3/25/2005

10:23 AM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Big Red Barn(#3420RA)
The barn is built in the old style, a vast three level structure that is greater in height than a mere three stories, actually closer to five. Great wooden posts support the weight of the upper levels and roof, sunk into the hard-packed dirt floor of the first level like a sparse forest of regularly spaced, naked trees. The stalls and flagstones which once were here have been torn out to leave a rather open area where even crinos Garou may roam freely without fear of running into anything but the supports or the walls or the ladder at the back which allows access to the other two levels.
The first two levels are relatively open to each other, the second being only little wider than a catwalk going around all the walls but the front one, which has massive, twenty foot tall doors set into it. The third level is a true second floor except for a place cut out that allowed hay to be tossed down to the ground floor when the farm was actually worked. Now, it is a hayloft where Garou can sleep outside of the house.
(Non-Garou, please "+view curse")
Contents:
Basil
Obvious exits:
BarnYard

Like a sentinel, Kenneth posts himself in the shadows at the side of the barn's entrance. The doubledoors aren't the thing that is being watched, however, but the unconscious form of the new cub, having since been dressed in some ill-fitting sweats and covered over with some hay by the Children of Gaia. The Shadow Lord dares to have his eyes closed, but a perceptive watcher would note he is definitely not asleep.

Basil is sleeping well where he lay... Or at least, as well as someone that just went through a first change and got hit in the head by a furry silver hulk. One of his hands moves and runs across his face, pushing his dirty hair from his eyes as they open. The fact he's in the wrong clothes and laying in hay doesn't come to his mind right away, but his headache does. "Damn it.. " He mutters, sitting up and closing his eyes again as he tries to wake up. He's never been a morning person.

Tamara steps in through the barn's wide doors and closes them behind her, piggy brown eyes quickly picking out the figure on the floor an his guard. "Good Morning. New cub?" She asks of Kenneth, tone polite.

[look Tamara]
Tamara is a tall woman, just under six feet in height, with a heavyset body. She is wearing a pair over well-worn blue jeans, with frayed hems and torn knees. Her upper body is covered in a red t-shirt and a blue winter jacket. Overly large hands are decorated with several cheap bits of gaudy jewelry: plastic, tin, and pewter.
A wide brimmed white Stetson hat tops a head that seems to be somewhat malformed. The woman's face is longer then usual and her skull seem to be too big. Her lower jaw is huge and gives Tamara a painfully noticeable underbite. Small beady brown eyes are set too far apart and her nose is set too high on her face. Giving her appearance of someone with a 'mental disability'.

Kenneth opens his eyes the moment to barn doors start to open, slitting them like a waking cat. The woman who garners his attention first, and his dark gaze gets darker as he stares at her and her appearance. "Who're you?" he asks, not yet answering the woman's question. The Shadow Lord stands, not yet sparing a glance to the waking cub.

Tamara gives a little half-bow, lowering her eyes respectfully. "I am Tamara Spider-Eyes, Cliath full moon of the Silent Striders and a Metis."

Basil hears not one, but two voices he isn't familiar with and that is enough to wake the cub up a bit more fully. He stands up and almost trips, spacing his feet out a little more, his posture kind of hunched at the mid section. "Where the hell is this?" He ask, opening his eyes and looking everywhere he can without turning around.

Kenneth scrutinizes Tamara some more, before he simply nods with a, "Kenneth Dagger's-Edge. Shadow Lord judge." Then, he turns back around and wipes off some of the dirt that's gotten onto his jeans as he answers the new guy. "You're in a barn. One that'll be your domain for a good while, when you figure out why."

Tamara smiles at the new cub and while its clearly a friendly smile, it just makes her look more like a Down's Syndrom victim. "Welcome, cub. Honestly, this isn't a bad place at all to be. So long as you mind your manners, that is."

Basil looks up at Kenneth, not really recognizing him from the night before all that well. "Why? And I have an idea how I got here. Someone took me. I sure didn't walk... " He squeezes his eyes shut for a minute and lifts a hand, trying to rub away the sleep so he can focus. "Whats a cub? I'm Baz." His nose twitches and scrunches up as he squints at Tamara, flinching as he starts to take in her features.

Kenneth snorts. "Man, did Stacey brain you so hard you lost a section of your language centers too?" The halfmoon shakes his head, and then walks towards Basil a few steps. "A Cub is a new Garou. A Garou, is a Werewolf. Cub, you're a Werewolf. Now before you go on sayin 'There ain't no such thing', just shut up and listen." He pauses long enough for it to get through, and then continues, "You got dropped off here by other werewolves. Me, and a few others. Tamara here," he says with a quick thumb point back at the metis, "is also one. But more importantly, you are one too." He waits here, rather expectant of the reaction this information will get.

Tamara sighs softly and leans back against the Barn doors. "Listen kid, or I can prove a point by taking off my hat."

Basil raises an eyebrow up as the man continues on, looking about as skeptical as a cub with a pounding headache can look. "You can't seriously expect me to believe that, can you? We're out in the middle of nowhere, on a... " He looks up and around him, glancing about the barn and taking it in. "Farm? That says 'cult' in big flashing letters. But I'd remember being kidnapped.. " He trails off, looking down from Kenneth over to Tamara. "I'm not sure I want you to. This is going to make me freak out, isn't it?" Basil lifts his hands infront of his face, rubbing it quickly up and down before suddenly dropping his hands. "Ok. Go. Show me the proof."

Kenneth looks over his shoulder back at Tamara shortly, before raising his hand slightly. "Don't, Spider-Eyes." Emphasis placed on the name of the Strider, he turns back to Basil. Here, the Shadow Lord /almost/ smiles with the invitation. "You better sit down," he mentions briefly as Kenneth takes off his shoes, t-shirt and socks. Then, just like that, the transformation takes place. It is quick, and near silent as bones and muscle shift, with the remaining clothing sprouting a deep black fur all around. Better than any Van Helsing CG animation, and definitely more real, the Shadow Lord stops at the Crinos form, peering down now at the cub from a vantage just above nine feet in the air.

Tamara inclines her head respectfully and remains silent when the Shadow Lord shifts.

[look Kenneth (Dagger's-Edge, crinos)]
     Swathed in liquid night, this wolven beast's powerful and terrifying warform rises far above to over a man and a half's worth of height, adorned with curving scythes of sharp ebon and pearl for claw and fang. His movement, reminiscent of the silent wings of the fallen Malakim, is graced with violent efficiency. Every movement is made with purpose. With every step, the obsidian fur shifts and shines with the lure of ethereal darkness, drawing eyes in with an almost magnetic aura. The creature's own golden eyes burn like manifested wells of vengeful wrath granted to him from the divine. The fur around them almost glows with a silver brushed mask, marking that he is the swift, deadly executioner of Gaia's will.

Basil wonders what the weird names are about, but hardly has a chance to think before his attention is back on Kenneth. "I'll stand... But thanks." He says, keeping his eyes attentively on Kenneth as he takes a few steps around the barn. Watching Kenneth start to strip down doesn't help his take on the situation. It's so sudden it almost makes Basil think of a flesh explosion and before he even has a chance to take in Kenneth, he jumps back and smacks the back of his head on a post on the process. "OW!" He shouts, lifting a hand to rub the back of his head, slowly turning his eyes to look back to Kenneth. "If I'm dreaming... Am I?" He wonders aloud, cautiously walking over to the Shadow Lord to stroke a hand through the thick inky black fur.

Dagger's-Edge holds himself still just long enough that Basil can feel the coarse texture of the fur for a few seconds before he sidesteps away. The halfmoon bats away the cub's exploring hand afterwards with a vicious snarl of warning, hackles jumping up. And as if that weren't enough, a mangled yet understandable "Don't" utters from deep within the Shadow Lord's lupine throat. Afterwards, he is quickly shifting down back to his breedform, with the fur melting away and the clothes resurfacing from some other dimension like magic.

Basil 's fingers run deep through the fur, working through it has best his fingers can before it's brushed away. He stares at Kenneth for a few minutes, unblinking as the young man shifts back down to human proportions. His breaths become shallow, quick and shaky gasp for air as a slow fear begins to creep into the back of his skull. His lips twitch like he wants to say something but is unable, eyes wide and fully fixed on Kenneth. He turns and marches at a fast pace to the barn doors and shoves one a little as he steps outside and stops, looking out over the land and surrounding area.

Kenneth holds back a sharp command for the other youth to stop, but with a quick movement he is following after, regardless of shoes. Heavy barefooted steps tread after, before he slows behind Basil. "It's all real, so pinch yourself and get back in here," he says gruffly, just getting over the part of feeling the Rage bubble and die back down.

Basil isn't really hearing Kenneth at the moment, or anything else aside from the subtle sound the grass makes when the wind blows across it in such an open area. A half choking "It's... Beautiful... " is stuttered out as he stares across the land and then falls down onto his knees in an almost sitting position. Without blinking he runs his hands through the grass, looking off in the distance.

Kenneth puts his hand to his face, withholding an exasperated sigh. Giving the cub just a scant amount of time to get back to nature, the Shadow Lord steps around and into the other boy's view again. "You done yet? I /hate/ to interrupt, but the least I can do before I leave is put some basics into your head so whichever tribe you end up with isn't gonna have to pound it all in."

Basil doesn't notice Kenneth infront of him, not for a moment or two at least. He's forgotten all about the Crinos form for the moment and is completely floored by the view. His eyes slowly lift to Kenneth, looking right into the Shadow Lord's. "I've never been outside of the city before... " He closes his eyes and smiles a little bit, letting out a contented sigh. "With these smells, I can't be dreaming... But I don't understand this. What you mean. How I got here. What... What you turned into."

Kenneth looks clearly like he's trying his best to be 'civil'. "Yer onna farm. This farm just happens to be owned by certain Garou, and the cubs are held here... oh fuck. I'll explain whatever, but we go back in the barn first. You got plenty of time to get your fresh air and relaxation after, alright?"

Basil hesitantly nods at Kenneth and pushes himself off the ground, lifting his arms up then letting them fall. "Ok. So long as I can come back out again later. You don't seem like you want to kill me... I think." He turns and heads back into the barn and starts to walk around, looking for a comfortable spot. He sits down in a small pile of hay, leaning forward on his feet.

"No, I'm not going to kill you. Unless you give me a reason to." Kenneth then grumbles something under his breath about his feet, and follows after. Back into the safety of the barn, he closes up the door behind him. "So first thing's first. You ever see the movie, Fight Club?"

Basil says "Thats part of why I'm listening to you. You can turn into the monster, I can't. Running would probably kill me." He watches Kenneth attentively, but shakes his head at his question. "No. The movies around me only play old stuff. The last movie I saw was Kelly's Heroes."

Kenneth doesn't recognize the title, evidenced with the furrow of his brow. "Well anyway," he says with a look back at the other, "Yes, you Can turn into a wolf. Yes, I said wolf. The form you saw me in, we call Crinos. It's basically what you figure as the purest form of werewolf there is, and we use it for fighting. But I'll get to that later." The Shadow Lord rubs at his temple as he tries to think. Then, he looks back over to Basil. "You /can/ turn into one. All you gotta do is will it. We're not like the movies in this case. We could shift at any time, not just on a full moon. That it's a full moon phase right now, well..." Again, feeling like he's digressing, Kenneth huffs out again. "Look, just try it out. But I recommend you take off those clothes before you do, because yours aren't gonna change with you like mine."
Basil says "Heh... I don't really feel like I can, but I guess you'd know more about this kind of thing then I would. Crinos... Sounds weird. Almost like chronos. Time and stuff." He tilts his head at Kenneth, then grins a little bit. "Heh, well. I'll take your word for it and try later, ok? No offense, but I don't want to strip infront of strangers. If I'll be living in a barn, I guess I'll have plenty of time alone to try."

Tamara runs her fingers under the rim of her hat, then lightly shakes her head. "Kenneth-Rhya, is this new cub a Theurge?"

Kenneth looks back to Tamara when she speaks, brief though his glance is. "I dunno. But he sure did freak the fuck out when a bird took his shit." Turning back, he gazes at the cub. "You remember that at all? Last night, that is."

Basil shakes his head quickly at Kenneth. "Uh uh. The last thing I can remember is.. " His eyes pitch upwards as he thinks. "Banging up some fancy cars and stealing the ornaments. Before that I met a real nice girl." The cub suddenly starts to smile rather happily at that thought, looking back at Kenneth.

Tamara gives her head a bit of a shake. "Well, you're certainly taking things well kiddo."

Kenneth says, "Then, lemme put it to you straight. Last night, you were sittin' on a sidewalk down on Elson, and I was mindin' my business. I stepped on some of the shit you stole. You got angry, I got angry, everything just pretty much sucked. I didn't feel like poundin' you down and causin' a scene, so I was /gonna/ leave. But then 'parently a raven saw your shinies and took one. THEN, you for whatever reason, just flipped out and shifted. We call it frenzy, and you can figure out why we call it that by harnessing that English in your head." The Shadow Lord gives Tamara another spare glance, before he continues, "Stacey, that 'little girl' who was walkin' with me, took you out. She's a werewolf too, like I said. And she took you out because you, cub, became a werewolf right out in the middle of the city and landed a spot on the 11 o'clock news pretty much. Well, minus the werewolf and add a car crash in. But the point is... we /don't/ give ourselves away to the public. Because fuck, you don't want mobs of angry villagers beatin' down your door to grab you and kill you right? Right. So, all this coming back yet?"

Basil says "I have a feeling if I don't sit still and listen, he is going to hit me. And.. I kind of still think I'm dreaming. It's hard to panic when you can't even think." He directs to Tamara, his smile vanishing as his thoughts disappate. As Kenneth speaks the 'little girl' part, he blinks and whips his head around rapidly like someone that just got a bad chill. "Some of it.. " He lifts his hands and starts to rub at his temples. "If it makes any difference, I didn't mean to do it. It just... Happened."

Tamara smirks faintly and crosses her arms. "Might want to go over the rules with him."

Kenneth nods sharply, but doesn't seem like he cares for the apology. "It happens, yea. But now that we got you out here, your part is to make sure it doesn't happen... much. At least, not without a damn good reason, like you're getting killed by a 12-foot tall Wyrmy bug monster or something." He waves that bit off, nodding slightly with Tamara's suggestion. "Anyway, the rules. There's 13 rules... laws... to bein' a Garou. It's called the Litany. We have a society, see, and yer damn right that if you don't listen to it, you're gonna get proper fucked if the rest of us find out you screwed up." The halfmoon inhales deeply, and starts to pace back and forth. "First, Garou don't mate with other Garou. Meanin', you don't screw another werewolf. Why? Because you end up with somethin' like Tamara." He pauses, motioning at the woman freely. "She's a metis. A mule. Basically, sterile, deformed, the result of parental fuckups." He casts a glance over at Tamara, one that expects some kind of bad reaction.

Tamara merely makes a sweeping bow, removing her hat as she does so. When the tall woman straghtens back up, the hat rests loosely in one hand and she looks over at the new cub with two sets of eyes. "I have been told that I am a good example of why one muct not break the first law."

[look Tamara (hatless)]
Tamara is a tall woman, just under six feet in height, with a heavyset body. She is wearing a pair over well-worn blue jeans, with frayed hems and torn knees. Her upper body is covered in a red t-shirt and a blue winter jacket. Overly large hands are decorated with several cheap bits of gaudy jewelry: plastic, tin, and pewter.
The woman's face is her most striking feature, but not in a good way. Her face is longer then usual and her skull seem to be too big. Her lower jaw is huge and gives Tamara a painfully noticeable underbite. Her nose is set to high on her face and beady brown eyes are set to far apart. Above those eyes, the reason for the woman's overly large head becomes clear. She needs the extra room to accommodate an extra pair of inhuman eyes: The pupil is slited like that of a cat, while the iris is a sickly and almost fluorescent yellow-green. The outer sclera is the red of freshly spilt blood.

Basil says "Like Dune? There are big worm monsters or something underground?" He wrinkles his nose at the thought, never being particularly fond of the idea of having something underneath him. "Like commandments. I can understand that. Thou shalt not piss in the monster's lemonade... Don't worry. I won't break the rules when the rules will get me eaten." His ever moving nose does show his distaste at the first rule though. Or rather, the idea of it. "How do you know it's another Werewolf? What if it's an accident?" He ask of Kenneth, then looks at Tamara and recoils, falling back into the hay a bit as he scoots away... Then leans forward again to peer at her. "Woah. Do they work? I mean, can you see out of those and stuff?"

Kenneth on the other hand, is staring none-too-friendly like at Tamara now that her deformity is revealed. The feeling of wrongness extends through the halfmoon, and he abruptly turns away from her. "Just so you figure out," he says through his teeth, "No, it's Not Cool to be a metis. You're a walkin' Veil Breach waiting to happen from the moment you are born 'til after you're dead when you're like Tamara." No sympathy for the mule's feelings are in the halfmoon's tone, only icy matter-of-fact. "Now stop starin' and pay attention, 'cause I'm not gonna repeat this crap." He waits a bit for Basil and Tamara to get their mutual starings over with.

"He's right, you know," Tamara states evenly, while returning her hat to its previous resting place. "We're born in the crinos form and when we die, we return to that form. When we're young, we can't shift and any human that found a metis pup could cause an awful lot of trouble. When we die, our very bones could betray our people. We can't have children of our own." The strange woman shrugs her shoulders.

Tamara says "And yes, I can see with my upper pair of eyes."

Basil is more interested then disgusted, curious as to what she sees and how the optical organs work exactly. He decides that now is not the time to ask her, but makes note to later. "That is kind of neat... The eye thing, I mean. But not in the 'Wow, I want to be one' sort of way." He glances up at Kenneth, then looks back down to Tamara and smiles. "You seem like a good person, in any case." His attention is turned back to Kenneth however, and he soon goes quiet again.

Kenneth breathes out again, like he's making a definite effort to keep going. "I'll let you pick an' choose who you're buddy buddy with, but rest assured that there're quite a few Garou who're gonna sneer if you take to metis." His tone is neutral on the matter once more, and the halfmoon moves on. "The second Law. Combat the Wyrm where it dwells and wherever it breeds. This takes a bit of explainin', but I'll give you a gist. Whatever belief system you got right now, the Wyrm is the muthafuck who's screwin' it up. Most Garou're gonna give you that story. A galliard, our storytellers, can tell you a helluva lot more about the whole cosmic relation stuff but there're three sorta Gods you should keep in mind when it comes to us. Wyld, Weaver and Wyrm. The Triat. The Wyld is like chaotic force, and creates stuff. Makes things outta nothing, like.. I dunno. Some kind of atomic force or whatever, but more spiritual. Anyway, the Weaver is the one that gives order to things. Without the Weaver, we'd all just be a big floatin' mass of what-the-fuck-ever. And last is the Wyrm. Like I said, the law's to fight the Wyrm. But a long long time ago, the Wyrm wasn't screwing things up. It just took things apart. So think of it as the guy who stomps on the LEGO blocks so you can build stuff again." He pauses here, expecting a question or two at this point.

Basil doesn't interrupt Kenneth when he speaks, but shrugs his shoulders at the end. "I'd rather be an honest man with few friends then a liar with many. I'll be a friend to whoever treats me as such, so long as they aren't like... Worm or something. But I understand what you are saying. The Wyld is a cow, the Weaver is a steak, and the Wyrm is the cow that gets run over by a train... Uh. Why'd the Wyrm stop being 'good'?"

"Wyrm. With a 'y'," Kenneth notes not looking at the cub even though there's a flicker of humor that is near imperceptible. "You ask any group of storytellers, and you'll get a bazillion stories how the Wyrm went loco. But the main two are that the Weaver decided to rain on the Wyrm's parade and tried to stop it from destroying the stuff it made. On the other hand maybe the Wyrm just got overworked and decided to screw the other two over. Either way, the world is gettin' screwed because of all this and we... the Garou... are out here to find a way to either stop it, or keep at least a shred of it liveable."

Basil says "Heh.. Sorry. Werm. Werym... I'll get the hang of it. At least I can say the others right. Are there a lot of story tellers around here to tell me about this stuff? And is there, you know, proof? Besides word of mouth and stuff. But I guess this all happened so long ago that all we can do is guess." Basil pauses for a moment. "Is there a plan for this?"

Kenneth waves a hand indifferently. "There'll be plenty 'round here, galliard or not. As for proof..." The Shadow Lord turns to face the cub. "Everything you see that harms the world is proof. The smog that comes outta the cars people drive and pollute the air with. Down to the urges inside you that want to tear things up and rip stuff apart. The urge to kill. That can be the Wyrm." He doesn't yet answer the part of the plan.

Basil shakes his head a little bit at that ending part. "I don't fully believe that. The killing equalling evil thing. People that would say things like that, kind of weird. It's simple life. For something to live, something has got to die. Plant or animal, it still *dies*. Not that I'm saying thats you. But... Killing. God. I know I'm a kid and all, but every time I open the newspaper I want to kill someone."

"Like I said. It /can/ be of the Wyrm," Kenneth says with a narrowing of his eyes at the cub. "I didn't say it was straight out. The Wyrm wasn't a bad guy before. It was the Balancer, made sure that the crap that got churned out by the Wyld and the Weaver was taken apart. But the point is, the Wyrm fucks up instead of destroys now. It doesn't kill outright. It takes Your spirit, Your mind, and it starts whittling your down to the point of drivin' you crazy. That you pick up the newspaper an' want to kill someone when you read about all the rape and the murder and all the war? That's Mr. Beast inside, whispering sweet nothings of 'how much better would the world be without these idiots?'" The halfmoon turns away. "I'm not sayin' that Every urge to kill is of the Wyrm. Wolves kill to eat. We must kill to survive, but also to keep the prey strong. You heard about wolves cullin' the sick and the old out of the herd, yeah? That's a balance. But senseless destruction. Corruption of the soul is what I'm talkin' about." Kenneth paces again, resuming the back and forth path. "Seven sins, taken out to an extreme degree... Lust, greed... rage. Whatever it is, if you take it too far, you're gonna end up helpin' the Wyrm corrupt instead of getting things back to their usual state." Then, as if sensing a digression, he frowns and swats at the air to 'push' the topic aside. "Look, just keep that in mind 'til I get to the end of all this. Christ, never thought 13 sentences would take so damn long to explain." Taking in a deep breath, he pushes on. "Third law. Respect the territory of another." He pauses here, looking back at Basil as if he expects the cub to be able to figure this one out in a snap.

Basil says "Nah, it isn't like... You know, I want to kill all the idiots. Hit'm sometimes, maybe, but not kill'm. I won't cry when one of them accidently kills themselves or anything, but... Like those two assholes that shot up people around DC for no reason? I'd love to see them burn. Hurting people for your own selfish or insane reasons. Makes me sick. But I get what you are saying, yeah. Theres a difference between doing something that needs to be done, and ripping out your enemy's guts to make a festive necklace for yourself." He shifts his shoulders, cracking a few joints as the words go on. "Heh. Sorry for asking so many questions. But I don't have any about that one, it's pretty self explained."

Kenneth takes a moment to explain nonetheless. "Respectin' territory goes beyond just messin' up and steppin' where you shouldn't be steppin'. If there's nothin' that pisses of a Garou more, it's pissin' 'em off on their home turf. This can be anything from settin' up shop on their piece of dirt, or even flirtin' with their kin." He takes to pacing once more, movements still restless underneath his skin. "At any rate, the point of that law is Don't push too hard against the lines, 'cause someone's gonna end up takin' you out if you do." Succinctly, the halfmoon stops there on that law and continues. "Fourth, Accept an honorable surrender. Meaning when you go into a fight with someone, if they cry uncle, you stop beatin' the shit outta 'em." He looks back now. "It's mostly for fights between us Garou. Because we got bigger problems, like the Wyrm, we need all the help we can get and the last thing we need is for us to be killin' each other because one of us didn't respect any territory of another or some shit like that."

Basil nods at Kenneth. "That makes sense too. But I'm glad it only applies between us... We shouldn't be fighting anyways. If we're the only ones to straighten out the world, we've got to work as a brotherhood. Infighting and all that has caused a lot of great empires to fall over the ages."

Kenneth shakes his head again, but leaves the cub's musings be. "That said, fifth, Submit to those higher in station." He looks back to Basil. "It's just as it sounds. You're a cub, meanin' you're new and don't know crap. But when an elder, which means anyone who's been 'round longer 'n you and is more experienced steps up to tell you to be quiet, you do. Or you risk gettin' your ass kicked." He runs a hand through his hair, and goes to retrieve his t-shirt and footwear where he left them. "Which also means, now that you're here, when someone who's a cliath or higher to stay put, you do. Unless you like gettin' whupped." The shirt is slipped on and brushed off of dirt and hay. "I'll get on to ranks later if we got time. Right now, just take it as first rank. One up on you." The Shadow Lord doesn't pause after. "Six. First share of the kill to the greatest in station. Goes without sayin', alpha wolves get to eat first. Doesn't matter if you made the kill or not. Leader's the one who got you all there in the first place, so you let 'em have a go at whatever spoils there are."

Basil stands up as his rump starts to get sore, putting his hands on his back and stretching it out. He lowers his hands to his sweats, messing with the strings to tighten them up a little bit. The last thing he wants is for them to fall off. "Those make sense, like the others. Guess I better listen to you in that case. I don't want to get all beaten up again." He can't help but smirk a little at Kenneth.

Kenneth doesn't exactly notice the smirk yet, left to ramble on. "Seven." Here the halfmoon pauses greatly as other thoughts form in his mind. Visibly his jaw tightens, and he recites this tenet, withholding a force of emotion behind it. "You Shall Not eat the flesh of humans." The halfmoon turns to gaze over his shoulder at Basil, those eyes that were cold before now gaining a deadly seriousness in their stare.

Basil lifts his hands up and shows them, fingers splayed wide open to Kenneth. He shrugs his shoulders, lowering his gaze for a moment and dropping his hands at his sides. "I don't like pork anyways."

Kenneth seems eager to move off of the seventh law, continuing on. "Eight. Respect those beneath you, for all are of Gaia. Most of it anyway." He swipes a hand through his hair once more, turning the piercing black gaze off from the cub. "We have Kin, which is just that with a capital K. Animals, most humans who aren't makin' any effort to screw shit up, but most of all, Kin. Goes without saying, this is kept around so those on the high up don't go steppin' all over the low downs." He turns, regarding the cub. "Which also means, you Don't take shit from an elder if they're full of it. And you don't just let 'em beat on your all the damn time if they're in a crappy ass mood." Perhaps not sensing the dark humor in his own words, Kenneth sucks in a new breath, giving pause for questions.

Basil says "Heh, don't worry... I'm not the type to take needless abuse. Nor am I really the type to give it... Hey, this includes people like Tam, right? You mentioned before people might look down on me for being buddy buddy with people like her."

Kenneth at this, folds his arms over his chest briefly. "She's a metis, which makes her automatically lowered in the eyes of those who aren't. You were born a healthy, hearty Garou from someone or another. Maybe your parents are Kinfolk, or maybe one of 'em was Garou, or someone in your family is. Was. Either way, you don't got another set of eyes to worry about. But she's still a cliath, which puts her higher than you. Just use some instinct and your brain, and you'll figure it out."

Basil says "I was just wondering, since you were talking kind of harshly around her... No offense, just kind of felt that way." Basil sits back down on his knees and goes quiet, letting Kenneth continue."

Kenneth tilts his chin slightly, a wry expression coloring the otherwise flat line of his lips. "I suppose you'll find out I'm just like that. I'm a philodox. A judge. When it comes down to it, sugar-coating the Truth is for the others to do." That said, he resumes the lesson. "This ninth law... The Veil shall not be lifted. This is pretty much what I said before, about you freakin' out in the middle of St. Claire and goin' fuzzy right where everyone can see." He looks back to the cub, seriousness resumed. "This is serious shit. We Garou can shift as we please, but we /don't/ do it out where humans can see us. You've seen the movies. Humans kill what they fear, and we are definitely on that shitlist. A long, long time ago maybe they didn't, but it was at some point back in prehistory that the Garou were the ones who culled the humans. We kept their numbers in check. As a result, the humans feared us. And then, they decided to take up arms and formed lynch mobs. You get the picture. Now when a human sees us in Crinos, they'll freak the hell out. Anyone who doesn't, you better make damn sure that they're either other Garou, Kin, or they're dead. Or dead /again/, depending on if you run into a vampire or something else that doesn't run from you."

Basil says "Yeah, I know about the whole 'Don't know what it is? Better kill it' thing. Xenophobia. Humans have it in spades... And I guess that Garou do too to some degree. Nothing wrong with being cautious, but it tends to go further then that. Yeah. So, the humans forced us into hiding?"

"No," Kenneth replies, "for whatever reason, and likely because we couldn't kill 'em all or else we wouldn't be here either, the Garou just stopped. Some say it was a council gathered together of all the leaders and the Silver Fangs who were workin' with the other tribes decided that killin' humans wasn't the way to go. Whatever the case, Now, in modern day Earth, you don't shift in public. The Veil is what keeps the humans from finding out who we are and huntin' us down. Maybe you'd think they'd appreciate us a little bit since we're trying to save the earth from being destroyed by evil forces, but you know how that goes. The stuff that doesn't get shown in the comic books and TV shows. The ugly shit." The halfmoon blinks a couple of times, looking off through the barn once more and pacing. "Got four left... so number ten. Don't suffer your people to tend your sickness. In a nutshell? You know when your time's up. Most of us don't live too long. That just comes from fighting in a war. The lucky ones that survive long enough to see their kids, well, they're lucky. But when you know it's time to rejoin Gaia, you don't just cling on to others. But at the same time, if someone you know is diseased or tainted..." and here the halfmoon gives pause again like there is another agenda beneath his words, "then you find a way to fix 'em, or you kill them. It's a respect to them to hunt them down."

Basil says "I kind of wish they found a way to keep controlling them. People that can't even take care of their own kids just keep on breeding and breeding. The earth can't take that. There isn't enough fertile land to feed everyone. I wonder if the earth will reach the breaking point in terms of food before things stop spinning... Eh. Nah. I don't think they'd be grateful in the least. Where I come from, hell, the people will even shoot at the police, people trying to protect them. Most people are lower then animals." He lays back in the hay, stretching out his shoulders. "I hope I don't die. Not soon anyways... Eh. I hope you don't die either. You seem kind of neat. And I bet you have some good stories to tell."

Kenneth sort of scowls at Basil, suspicion showing through the mask. "Death is just an inbetween. There might not be a Heaven for Garou, but sure enough we all return to Gaia. And that's close enough." Taking another breath in, the Shadow Lord turns off to pace down a few steps away from the cub. "Eleven 'n twelve go together. The Leader may be challenged at any time during peace, and not during war. Another one of these 'should be intuitive' laws." Turning back around, he lets the cub make his own interpretation first.

Basil says "I know how the chain of command can be messed up by officers getting into arguments with each other, so that makes sense. But what if the officer, er... Leader, is new, or inept, and his leadership is almost certainly going to get you and your buddies killed?" Basil shrugs to the first part. "That still doesn't mean I'd be happy if you died. Or anyone else I came to like. I'd rather you stick around, but yeah. I know people die."

Kenneth just shakes his head, and looks away with a huffed sigh. "If the leader's not cuttin' it, you challenge 'em after the fight, or before you even get to the fight. But once you're in the thick of it, the last thing you need happening is people not knowing who to follow. Hence, the eleventh law. Leaders need to be challenged. They /must/ be tested, and if they are worthy, then they'll prove themselves capable and you will see and know it. If they don't cut it, then it's obviously time to get a replacement. Simple as that."

Basil says "Good." Basil says, getting up and starting to pace around the barn to stretch out his legs. "I really don't want to see a leader with no skill or brains somewhere he shouldn't be, because he's the son of a son of a guy who threw pennies into the sun or something. We need the best of the best as leaders, no matter where they come from."

"Some will beg to differ, given that the Silver Fangs are supposedly the tribe that leads all others," Kenneth rumbles out with an obvious note that he doesn't follow this hearsay. "At this point, we can't be picky. As long as someone steps up, then the rest of us make sure we choose to support, or to shoot down. In the end, the important thing is to have a leader who can get results." Then, shrugging a shoulder, he states the last of the laws. "We're at the end. This final law, the thirteenth, is what Garou will consider The Most Important of them all, and that is that Ye Shall take no action that causes a caern to be violated." The halfmoon wets his lips long enough to let the law ring through the barn. "As the humans have their cities and bits of sanctuary in them, we got 'em too. These caerns are our most important refuges. They are where pockets of Gaia's pure essence have survived. Every caern is valuable, no matter how small or insignificant it might be. And every Garou you come across is gonna want to protect it with their life. When you are allowed to see the caern, you'll see why."

Basil says "Well, thats a bunch of bull. Whoever or whatever the Silver Fangs are, doesn't sound like they have their heads on straight. Skill before anything else, at least, I think so." He shrugs a bit then turns to face Kenneth again. "Thats not hard to understand. Don't let the infidels screw up the holy land, so to speak."

Kenneth only then outright laughs, not with derision but with the humor that presents itself. "Yeah, well... the Fangs got their own reasons for being at the top of the heap. I suggest you wait 'til you meet one before you say that to their face." He finally paces over to the place where he'd left his socks and shoes, picking one up to examine. "It's not so much a matter of infidels and holy land. Jesus, you make it sound like we're Al Qaeda. But... it's not a half bad analogy, 'specially when you consider some fanatics are out there amongst us. Still, there's definite reasons." He brushes off a sock, and then his foot, and starts to put it on again. "You think the view you saw outside the barn was good... you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Basil says "Hey now, I'm not stupid. I'd size them up a bit before I went outright insulting someone, unless I was trying to provoke a reaction. Make sure you can beat someone, or have lots of buddies that can before pissing someone off or making a move." He chuckles a little bit at that. "Well, what is good and evil is largely subjective and all. It wasn't meant to be quite like a terrorist analogy, but still. I'll believe you that we've got reasons. It's pretty?"

Kenneth slips on the other sock and his shoes as he replies. "Don't know if you've seen nature documentaries, or even been campin', but I know there's nothin' like it. And nothin' like it in the Umbra either. But you'll find that part out later. Right now, you just worry about keepin' your ass out of kicking range." The halfmoon then stands and tests out his shoes again, subtlely adjusting them. "So you got alla that? The Litany?"

Basil says "Yeah, I got it. And I'll try not to fuck up while you are away, cause it looks like you are going somewhere. Besides, I like you. And I wouldn't want to make you look bad." He walks over to Kenneth and offers his hand to him. "I'll be seeing you around, right? Nice fur, by the way." He can't help but smirk a little. "Looks good on you."

"Oh I ain't goin' away," Kenneth replies with a short smirk. "I'm just goin' to the farmhouse to get somethin' to eat 'cause I'm fuckin' starvin'." The halfmoon turns back around. "If you're hungry, you can come with."

Basil says "Nah. I'm going to stay out here for a little while. Try out that shifting thing that you mentioned... I'll come up for something to eat later though. You mind trying to keep the guys around here away from here for a bit? Just let'm know, not do anything active. I don't really want to get caught naked and furry."

Kenneth pauses in his departure, turning around. "To that, I say three words: Get Over It." There's another short pause, and he folds his arms over his chest. "In fact... I'd rather you try it out now."

Basil says "Hey, no offense man, but the first time I strip down for someone on purpose? I'd rather I was about to, yeah. Don't worry, I won't let it get to me in a situation where it's important... But, well. I'm still new."

Kenneth drops his arms, but instead of proceeding out of the barn as he had said previously, the halfmoon approaches again. "You blowin' me off?" he questions, expression losing its humor as he gets closer. "I told you to strip down an' shift, and you're tellin' me no, you won't do it."

Basil says "Nah. Just asking for a little slack for the new guy. I'm not even used to doing it in gym class. I didn't mean to disrespect you rank wise or nothing." Basil lowers his hands down, and after a moment, peels off the sweat shirt he was given with a sigh. "Better? Can't we work on pants tomorrow?"

Kenneth watches the shirt come off, but doesn't look satisfied. "Slack is not something I give much of either," he replies with an absolute no-nonsense look about him. At the same time, he isn't making comment about the other boy's physique. "But you're gonna get over this naked thing /real/ fast."

Basil smirks a little bit in a way that helps him think less about the situation, looking over his shoulder at Kenneth. "You know... I really didn't think that you would. But I thought it was worth trying for. You know... I think it's mostly cause of confidence or something. Look at me. I'm girly. Scrawny. I could punch you and you wouldn't feel nothin'." He toys with the strings on the front of his pants, sighing as he unties them. "Those who dare... " He half mutters before letting them drop, his back and side to Kevin.

Kenneth doesn't make any comment still, simply waiting for the proceedings to continue. "I'm no WWF contender myself, but it doesn't always take brute strength to win." The halfmoon does give the cub a short up and down glance before resting his gaze on where his face would be. "What you look like on the outside when you're in your homid, or human, form will not matter when you've shifted. And I'll tell you now, there're 5 known forms we can take. Homid, Glabro, Crinos, Hispo, Lupus. You know two of 'em already. The rest, you'll find out. Lupus is pure wolf, and glabro and hispo are the ones in between homid and crinos, and crinos and lupus. You'll pass through them, but stopping your shift takes practice." All of this is relayed with a flat style, unembellished. "All you gotta do... is /want/ it to happen. Imagine it. And, it should come."

Basil says "Just like that, huh? And yeah... You don't look like a macho man. But I dunno. I don't always want to look like a little kid, or a girl. I want to look and feel like I could do some damage if I had to. Besides, what if I get attacked when I'm in puny form and I can't shift? I'm boned, boned I tells ya. But I see what you mean. Ho Chi Min said 'A tiger can defeat and elephant, if it bites it once a day."

"You know the thing about books and covers," Kenneth utters nonplussed. "So you don't always want to look like a little kid or a girl... then don't keep thinking like you are one. You're a fuckin' Garou now. Someone who can turn into a nine-foot-tall wolf monster if someone is unfortunate enough to catch you on a bad day."

Basil says "Like you and the others were yesterday, heh. At least no one was really hurt, I don't think... But I'll work on that, yeah. So I'll see you around later tonight. Or whenever. The Farmhouse has a shower right? And shampoo? And all that good stuff?"

Kenneth only nods slightly, replying a short "Yes." He doesn't move yet though. "Well? You gonna change or what?"

Basil says "I'll give it a try, but only because you asked so nicely." Basil says, tossing his shirt aside and kicking his pants into a nearby pile of hay. With one last "Here goes." He begins to concentrate."

Kenneth stuffs what smirk was rising away, instead watching the cub with intent attention.

Basil tries to shift into the furry chainsaw beast form, but only gets close enough as to a near miss, ending up standing with his flanks towards Kenneth. His tries to turn around and doesn't have much of a problem with his front end, but he does trip over something ( probably his own feet ) and falls side first onto the ground with a grunt.
Cujo ain't got nothing on this thing, whatever it may be. Large powerful jaws sit well in the huge 'lupine' head. Amber eyes reflect a bestial ferocity, and the cunning of instinct lying within. Squared white furred shoulders shift with muscle during every long stride. Wisp of black hint through the white, almost giving the impression of stripes in areas.

Kenneth takes in the sight of the hispo with a short hint of something else in his eyes that is again quickly quashed. The resulting imbalance is noted as well, and for a bit the Shadow Lord remains silent to allow the cub to get used to not just the feeling of having changed form, but to cope with all the bombarding of the senses he receives.

Basil just lays on the ground for a few moments after shifting, taking only a moment to right his hips with his body. He does stare at Kenneth though, in almost the same fashion that a sled dog would. He takes his time watching the Shadow Lord through new eyes, smelling him through a nose that is a million times better then anything else he'd ever understand as a human. Out of a desire to play with Kenneth, he'd smirk if he could as he lifts a big brushy tail and wags it as fast as he can behind him. With a bit of effort, he arises and walks over to the Shadow Lord, poking his nose against his body and breathing in deep to see what he smells like. It isn't long before he has an even better idea and quickly makes his way over to the farm doors, barely poking his rather large nose through the crack in the doors to smell the fresh air. His body shivers and shakes as his lungs fill, and the large 'wolf' backs away from the door and sneezes.

Kenneth simply waits for the cub to finish sniffing him, muscles stiffening as he resists an urge to smack the offending nose away. When the cub starts making his way for the doors though, the Shadow Lord barks out his words tightly. "Don't even Think about going out there in the form you're in, Cub. Get back here right now." Even though he knows the hispo wouldn't get far at all on new cub legs, Kenneth starts after the huge nearwolf, fully intending to drag him back if he doesn't comply.

Basil sits down infront of the doors, his ears perking up as he listens to Kenneth speak. He starts to open his mouth before realizing he probably can't speak, and just shakes his head at the Shadow Lord instead.

Kenneth continues forth, stalking ahead like a lion. "Listen up. I told you the Litany, so I'm gonna tell you some rules around here, that apply to /this/ territory. First... shift back."

Basil turns around so that he faces Kenneth, sniffing at him without poking him once again before shifting back down into the form of a boy. He keeps his arms folded in his lap, however, slightly hunched over as he watches him.

Kenneth looks down at the now naked cub, and then up at the barn doors. "While you're puttin' your clothes back on," he begins, "the first thing 'bout bein' out here at the farm's this - you only shift /inside/ this barn. When you come in, you come in homid. When you leave, you leave in homid. You got that much down?"

Basil says "Because otherwise, someone might see me, and that would be bad. Yeah, I got that." Basil says, getting up after a moment and walking over to start pulling his clothes back on. "Don't worry, I'm not too stupid, you know."

Kenneth doesn't turn, but is listening. "Yea well you seem a bit /too/ eager." Waiting until the clothes sound like they're all on, the Shadow Lord then turns around. "So, you need your Proof still?"

Basil says "Proof that things are... Well. Not natural or not as they seem? No. I don't need any more proof. You've got me pretty convinced, so unless I wake up or found out someone hit me with LSD..."

"LSD doesn't have this kind of effect," Kenneth says mildly, chin tilting to a side. "Believe it, 'cause it's all real. Maybe you'll take to it better than I first did. Either way, you sink or swim in this place. The other rules 'round the farm's these: You don't shift in the farmhouse. You clean up after yourself. You /don't/ talk to strangers and tell 'em anything about livin' out here if they come up, no matter how friendly they seem at first. I never saw people outside of Garou and kin out here, but don't assume anything. You wait 'til they give you a full intro before you tell 'em who you are. And finally, you don't shift in the farmhouse. Now if you want to sleep in the farmhouse instead of this musty ass barn, then you go there and pick yourself a bed after you get acquainted with the rest of the Garou here."

Basil says "I don't know.. I might stay out here if I get it all to myself. I'll just have to wait and see how things go when I meet the others." He walks back over to the doors near Kenneth. "I'll keep to the rules though. Just like everyone else should, eh? And thanks, if you were the one that gave me these clothes."

Kenneth puts his hand on the door, about to open it. "I wasn't. The Children of Gaia got those for you. There's spare clothes up in the farmhouse attic, 'cause of cubs gettin' brought in and needing new clothes. For now, you can't shift in them, but someone'll fix you up with something or other for the time bein'." Then, he opens up the doors. "I don't recommend runnin' off either, in case you get any kind of homesick."

Basil says "Oh.. I'll have to thank them when I see them then. It would have sucked sleeping naked in that stuff. Hardly felt it through these though." He plucks at his sweat shirt, then tightens the strings on his pants once again. "I doubt I'll have to shift in them anyways. And I don't really want to run away... But... " The cub looks away for a minute, then back to Kenneth. "My mother will look for me, or got to the police or something. I know it. She has done a lot for me... Is there anything that could be done to let her know I'm not getting pounded in the ass by a pedophile or something?"

Kenneth pushes the barn door open a little more, and steps through before turning around. "What's your full name?" he asks before answering.

Basil walks up to the door and waits anxiously to walk outside with Kenneth. "Basil Jamenson. But I prefer Baz. Kind of a weird name for a city kid."

"Until we find out whether your family's kosher Kin or not," Kenneth then responds, "You aren't allowed to leave this farm. You'll find that no, this ain't no Club Med. There's no phone, no TV, no internet. You're lucky at least they got runnin' water and electricity out here in the boonies, but you gotta find other ways to keep yourself occupied. Even if it means readin' all the books in the farmhouse again." The halfmoon beckons him out now that the cub's dressed and in homid shape. "It sounds like I'm babyin' you, but I'm not. This ain't no summer camp either. You're a Garou from birth, and you're gonna be one 'til you die, so, how's that for a crash course hunh?"

Basil says "Ok... I just hope that she doesn't worry too much. I'll trust you lot in the mean time though, that you know what to do. Heh. Then it's just like home, for the most part. I like books. What kind do you have? Do you have a lot? Fiction? History?" He walks along with Kenneth, obedient as can be. "Heh. I didn't think it was, and I understand that much. You can't much change what you are."

"/They/ got..." Kenneth stresses, "whatever is in there." As the pair walk towards the farmhouse, the Shadow Lord seems to harbor a certain underlying tension the closer they get. "You'll find out soon enough. Seems like there's a lot, but it's all pretty much crap. Your job's to learn about Garou, not about what's in those books. But no one's gonna stop you if you want to read."

Basil says "What can I say? I like to read. Anything, really. And I've read an awful lot over the years. They say that history has a habit of repeating itself, so that in theory, by understanding the history of the world with intimacy, you can understand what will happen tomorrow. Or apply long forgotten solutions to new problems. I know I'm supposed to learn about us... But will someone be teaching me all the time?"

Kenneth shrugs a shoulder, mouth still tightening when not speaking. "Soon as you figure out which tribe you end up in, there should be, yeah." The halfmoon proceeds up the steps to the porch, not bothering to knock exactly before opening up the door.

Farmhouse: Kitchen and Dining Room
Homey is the first word to come to mind when looking at the farmhouse's kitchen. Dark, wood-paneled wainscoting covers the walls to about waist height, dark beige wallpaper continuing to the ceiling. Twin refrigerators occupy the north wall, facing the large six-burner stove on the south. The kitchen counter runs the length of the eastern wall, broken only by the double-basin sink. Cabinets run above and below the counter and a twin-pane window is set in the wall above the sink. A small pantry is set into an alcove alongside the refrigerators, presumably holding the deep freezer as well as shelves of dry goods.
Some twelve feet above the floor, a large chandelier hangs from the ceiling, lighting the dining room and casting long shadows over the bar to the kitchen. A long table occupies the center of the dining room, three chairs setting along each side, and one on each end. On the west wall, a large window looks out on the trees alongside the western pasture. Set into the north wall is a large cabinet, its glass doors closed on shelves containing a full compliment of fine china and glassware as well as a few decorative nicknacks. On the east, a wide bar separates the dining room from the kitchen.
An opening in the southern wall allows passage to the front entryway of the house, while a sliding glass door in the kitchen opens to a clearing behind the house.
(Non-Garou, please "+view curse")
Contents:
Basil
Obvious exits:
Hallway/Living Room Back Door

Basil says "So... What do we talk about now?" Basil ask as he walks into the farm house, somehow having expected that there would have been more people in there. And what is a tribe exactly? For the way that we use the word, that is."

Kenneth makes his way towards the kitchen, going down the short hallway and leaving the cub to follow to explore as he wills. "Tribes are groups of Garou who follow certain ideas and have their ways of doing things when it comes to bein' Garou and doin' Garou things." Not specific, for sure, but the halfmoon's distracted. He opens the fridge door, drawing out first a soda and then what looks to be sandwich making materials. "But more importantly, each tribe follows a different totem spirit. Like I said before... there's a lot more to it than you think. And yes, spirits exist. They're everywhere. Not all of 'em are awake most of the time, but they're definitely out there on the flipside of the coin."

Basil looks around the house with interest, but largely thinks it looks unremarkable save for the size and scent. "Man, the living room alone is the size of the place I was living, or just about it seems..." He walks into the kitchen behind Kenneth, heading over to the closest chair to sit down. "Ok. So you are saying it's, like, Shinto. Or like the Native American religion, sort of. That everything has a spirit, like the grass, the birds, the bees, the trees? What about things that aren't alive? Are spirits made by real things, or are real things made by spirits? What are the Tribes? What does your's do?" He ask a lot of questions, but he tries not to ask them so fast as to give Kenneth a headache.

Kenneth makes his sandwich, not interrupting the procedures to answer Basil immediately. The cub will just have to wait. Once the sandwich is all fixed up, the halfmoon slides into a seat at the table. "Everything has a spirit. Even the intangible. Just go with the default. If you think it exists, it probably has a spirit behind it. Safer that way. But that's up to the theurges to tell you about. Which are, pretty much, seers an' shamans and that sort of thing." He takes a large bite of the sandwich, finally fulfilling a hunger in his gut.

Basil doesn't mind the wait and remains quiet while Kenneth fixes his sandwich, but he does continue watching Kenneth. "Even power lines and stuff like that? Pretty cool... What languages do they speak? English? Are they friendly, or does that vary? Well, it has to vary if there is a spirit for hate and a spirit for kindness..." Basil thinks for a moment longer before looking to Kenneth again. "Is there a God spirit?"

Kenneth cracks open his Coke with a pop and fizz. Savoring the meal, again he doesn't respond for awhile as he partakes of food. Just when it might seem like he doesn't want to answer, the Shadow Lord responds, "If there's a God, He's got one helluva sense of humor. o the rest of those questions, you ask a theurge."

Basil gets up and walks over to the fridge to get a soda for himself, cracking it open and taking a long swig of the cool crisp liquid. "Ah... Yeah, I guess you are right. And it it kind of trippy when you think about it. Everything being part of one being a long, long time ago. Only to come so so far and then end up like this. I wonder what it was like... Before all the cities."

Kenneth snorts, chewing on his sandwich as his eyes finally come back to the other. He is seated at the kitchen table, with a monster of a meat sandwich and a Coke in front. "If you're that curious, step into the Umbra some time and look around." It's not particularly an invitation to do so, but the Shadow Lord is thus looking at Basil, who is by the refridgerator and also drinking up a soda.

Basil shrugs a little bit. "If I really new how to, I just might sometime... If someone took me. I guess that is where all the spirits are? What does it look like? Are the physics the same?" As long as Kenneth starts to go on. "Sounds like fun. I know it's probably dangerous and all... But nothing worth learning is ever easy." He takes another long swig of his coke, then strolls back to the table to take a seat.

The back door slides open and a tired looking Stacey enters. She takes a glance around and smiles at the two older boys seated at the table. "Ah, the cub has awakened," she says, then nods, heading over to the fridge. "Hey Kenneth. That sandwich looks good." Before opening the fridge, she pauses and offers another smile to Basil. "Sorry about how we met before. I am Stacey Kynds, also known as Walks-the-Middle-Road. Cliath Ahroun of the Children of Gaia."

Kenneth shrugs a slightly dirty shoulder, not having changed clothes since coming to the farmhouse and all last night. "You got a ways to go yet," he says to Basil before glancing behind him. Stacey gets a short, brief nod before he adds on a sidenote, "He don't know about auspices an' deednames an' all the tribe stuff yet." The good looking sandwich gets another bite.

The sound of the stairs creaking precedes the arrival of a battered looking Emma. Having spent the entire day upstairs sleeping, she comes down to the kitchen now with a fierce growl to her stomach. She is in the Glabro form, bones and muscles over-sized and caveman like. Her head, however, lacks any hair at all, and her skin looks as if she were a recovering burn victim. As she looks into the kitchen, she halts, suddenly nervous that someone who should not see her in this form, is sitting there. "Who the hell is that?" she growls.

Basil watches Stacey carefully as she enters, but once she speaks and Kenneth seems to be cool with her, Basil relaxes a bit and gives her a friendly smile. "Salright, Stacey." He lifts his can and gives a little toast to her. "She was the one you were with, right Kenneth?" He looks back to her. "Sorry about the mess.. But thanks for the clothes. I don't know much, yeah. Kenneth just taught me the Litamagig. He's a great teacher, in case you don't know." He looks casually over at Emma as she enters, then opens his eyes wide and jumps back a bit in his seat. "Gyah! I'm.... No one, really. Don't mind me, I'll go hide under the table now..." He wonders if she's another one of the Metis, but doesn't assume.

Stacey grins at Kenneth. "Yeah, I realize. Just thought I'd give him a taste. He'll learn soon enough." She yanks open the refrigerator and looks around, pulling out a soda of her own. "Well, being an Ahroun means," she starts, but falls silent as Emma enters. "It's okay, Emma. He's a new cub. Kenneth and I found him last night when he firsted in the city. Alicia and Dakota helped us bring him here."

"Someone," Kenneth swallows and replies with an irritated glare at Emma and her appearance, "who is gonna learn /exactly/ why the Veil can be so damn easily broken." The Shadow Lord puts his sandwich down after, but picks up his Coke to take a sip out of it.

Emma growls slightly at the situation, eyeing the cub. "What tribe?" Her fists ball up and she clenches her jawline tight, shifting down into Homid with a crackle-pop of healing flesh. "Some of us fight the wyrm instead of letting our packmates succumb to it." The last snarled out towards Kenneth.

Basil 's nose twitches a little bit as he looks at Emma. "I haven't picked one yet... " He looks back to Kenneth, then to Stacey, then back to Emma. He doesn't really know any of these people, but he knows he could cut the tension with a knife.

Stacey gives a warning glance to both Kenneth and Emma, snapping open her soda. "Hey, now, enough of the low blows. It's not the place. He's a lost cub, Emma." That said, she walks over and sits next to Basil at the table, giving him a wink and a smile. "Hey, it's okay. So... What's your name then, kid?"

Kenneth's grip around his Coke can tightens so that the aluminum's crunch cracks through the air. Staring at Emma balefully, the Shadow Lord gets up from his seat slowly. "The HELL you know about Lucas," he hisses, jaw working as Stacey's warning glance goes unheeded.

Fuel feeds the fire and as Kenneth rises, Emma turns a solid stance to face him. "Fact is fact. Sit down." She turns then to the fridge, fingers gripping the handle so fiercly that her knuckles whiten.

Basil looks over at Stacey and frowns, not really knowing what to do in such a situation. Other then keep quiet, and try not to draw the anger of two pissed off Garou. "I'm Baz.. Or Basil." He murmurs quietly to the girl beside him, glancing at her put paying a lot more attention to the stand off in front of him. He's already thinking of ways to get out incase they flip out. Basil decides to try and get their attention off of each other though in the fastest way he can think how. "Look, no one really needs to fight, do we? We're all brothers, and-" He tries to stand up and lets himself fall as he does so, landing on the floor of the kitchen and taking his soda can with him.

Stacey frowns and reaches out to help the cub back to his feet. "Hey, careful there. Never mind all that other stuff, eh? So, you from around here? St. Claire? Or were you visiting?" The little girl continues with the casual conversation as though nothing else was going on, although she does give another glance in Kenneth's direction.

Kenneth crunches the soda can even more, to the point that a couple droplets of Coke jump out onto the table. "You don't know the Fuckin' Facts," Kenneth grates out from his vocal chords, clearly straining to hold his temper. Basil's fall does little to distract the Shadow Lord, though it does its job. In abrupt motion, the Shadow Lord turns and throws the Coke can into the sink with a sudden, loud clatter of metal and liquid. "Fuck this shit," he growls aloud, turning to storm out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Emma reaches into the fridge and pulls out a bottled water, teeth grinding together. She uncaps it and puts it to her cracked lips, swallowing eagerly. The fridge is shut and she glances to the cub as if only now realizing he is on the floor. "Garou fight. It is in our blood and every breath. Get used to it." Her eyes glance then to the living room.

Basil turns over and accepts Stacey's help, getting himself back up to his feet with a small smile at her, murmuring something in passing to her with a small chuckle. He turns and looks back to Emma, then bows his head to her. "I know they do, ma'am... I feel the anger in me too. I've been feeling it a lot lately. I just don't think we should fight each other if we're the last defense in the world. It seems... Senseless. With all respect, ma'am." Basil avoids eye contact with her, looking off to one side.

Emma growls at the cub, "That is exactly right. You /don't/ think. You are a cub. You listen, you nod, you do what you're told." The water goes back to her lips.
You paged the room with 'chuckles.'.

Stacey rolls her eyes at Emma's words, sighing a bit. "It's the Rage that's in us, Basil. Makes us all cranky, depending on how much you have. It's a great aid in battle, but... it's both blessing and curse. And it's even worse around the full moon."

Even the heavy flop of Kenneth into one of the living room chairs sounds angry.

Basil peers up at Emma from the table. "But you haven't told me to do anything. Kenneth told me to learn about the Garou. You scared away my teacher." He looks at Stacey again, then nods at her a little bit. "Passion is the fuel that drives...?" He leans in close to murmur something to her.

"I'm not Fuckin' Scared!" Kenneth yells out from the living room in clear rebuke of the cub.

A fierce growl bellows out from the Get and she charges forward with rageborn speed. Her right fist is balled up and as she pushes up against Stacey, who is in her way of the cub, the punch goes swinging fiercly towards the cubs mouth.

The Child of Gaia is shocked enough as she is pushed to not react right away, and the punch makes its mark, slamming hard into the cub's mouth. Stacey lets out a angry growl and shoves hard against Emma. Rage fuels her as she shoves the Get into the kitchen's table.

Basil sure as hell doesn't have time to react : Basil wasn't told by Kenneth 'Oh, by the way, Garou can run like fucking people from Kenya'. He falls to the floor again in surprise, this time for real, hitting his head on the floor and growling as he gets back up to his feet. "You STUPID, IGNORANT, BITCH!" Basil shouts at the woman. "I may be a cub, but I haven't broken the Litany! You've done it twice!" He crushes the soda can in his hand and pitches it at Emma's head as hard as he can, probably missing.

Kenneth stands from his seat when the crashing and banging and shouting all come from the kitchen. A bit of debate goes on, before he sits back down and with a stiff movement.

As Emma is bowled over by Stacey, she lets out a fierce growl to the other. "Do Gaians not follow the rules of respect around here? Whispering, chuckling and being mouthy are not qualities we should encourage in a cub!" She pushes at the other to free herself, but thankfully, does not budge her that much. Had she, the coke can may have hit her, but it goes whirring over /both/ of their heads. Then Emma looks up, the names snapping her over the edge. "Enough from you dog!" Now her eyes haze over, pure rage in her gaze as she aims her attention on the cub- provided she can get past Stacey.

"No, damn it," Stacey growls, still holding Emma back. "but I don't appreciate being pushed around! Enough of this! Go take a walk and calm down! This isn't the place!" She still struggles to hold Emma back, to not let her get to the cub. "And /you/!" she shouts, obviously to Basil. "Learn your fucking place! Respect those of a higher station! Apologize to Emma now and call her Emma-rhya when you do it!"

Basil says "I wasn't even talking bad or laughing at you! I was just asking another Garou a question regarding something I didn't know about! Jesus child raping Christ on a popsicle stick, don't be so egotistical! If I was going to mouth off about you, I'd have the balls to do it to your face instead of behind your back!" Basil squares his shoulders, scowling at Emma, feeling some sting of pride for some reason unknown to him. "And I'm not a dog, I'm a WOLF! One that never fucking did anything to you!" His fist are balled at his sides as he resist the urge to start hitting Emma, or use the salt shaker on the table. "I do respect her." Basil says, sneering a little bit. "Or I did, until she hit a little kid. Sorry, Emma-Rhya." He practically spits. "I'll leave before someone is hurt, back outside. Ok? I won't run away. But I need air. I don't feel good right now."

Kenneth finally stands again, now that the scuffle seems to have died down into shouting. Stepping over and down the hallway, the Shadow Lord appears just at the entrance to the kitchen to survey the damage done. "Are you rage whores done, or should I leave before someone of import comes by to all ya'll's asses for messin' up the kitchen?"

Emma growls, her body trembling as she fights the urge to shift forms and attack. Sweat beads down her face, her eyes dark and heavy on the cub. Her damaged skin cracks and flakes as she remains tustling with the Child of Gaia. "We raise pathetic cubs here. There is not a single respectful bone in his body. What a waste. He'll be dead before he gets a chance to Rite." She pushes at the Gaian again, though it's more of a get off me gesture.

Stacey lets go of Emma then to spin around and glare at the cub, her body shaking with rage. "You know /nothing/ about what you're saying. Emma deserves more respect than you can imagine," she snarls at the cub. "APOLOGIZE. Now. Sincerely and without excuses."

Basil 's nose twitches once again, the cub partially wishing he hadn't thrown away his soda. "I'm going to grow up and be an Ass Kicking Werewolf." He remarks at Emma, brimming with confidence inspired by anger. He holds his head up high before looking at Stacey, meeting her with eye contact. He puts his hand infront of his body, exchanging a glance with Kenneth before looking back to Emma. He closes his eyes and bows to her, speaking at normal volume so he can be heard. If he isn't heard, he knows Stacey will make him repeat himself. "The Cub humbly apologizes for his transgressions, Emma-Rhya." He looks back at Kenneth. "I will clean up, if you let me. Sir."

Kenneth doesn't reply just yet to Basil's request, but he does curl the side of his lip up. "You gotta ways to go, Cub. And you can start with tossin' out callin' me, Sir. Rhya is the approved title for those higher ranked than you." He does look to Emma first, to see if she will accept the cub's words. "And as far as I can remember, a fair number of us in here were cubs at this sept." He glances sidelong to Stacey as well.

Emma is still tense as a spring bent backwards and waiting to snap free. Her shoulders rise and fall as she looks from Stacey to the cub, giving a very faint nod. She seems willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, even if her posture suggests that she may be aware it was just a fine performance. Her eyes trail to Kenneth, "Yah, and some of those cubs had enough sense to not piss off /anyone/ of higher rank than themselves." She stands up, looking to be in a fair bit of pain now, and brushes past Stacey with a wince. A hand comes up to rub over hair that isn't there and then she is sliding out the back door.

Stacey gives a nod after Emma's. "That'll do for this time, cub," she says, stepping to the side and watching with a frown as Emma leaves. "And you should also know that maintaining eye contact can be taken as a challenge and get you killed if you do it with the wrong person." She puts her hands on her hips and looks around, surveying the mess caused by the short struggle.

Basil 's nose twitches as he starts to hunt around the kitchen for a towel or some paper towels. Unless there are none, he finds one and starts to clean by wiping up his soda. "Yes, Kenneth-Rhya, Stacey-Rhya. I was not told that..." He tosses the soda can in the garbage, and moves the table back towards it's place, doing the same with any misplaced chairs. Basil starts to clean the table aswell while he's at it. "... I didn't really mean to start a fight. I just felt it. I wanted to, right after I got hit. With no plan or anything at all, just... Bah. I know she's stronger then me, too."

"Some, yeah," Kenneth rumbles after the departing Get, being vague on purpose before he looks back to Basil and Stacey. "She's also smarter, faster, and all around more experienced than you. Including matters of the Litany," he states with a tone of displeasure. He glances back over towards Stacey then, not communicating verbally, but an ambiguity is present in his expression at the Child.

Stacey sighs and then gives a slight, tired smile in Kenneth's direction. "It's been a long week," she murmurs, then grabs a towel herself and starts cleaning the opposite end of the table from the cub. "So, were you from around here, Basil? I had just recently moved here from California myself before I was found by Alicia-rhya."

Basil takes the paper rag then throws it in the trash, 'sitting' in a low squat against a part of the wall, arms folded across his knees, looking down at the floor. "It isn't like this always, is it? I don't want to be a monster that can just flip out and hurt someone at the drop of a hat." He sighs. "I feel like I need a smoke, or a drink, and I've never even had either before." He looks up at Stacey again. "I was born in the city. Yeah, I'm from around here. I never even left the city until today... Or last night."

"Sez his mom'll probably be out lookin' for him," Kenneth mentions, voice kept at a low pitch as he stoops to pluck up what was left of his half-eaten sandwich. "Don't know if she's kosher or not." Though he doesn't volunteer any information about his background, the halfmoon does mention, "You're not the only missin' child report that's out there Basil."

Stacey grimaces a bit at that. "Yeah, maybe we'll be able to cover it. We have a kin that's a police. Helped Lucas and I out once." She falls silent at that and frowns, finishing her side of cleaning things up and then pushing the table back into its old position. "Nah, it's not always like this. But, like I said, it's especially hard with the full moon. And you ought not to have spoken to her like that. And no," Stacey says, now in lecture mode, she's not a Metis. She was in the Glabro form when she first entered. We all can go into five forms: Homid, Glabro, Crinos, Hispo, and Lupus. In order it's basically: human, near-man, Werewolf, near-wolf, and wolf."

Basil nods in the affirmative to Kenneth, propping his chin up on his arms. "I know. Especially not on the west coast, kids trying to move out somewhere to make it big... They just, disappear." He watches Kenneth for a moment before looking over at Stacey. "I'm glad for that. I don't want to live like this for the rest of my life, no matter how short it might be. I know I shouldn't have talked to her like that. It just came out." He looks back to Kenneth. "And you never said we could be fast like that. How can we do that?" Back to Stacey again. "Heh. I know about the forms, but she looked kind of like... Well. Bad."

Kenneth shrugs in answer. "You'll find there is a /lot/ to bein' Garou that you don't know. Fighting aside. It's all a matter of knowing yourself and using your abilities," he utters in reply, dumping the cold meat and stomped on bread slices into the trash.

Stacey watches as Kenneth tosses the sandwich. "Want me to make you another? It was my fault the table got bumped like that." She smiles then. "And I still owe you a rabbit." Turning back to Basil, she nods. "She was probably involved in the Revel, fighting some wyrm creature or other. As far as talking... you'll have to learn more control in the future. Your training will help with that." She frowns suddenly and spins back to Kenneth. "Speaking of rabbits, I need to talk with you later."

Basil says "I know that, I know that I'm still new. I know that I have a lot to learn. And I'm willing to, by whomever will teach. What will I learn besides, you know, fighting? And do you mean just hand to hand? Or... Paw to paw? Paw to werm?" He turns to look at Stacey from his squatting sit against the wall. "Heh. Well doesn't a Tribe or something need to pick me before I get a real teacher, or...?"

Kenneth catches the Child's sudden movement, eyes swiveling to look at her. He doesn't seem to recognize what Stacey refers to, but shakes his head anyway. "Don't worry about the sandwich. Lost my appetite when Emma showed up lookin' like that," he mutters, before washing his hands off at the sink and slipping back down into one of the uprighted chairs at the kitchen table again. As for the cub's questions, the Shadow Lord still looks back to Stacey. "You mind?"

The back door slides open, revealing a very tired looking but smiley Rae. Spotting those whom she doesn't know- the Gaian cub throws out formalities. "Evening Stacey-rhya." She takes off her muddied boots, placing them out of the way. "It was.. beautiful out there today- it won't be long before I break out the fun shorts." She walks in, smiling and nodding to those present, "Stace, did you get the stuff at the store?" She inquires, her voice soft.

Stacey nods to Kenneth and slips into a chair as well. "Yeah, you'll learn more specific stuff once you choose a tribe. Our Sept Alpha has a rule that lost cubs get to have some say in what tribe they end up. As for what you'll be learning, yes, it will involve a lot of fighting, although the style will depend on your teachers. Also how to shift, about being a wolf, about the tribes, spirits, the Umbra, the Triat, packs, all sorts of fun stuff." As the back door opens, she turns in her chair and grins. "Hey Rae, I sure did. In the fridge there."

Kenneth gives Stacey a bit of a quizzical look, but that questioning glance disappears as Rae enters and is greeting. Back to Basil, the halfmoon nods slightly. "I went through a bunch of all that, and whichever tribe you end up in will give you their spiel, but the Litany spans all tribes. There are subtleties, but that'll come with... hangin' around." Then, his gaze turns back upon Rae, rather cold and scrutinizing.

Basil tenses visibly when the back door opens, half standing, Basil thinks it's Emma coming back. But he sees that it's just a girl, and that the others don't seem to react to her, so he just 'sits' down again. He stretches out his back before turning back to Stacey, chuckling drly for a moment. "I'd like to learn more then one way of fighting, when I get around to it. You know, one way is never always the right way. If it was, tactics would be obsolete."

The Gaian cub for a split second makes a very excited face, clapping her hands together once. Opening the fridge, she takes out a carton of eggs and a plastic grocery bag. Moving around those present, she opens the cabinets getting a large pot, than filling it half way with water. Setting it on the stove, she flips on the gas burner- and whalah! In about ten minutes, there will be boiling water. Turning about to lean on the counter, the teen catches bits of conversation. She doesn't, however address anyone yet. This cub knows better than to talk out of place. Kenneth's cold look catches Rae's eye rather briefly, before she looks down and away.

[look Rae]
This young girl is lost in a time of transition. It shows the most in her pale brown eyes. In a way they appear tired, the youth plainly is no stranger to tragedies. She looks about the age of 14 or 15; tall and scrawny with a hint of woman here or there. Sometimes when she smiles there is a sense of maturity inside of her, hidden among the pudgy flesh of her child-like face.
About 5'7", Rae appears to tower among her peers- including most boys. Her frame grew so quickly, that her skin was pulled tightly across her bones. This gives her a willowy look, however temporary. The clothes the tall girl chooses wear are goodwill-type-clothing. Nothing new, yet incredibly loud and noticeable. Despite her choice of clothing however, her gaze doesn't appear to hold anything out of the ordinary. Rae regards the world around her with an indecisive blank stare. The young woman chooses to keep her thoughts private most of the time, hidden behind bland eyes.
The young lady's hair is short and curly. It neatly dresses her shoulders behind her creating a deep brown cape hovering above her shoulders. Usually her hair is wild and free about her scalp, the young woman rarely takes the time to style it. Most mornings it's cleaned, brushed and let loose. Below each eye one is a spattering of Irish freckles, seen easily on her pale skin.

Stacey misses the cold look that Kenneth gives her cub as she's a bit too caught up in Rae's excitement. She gives a distracted nod to Basil, smiling. "Yes, I agree. Someday I'd like to learn how to fight with swords, even if Auggie laughs at me for it. Rae?" she says, looking back over at the cub, "This is Basil, a new cub that Kenneth," a nod towards the Shadow Lord, "and I found in the city last night. He is a lost cub." She glances at Kenneth with a frown. "Do we know his Auspice?"

Kenneth is again busy, observing Rae's movements and such as if he were to attempt a guess at what she's doing. "Dagger's-Edge, cliath halfmoon and Shadow Lord," he tacks on to the introduction from Stacey, "currently packed under Fenris." The second half is said with less enthusiasm than ever, before he turns back to answer Stacey. "No." It's succinct, but then he remembers and adds, "but there's probably an almanac out in the living room."

Basil says "Heh, I know we have plenty of natural weaponry and all. But weapons add a little more reach. And distance weapons add a lot more. If I'm this nasty, there have got to be a lot of other nasties out there with claws. And angry problems." He looks over at the new arrival, watching what she's doing. "So... Making Easter eggs, or just boiling them to eat?" He ask her, then shrugs. "I'll help you figure out what I am, if I can."

In a hurried whisper and 'cough' to Stacey, Rae says- "He better be better than the last one.." Being addressed by her elder lift's Rae's bipolar spirits a little before she returns to attending the stove. Making sure that in fact the water is still there and not boiling, the Gaian addresses the cub. "I'm Rae Mac, New Moon Child of Gaia. A cub like you, though I've been here.. a bit. And I am making Easter eggs.." Her brows knit in worry about the attention weapons and.. overall beatings are getting- but he cub ignores it for now, filing it away. "Your welcome to color them with me, if you like. Not really religious myself, but its still fun to make them."

Stacey nods to Kenneth and rises from her seat. "I'll go and see if I can find one. And we will need your help with one part, Basil, and that's telling us your date of birth." She then grins over at Rae again, suddenly looking very much like the eleven-year-old kid she is. "I'd like to help, too! Are you going to hide them later?" And it's only then that she steps over to the living room to fetch the book if she can find it.

Kenneth definitely isn't about to debase himself to the point of giddiness over Easter eggs, and that much shows with the bland neutrality he watches the others with. And for a moment, he doesn't say anything, only watching.

Basil wonders what they are whispering about, but doesn't say anything, just raising an eyebrow a bit. He soon rises to his feet however, and offers his hand to Rae. "Pleasure to meet you. Baz. Just Baz. Glad to see there are other cubs out here too.. I don't have a Tribe or a moon thing yet, but I think we'll find out one soon. Dunno what Tribes will look at me though. How does that work, anyways? Word gets around there is a new guy, and everyone looking for fresh blood shows up to look at me?" He looks back to Rae and smiles wide. For a kid that looks a bit dirty as he does, his smile is awfully white. Someone has dental pride. "I'd love to. We can all sit down and do it together. I don't think Kenneth-Rhya will, though..."

The Gaian is a little taken aback when the war-mongering-Garou-child introduces himself, and goes as far as to shake her hands. Surprise soon enough is put aside, because Rae is very much aware at some point someone will beat the chivalry out of him! "I wouldn't worry about a tribe, I find that they usually fight over lost cubs most of the time." Her voice is very quiet, "..try to remember that when you pick it, stick with it." Rae begins a little hesitantly, "..a tribe is like a family, once you have one you really can't switch. Besides, if you do that well- you end up making some enemies."

Basil seems pretty nice, considering not too long ago he was screaming at someone. "Heh. Well, you know, whichever does the best arguing of their view point to me, has the best people, and makes me want to go with their goals? That is where I'll be. And yeah, I figure as much... I mean, I might switch Tribes, but I doubt it. Once I decide. Something I wasn't aware of might be stumbled upon, and enemies be damned. I can't fight if I don't believe in something."

Stacey skips back into the room, her brown curls bouncing a bit. "Found it!" she says, grinning, and hands the book to Kenneth. "So, when were you born, Basil?" Catching the last bit of what Rae says, she nods. "Tribes are families. You'll have to examine what the different tribes believe and choice what fits you. Don't decide until you're sure. And once you do choose, I'm not so sure you'll have much of a choice about whether you stay with them or not."

Kenneth shakes his head. "When you find a tribe, you better damn well stick with it. They say you can't pick your family, but in your case there's exceptions made. But, this also means what you pick, you better damn well ride out whatever it is. At least you don't gotta worry about some of the tribes. Red Talons are all wolf-born, Wendigo are pretty much Indians-only. You get the picture."

Within a few minutes of conversation Rae has come to a conclusion. Lost cubs are lost for a reason! The Gaian cub sighs a little, before gingerly putting the eggs into the boiling water. Looking at the coloring directions the cub's mood disintegrates further. "Well, dang- the eggs gotta cool for a couple hours before coloring." She turns to Stacey, smiling a little. "But I'm sure the glitter-spin-dye is worth the wait." When Kenneth starts to lecture Rae can't help but continue to smile. "No matter what, families stick together, even if we don't agree upon everything." Her voice low and submissive, "Its how you build trust."

Basil says "September thirteenth, nineteen ninety two. I'm young and all, you know. So. Lets see what I am. All this anticipation is making me feel all tingly inside. Anxious. Want to know." He looks at Stacey, then looks back to Kenneth. "You think that they'll all be coming to talk with me? Aside from the others. This is going to be weird... Where do you think I fit, Kenneth? Just off your first impression. Wild guess." He looks back to Rae again and shrugs his shoulders. "I've never really had much of a family, really... So I wouldn't know. Heh."

Kenneth sharply turns his black eyes on Rae, gaze narrowing at her with the talk of family and trust. The calm dissolves into a simmer of restraint, but with admirable exertion of will, he closes his eyes and dismisses the hot words that come to mind. Basil's turn to him for opinion works well again, distracting. "You?" His eyes open again, and he examines Basil with a new sense of examination. "Given then way you keep wantin' to play nice, you probably belong with Stacey and the other Children. Unless you're keen on bummin' out in the city like last night, then you very well could be a Bone Gnawer." The Shadow Lord, though, narrows his eyes at that in silent opinion of Bone Gnawers.

After dropping the almanac off with Kenneth, Stacey walks over to peek down at the boiling eggs. "A couple of hours?" she asks, and then sighs. "Ah, well. Maybe we can color them in the morning? Unless you want to stay up late! It'd be like a pre-Easter slumber party. I had one with Joey! We made a fort in the Odeon out of blankets and pretended we were the Royal Street Navy being attack by Alley Pirates and their troll." At the mention of her name, she turns around and grins. "Hey! Maybe you will end up joining our tribe. We have some good teachers. Did you look that date up, Kenneth?"

"Yeah, the instructions say 'refrigerate'." Silly chemicals and their directions. Rae however continues to feel a steady build of unease, despite Stacey's reassurance. She turns to her tribemate with a short and somewhat forced laugh. "I would love to stay up late and dye them. In the morning, we can hide them about the farmhouse. I could pop a couple in the toilets and maybe actually 'make' my friggen' trick quota." Rae's own humor shakes her unease for a few minutes, as she readies the strainer to drain the eggs.

Basil smiles at Kenneth all the same, lifting his hand to give him a thumbs up. "Hey. Maybe. I believe it's important we get along as Garou, if we're going to win. High morale and a sense of brotherhood raises the chances of winning in combat. I don't really mind where I end up, like I said, so long as I believe in it and I want to be with the people. Bone Gnawer doesn't sound too happy though." He glances back over to the other two. "Good things come to those who wait. I'd love to stay up with you, but I think I might take a shower and then maybe sleep before long. Oh, God. A shower with shampoo and everything. My hair won't look like crap anymore! Heh!"

Kenneth looks back down at the unopened almanac, and shortly turns back to the book to look up said date. It takes but a moment, as he answers with a none-too-impressed flatline, "Ahroun." Leaving the book open, he pushes it over the table so that others can have a look and confirm it. "That'll put a dent in your playin' nice. Though I took you for a theurge, the way you kept goin' on about spirits." The continued mention of easter eggs and such innocent activities as coloring them, though, don't cheer the halfmoon as much.

Stacey grins over at Basil. "Well, you certainly sound like a Child of Gaia, talking like that. We're all about unity and balance. And an Ahroun like me! That means you were born under a full moon. Ahrouns usually have more rage than the other Auspices, and they are the warriors and leaders." She looks over at Kenneth, her smile a bit more forced now. "Speaking of Ahrouns, mind if I have a chat with you outside? It's that rabbit thing. Need to talk to you about it before you leave."

Kenneth looks over at Stacey, eyes narrowing a touch before he nods. "Yeah sure," he says, standing from his seat now. "You owe me one and all that." Before he turns to head out the sliding door though, the halfmoon looks back to the two cubs for a moment.

Cheery? Rae gets her life threatened on a daily basis for her lack of positive attitude. When the newcomer is deemed and Ahourn, Rae glances over her shoulder watching him in a much more weary way. When the elders get a-chatting about who knows what, the Gaian cub drains the eggs before setting them in the fridge to cool. "I will see you later tonight than Stace, if your still up for coloring eggs."

Basil says "Well, what is that again? And yeah, I was kind of interested in the spirits. Shinto views and such things turning out to be real. Reincarnation being real, assumedly. More towards Eastern and Pagan beliefs being real, and Western becoming a bit more... Mysterious. Where is Godo? Hum. Should be kind of fun. Oh. Warriors and leaders... I don't really look like one at the moment, but... I guess that is what training is for. Doubt I'll ever be much on the lead part though." He looks at Kenneth, and bows to him. "See you around, Kenneth-Rhya. Stacey? We can talk more about the Tribes later, if you don't mind? I think I'm going to go shower now. And try to get all the knots out of my hair."

Stacey nods and smiles at Rae. "Definitely, Rae. I'll be back way before it's time to make those." She then nods and smiles at Basil. "Yeah, we'll talk about tribe later. You'll turn out all right as long as ya keep your mouth shut in tense times, eh?" With that she heads out the sliding door to meet with Kenneth.

Barnyard
The lane wends its way back and around the farmhouse to here, where it widens into a broad, grassy sward contained only by the woods which encircle it on three sides. Buildings break up the purity of the landscape: an open-sided structure which serves as a garage and the big barn, empty of livestock, to the east. A good-sized vegetable and herb garden furrows the land south of the barn, while a pyramid-like pile of rocks, of similar consistency to the gravel of the lane, rests a few yards south of the garage.
North of the buildings, the fields have long been fallow, hastening a conversion from farmland to natural prairie. A sliding glass door allows admittance to the farmhouse, the interior obscured by Levolor(tm) blinds in a wood-grain pattern. The lane leads out around the house to the southwest. The discerning can just barely pick out the beginnings of a faint path into the woods towards the southeast.
(Non-Garou, please "+view curse")
Contents:
Stacey
Obvious exits:
FIelds BArn Farmhouse Lane Woods

Kenneth steps out into the moonlight, casting a glance up at the sky for a brief check as he waits for Stacey. When the Child has exited as well, the Shadow Lord moves off a ways down the fields and to a section of the barnyard a bit off to one side. It's there that he turns, and gazes at the shorter ahroun. "Ain't about rabbits, is it?"

Stacey wears a smile as she leaves the Farmhouse and she follows Kenneth over to the chosen spot. Once he turns to her, she sighs and shakes her head. "Not really, no, but I couldn't think of anything better." She shrugs, then looks up at him. "Have you seen Dillen lately?"

Kenneth doesn't change very much save for a nearly indiscernable narrowing of his eyes. "Not since I left the Burial Mounds," he replies bluntly. "Why, is he still out there?"

Stacey nods. "He is. He hasn't left. Refuses to. I was just going back to check on things, say a prayer... and I found him there unconscious. Seems the stubborn Get wants to keep the animals from eating Lucas, so he's staying out there and not moving, and he's been starving because of it." She sighs and shakes her head. "He couldn't even stand. I ended up bringing him some food and a blanket and stuff. And I'll be checking on him regularly, since it looks like I'll be sticking around the bawn until the next moot, but..." She looks back up at Kenneth. "I just thought you should know and all."

Kenneth turns away sharply, looking off to the line of the woods as his face draws into a scowl. For a long time, the halfmoon doesn't say a word, only his breathing drawing in a touch more quickly than before. "He's wastin' his time out there."

Stacey watches Kenneth for a moment and then turns her gaze towards the Farmhouse. "Perhaps," she says softly, "but I'm not going to tell him that. He said he'll leave once they're buried properly." She falls silent.

Kenneth then turns and looks back at the ahroun. "If he wants to rot there with them, then he can go an' do that," he growls at the Child, "Do not suffer thy people to tend thy sickness. That's the law."

Stacey frowns at this, wrinkling her nose. "He wasn't nearly enough near death for that. And it's not in my nature to just let someone die, especially for silly reasons. It's no burden or suffering on me, since I'll be around anyways. And besides all that, I owed him."

"And just /what/ is he gonna do, laying out there passed out?" Kenneth retorts, volume rising. "He wants to protect the bodies from gettin' chewed on, but the hell is that gonna work when he's unconscious?" The halfmoon walks off a couple paces, footsteps crunching down. "The freakin' idiot!"

Stacey sighs and then shrugs. "I can't argue much with that. In fact, that's about the same thing I told him, although in a milder tone," she says dryly. "I told him he had to take care of himself, because he sure won't be much use to anyone dead or whatever. Honestly, I don't think he really was thinking through all this."

Kenneth snorts, hand balling up at his side. "Of course not! Freakin' dumbass doesn't know when to quit. Just like any Get." Then, he's back to staring at the sky. "Ain't no damn use to sit there and stew," he mutters afterwards, putting hand to temple and rubbing.

Stacey shrugs. "Again, I ain't gonna go telling him that. I doubt he'd have listened to me much if I had tried, but at least he's not gonna be killing himself over it now." She shrugs. "At least, that exact moment I wasn't going to bother with telling him what he should or shouldn't be doing. Maybe now that he's eating and his brain's not all fuzzy, he can be reasoned with."

Kenneth just stands out in the far corner of the barnyard, looking somewhat skyward with a hand rubbing at his temple as Stacey converses with him. "All his talk about bein' like that other Get, and he's lying around growing weaker by the day. God, f--... just, ugh." The Shadow Lord shakes his head, turning back to face the Child. "He said he was gonna leave when they got buried right?"

Stacey nods to Kenneth, as they both stand out towards the far corner of the barnyard. "Yeah, that's what he told me, and I'm pretty sure he meant it. No real sense for him to stay out there after that, right? I mean, even less sense than staying out there now." She frowns then. "Should I try and talk him into leaving when I see him next? I can try, but I think it'd just upset him."

"No," flatly answers the Shadow Lord. "I think you've done enough as is. You fed 'im when you didn't have to. If he's really a Get, as his tribemate says, then he'll get the hell over it and just go on until the Gatherings are performed. Their bodies are nothing now anyway."

Stacey nods. "All right. I do agree with you, Kenneth, but, as I said, I just don't think he's thinking in through clearly. As for the feeding... there was no way I could just turn away from him. It was either bring him food or drag him back to the Farmhouse with him fighting me the whole way. The food was easier." She crosses her arms and then nods again stubbornly.

Kenneth once more, rattles a low "Freakin' idiot" under his breath before he turns back to Stacey. "At this point, Stacey... Requiem's..." The halfmoon struggles, but he narrows his gaze a touch. "Might as well hang up the coat."

Jervis begins to make his way casually, and noticeably, down the land to the barnyard after exiting the Farmhouse, head occasionally turning from side to side, taking it what familiar sights he can in the dark, though he's noticed the other two garou quite early. As he approaches, a meticulous viewer might catch glimpse of the sheathed sword worn at his hip, though for the most part, it's obscured by his coat. As he comes within the distance of conversation, he does nod to the two other garou, muttering something to himself like "some thing's never change," though clearly directed at the landscape. Then: a more cheery: "Hello."

[look Jervis]
He's one of those guys that always looks like he's thinking. Either staring at something, or staring at nothing at all. He's timid-looking enough; he only stands five feet ten inches, and really can't weigh much more than one hundred thirty, but his eyes suggest something a bit more active than a lanky, underfed undergrad. They lie somewhere between an cat's eyes and those of a snake; large pupils, with even larger, bright green irises. There's not much white to them. He's Caucasian, that's for sure, probably French and some other ragtag European nationality. Fair-skinned but hardly pale, with lush, almost feminine lips and large, heavy eyebrows. He's apparently been minding his appearance lately. His hair's recently been cut, still parted down the middle, but short, and lightly gelled up to offer up a hard, slightly spiky look. A masculine jaw-line saves his face from appearing girlish, but his body is so frail-looking it can, at best, come across as androgynous. When he moves, it's as if he's a puppet being manipulated by master of the craft; every movement perfect, but joint-motivated and mechanical. Today he's wearing a decidedly inoffensive, almost gentlemanly ensemble of a black fleece turtleneck, expensive looking dark blue jeans, and a well-worn, but obviously also well maintained charcoal black longcoat.

Stacey raises her eyebrows a bit at that, her lips part a bit, as though she is about to respond, but the young Ahroun's attention is drawn away by the approach of an unfamiliar face. She smiles at him, a bit tensely, but responds in a cheerful tone that matches the newcomer's. "Hello. From around here? I don't recall seeing you before, sir."

Jervis smiles down at Stacey, tone stoic despite his facial expression. "Recently, yes," the Fang then pauses, grin never faultering, to retrieve and light a cigarette. He speaks again, first few words muffled by cigaretted lips before he draws it away from his face with this fingers. "Haven't seen either of you before either. But, that happens alot around here; much like never seeing people again." Exhaling smoke, he extends a hand to shake, "But anyway: Jervis Michaels, Light-That-Is-Darkness, Cliath, Ragabash, Silver Fang."

Stacey returns the smile, more genuine this time, and shakes his hand firmly. "Stacey Kynds, Walks-the-Middle Road, Cliath Ahroun of the Children of Gaia." She grins then, looking up at him. "Do you know Tobin, then? I've spoken with him once before. He taught me how to clean a sword when I was a cub."

Jervis visibly clenches, body-wide, but all but instantaneously, at the name. Then the previous easy going and cheery posture resumes. "I know him," he says, drawing the glowing cigarette back up to his lips for a drag, then continuing, breath accompanied by escaping smoke. "Better and longer than I'd bother to tell; he's one of a handful of people I came here looking for, actually. I take it he's not here?" he asks, motioning the cigaretted hand towards the barn.

Kenneth's gaze doesn't move too far, and what decency for politely returning introductions had temporarily left the moment Jervis drew out his cigarettes and stated himself a Fang. However, the Shadow Lord recovers and takes note of the new face. "Kenneth Saitou-Sardelis, Dagger's-Edge, cliath Philodox of the Shadow Lords," he states clearly enough. This time, the Fenris pack note is omitted purposefully. "And to answer, no Tobin's not here."

Stacey frowns a bit as she notices the tensing, and then shakes her head. "Nah, as Kenneth said, he's not here." She glances back at Kenneth as he finally enters the conversation, giving him a slight smile. "I haven't seen him around here all that often. Probably have more luck looking elsewhere."

Jervis nods to Stacey. "Pinches is seldom around when he'd be useful," he says, chuckling, presumably referring to Tobin. His eyes do go a bit alight upon hearing Kenneth's introduction, but, like the previous "clench", it's a barely noticeable ripple in his otherwise completely fluid and amicable body language. The grin of his does grow a little, though, to one side, as he turns to Kenneth. "Guessed there might be a reason you didn't want to shake hands, but given the moon..." he shrugs casually, and then speaks in a more hushed tone, and less cheery one. "Heard a bit about you, actually. You've done everyone a service, and...don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Stance after this is cautious, not aggressive, but wary.

"Oh, I'm sure you say that to everyone who gets rid of obstacles for you in your path towards world domination," Kenneth replies smoothly, not missing a beat. "But, I don't recall hearin' anything about you before." Not hostile, but just as cautious when Jervis regards him, the halfmoon keeps his gaze on the Fang rather than the Child. "That could be a good thing."

Making his way towards the barn from the woods, Brom lumbers easily as he yawns to himself, then calls out. "Hey Kenneth!" He growls once he spies the three, tapping a sledge hammer gently on his shoulder as he goes.

Stacey frowns as she looks between the two, picking up on something, but not at all sure what. "Hey, Jervis? Have you spoken with Andy the cub at all recently?" she asks, in a small attempt to throw in a new subject. "I'm just wondering how he's doing and..." The little girl breaks off as Brom comes towards them, frowning again. "Oh, no," she mutters softly.

Jervis begins to respond to the Shadow Lord, grinning a little wider at his reaction. "World domination?" he mutters, amidst a quiet chuckle. Though curiously accurate given how you say you've never heard anything about me; Jarred was as much an obstacle for me as he was to every--" Then he's interrupted by Brom's announcement, eyes go trained on him. Stacey is heard, but not visibly acknowledged. "There's a--Get, must be," he mutters, eyeing the hammer, and then eyes the other two garou for a flickering instant. "Friend of yours?" Miniscule smirk twitches on one side of his face.

Kenneth looks over towards the voice that calls his name, expression cross at first and then quickly smoothed back out. Even though he doesn't make any verbal reply, there is a silent, visual acknowledgement that Brom is 'around'. The Shadow Lord, however, does not move to meet him. "That's Brom, and no way in hell."

The hammer is dropped slowly, twirling end over end in his wrist as the large nearly seven foot man strides towards them. He gives a hawk like stare at the trio, then turns his intense blue eyes upon Kenneth again. "Dillen wants to see you at the burial grounds." Brom says as his chest swells up. "Its important."

Stacey puts a hand to her mouth to hide a slight smile at Kenneth's remark. "Hey, Brom," she says as he draws near, but the Get's words keep her from speaking further. She raises a brow and glances sharply at Kenneth.

Jervis remains tense and trained on the Get. Upon hearing the name from Kenneth, he mutters, "Get, without a doubt is, then." Eyes don't blink, stance quivers a bit, but he does not move himself an inch. "Not happy business, I assume," he says, softly, and obviously to Kenneth. "But, _your_ business, and not mine." Another twitch smirk. "Despite my intrigue."

Kenneth takes in the addition of a sledgehammer, though his eyes quickly shift upwards towards the Get's stare. "Why, is he dying and needs me to act as executor of his last will and testament?" the Shadow Lord asks of the Get philodox, remaining for the most part nonplussed, at least on the outside.

"Did I ask you for some fucking attitude you lil shit?" Brom says as he swings the hammer around, the broad, metal end coming within two inches of Kenneth's nose as it stops. "I said he fucking needs you, and that its /important/. He also told me to beat the holy fuck out of you and drag you back if I have to. Is there going to be a problem because the moon is fat, I missed the revel and I'd love a fight." He says, a murderous grin coming upon his face. He shoots a look towards Jervis for a moment, almost as if shooting a warning shot across the bridge, before glancing back to the Lord.

Stacey snarls as Brom swings the hammer towards Kenneth, once again getting irritated. "Hey, what's the idea? There's no need for that. You've given your message, Kenneth has heard it, now back off, will ya?" she snaps at him.

"Hey, Stacey. Isn't there a tree you need to go make love to, or a kitten to save from a burning house? Shut the fuck up and mind your business." Brom says with a quick growl to the younger Garou.

Jervis remains rather expressionless during this particular volley of threats. A smirk does come in response the Get's outburst, and then he turns briefly to Kenneth, seeming inquisitive, in terms of expression, but not expecting to be answered. He merely listens, and waits, occasionally drawing his cigarette up to his lips.

Kenneth doesn't budge as the hammer swings and stops in front, staring at the business end of the hammer, then up at the Get again as Stacey exchanges words. "You sure gotta lotta balls to dig at Stace alright," he utters quietly, a mask carefully placed over his expression. "But if it's so damn important, Brom, then he should have come himself. Either way, if it's something He wants to talk to Me for, then I'll go see Him, in a little bit. You, can just fuck off."

"Dillen doesn't want to leave /your/ tribemate's body. Its your ass that should be parked out there next to Lucas, not him. Shows who has the most honor and respect for the dead while you hang out here with your rainbow hugging buddies and whoever the fuck that is." Brom says in regards to Jervis. "Dillen as your pack mate and friend, needs you, so you can either continue being a dickless lil prick, or you can be a Garou and go to him. He's ready to move the body and bury him." He says, dropping the hammer forward, sliding it in his hands as he stares at the Shadow Lord.

Stacey narrows her eyes and clenches her fists, her small form shaking in rage. She remains silent, not trusting herself to speak as she scowls at Brom, trying to keep control.

Jervis flicks his cigarette away, and emits a knowing chuckle at the Get's insults, and again, mutters. "Then he has a funny way of showing it." There's not the slightest bit of Rage evident in anything about him, even now. He waits.

Kenneth flares out his invisible hood, stare getting more intense. "/I/ did my fair share of makin' sure no fuckin' scavengers so much as looked at the bodybags, so don't fuckin' tell me that I didn't fuckin' do the watch you fuckin' meathead," he hisses angrily, the tight control wavering. "And moreover, who the fuck was it that told me to fuckin' get up and fight again? Gee, I wonder. Oh wait, that's right. It was you. What were your words? Oh, 'it's also alright to be proud of your fallen comrade and to move on with your life the next day... So, you can either sit around and piss away your life and bitch about it, or you can suck it up and find the first Wyrm tainted thing and kill it in the name of your brother.' Wasn't it? Wasn't it?!" Kenneth grits his teeth, lips peeling back. "So don't fuckin' backpedal on your fuckin' words and accuse me of disrespectin' and dishonoring shit. I at least had the fuckin' decency to show up at moot, and at least I've found someone to fuckin' hold a fuckin' Gathering for Lucas! What has Dillen been doin'? Starvin' and dehydratin' his fool ass off sitting over a rotting corpse!"

There is quick look to Jervis, which borders on 'I'll deal with you later', then a venomous stare at Kenneth as he leans over, giving him a hard poke with his finger in the chest. "Really, so you left one dead pack mate so that another can die? That's right, I said those things, but I also kind of hoped that you weren't so much of a fucking idiot to leave your own pack mate. What the fuck do you think is going to happen? The Sept is going to march down, bury the man eater and sing his deeds? You two should have both stuffed him in the ground yourself and both went on with your life. I already gave him the talk about an hour ago before I went looking for you so don't feel so fucking special Kenneth." The Get is snarling now, but keeping his anger in check as he snorts. "Both of you are acting like idiots over this thing.
Stacey lets out an exasperated sigh. "It's no use arguing about this now," she growls out. "If he's gonna bury them, good. It's probably about time. And you could have said that from the beginning instead of being all threatening!"

Jervis remains entirely unfazed by the Get's remark to him, too whole-hearted suprise coming about in his voice as he quietly responds, "But of course you will," as if it's the most obvious notion in the world. He turns to Kenneth momentarily, then back to wary watch of Brom. Non-committal.

Kenneth steps back before the finger reaches his chest, giving ground but clearly not put off. "Don't fuckin' touch me," he snaps out, seething now. "And what the fuck do you care? You're so busy bein' fuckin' macho, lording your hammertime toy and big muscles around at every single Garou you happen to come up on, snappin' out orders where you ain't even the fuckin' leader. YOU get over it! It's not even your fuckin' pack, so get the fuck off of the territory!" He stops just long enough to clip off another string and resume a more controlled tone. "As for Dillen, if he can't get himself together to at least fuckin' feed himself and live, then he just isn't worth the time. At least Lucas had the sense to eat somethin', even if it was a fucking bum."

"Learn how to be a fucking Garou, BOY." Brom snaps at him with a shout, stepping forward as you step back. "Its about the strong over the weak. That is what we are. Dominance and submission. Teeth to throat. Where the fuck did you start thinking that we're some boyscout club where we sit around and like each other? That is how we win wars, by flexing our muscles, shouting orders and actually doing something instead of barking? Toothless curr. You bad mouth your own pack mate who's only concern is that of you and his fallen friend. He has done nothing to earn your insults." He says, eyes nearly glowing under the full moon's light as he rumbles, shifting his shoulders a bit. "Talk all you want, when it comes down to it, hammer or no. I can fucking kill you without breaking a sweat, you'd be a forgotten smear on the ground, and I wouldn't lose a minute of sleep over it. So you get over it, stop being a pussy and either take a swing or go find the one person who actually gives a whole hearted fuck about you and bury your dead, before he has /two/ to bury tonight. Bitch." He says with a hot snort against the Lord's face. "An now I'm not fucking with you."

Stacey looks between the Lord and the Get, obviously extremely conflicted. She takes in a deep, shaky breath and then steps a bit between the to, looking at Kenneth. "Hey, what's it matter whether Dillen's been starving himself or what the Hercules of the world have to say? Fact is, if he's gonna bury Lucas, you should be there, right? Come on, let's go then, huh?"

Jervis has to bite his lip at at least three distinct points during the Get's speech, though to stifle what reaction, is not obvious. He then hears Stacey speak, and seems to at last grasp some of the Get's motivation aside from raw attitude. "Perhaps you should just make folks happy, for tonight," He then adds, in a lower tone, "If "meaning it" is all that's truly at stake, Kenneth." He then shrugs, as if to infer the grain of salt his words are meant to be taken with, and steps a pace or two back from the Shadow Lord, eyes still trained on the possible collision point between Kenneth and Brom.

Kenneth wills his temper down again, gazing at the Get with a flooding sense of disgust. "I /am/ a fuckin' Garou," he replies, voice tuning to a low pitch. "As you say, strong over the weak. And I will not let Dillen to suffer me, or anyone, to tend his sickness of heart." He blinks just once, Jervis and Stacey's words not lost upon the Shadow Lord at least. "To be honest, I don't care to see Dillen now after I've seen what it is he's sent to collect me. But if it means humoring your overblown ego and Dillen's bleeding heart to go /right now/, then fine." He dares to turn away from the Get, nodding to both Stacey and Jervis. "I'll catch you all later."

"Spoken like a true pus-.. I mean Shadow Lord." Brom says with a scoff as he rolls his eyes. "Fucking kills you to give a shit about someone besides yourself, asshole." He swings the hammer back up to his shoulder and starts for the farm, giving a quick look to the other pair. "Good night Kenneth, may Luna light your path safely and Valhalla welcomes the life of your fallen."

Stacey lets out a soft sigh, unclenching her fists as Brom walks off. She takes a step forward, as though intending to go with Kenneth, but then stops. "Yeah," she says, nodding to the Shadow Lord, "See ya around then, Kenneth." She then looks at the Silver Fang, giving him a tense smile. "Never a dull moment."

"I could say the same about you," Kenneth replies flatly. "Imagine my surprise that you're /oh so concerned/ about my going to see Dillen, yet you won't even make sure I get there fast enough to satisfy your busy busy schedule." The Shadow Lord slides a hand into his pocket, and no doubt has a clear intention of taking as long as possible to get to the Burial Mounds tonight, if tonight at all.

Jervis smiles with some trace of relief as the tension seems to absolve, but shakes his head soon thereafter, exasperation entering into it, if only traceably. A sigh, then a turn to Stacey. "With sarcasm, girl, it'd be accurate." He growls a little, but it is an entirely human, Rage-devoid one, "It _is_ dull, after repetition, you'll come to see, eventually." In response to Kenneth, he quickly says, "Count on it."
You paged the room with 'That'll work. All I need is the element of surprise, and a clear shot to the head.'.

Kenneth doesn't reply to Brom's good night wishes, but does cast a glance back to the others. Then, with a forced smirk, the Shadow Lord heads for the woodsline, presumably to that set destination of the Burial Mounds.