking a tad uncomfortable. "Yes, we are."

Banecruncher enters the area from the west. Banecruncher has arrived.

Three-Blades gives the Strider an ear for her words, and just briefly glances at Dante. Yes, we've met. Her eyes peel from the ground to look up at Sepdet, her body scooting back into the brush a few more centimeters.

Dante pages to the room: I thought we sprayed this caern for Gnawers.

You paged the room with 'You know that stuff never works. The problem always comes back. ;P'.

Banecruncher looks around and barks sharply to let anyone here know that he's arrived. Don't want to surprise anyone.

Sepdet's gaze jerks towards the newcomer. He receives at least a nod. ~Sometime,~ she tells Yi soothingly. ~I'd like you to consider the pack I'm making. But if you're headed somewhere, we can talk later.~

Dante grows a bit more uncomfortable as Banecruncher arrives, his mouth twisting down in a frown.

Banecruncher pads toward the others, lowering his head in respect to the mule. I am looking for the Groundskeeper.

Dante jerks his hand to the south, "Adam's at the compound," he answers, even though he wasn't the one asked.

Sepdet gives a pained laugh. ~He's that way, I think,~ she waves.

Three-Blades gives Banecruncher a brief bob of her hand, and turns both her ears towards the Strider, placing a cautious paw forward out of the brush. I'm not going anywhere. Every place my paws take me, I end up back here. Her eyes gaze at Dante, her nose smelling some discomfort.

Banecruncher whuffs in subdued thanks. He looks to Three-Blades. You will speak at the Gathering?

Three-Blades gives Banecruncher a brief look of confusion. Then as the meaning finally hits her, she chuffs a yes. When is it?

Banecruncher goes to talk with the Groundskeeper to arrange that. Once I know, it will be on the barking chain.

Sepdet sobers. ~Announce it here as well. I think many will be pleased to honor your fallen tribesmate, children of Rat.~ Do Sepdet's eyes dart briefly towards Dante?

Soulcatcher steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Soulcatcher has arrived.

Dante straightens a little, at the glance. He's not /that/ ashamed.

Banecruncher looks up to Sepdet and lets out a whine of thanks. It will be done.

Three-Blades finally gets back up onto her paws and comes out of her bushy sanctuary. A brief shake of her fur sends a cloud of dust off her coat and she licks her nose a few times, her pink tongue washing over her dry muzzle.

Sepdet carefully drops to one knee, bringing herself more down to the canine's level and holding out her hands towards Three-blades in a silent beckoning.

Dyes-Hair-Often steps into the forest from the Half Moon Pool. Dyes-Hair-Often has arrived.

Dante stands up, suddenly. "Yeah, well, I'll see you later, then, Sepdet."

Banecruncher pads toward the compound, his step a little lighter. Banecruncher enters the Sept Compound.

Banecruncher has left.

Dyes-Hair-Often is trotting along in Lupus, making her somewhat clumsy but determined way towards the near-mythical sept areas. A quick dip in the half-moon pool had restored her spirits somewhat, so to speak.

Three-Blades lowers her head, gazing at the beckoning hands with quiet thought. First one paw, then another, then another and soon her wet nose touches the Strider's hand, sniffing experimentally.

Soulcatcher pads out of the sept compound slowly, pausing when he sees the other garou collected. His nose more than anything else identifies who's around, and he makes his way toward the Strider, first.

Dyes-Hair-Often enters the Sept Compound. Dyes-Hair-Often has left.

Sepdet looks towards Dante puzzledly. ~Go well, then,~ she offers in a soft voice, so as not to startle the Gnawer approaching her. She lets Yi sniff her hands for several moments before reaching down to stroke her back in a friendly but oddly formal gesture, attention wholly on the wolf before her.

Three-Blades lowers onto her lean haunches, softly rumbling as the hand strokes down her back. Another scent of wolf enters the area, and her eyes turn in the direction of Soulcatcher, ears pricked to hear his pawsteps.

Sepdet turns her head following the Gnawer's gaze and smiles. "Sen-n ka'i." Her voice is quiet, calm, as it should be and hasn't been much lately.

Dante sighs softly and heads north.

Soulcatcher's tail ticks once or twice as he greets the Strider, but the Wendigo looks tired.

Sepdet casts an eye over Soulcatcher's healing wounds, attention now divided between the two of them. Or, rather, encompassing, as opposed to split. ~I don't know how to do this,~ she laughs quietly. ~I've never asked for a pack. My packs always found me. But, Yi, when you helped with Cleansing the other night, I heard something that sang of pack-might-be. Or not. You have your own people, your own paths to walk in the city, and perhaps a purpose and a plan already.~

Shadow Eyes steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Shadow Eyes has arrived.

Shadow Eyes has disconnected.

Manners come back to Blades, and she chuffs softly to the other wolf. Her eyes turn back to Sepdet, though one ear stays on Soulcatcher. What purpose, Sepdet-rhya? Her ears flatten with a sense of hollowness and grief. I came here to find a kinfolk. I found a brother of my tribe who made me feel whole for the first time since my Firsting. Now, he is dead, and the hole remains. I have no plan. Yi's avoidance of the pack subject is apparent, memories of Jay telling her they'd pack together stabbing at her mind.

Sepdet's expression softens. ~I understand. It is a hard thing, losing someone.~ Again her hand drifts to the feather in her hair. ~Soulcatcher and I, our last pack gathered around a bright young cub we meant to be cliath, and when she died...it was like the moon had gone black. The pack came together anyhow. Part of that was to honor her memory, although not all. Find something you think Jay would have liked, and honor him in its doing.~

Banecruncher moves through the forest, heading west. Banecruncher has left.

The cant of Soulcatcher's head shows his complete agreement with Sepdet, memory lifting his muzzle a little higher.

Three-Blades growls softly. Something to honor him. Her dark amber eyes look to the Strider, the hollow feeling still sitting heavily in her. However, it is the will within to survive, perhaps, that forces the new moon to move on. What is your pack of? Who will pack with you?

Sepdet licks her lips. ~I will not lie to you: I have few so far. Duane, an Uktena, has answered me, and Megaera has offered, although I'm not sure about her. I have a vision of a dream. Now I must find those who can share it.~

Sepdet's chin lifts slightly as she unrolls her thought with a verbal drumbeat; there is a cadence of music to her voice whenever she turns to matters of the spirit or of the heart. ~The Lake defiled by the Black Spiral Dancers shall be cleansed once more, and we shall call the spirits back to their places of power. The island in its center, "Avalon", will be a place for the wounded and the grieving to rest until they are healed. No blood shall ever be spilled there again. The pack shall guard the lake from enemies and keep hallowed the memory of those who have walked and died there. And we shall also go into the city to bring Avalon's healing and cleansing to those who call, and tear the Wyrm's taint from stone and steel.~

Three-Blades's blackfurred ears twitch just once during Sepdet's words. A pack of cleansing...healing... Her low rumble of voiced thought fades. What of a totem, Sepdet-rhya?

Soulcatcher has disconnected.

Sepdet exhales. ~That will depend partly on who chooses to come. My heart says Salmon, who is a totem of wisdom, stubborness, even fierceness: she is a survivor, and I have worked with her all my life. It could be Falcon, because I mean for this to be an honorable pack, and it fits the Lake and the Island. But I don't know if Falcon will accept a mule-born, or, for that matter, Rat's people.~ She smiles gently. ~Or Raccoon. I'd meant to make a raccoon pack before all this happened, a pack to span the city and the wyld. We have worked apart from each other for too long. But I am not sure.~

Three-Blades gazes down at the grass under her paws, thinking. A few moments of silence pass with nothing more than the sounds of night to accompany them. Then she looks up at the Strider. A honorable pack. Gnawers are hardly seen as honorable, Sepdet-rhya. How would others view it, if you try to form this pack? A metis for an alpha, a Gnawer as a member; the few you have gathered, will they sacrifice their positions, their rank for this pack?

Sepdet gives a short little laugh. ~Now, that is the question. And also, can a Bone Gnawer be content following the path of Honor laid down by a stern totem? I mean no offense. I followed Coyote in my younger days, and I understand there are many more ways of doing things than most Garou would admit.~

Three-Blades whuffles softly as she gazes at the metis, her eyes lightening from their somber mood of the past few days for the first time. Honor is something that has been taught to me for my entire life. Even if my tribe is the seen the lowest of Gaia's children, we still have honor in our hearts. If it is the challenge of the totem to be honorable, then I accept it with passion.

Sepdet exhales. ~I have cause to know the worth of your people. Perhaps you heard me say how they once aided me at great need, and that was only one of several times. Some of my tribe can't see past Owl's opinion of Rat, which is food, but as long as we don't invite our totems to the same party, I see no reason to place walls between us. We are both survivors who scout the fringes of the world where others don't walk.~

Three-Blades twitches her tail around her forepaws. She starts to say something, but blinks as a small thought comes to her. What our tribe totems know is the balance between themselves, that they need each other. Maybe it is the will of Gaia, that I pack with you Sepdet-rhya. Her ears prick to the crescent. We will protect the island, the lake, and the city? It is a large territory.

Sepdet shakes her head. ~The island and the lake are my first priority, I confess. I don't know how much you've heard of what happened there. Dancers had taken and defiled it, and we drove them away, but it will take a long time to bring the spirits back. Also, I'm charged by the alpha to guard the grave of his mate.~ Bitterness springs out from her eyes like a snake's strike, but she masters it quickly. ~Also my dearest human friend. Some of the Garou killed her out of hate and ignorance. So: foremost the Lake. But it isn't threatened often. This is the first time it's ever happened. Most of the time we should be able to offer our assitance to city packs.~

Sepdet nods westward. ~My helping with the sewer cleaning is an example of what I mean for the pack to do. No city territory. But aid given at need wherever it's best suited.~

Finds-the-Lost steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Finds-the-Lost has arrived.

Finds-the-Lost is out and about this evening, finally, after two days of being holed up at the Compound. The young Get is limping noticeably, still injured but healed enough that movement is now easier.

Three-Blades rumbles lowly, the image of the blight encroaching her mind in the green of the forest. The sewers. She turns her head briefly to look at the Get, then turns back to the Strider. The calling is good, worthy of a pack. If the pack is formed, Sepdet-rhya, I would wish to be a part of it.

Sepdet is crouched before the Gnawer, talking to her earnestly. ~I should know very soon,~ she says softly. ~That makes at least three of us, and if I judge Megaera is of a spirit to walk with us, four. You have Questing Stone. Yes? Then you can find me at the Lake. We will need to gather together, to see if we can work together as a pack, but I know I can work with -you-, and that is the first good thing I have seen since my own loved one died.~

Finds-the-Lost first starts to stray away from where he's spotted the two Garou but then, on second thought, deviates course to pass near them. He limps along, pausing to speak with Three Blades. ~Are you scouting the sewers next week?~ A simple question, and his focus is on the Gnawer, to the purposeful exclusion of Sepdet. It's just better all around that way.

Tecmessa steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Tecmessa has arrived.

Sepdet starts at the Get's growl, and her peaceful expression shatters into a silent snarl before she tucks a stony expression over all and rises to her feet stiffly.

Lucca steps out of the Sept Compound and into the forest. Lucca has arrived.

Three-Blades licks Sepdet's hand, whuffing softly. Your pack, might be the first good thing I have heard since my brother died. Her jaws open slightly in a wolven smile, ears flicking to Finds-the-Lost and back. The smile fades to a calm, and the gnawer newmoon chuffs in affirmative. The fur on her neck rises involuntarily at the sudden tension she feels in the air.

Tecmessa and Lucca, both in homid, wander amiably up the trail, Tecmessa murmuring something about baklava.

It's a full moon. Tension is always in the air, and recently explosive chemistry only makes it more so. Finds-the-Lost, however, is being good, or what passes as good for the Get. He continues to ignore the Strider save for the occasional sideways glance. ~Then I will see you there, I guess,~ he growls to Three-Blades. ~Chaser wants me to go.~

Sepdet was speaking softly and earnestly to Yi. However, Ethan has sidled over, and, predictably, the Strider has risen to her feet with an expression to curdle milk.

Lucca appears to like this Greek delicacy, from what she's hearing of it. And here she thought it was fictional pastry from 'Dune'.

Tecmessa, in the midst of explaining about "More honey than you can shake a stick at," blinks faintly at Sepdet and Ethan.

Three-Blades rises to her paws as well, an ear turning to the voices of Tec and Lucca nearby. We meet in three nights then, she rumbles to the Get. Her eyes glance upward at the Strider.

Finds-the-Lost is, lucky for him, not milk-based. With that brief exchange, and another flicker of attention paid to Sepdet, he simply starts off again, limping.

Sepdet closes a hand and opens it again, pulling out the tension and pouring it away from herself. She exhales and forces a smile back onto her face, glancing over towards the two packmates heavily engaged in cookery. ~Which is why I won't be coming with you on that hunt, I suppose,~ she tells Yi softly. ~He killed my... there is no word. He ripped the moon from my sky.~ There is a trace of tears at her eyes, but the desert-born seldom weeps openly.

Lucca blinks a couple of times, taking note of the presense and voice of, well, Sepdet. -- and she's really, really freaking unhappy. Screech, we have full Glass Walker stop. She reaches out to grab Tec's sleeve or arm, whichever is appropriate at the moment, and glances at her in a semi-nervous way. Aie, relationship stuff.

Tecmessa explains something softly to Lucca.

Finds-the-Lost certainly seems unrepentant at the Strider's accusations. Then again, he might not have even heard them. Either way, he's soon to be seen slipping off into the forest on one trail or another.

Finds-the-Lost moves through the forest, heading west. Finds-the-Lost has left.

Lucca's eyebrow twitches, once, and she looks astonished at Tec for a moment before returning the muttering.

Three-Blades flattens her ears at all this, clueless as to why everyone suddenly tenses around the Strider and even a little disappointed the crescent would not be accompanying the packs in the sewer scout mission. A low growl rumbles from her throat. When does the pack to be meet, Sepdet-rhya? She tries not to reveal her apparent dislike for whispering and such.

Tecmessa looks, just slightly, shocked, and shakes her head, saying something else.

Lucca's shocked/astonished expression fades a few notches in intensity, although she still does look kinda surprised. "Ohhhh," she says, nodding slowly. She can kind of get this (whatever 'this' may be), in an intellectual way.

Sepdet moves her hand blindly down to the Gnawer's back and pats it once. ~The moon's bright and full. Perhaps the night after your scouting, we could get together at the lakeshore, and I can show you Avalon.~

Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (98% full).

Sepdet seems to be trying to ignore the whispering, but the music is not in her voice now.

Tecmessa seems done whispering, now. "Good evening," she murmurs quietly. Sepdet blinks a few times and gives Tecmessa a smile that appears to be pinned to the corners of her mouth by invisible nails. ~Heya.~

Lucca looks at the ground, cheeks turning an abrupt red, and lifts a hand to wave vaguely at Sepdet. "Hi," she mumbles; eek, awkwardness.

Tecmessa explains, "I was merely bringing Lucca up on current events." Gaze drifting to Yi, she asks, "Do I know you?"

Three-Blades thumps her tail lightly against Sepdet's leg at the thought of seeing Avalon. Her tongue flicks out to lick her nose before she rumbles to the twolegs in greeting. Her reply to Tec's question a simple, no, you don't. With that, she shifts up to her breed form for perhaps a better method of communication. "Song Yi Ling, Three-Blades, cliath new moon of the Gnawers."

Three-Blades contorts and blurs as she is transformed. You shift into Homid.

Tecmessa inclines her head slightly. "Pleased. I am Tecmessa Ardenas. Feels the Balance. Half moon of the Black Furies, and Child of Raven. My packmate and I, we are of Chiaroscuro, Shadows and Light. Well met, this evening." Lucca looks upwards and says, towards Yi, "Same pack, same moon, Glass Walker and Lucca..." She then glances over at Sepdet, and manages to say, helplessly, "I.. aw shit, I'm sorry, Sepdet, I -" Her mouth closes with an audible click of teeth. Let's not get -too- stupid-sounding, girl.

Tecmessa reaches over to lay a calming/comforting sort of hand on Lucca's shoulder.

Sepdet's expression falters for a moment, and there's a ghost of the girl behind all pretense of calm or authority or even wrath. Just a wounded deer with an arrow in the heart, staring out through old, terribly tired eyes. ~Thank you. This pack is all I have now. I'm going to make something beautiful in the place where they spilled a healer's blood on Gaia's breast.~

Yi bows her head in the greeting motion so ingrained into her system. "Nice to meet you. I may be rude asking this, but why is everyone so..." she pauses in the question, searching vocab banks in her brain, "tense?" She glances at Sepdet, swallowing down the choking feeling of Jay's death that threatens to rise in her throat, then gazes back at the two.

Lucca takes a deep breath and tries not to blurt her next words, with some success. "You - you do what you got to, yeah, I -" A pause, another deep breath, aaand, "You mind if I visit some time?" Yi gets a two-second blank look, and then she bites down on her lower lip to prevent a giggle. -That- would probably be inappropriate right about now, yes.

Sepdet tells Lucca, ~If you will tread gently on sacred ground, I would welcome it. There are only three I will not let walk by the water's edge.~ Her voice strenthens with resolve.

Tecmessa explains, to Yi, "There was considerable anger in Sepdet's former pack. They did not part well. Ethan, Nightflash, Steven, and Sepdet, in particular. I will not explain further, for that is not my place, I think."

Yi nods at this, but pins the two with another question. "So why are /you two/ tense around her?"

Tecmessa blinks. "Me? I am not. I was merely tense around the /combination/ of Ethan and Sepdet. Sepdet, she is one of the more... Rational theurges I know, in this place."

Sepdet looks down at Yi and back up at the others, brows knitting in sudden pain. Apparently she hadn't quite realized the effect she was having on others.

Lucca says, trying not to mumble, "I... fuck, I didn't know any of this until like just now, and - God..." Her shoulders slump.

Sepdet shakes her head slowly. ~Not really common knowledge,~ she says bitterly. ~The mage and I, we walked another path away from the caern. I tried to keep her away; I always feared this would happen. I told her the night before she died: don't help us. Don't come. Let the Garou deal with the enemy, and help me in other ways. My packmates will kill you if they see you. But she wouldn't. She loved the lake too much, and me, and she never had a feather's worth of sense. Only love.~ The Strider's voice shivers and goes soft. ~Only that.~ Once more her fingers lift to brush at a huge raven's feather bound into her hair by a white cord dyed red.

Tecmessa squeezes Lucca's shoulder gently.

Yi nods again, nudging the Strider gently in a perhaps comforting motion. "Give her honor, in your life, and they will be happy when they look back on us from the spirit world."

Sepdet bites her lip and looks down at Yi. ~She died on the island under Garou claws. They didn't even know who she was. That's why I'm making the pack. Not just for her: Gaia needs us. But that's why I'm starting from there. This is the sort of work she would have done, if she had lived.~

Lucca glances over at Tecmessa, helplessly. She's utterly unprepared for crap like this, dagnabbit, and it's showing. Of course, the same could probably be said for Sepdet. "Yeah," she says quietly after Yi speaks. Whoever she is, she's got some sense.

Tecmessa isn't, but it's not particularly easy to deal with, either. Hand still on her packmate's shoulder, she murmurs, "Bring what they did not, I suppose."

Sepdet adds tiredly, ~And many Garou will tell you she was a Warper, an evil woman, and gods know what else, and call me traitor for putting my body between my packmates' claws and her. But.~ She shrugs. ~I leave you to be the judge of me.~

Tecmessa says, plainly, "At least two have told me she was at one point bound to the Wyrm. But then, I have known many Tainted Garou in my days, who worked for the Wyrm while Tainted, but once recovered, were Gaia's again."

Lucca says, with some anger now, "If she was - was with the fuckin' Alpha, they don't have -shit- to say about her being evil, huh? Who's giving you shit about that?" She'll, um, bite their ankles.

Yi runs a hand through her dark hair, brushing out a burr that had lodged itself in its tangles. "I do not judge you for wanting to protect your loved one's life. If I had been there for Jay..." she trails, clenching her hand and unclenching, lips tightening as she turns away slightly, looking up into the night sky at the full moon.

Sepdet nods tiredly at Tecmessa. ~I told Dante. She fought the Wyrm alone because Mages should not walk with Garou. At least twice I nearly lost her; she took a taint I couldn't wipe clean. But both times she was freed before I had to kill her.~

Sepdet falls silent with justification and turns after the Gnawer, expression softening. ~We will make something beautiful for the ones who are gone, Yi. That is what we will do.~

Tecmessa tilts a small grin at Lucca. "Those who killed her are clearly giving Sepdet quite a bit of shit."

"Yes. Yes we will," Yi says softly. Hearing Tec's words, she turns back to the three. "Why? Are they not guilty of it? They killed the Alpha's mate. They are lucky he did not take their throats in vengeance."

Lucca draws her upper lip back, sneering at the empty air. "Fuckwads. They - wait." She blinks, nose wrinkling. "...is this because of Wolverine?" she says, with near disgust.

Tecmessa tells Yi, "I am entirely with you, but they think /Sepdet/ was in the wrong. And yes, Wolverine does not precisely teach patience or Wisdom. At all. As the other night clearly shows, ye?"

Sepdet's expression starts to knot up again. ~They say I should not have jumped a packmate to defend a 'Warper'. He tried to kill me for it, and still may. I will never follow a mad Totem again, not to save Gaia herself. I joined Wolverine to drive the Dancers away from the Lake and the Wyrm-spirits they left behind. Mine was the talen that weakened that spirit, mine were the claws that gave the killing blow, and mine was the will that ripped the name of the Salamander from it, which you used to hunt down the Dancers. But First Strike calls me a traitor, says I'm not fit to serve the sept.~ She shrugs. ~Wolverine demands stupidity.~

Yi shakes her head, but then glances up to the Strider with a quiet air. Her dark eyes reflect softly in the night's moonlight, thinking this conversation is making Sepdet a bit uncomfortable. "What... other news has there been?" Yi's attempt at changing subjects isn't too smooth.

Lucca exhales wearily and turns to walk off towards the Farmhouse. "Next we'll be jamming silver nails into our brains to intimidate the Wyrm," she mumbles, shoving her hands in her pockets.

Tecmessa says, "News? News? You know the news, evidently. Black Spiral Dancers dead, Salamander fled. That is the news."

Yi sighs, her hand clenching into the fist again as she mutters something in Cantonese. "They haven't told me why Jay was the only one to die in that fight," she forces out of gritted teeth. "I thought there would have been enough Garou to fight such a strong pack."

Tecmessa sighs, just slightly. "I am no Galliard, but I could tell the tale. Or, you could find your tribesmate Kaz. She was there, and is probably somewhat better at such tales than I. But if it would assuage your mind, I will speak it now."

Yi's gaze looks directly at the Fury's eyes. "Were you there? Can you tell me?" She looks up briefly to the fullmoon above, then returns to the others present. "I spent two nights already, trying to think of how. I need to know." Her eyes plead to the Fury philodox to give her the whole story.

Sepdet moves down to Yi's side. She doesn't quite presume familiarity yet, but she sits close, huddled next to her feet if the woman remains standing for the story. A quiet little rock to lean on.

Yi lowers into a sitting position, drawing her knees up as she gazes at Tec intently.

"When we came from the Caern, to find their hiding place, we arrived at a canyon. A very good place to have an ambush from. The Get, Chaser, stopped to scout briefly, and the Wolverine packs, they were impatient. Despite their being gasoline in the midst of this canyon, blanketing it, they wished to attack then and there. Kaz quelled that by firing the gasoline, and then they all charged in. Chiaroscuro, we waited. It turned out there were snipers, with silver bullets, waiting on top of the canyon. So most of First Strike was either injured or trying to climb up to destroy the snipers, as we were, so therefore, Stonebreakers, along with Jay, were left to fight the Dancers. These were not," the Fury says, understating the case considerably, "Wise tactics."

"So therefore, Stonebreakers, considerably outgunned, fought these Dancers while large numbers of Garou tried to get the snipers. Jay nearly killed one before he was cut down. It was..." She pauses. "It was a very good death, in a very bad battle."

"How many Dancers? How many were in the Stonebreakers to battle the Dancers?" Yi's questions ring out to determine the odds, as her mind tries to put together the scene.

Sepdet's face tightens. ~I should have been there too,~ she mutters. But it's a refrain she's spoken enough to know better, and so the bite in her voice is less than it might be.

"Cliaths, all of Stonebreakers. There were -- Three of them, facing four Dancers who were far, far stronger than they." Tecmessa replies.

Yi's calm look is promptly dispelled, as her eyes widen at the given numbers. "The Dancers. I was told they were Adren. And only three... three sent against them? You don't lie to me, do you?" Hands that clenched around her knees get tighter, a sign of fighting something inside.

"I do not. For those snipers, with silver bullets, they could have taken down all of us, one by one, at will. The /order/ was stupid. First Strike, it should have fought the Dancers, and Stonebreakers taken down the snipers. But they are," she sighs, "Wolverine, and Raven cannot shout above the Little Bear." Tecmessa looks at the younger woman, regret in her eyes. "I only wish that we might have."

Sepdet exhales. ~First Strike should have been the ones to take them,~ she says flatly, jumbled amidst Tecmessa's speech.

"Why..." The question is quiet, strangled. "Who gave the orders? Who was Alpha of this mission?" Yi's hands unclench as she sits in crosslegged position.

"There was... Confusion, at the beginning. The Wolverine people, they pressed, they did not wait for rational thought. They just wished to destroy. If you wish an Alpha, it would be Nighflash. My own Alpha, she cannot command warriors in quite the same manner." Tec nods, just slightly. "So. Nightflash. Of the Gaians."

Sepdet fishes in her beltpouch for something quietly, drum-taut face reflecting an echo of Yi's unanswerable question--not the one she's saying, but the one she's screaming silently with every word. ~Nightflash, the Child of Gaia who kills healers in the act of healing his own packmates,~ she says with the cool quiet of hatred's scar. Eventually she comes out with a palm-sized rounded stone, one that's obviously danced in a river for eons, now painted with rough red lines in the quick-flowing glyph of a fish overleaping rocks in a rushing current. This she sets at Yi's feet as if anchoring her to the ground there.

Yi draws in a breath and lets go very slowly, realizing just how tightly her hands were clenched on the ground beneath her. Her eyes go from Sepdet to the stone placed at her feet. She blinks. "What is this?"

Tecmessa, at the lack of further questions, exhales slightly and settles to the ground.

Sepdet murmurs, ~Something a friend made me, a sign for words she could not say about the loss of a loved one dearer than friend. Salmon. Red as Gaia's life blood. She who survives, beats every current, leaps every wall and barrier, although sometimes she breaks open on rocks. And sometimes dies. But yet each year, in spite of the dying, the rivers run red again in the spring, and Salmon comes home to the place of her mothers and her daughers and the hope of ones she'll never live to see.~

Sepdet breaks off and looks up at Yi, seeking understanding. ~It means hope,~ she concludes softly.

Yi blinks a few more times. Then, she reaches towards the stone, fingers gently carressing over the stone's painted picture in silence. Picking it up, she brings it closer to her face to gaze over the symbol of fish. "Why do you show this to me, Sepdet-rhya?" Her dark gaze turns from the stone to the Strider.

Tecmessa murmurs, just on the edge of hearing, "Do you not have loss yourself?"

Sepdet tells Yi uncertainly, ~Because we throw ourselves at rocks. Some of them are ones that don't wound us physically. The death of a friend is far sharper than any flint. It says what I want to tell you.~

Tecmessa rises to her feet, smoothly. "Yi. Have you more questions, another time, I possibly have answers. In the meantime, I must catch up to my packmate. Mother watch over you, yes?"

Sepdet stirs. ~Go well, Balancer-of-Tales.~

Yi's hand closes around the stone in her palm, feeling the round, smooth texture. "Hope," she echoes. Her eyes go from the Strider to the Fury, and she nods. "I thank you, for telling me what happened that night. Gaia protect you." She turns back to Sepdet and inclines her head a little. "You, give me this?" It seems her English just went down the drain for the moment.

Sepdet bites her lip. ~No. It was made for me, and I still need it, when the night gets cold and all I can see is her blood on the cliff-top. But you hold it for now, until I make one for you.~

Yi nods slowly, opening her hand to gaze again at the stone. "Made for you, yes. I would not think of taking such a gift. I'm sorry I even asked for it," she says as she looks back up at the metis with a sort of apologetic smile. "Thank you, for showing me hope." She reaches over, takes the Strider's hand, and places the stone gently back into its owner's palm. "You have given me enough gifts, Sepdet-rhya. Please, allow me to give myself to your pack in return."

Sepdet's small hand closes around it. ~That's a greater gift than a stone or a few words,~ she says with a crescent-mooned smile. She gets to her feet, putting it away. ~I am going back down to the Lake now, to think and to listen and to rest. But come down soon. You'll know the way.~

Yi nods, rising to her feet as well. "I'll visit soon," she says. "For now, I think I should return to the city. Take care of Jay's... apartment. And Nevada." Her smile wanes a little, but nonetheless stays. "Goodbye, Sepdet-rhya."

Sepdet touches the braid behind her ear from which the feather falls in a quiet salute, then dwindles down to an almost laughably tiny shape and trots off.

Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed. Sepdet shifts into Lupus form.

Yi turns and shifts back down, loping for the city.