Harbor Park -- Fountain
Situated in the center of a large, open meadow is a clustering of six trees, a flower bed, a few steel-and-wood benches set firmly into concrete, and a flagstone courtyard that is dominated by a large fountain.
The fountain is a wide circular pool of water some fifty feet across and about five feet deep in most places. The sculpture in the center is a mix of old and new, traditional and modern: eight concrete-and-stainless-steel slabs about six feet high are set in a rough Stonehenge-like circle around the center of the fountain. Water flows from their tops, cascading in bright mesmerizing sheets to the pool below. Rising above the steel circle is a large marble statue of the Water Bearer, an androgynous figure draped in robes of flowing water. It bears a large jug carved with various Greek symbols, from which pours a seething torrent of water into the pool at its feet. Cars on the nearby street have an excellent view of the park as do any residents of the tall buildings which line the waterfront.
The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire. Recent construction work is creating an earthen berm several feet high all along the borders of the park in all directions.
Contents:
Obvious exits:
ManHole Harbor Park Meadow

[Lyra's (homid) desc]
At sixteen, this girl is a slim 5' 3", shorter than most of her Caucasian classmates yet taller than most of her Asian relatives. Her eyes are almond-shaped and slightly slanted, set above high cheekbones. They are a shifting-hazel color instead of black or dark brown, often changing to dark amber or light green with her emotions. Her hair is raven black, falling past her shoulders when she lets it down, and her bangs have grown out in the months after her cubnapping. Her skin is a shade lighter than the girls who work at the Chinese Restaurant. The Gnawer cub's not very strong, but she's flexible and acrobatic, the product of four years of dance class and almost one year of judo. When she walks it's graceful; when she talks it's in perfect, if slightly Brit-accented English (or Mandarin). ...Lyra is a product of the Chinese/British culture that raged in the 1980's.
Lyra's done her hair up today, in what must have taken hours for the girl to do, simply because of how bad a braider she is. Her long hair has been pulled back and french braided, and the long braids wrapped around her head, a la Heidi. Sky blue ribbon is weaved in the braids at the back of her head, tying them together, but there are countless hidden bobbypins holding the 'do in place. She's wearing a glaringly pink-but-warm longsleeved turtleneck, faded and frayedhem white denim overall dress (with a coffee stain on the hem), and her aunt's sandals. A red woolen scarf has been tossed about her neck today, for accent; it's long and reaches to her waist in front, past in the back. Everything but the sandals came from Salvation Army.
Carrying:
Lyra's Rollerblades
Shop Keys]

Exposed to the light of the judging moon, Yi lies along the concrete side of the fountain, the water flowing down soothing in sound. Though not asleep, she doesn't look like she's inclined to move. The ragabash stares up towards the stars, gazing at the patterns with her thoughts amongst them.

One of the youngest judges comes a-waltzing from around the Rialto. She had been wearing one of her nicest outfits, but it can no longer hold that title, now stained and frayed. Her nice braids-around-the-head hairstyle has come undone, two long braids bouncing at her back, and her sandals are ratty and stretched. But Lyra is smiling, humming showtunes to herself as she walks on air towards the fountain. Perhaps Mr. Carter and dear Aristotle would be there.

When the philocub gets closer, the light thumping of heavy music emanates from the fountain. It was muffled by the water before, but should she pass by the lone figure lying upon the fountain's curb, she'd hear the music is not from the clubs along Regan and the park's borders, but from the tiny earpieces hooked upon Yi's ears. They sound loud enough to be... well... pretty darn loud.

No laptop-carrying Warper in sight. But music? Intrigued, Lyra's steps slow as she approaches the 'sleeping' figure. How anyone could sleep with that racket, though, is a mystery to the Gnawer cub. Fingers lacing behind her, the clover-eyed girl circles the ragabash, to get a better look at her face. Her smile turns into a happily surprised grin upon identifying the cliath. Her left hand reaches out to tap Yi on the shoulder. It's like she could see the lights dancing in her head rather than in the sky. If Yi was 'sleeping', she has that amazing knack of doing it with her eyes open. But, she wasn't sleeping. The tap on her shoulder makes her unfocused eyes re-center upon reality. She blinks. The no-moon looks over, and under the beat of Rock Superstar, she smiles a bit before sitting up slowly. At least it frees a spot for Lyra to sit. One hand reaches up to remove the earphones, and the other pushes a button to click off the music. Where did she get that nice music player from? Yi rubs at one of her ears. "Hey, (have a seat,)" she says with a motion of her head.

"(Too loud isn't good for you,)" the halfmoon reproaches mildly, smiling as she takes a seat next to Yi. The energy of the moon is in her tonight, her fingers wrapping around the edge as she leans forward, heels of her feet bumping against the fountain. Lyra cranes her head back, braids swinging back and forth. The moon looked funny, at half, but it was her moon and it was special then. She glances back at Yi, flashes her another cheery grin. "(It's a night for exploring!)"

Well with a grin like that, who is she to resist? Yi's smile, normally just small, gets a bit bigger. "(Sure... but if the music is too low then it's not very fun either,)" she says, slipping the pieces around the back of her neck and over a shoulder. "(Where have you been exploring?)" she asks, curious.

A careless shrug from one shoulder as the cub glances around the park. "(Renee took me to the Umbra, in the city, and that was neat, but a long time ago. Now I take walks at night.)" Lyra cants her head owlishly, still grinning like some godforsaken imp. "(I'm a miracle worker, but I need to find something to make a miracle for.)"

Miracles? Yi arches a brow, turning her gaze back towards the spottedly lit street that outlines the park further across the meadow. "(Well, you're not Super Girl you know,)" she says, stealing a line from one of those recent movies. Yet the way she says it, even she must be doubtful of the assertion. Yi glances back at Lyra. "(It's hard work, those miracles. Some might say that doing them... is impossible.)"

Lyra laughs at that last comment, the act itself innocent enough, although a keen listener might think it almost strained, or bitter. "(Well, of course miracles are hard work,)" she replies, smiling out at the sparrows that dance in the pools of light from the streetlamps. "(If they weren't almost impossible, they wouldn't be miraculous.)" One loose sandal slips off, and she looks down as her foot manuevers it back on.

Yi's smile fades, keeping her glance away from the halfmoon. "(That's true too,)" she admits, drawing up a knee to her chest. "(Miracles. I believe in miracles,)" she whispers softly. Tone, cynical or real, is hard to tell when she's that quiet. But, in efforts not to be broody, Yi clears her throat and glances sideways at the cub.

"(And wishes. You have to believe in wishes too, don't you?)" is the question, as the Gnawer cub's toe wiggles it's way into the sandal. It's several sizes too large...strange, considering they used to fit perfectly last time Yi saw them. Lyra looks up, nipping at her lower lip thoughtfully. "(I asked Quentin and he said he didn't believe in wishes. Then I asked him -again- and he never did answer me.)" A pause, followed by a soft 'hn' as the halfmoon ponders that, before quirking half a grin at the ragabash. "(Well, well, do you believe in wishes?)"

"(Wishes?)" Yi echoes, a bit unsure on how to respond. She hasn't been sure about a lot of things lately. "(If I believe in miracles... would you say a wish is a miracle? Or a want for a miracle?)"

The Philocub doesn't answer right away, thinking over that. Finally, head tilting a bit the other way, she announces, "(Miracles can be the -result- of a wish. And a wish -can- be the want for a miracle. But a wish is whatever you want it to be. Miracles are always good things. Wishes doen't have to be. Wishes are themselves.)" Lyra nods, satisfied with her definition. She leans forward a bit, then rocks back, head flinging back to stare up at the funny half-moon. "(What do you wish for, elder sister?)"

Yi watches the girl from the corner of her eye, in a way comforted by the answer, in a way confused still. The question directed at her tumbles down at her the way the water in the fountain flows from the top of the concrete slabs. After a long period of nothing, Yi finally says, "No regrets."

"Ah," says the thoughtful cub, holding onto the edge with a tight grip as she leans back, legs flinging out in order to keep balance. Her eyes are still on the moon, glassy and reflecting. "(No regrets would be good, maybe. Depends. People who do not regret past mistakes haven't learned from them. What, other than regret, teaches you the full value of your mistake? Of course, you might think -too- much about the lesson-)" Here she swings forward again, feet falling to the ground firmly against gravel "(-and then the regrets are more a burden than a reminder. Depends.)" Lyra glances at Yi, blinking, but bites her tongue on her next words.

Yi drops her eyes down at the light gravelly feel of the concrete under her feet. "(Is there such thing as thinking too much?)" she questions, more to herself than at the philodox, even though it feels like she's asking someone else. Someone alien. "(Thinking on lines, of how to get rid of those regrets.)" She dares a fleeting gaze at the philocub, and at once in those dark eyes of the newmoon, she's just another girl trying to figure out life. Before that gaze can go on too long, she turns away again. "(So you think regrets are good?)"

Lyra catches the glances and holds it, then again takes her time in answering. She clambers onto the edge of the fountain wall, arms out for balance. "(Maybe. 'I regret sleeping in today, and missing class. I won't sleep in tomorrow.' That's a good regret. Then there are the bad regrets, that hurt more than they need to. Or silly regrets, where somebody is hurting but there's no lesson to be learned.)" A deep breath, exhaled slowly. "(Elder sister has a lot of the silly regrets.)"

Yi narrows one of her eyes, a comical sort of expression were it not that she does it for an inner reason. Her lips draw tighter, a wry smirk lighting on her features. "(I must be clear as a bubble,)" she says quietly. "(Maybe you're right. Or maybe it's because I haven't found the lesson to be learned yet.)"

"(No, not like a bubble. Elder sister is like the crystal balls that weird fortune-tellers use, all misty inside. It's just that the last time we talked, you were like this, and you had silly regrets then too.) The Gnawer cub crouches down, wrapping her arms about Yi's neck and shoulders in a loose hug. "(Or maybe you haven't found the lesson. Although you won't find it if you spend all your time thinking about how to forget.)"

Yi tenses reflexively, the hug-contact she hadn't felt in so long dredging up memories. "(I want to forget,)" she says quietly. "(Not something I want to remember. Not at all.)" Heavy words, but the Gnawer tries to make light of it. "(If I'm a crystal ball, then I can't be a fortune cookie anymore, right?)"

"(You'll -always- be a fortune cookie,)" she assures Yi, with great certainty in her voice. But the serious words catch in the halfmoon's mind, and gratefully she sinks her attention to problems other than her own, delving deeper into escape. "(Elder sister feel like sharing the fortune inside the cookie?)"

Yi takes a deep breath, blowing out the almost-sigh between tight lips. "(It's ok,)" she says in answer. "(I'm on my way, to reconciling. Maybe it's not enough, but I won't know until what I do is done.)" As if that made any sense at all. How about a fortune. "(There are two rats,)" she says quietly, "(And there's a piece of cheese. Next to the cheese, lies a cat.)" She turns to Lyra. "(Rat A, says to Rat B, 'Do you think the cat is alive or dead?' Rat B says, 'It's lying there. It must be alive. How could a dead cat be there? But Rat A didn't care. He went for the cheese. In the end... Rat A was killed by the cat.)" She pauses. "(Or maybe he was killed in a mousetrap.)" She glances at the street again. "(And Rat B? It starved to death in its hole.)" She looks to Lyra. "(So what does this story tell us?)"

Lyra frowns slightly, as the story takes on darker turns. "(That the storyteller hasn't been watching enough Disney movies,)" she replies. "(You're doing a horrible job of forgetting sad things if that's the best story you can come up with.)" The halfmoon cub releases her hold of Yi to shift back into a sitting position, shoulders brushing. Her heels bump against the side of the fountain as she thinks, but finally, she accedes defeat. "(I don't know. The story would have you think that the situation had been hopeless, and that nobody could win.)"

Yi smirks. "(It tells us that to live, don't worry if the cat is alive or dead... just don't starve to death in your hole.)" She says the moral, like there is some kind of deep meaning to it. Not that there is, but interpretations could go anywhere. "(Disney movies. Nevada made Mickey Mouse pancakes before.)" The Gnawer does sigh this time, but immediately after tries to take it back. No dice.

The cub's been practicing speed-shifting. Lyra looks right, left, checking for prying eyes...and in two blinks, a red dog sprawls across Yi's lap. Is -that- the fortune that you've been hiding inside? the mutt asks, peering up with eyes that haven't changed in color.

Yi blinks, twice in fact, and finds a wolfmutt on her. There's brief amusement, at pride at how fast the cub can shift, but the Gnawer feels compelled to tell her. "(No... that's only one scrap of the paper,)" she says quietly, hand running through the red fur. "(You'd need a whole scroll hidden inside the cookie.)"

Four-Leaves mock-snaps her jaws at the petting hand. Kay. I'll eat Fortune Cookie up! she yips, then settles in a bit more comfortably, tail thumping against the fountain edge. The tip brushes the surface of the water, then flops back onto the concrete. A dark nose pushes into Yi's stomach. Why is loud music fun?

Yi tenses her legs to keep from toppling into the cold fountain. Music? She nearly forgot about the earphones hooked over her shoulder. The ragabash looks a little embarrassed, but still justifying herself. "(Well... the music is good. Uhm... Jay showed it to me. Jay was one of the Gnawers too. Fullmoon.)" She nods once, though it's obvious in unsaid words that Jay's not here either.

It's in the red wolf's best interest not to topple Yi over...or at least, for now it is. Four-Leaves chuffs, laying her head on her paws and swiveling her ears. And why is the music good? she persists. There's a point here. Maybe.

Yi glances at the player. A very expensive one, it looks like. One wonders where she'd have gotten the money for it. "(It's good to dance too.)" Yi glances down at the cub's canine face. "(I hear it at the clubs around the city.)"

Four-Leaves wriggles her muzzle. Good to dance to. Music makes you feel alive. But you had it on loudly, and you weren't dancing. One red paw reaches up, makes a half-hearted swipe at Yi's chin and misses with plenty of room to spare. You never did teach me how to fight.

Yi blinks a little bit, pulling up at the too-low swipe anyway. She catches the paw in her hand, a small smirk coloring her face as she looks down at the philocub. "(If I tried dancing on the fountain, I would fall in.)" Well, she wouldn't be dancing out on the fountain anyway, but it's her excuse for the moment. "(And no... I never did, did I?)" She glances up at the moon for a moment.

No, repeats Four-Leaves. The issue doesn't seem to bother the wolf very much, she's sprawled out comfortably, relaxed. Jaws yawn open and snap shut, muzzle wriggling. Maybe another time. There are no fights to be fought now, anyway, and I'm still hunting for a miracle.

Yi pets the quieting cub, herself already subdued in a calmer sense. "(There's always fighting, just not always -that- kind of fighting,)" she says softly. "(You have time, still, Four-Leaves. I think you'll find the miracle.)"

The red wolf feigns going to sleep, red ears swiveling madly- then one green eye rolls up to grin at Yi. Elder sister want to go swimming? the cub chuffs lowly, tail wagging over the water gently.

Yi's eyebrow lifts. "(Swimming?)"

Teasingly, the tail -smacks- into the water surface, creating a wonderful little splash. Yi isn't able to dodge. Not with a wolf in her lap. "Aiya!" The splash gets on her jacket, but not too much worry there. It's just water. But the newmoon looks back down at the cub, a mischievious glint crossing her eye. Oh, better move Lyra, or you'll be swimming...

If the cub is going to get wet (and her tail is, already) she'll take the cliath down with her. So much is told by body language as Four-Leaves holds her head high and barks proudly, laughingly.

Oh yah? So down both of them go then. Yi grabs the canid and just tips herself back with a twist. Sploosh!

Four-Leaves yips in surprise- and more than a little glee -as she gets dumped into the water, allowing herself to go under the water for one brief second before stretching out her legs and standing in the fountain, a very wet wolfdog. She noses Yi's equally wet figure, lips pulled back in a silly grin. That was fun! she announces, tail wagging back and forth excitedly. Again!

Anyone else might think her crazy. In fact, that player that she was listening too probably isn't functional anymore. No matter... Yi comes up with a bit of splutter, more than just splashed with water this time. Lifting herself back out of the water to sit and drip on the edge of the fountain again, she splashes more water at the wolfdog. "(You're very silly,)" she says with a smile. Drip. Drip. drip...

Uselessly, the red cub shakes water out of her coat, before prancing about in the water, like a showhorse on parade. I like this, it's a doggie swimming pool, she muses, grinning over at Yi. Four-Leaves scrabbles onto the fountain edge again, then -really- lets loose with the shaking of the coat. Water droplets fly like missiles. Silly? Maybe. What does that make elder sister?

Yi holds up a hand to block the water droplets flinging themselves off the wolfdog. Not that it effects her current state either. "(If you are silly, then I am...)" Yi thinks. "(I don't know. Crazy in the head?)"

Relieved of some of the burden, Four-Leaves look like a dog who ran away while being washed. Fur sticks out at crazy angles -everywhere-. Crazy in the head! Lunatic! The halfmoon throws her head back and howls softly, like any dog might.

Yi might look like the unfortunate owner who was trying to wash her dog. In the middle of the night. Right. Other dogs within the hearing distance answer, part of the barking chain established through the city. Yi just shakes her head, the small smile returned to her face. She takes off the player and phones, shaking it a little bit. Well, it's not going to work now. "(You silly pup)," she says again.

Four-Leaves stops the howl and cants her head, tongue lolling out. She looks pretty idiotic. Sloshing and smelling wet, she noses the music-maker. Broken? she chuffs quizzically.

Yi takes a look at the music player, head tilting in her inspection. "(Well... maybe once it dries out it'll work.)" Her tone doubtful, but unworried, she looks back down to the cub and shrugs. "(It wasn't mine anyway.)" Again, that troublemaker's glint.

Four-Leaves yips in a giggle, tilting her head up to allow her wetter-than-wet black nose to brush against Yi's chin. Elder sister 'borrows' things and plays rough, she notes, muzzle pulled back in a grin. The red wolf turns, hops off down the fountain ledge and looks back up at the Gnawer cliath. Come someplace to dry off?

"(More like a permanent loan,)" Yi comments with a nod. "(Yes, let's go find someplace dry. And warm. I think I have some tea or hot chocolate in the cabinets.)" Yi draws her jacket around her to little avail, but indicates with a tilt of her head for the cub to make her way back towards the apartment where she lives.

Four-Leaves barks happily, prancing by Yi's side like a well-trained dog. Off we go, she murmurs happily, bounding ahead by a few feet and then letting Yi catch up to lead the way once more. The two Gnawers walk away from Harbor Park, water-logged but not quite as heart-heavy.