From afar, to the room, Sepdet tells ya to swim over to the island, then; Sepdet's sleeping out there. Or was. You might hear a pretty earthshattering howl.

Rocky Beach
This small, narrow beach of sand and rock stretches out along the eastern shore of Lake Arthur, marking a break in the forests the border the clear water. The sprawling boulders at the edge of the water have a reddish tinge in the twilight just after sunset, and the light of the moon reflects on the shimmering surface.
Just to the east, the stony ground slopes gently upward to a large meadow; north and south of the beach, thick forest shrouds the lakeshore in a veil of leaves and wood. The water of the lake spreads out westward, the wooded far shore visible in the blurred distance. The island rises from the lake almost due west of here, a rocky oasis resting on the glassy surface.
Obvious exits:
Into the Water Meadow

Coming up the beach with a someone purposeful lope, the new moon Gnawer in lupus bounds over the rocky slopes, glad to have a place such as this to get out of the city. The earthshattering howl, however, quickly turns those happy thoughts to worried ones as she quickly shifts to hispo, splashing into an icy cold lake towards the island.

You walk out onto the frozen water of the lake; the ice is not quite thick enough for safe skating, and you skirt the thin areas carefully, not wishing to fall into the frozen depths.

Rock Promontory, East End of Arthur's Island
A rock promontory juts down from the raised, craggy island. Starting a good thirty feet off the water, over forty feet wide; it descends into the water, creating a narrowing ramp some one-hundred feet long. The dark granite soaks up the sunlight during the day, and slowly radiates it back out during the night, warming the nearby water.
You can climb the promontory onto the island, to the west. To the east, far across the water, lies an inviting rocky beach on the eastern shore of Lake Arthur.
Contents:
Sepdet
Obvious exits:
Back to the Mainland Up to the Cliffs

You have shifted to Hispo form.

Hope-Star is located by her scent; recently in her cave in the middle of the island, she's evidently just hightailed it up to the copse of trees and freshly-planted wild roses on the western side where Chloe's buried. The little jackal is pressed flat against the ground there, snarling and whining.

Three-Blades comes up and out of the freezing water with an evident snarl of discomfort, but sniffs about for the Strider elder as she does. Her skill to track brought into play, the Gnawer explores the cave where the sleeping Strider had been, smelling the trouble as it wafts around in the cold night air. Not seeing Sepdet, though, sets the newmoon a-worrying. She lifts her muzzle and howls, clear and loud, to see if the Strider is around.

It's probably just as well that Yi can't see the Strider's reaction. Sepdet springs up with lips pulled back from her teeth and long ears plastered against the sides of her head, growling. Go away! Leave her alone!

Three-Blades snorts a bit, not getting a response that she can hear, and snuffles around the cave entrance. A fresh track of the Strider's smell sends the newmoon on a trail up towards Chloe's grave. Once she's near enough to scent Sepdet, Blades pauses at the brink of the hilltop. ~Sepdet-rhya?~

Hope-Star's growling stops, but there's a heavy, heady scent of both terror and sheer fury, hovering in the air like a cloudburst set to unleash hail any moment. The source of it all is so small, a knot of nerves and raised hackles standing ground over the quiet space and staring downslope towards the Gnawer without recognition, at least for a time. Finally the jackal gives a soft whine. Three-blades. Up... up here. Come carefully.

Three-Blades shakes herself mightily, sending water flying in all directions from her dark fur. Then, the hispo'ed newmoon proceeds as carefully as possible, stepping gingerly as if a rough stomp would bring rise to the dead. Her ears cant slightly to either side with worry and inquisitive posture. What happened?

Hope-Star's body sags. Her emotions and agitation are all too clear in this shape, tail down and tucked under, ears flinching at any stray sound. She sinks down with her muzzle against her paws and then changes, falling back into her own shape in a kneeling, prostrate position, elbows on the ground and fists clenched over her eyes. ~Dreams,~ she tells the Gnawer shortly. ~It was only a dream.~

Hope-Star contorts and blurs as she is transformed. Hope-Star shifts into Glabro form.

Three-Blades steps a few paces closer, not really daring to near the grave or troubled Strider. Her own coat smells faintly of recent blood, perhaps not helping to the situation. ~What was a dream seemed more like a nightmare. Or sounded like it, from the beach,~ rumbles the newmoon quietly.

Flamecaller has arrived.

Sepdet's voice is flat, inflectionless; the trace of musical rhythm that often gives her a hint of a child's singsong chanting is completely absent just now. ~Sometimes I dream true. Gaia help me, this had better be a nightmare.~

Three-Blades slowly pads around the grave's borders, to come up alongside the glabro Strider. Her wet fur brushes softly against Sepdet, as if to give her some notion that there is another warm albeit wet body around. ~Care to tell a lowly Gnawer what visions came to you?~

Sepdet growls. ~Not lowly. And it mustn't be a vision. It mustn't be.~ Her body moves against Three-blade's like a wolf seeking comfort, although she doesn't look up.

Sepdet scratches for words, voice still hoarse from the howl. ~Wyrm... tried to take the Lady again. Even dead. A... a blood-drinker. He pulled her out of the ground here and gave her life-not-life. I couldn't stop him, just like before. Only this time, she yielded. Gave into the Wyrm. And they...~ The Strider's left hand moves to her own throat, remembering. ~She just watched while he took me. With dead eyes.~

Three-Blades rumbles softly, almost apologetically for her previous statement. ~Well if it was not a vision, then all is well. Or is it?~ Her amber eyes tilt to peer down at Sepdet as she continues her explanation. A low growl shudders through the hispo's frame at mention of vampires, and the newmoon gives the Strider a steady nudge with her muzzle. ~There are none here. And should our pack be formed quickly, none shall dare to come and try it.~

In a splash of moonlight that has pried its way past the cloudcover, Flamecaller can be seen paddling across the lake's black surface, his massive hispo form cutting the water neatly, leaving a wide wake. He shakes himself roughly when he reaches land, and then trots briskly up the shore, searching the air for scents.

Sepdet exhales. ~There was one once.~ A trace of the anger still smoulders in her eyes like an ember. ~I never found his name. He bound her with his will; she broke free, but she could never tell me his name, never give me what I needed to know to destroy him. She said he left the city, but I've never been certain.~ Her hands clench. ~If he ever comes here I shall give him a glimpse of the sun.~

Three-Blades rumbles ferally, enjoying a mental image of such. Her experiences with leeches and the sun have mostly been going up in flames. ~He does not return tonight, though.~ Alert ears turn towards the beaches, as she listens around for what would be imagined the offending vampire.

Sepdet uncurls to a sitting position and follows the wolf's ears with her narrowed gaze, the Strider's senses a little less keen but still on high alert tonight. ~What's that?~

Flamecaller looses a low 'whoof' in the darkness, announcing himself, letting the others have some ease. He didn't mean to startle anyone - the moon is too big for that kind of game.

Three-Blades adds a short answering whuff to the night's sounds, ears flicking around before settling once more in a relaxed position. ~It is the Uktena,~ she reports almost dutifully to Sepdet.

Sepdet takes a deep breath through her nose and lets it out through her mouth. "Duane," she calls a little unsteadily. ~I haven't seen Soulcatcher tonight, I'm afraid.~

Sepdet takes a deep breath through her nose and lets it out through her mouth. "Duane," she calls a little unsteadily. ~I haven't seen Soulcatcher tonight, I'm afraid.~

Flamecaller shakes his heavy ruff, beads of water flying. He hasn't either, but he doesn't seem overly concerned about it. Padding nearer the others, 'the Uktena' takes a moment to mull their scents, the smell of the area, and then drops heavily onto his side, propped on his forelegs. This is as comfortable as the others have seen him, most likely. ~I hope everything is all right.~ His gaze drifts to Sepdet - maybe he caught some of the earlier conversation on the wind.

Three-Blades rumbles a soft greeting adding a dip of her damp head. ~The night watches over us.~ Her nostrils flare slightly, still disliking the scent of blood that hangs around her fur from an earlier situation.

Sepdet wipes her forehead--it's impossible to see her pale color even in the moonlight, but wolves can pick up what faces conceal; the Strider's struggling to regain the composure which her tribe hides behind. ~He's probably forgotten. He's only been half in this world since he came home, I think,~ she says, wilfully misunderstanding the direction of Duane's concern.

Flamecaller rumbles deep in his throat, a neutral sound, and cocks his head to the side in question. ~Are /you/ all right?~ he asks a bit more pointedly. Three-Blades get s brief glance, there and gone, but his question is definitely directed at Sepdet.

Three-Blades twists an ear half away, but her golden amber gaze settles on the Strider as well.

Sepdet shakes her head; there are tears on her cheeks streaking the faint down of fur. ~I will be. At least her death means nothing else can touch her.~ The Strider sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that.

Flamecaller flicks his ear, understanding suddenly the undercurrent here. He doesn't press the issue, instead, worrying at a spot on his foreleg. As is often the case, he seems content to become a background presence, silent and watching.

Three-Blades hunkers down a bit more, at least one half of her furry self being warmer around the Strider's side. She doesn't delve into the worlds of the afterlife, instead changing the subject to something a little more...real. ~What of the pack's totem, Sepdet-rhya?~

Sepdet smiles apologetically, white teeth flashing like small moons. ~I'm sorry; you must be tired of watching me pick at that scar. Totems, yes.~ She touches Three-blades' side lightly. ~I told you about Salmon. But Joseph has put out one other, Black Unicorn, which might fit.~

Flamecaller snorts quietly, voicing pleasure at the name. ~But I don't know much about that one. How is he different from the other?~

Three-Blades simply rumbles quietly, letting the two more experienced with spirits explain. ~Black Unicorn...~ she repeats with a soft growl of the mother tongue.

Sepdet spreads her hands. ~Well. Salmon is a creature of wisdom and endurance. She seeks out riddles and swims through them. She teaches survival, strength through patience, and also offers healing and cleansing and purity. That suits the island. Black Unicorn is a creature of honor and power. He fights the Wyrm and defends the weak, even those others scorn like metis or the 'lowly Gnawer'.~ She smiles lopsidedly at Yi. ~He's a creature of just causes, honorable battle, fierce against Gaia's foes and kind to her children.~

Flamecaller could use the patience, he jokes, snorting again. ~Being from Little Brother's tribe, and being what I am, Black Unicorn seems to suit me, though. What about the frog?~

Three-Blades' gaze flickers from one to the other as she takes in the information. ~Would our pack need to perform some service before we could entreat the totem?~

Sepdet smiles with an odd tenderness. ~A bit of a joke, I think. Frog's quick on her feet and teaches us tricks and dancing to slip through trouble. Her followers are as deft in water as on land.~ The Strider gestures around to the lake. ~She teaches us the powers of calling the rain, which is something that appeals to me: water's sacred to anyone born of a desert. And to my ancestors, she symbolized resurrection and rebirth as Salmon does in this country, because she pops out of the hard mud after the dry season. I called Chloe Frog when I first met her, because her healing magic brought me back to life.~

Sepdet does her best to answer both. ~Not necessarily before we seek the totem, Yi, but we must at least work together enough to show what kind of pack we'll be. And most totems ask a service, set a task when their blessing is sought.~

Flamecaller knows some stories about frogs, told to him by his mother's father. ~Funny things, not quite serious, but having too much importance to be funny. In between,~ he rumbles.

~If we gain Frog as the pack totem, one wonders if the spirit would object to being called Chloe,~ the hispo Gnawer muses with a tinge of humour. She flicks her ears with thought, tailtip twitching slightly behind her so the Strider could almost feel the end touching, or at least a slight waft of wind. ~Wonder if that also means we can't hunt salmon from the river or frogs from the banks.~

Sepdet smiles faintly. ~Frog's a trickster. Not so maligned as Coyote, my first totem, or Rat. But she's got wise laughter.~ Yi's comment brings a real chuckle from the Strider, albeit a shaky one. ~I suspect it would, Yi. But frog's stringy to eat anyhow. And I'm afraid there's not many salmon here. I've tried to bring Salmon spirits to the Columbia now and then with some success, but in the solid world it's just too polluted; I've never gotten enough Garou together to make an impact. So no salmon swim here. That might make it hard to summon her, too.~

Soulcatcher has arrived.

Three-Blades swishes her tail with thought as she rumbles some more, ~What would Black Unicorn wish from us? I've never seen such a spirit. Never heard of one either. Most tales I heard from Grandmother were spun of dragons, changing foxes, and even Phoenix.~ Almost a human-like gesture flits across her features as she narrows her eyes and blinks.

Sepdet straightens. ~They're real too, Yi. All real. Especially Phoenix. Rebirth from ashes and despair: you'll see that many of the spirits I revere have some part of that strand in them.~

Flamecaller settles his head on paws, listening again, ears pitched forward toward the Strider and Gnawer.

Three-Blades growls softly, curious at the Strider. ~Why?~ The hispo rolls her shoulders with a shrugging motion to stretch her neck a little.

Sepdet blinks. ~Don't you know the Phoenix prophecy?~

Flamecaller blinks as well, head rising and peer intently at Three-Blades.

Three-Blades blinks a bit, head turning from one Garou to the other. ~The Phoenix prophecy, that tells of the last days, doesn't it?~

Sepdet nods. ~My tribe's duty is to watch for signs, so it was the first words I ever learned of any tongue. I've wrestled with it all my life. What's the good of all our fighting and dying if we're going to lose anyway?~

Soulcatcher's howl rises clearly above the night, from the far shore. But rather than wait for the boat, the Wendigo decides to swim.

Sepdet looks up at the call and her face loses a little of the gauntness that still lingers from the shards of dream. ~Heya,~ she murmurs under her breath.

Flamecaller answers with a short, rising howl of his own in greeting. He doesn't rise, but turns to watch where the Wendigo should appear.

Soulcatcher comes out of the water and gives his pelt a thorough shaking, trying to rid it of as much of the frigid water as he can. Padding forward, he gives each a pleasant greeting, coming to sit beside the Strider.

Sepdet presses a fingertip to her knee, beating out the words. ~Phoenix took me. Carried me in his claws. High above the world.~ She lets the echo of those words, preface to all the grim omens of doom and failure, sink in, and then rises up on one knee as Soulcatcher comes upslope. They're gathered close by the grave, and there's the smell of blood upon Yi, lingering anger, terror, and the salt of tears on the Strider.

Three-Blades turns her ears at the sound of howl rising, lifting her muzzle in answer. Her own song floats on alto waves, beckoning the Wendigo towards the gathered spot beside the grave. Her eyes then turn back to Sepdet. ~I do not believe we will lose. Even when we die, our bodies return to Gaia. And we rise again, in a different form, the way Phoenix would from the ashes.~ Her features serious, telling of her conviction. ~It may sound egotistical to say so.. but we are one with Gaia. And as much as the Wyrm can throw its spawn at us we will still fight. And we will win.~

Soulcatcher's nostrils flare with the scent of such turmoil, and he turns glittering, perceptives eyes n his would-be packmates, looking for some sign of what hapened tonight.

Flamecaller sweeps his tail in reserved good-nature at Soulcatcher's greeting, but otherwise contents himself with listening to the others for now.

Sepdet exhales. ~We will not win, exactly,~ she says with a certain resigned calm. ~But Gaia will not lose. Some part of her will survive and be Phoenix. I could never understand the prophecy's worth, until, after one night's despair and brooding too much over the terror Phoenix showed me, I heard him whisper, 'Look behind you.' And there he was. The answer. Salmon, Frog... all the symbols of rebirth. They mean that too, in their own way.~ She holds Soulcatcher with her voice, the music of her words when she's thinking in sprit-fashion reassuring him that most of her is well, the haunted ghost in her eyes telling him the rest.

Three-Blades dips her head, acknowledging the Wendigo elder with respect. She seems to finally notice how much the faint scent of blood on her causes a bit of unrest for the Strider, and she shifts her weight slightly. ~We win, in ways different than just pure victory. Every war has its price.~ Her pink tongue flicks out to lick the end of her muzzle. ~It's just our job to make sure that price is not too great a burden to repay.~ Her eyes flicker from one potential packmate to another. ~Is this our group then?~ Her eyes stray to the organizer.

The Strider casts around. ~Tonight, you mean? Or the pack? Geoff's with us, and you know, Kaz actually would be, but she must decide whether Ring of Fire can manage without her.~

Three-Blades flickers her ears in acknowledgement, taking up the information like a dry sponge to water. ~Perhaps I will ask, when I see her.~ She eyes the sky and how far the moon has traveled, before giving her fur a shake. ~I'd meant our pack as a whole. But I see that is still in the workings.~ She rises to her haunches, rumbling softly. ~I must return to the city again. Nightly patrols, as is.~ Her eyes stray to Soulcatcher. ~If you still want to come to the city, I can wait for you there. There are plenty of things to see.~ A pause. ~But no deer to hunt.~ Her strong jaws open with a soft whuffle.

Soulcatcher will come with tomorrow's sunset. He looks between the others, then back to Yi. Yes?

Flamecaller will come too. It's been a long time since he spent much time in the city.

Three-Blades dips her head in a nod to both, then glances towards Sepdet. ~Do you come as well?~

Sepdet smiles thinly. ~I will try, but do not wait for me. There's a few things I need to prepare before Moot. If I finish them, I will find you wherever you are.~

Three-Blades rumbles in confirmation, and chuffs to the trio. ~Good night then. Gaia guide your steps in a path filled with luck.~ Her tongue lolls in a grin, and the Gnawer steps around the grave area before bounding down the hill. A short while after, the sound of a large hispo entering the water with a short bark of chill floats into the air as Yi goes back to the Scab.

Sepdet calls a soft, ~Go well and thanks,~ after the Gnawer as she heads off for home.

Flamecaller pushes to his feet, stretching each of his legs in turn, then marches in a stiff-legged circle around the others. Yawning, he lets them know that he is going to walk, and then perhaps swim back across the lake. ~I will meet all of you tomorrow, all things willing.~ With a soft exhalation of farewell, he moves to leave after Three-Blades.

Soulcatcher looks somewhat nervous, now that the day has drawn so close, and yet the wendigo does his best to keep such things out of his posture. Curling up near the Strider like a faithful dog, he says farewell to the Uktena and Gnawer and lays his muzzle on his paws.

Sepdet chuckles faintly at the quiet exodus and gives him the same blessing, then settles back against Soulcatcher's wet flank.