6/28/2004

02:37 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Harbor Park -- The Meadow(#194RJ)
One of the last bastions of green left in the city, mottled and withered grass and weeds covers the earth like a badly stained carpet, with the construction work turning what is left into just bare dirt. The vegetation seems marginally healthier the further it is from the river and much healthier towards the central area of the park around the fountain. Construction work is ongoing here: a raised earthen berm about five feet tall is being built all around the park perimeter, with two breaks each at the Bridge Street entrance and the First Street end. Wooden posts are being erected at regular intervals all along the earthen wall, while tasteful iron gates and fences are being added at the entrances. Overpowering the scent of living vegetation are the exhaust fumes from a busy street to the west and an unpleasant stench from the Columbia River to the east. From the street view or river view, the park is now isolated, as if it existed apart from the city. People in tall buildings have an excellent view of any goings-ons for now, though. In the center of the park, a small glade of six tall trees and a flower bed surrounds the fountain.
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.
Contents:
Daniel
Obvious exits:
Bridge Street  Fountain  First Street  River  

[look Daniel]
You see before you a youth of some twenty years or so old, reaching the height of 6'2". He has african colouring; chocolate hued skin and dark eyes, his scalp clean-shaven and bare of black hair as is his face (except for eyebrows). Build-wise he is fit, though not bulging with muscles, more a whipcord variety of strength so common in sports-players. He seems a little washed-out under the natural brown pigment of his skin, perhaps under the weather.
He's wearing a conservative outfit; loose black slacks and a rich wool sweater dyed cream, a pair of beat-up sneakers finishing the outfit.

One of the last bastions of green left in the city, smelling faintly of cars and man-smells despite this, Harbor Park's meadow is now almost empty. Most cannot abide the mild curse here, others dislike the thought of being in a park alone after dark; one, Daniel, sits alone on the fountain. He's got a baseball cap on, gaze directed down into the basin.

Daniel pages to the room: Visually, Daniel is a little more built than Ebony was; he's quite strong, rather than a weedy geek. The face is the same though, albeit a /touch/ pale.

Yi enters the park on her own volition of course, intending to do a little bit of moon-viewing in the clearing not far from the fountain. Seeing the rather unusual sight of another person around in this place, she diverts her path to swing towards the fountain as well. Coming into hearing range, she offers a quiet, "Nice night, isn't it?" It comes with a politely friendly smile reserved for strangers.

Whoa. Talk about tense! Daniel's shoulders bunch up a little as he's addressed by a very familiar voice. More than just hackles raising, he looks like he might be about to run. He doesn't though, and responds casually, "Guess so." No longer is his accent quaintly English; instead, it's a lazy, indistinct American drawl.

Yi quirks her head at the strange reaction, having not quite yet recognized who the man before her is. Stepping a bit closer, a little off to the side so she can bend like a branch, her eyes gaze upon the other's face with a curious peer. A few blinks later, a moment's recognition occurs. "Ebony?" Her own previously thick accent has toned down a little as living in the States will usually cause, but it's not completely faded away. Another blink passes. "Is that you?"

"Eh?" The black man's reaction is rather rude. "What?" He sounds uncomprehending, his once jovial expression set in hard lines, dark eyes under the brim of hes baseball cap.

Yi browknits at first, not expecting the kneejerk reaction from him, but hearing his voice sans accent still sounds awfully similar. "It is you," she murmurs aloud, straightening. "You don't remember me? It's Yi." She points a finger to herself, wondering why of all things he looks a bit sickly in that pale sort of way.

From afar, to the room, Daniel isn't /too/ pale. Not deathly so. A little offcolour, though, yes.
You paged the room with 'Right, so, kind of like the color'd you have if you had a fever or something, no?'.
Daniel pages to the room: More like if you have a cold. Not quite feverish, but feeling under the weather.
Daniel pages to the room: Tired-looking kind of pale.
Long distance to the room: Yi nodnods.

"Never met'cha before," Daniel asserts, not looking up for fear he'll be pegged for certain. Ebony is dead, didn't you know? He drops a hand and splashes at the water, to distract himself from the familiar woman next to him.

Yi narrows an eye, still not closing the distance between them. Just in case she's wrong... and it clicks. Wasn't there some news? Ebony was killed. Wasn't he? The Gnawer closes here eyes a moment, trying to remember, but that memory is rather fuzzy in that she can't remember who told her, or when. Maybe this guy is just someone else. But why is so familiar sounding, then, she asks herself. "Well... ok. If we haven't met before, then the polite thing to do would be to introduce yourself, wouldn't it? I'm Yi. You are?" Her hand comes out, offering it to shake.

"Daniel," the black man replies roughly. He shakes the hand though, his grip firm and warm. "Wha'cha doin' out on ya own, girl?"

Yi pulls back her hand once the polite exchange is done, still watching the man rather curiously. "Just thought I would come out and see the moon." She glances up at the waxing shape in the sky. "I do it most every night." Her gaze then drops back down to him. "How about yourself?"

Daniel shrugs loosely, appearing to relax a little bit now that he's not being called names. "Jus' came f'some air."

Yi puts her suspicious thoughts away for now, nodding slightly at the answer. "It's always good to go outside every once in awhile," she agrees. "May I?" she asks first, gesturing to a spot not too far from him on the fountain.

"Guess so," Daniel agrees, a certain amount of distrust in his voice, though he doesn't move away.

Yi sits without any flourish, keeping her gaze for now, directed skywards. "Not many people come out to the park nowadays," she says, making a bit of conversation despite the distrust she detects in his tone. "So, it seems even more quiet than before. I suppose you live around here?"

Daniel shakes his head. "Nah. Live further north. Just, this is the only decent park in the city," he replies, oblivious to the gentle simmer of rage that most humans subconciously sense on such a large moon. He risks looking over at you, most of his face shadowed by his baseball cap's brim, but enough there to state that yes, this is - or was - once Ebony. "You?"

Yi glances back to the man from the sky, just long enough to see his features lit in the moonlight. Again she blinks, as if that surge of recognition decided to rear its head again. "I... live not far from here," she replies hesitantly. Looking as if she were going to say something more, she stuffs her question away, trying to dismiss it as conjecture. A trick of the moon, maybe. "Have you lived in St. Claire for a long time?" she queries, masking away the curiosity with her polite tones.

"Pretty much forever," Daniel replies cautiously, that note of distrust appearing in his voice again. "Never needed t'go anywhere else."

"Ah," Yi notes, again turning her eyes away, this time towards the shadowed trees of the park. For awhile, she doesn't say anything more, letting the city's quiet traffic sounds penetrate the atmosphere between them.

Daniel looks down once more, fingers again dabbling in the fountain. "'bout you?" he asks politely.

"Not very long," Yi replies softly, her voice and eyes distant. "I came here about 3, almost 4 years ago. Looking for family." She wets her lips again, and dares a small shift of her gaze to the man beside her. "This may sound strange, but," she starts to say, stopping for a moment before she goes on, "you look a lot like someone I knew. A good friend. His name was Ebony. That's why I thought you were him."

Daniel snorts softly. "Sorry t'dissapoint ya," he replies brusquely, turning rough again as the conversation shifts back to his former identity.

Yi looks away again, exhaling and covering the sting that comes with the man's brushoff of the topic. Perhaps she attributes his rude manner to the Curse; a thought that makes her even less happy to think about. "So what do you do around town? I have a few jobs here and there, though nothing really constant."

"Webpage design," Daniel replies nonchalently, though inwardly he cringes. No, it's not what Ebony used to do, but it's a very Walker profession.

"Oh?" Yi notes, not particularly noticing the relationship yet. "Everything does seem to be turning to the Internet now," she does comment. "Everything on the television nowadays is something-dot-com." It's a neutral statement of fact, but her tone implies that she's not particularly one to use computers to an extensive amount. "Is it hard to do?"

Daniel ehs. "S'pretty easy when y'get into it. Like swimmin'. Once y'realise that y'gonna float no matter what, an' start experimentin', it becomes a whole lot easier."

Yi nods slowly, thinking about her computer proficiency - or lack thereof. "Sounds like an interesting job to have. Are you in the business alone, or do you work for a company?"

"Solo," Daniel responds plainly. "I don't work well with other people."

Yi ahs again, nodding in that polite way still. "I suppose you work on the computer a lot and talk to people through e-mail, then. Or you have one of those new mobile phones that work like walkie-talkies." Her hand comes up and she looks at it as if she were holding a cellphone of sorts- just like in the commercials. "Do you get a lot of business?"

Daniel nods. "I work for businesses," he replies slowly. "Corporate stuff. My biggest contract is working on an e-commerce website for Industrial Plastics."

"I see." Yi does seem interested in these things, perhaps curious because of her lack of background in them. "Does it pay well?" She glances back again to the man, this time keeping her innate feeling of familiarity pushed down.

Daniel nods his head again. "Yeah. Enough to get by on," he agrees slowly. "An' provide for family an' stuff."

Yi glances away as Daniel mentions family. Maybe it's the way he said it; the way he spoke about providing for family. "Your family is pretty small? Mine, well, it could be said we are all over the place." She laughs softly, mildly amused by the thought.

"It's big and widespread," Daniel replies. "I don't see many of 'em any more though."

Yi ahs again, nodding to say she knows what he's talking about in a related sense. "So you don't see them often. That is a bit of a shame," she says, looking back up to the moon. "Maybe you can e-mail them."

Daniel hehs softly. "I could do," he agrees in a thoughtful tone, as if he'd never thought about it like that.

"You should," Yi says with a confirming nod as if this were a good idea, and she was glad she thought of it. Uh huh. "In case you are very busy with your work. Everyone says e-mail is very fast. So, maybe a few moments to type out a hello and how are you, would be a good way to tell your family that you're still around even though you don't see them." It'd be a lot faster than running around town trying to set up coffee dates, that's for sure. She glances back to the man, wondering what he thinks of it.

Daniel coughs quietly. "I don't drink coffee," he replies softly, something very melancholy in his tone now. A recovering caffine addict?

Yi shrugs, "Or just trying to meet up with them in general. Maybe you could take a holiday, since you are in business by yourself?"

Daniel shakes his head. "Nah. They probably woulden't wanna see me anyway - no, make that definately. Black sheep syndrome."

Brow furrowing at that, Yi headtilts. "Something happened that made them not like you?" she asks, curiously, if a bit unaware that she's venturing into personal territories.

Standing slowly, Daniel takes a step away. "Yeah," he replies shortly, his tone curt and cold once more. "I'm done here. Night, Yi." Was that his accent slipping there, or just imagination?

Yi does indeed catch that slip. But, rather than say something more, she realizes she's overstepped her bounds and nods again. "Good night, Daniel. It was nice to meet you."

Snaik's GM Room(#3514J)
Contents:
Daniel

A short ride through the city later leads to a rundown apartment block in the northeast. Once out of sight of most others as he wends through the city backstreets, he lets slip his rugged exterior, his posture slumping, almost defeated-looking. Daniel heads down into the basement apartment, a domicile with a chilly air to it - as if someone never bothered putting the heating on.

Yi has followed along in the shadows, keeping herself quiet and unobtrusive, always ducking away just in case the man felt he was being followed. The ragabash knows bits of the city's downtown well enough to slip away, and eventually when they both reach the apartment block, she watches him enter. Suspicions continue to grow as she sneaks her way in, looking around momentarily at her surroundings to note anything out of place aside from the cold atmosphere the area gives off. Waiting a moment to make sure Daniel isn't about to come back out again, she goes up to the door through which he entered and tries the knob, making sure to be quiet about it.

The door isn't locked, perhaps Daniel doesn't care if someone comes in or not. Should you look in, it becomes apparent he lives a very spartan life. There's no furniture in the lounge beyond a folded-out sofabed, a desk with a complex computer system on and a fridge in the back corner, thrumming lowly. He appears to have gone into the back room; a bathroom most likely.

Yi does enter, but with a cautious air of a trespasser on high alert. Keeping to one wall, she has a look around the immediate front room, at the sofabed, the computer desk, the fridge... Her eyes pause a moment in their gaze, as she listens in to hear movement from the backrooms.

The sharp of ear - of which this ragabash must surely be the sharpest - may catch the sounds of someone....crying. It's not the soft sobbing of a child nor the emotional release of an adult, but the body-wracking cry of someone who has despair as a bedmate and lonliness as a daily cloak.

Yi scowls at the sound like merely hearing it tugs at the strings in her heart. Swallowing down the feeling, she cautiously makes her way a little bit further into the apartment, closer to the backrooms and closer to the crying man's being. Her steps are placed softly, testing the floor just to be sure they don't creak.

There's a smell further in. Not a nice smell. Blood! It's likewise coming from the bathroom and Daniel seems oblivious to it.

[Continued on 7/4/2004]

02:24 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Snaik's Room(#3428Jh)
Contents:
Daniel

Brow furrowing at the scent of blood, heavy enough for her nose to smell, Yi grows concerned. Yet, she doesn't want to betray her presence just yet. She listens in for a moment longer, trying to discern what's going on behind that door.

The sobbing continues, Daniel blissfully unaware that he's got an audience. There's the sound of creaking and then someone sitting down, the smell of more blood, though no sound that could be cutting, and no scent of injured flesh.

Yi finally puts a hand to the door, and gently pushes against it to open it a bit more. There's too much blood in the air to be healthy.

Fortunately, the black man inside does not hear the door's ever-so slight squeak. Inside the bathroom, he can be seen perched on the side of the bathtub, crying over it. Why over it? Because his tears are not saltwater, but instead rich blood, easily accounting for the smell as it drips away down into the drain.

Yi pushes the door open just enough to see the blood red tears. That's enough to surprise her beyond a thought-out reaction. "Daniel?" her voice is quiet, inquiring, and of all things, breaking of the silence she imposed at first.

There's a choked yelp from the black man, though he doesn't turn around. He doesn't need to; he knows the voice, knows the name and legacy attached to it. "Get out," he whispers, his tone hoarse and angry, but also carrying with it a sense of his misery.

Yi remains there unmoving. "Daniel, you're crying -blood-," Yi continues, the concern in her voice there, but also a growing repulsion. She's faced far worse than a crying man. "You need help."

"If you want to help me, kill me," the once-Kin replies brokenly, still not turning towards the source of the voice. "It's not something you can cure with a pill or a touch." Is that a reference to the gift? Perhaps.

"What are you talking about?" Yi asks, fully opening the door so she can really see what's in the bathroom, and really see the blood in his tears. That /really/ sets her on edge. One hand instinctively reaches into her pocket, just in case, fingering the switchblade inside.

"Just do it, Three-Blades," Daniel responds softly, straightening and wiping away the remaining few drips, then turning to face you. Yes, there's redness smeared about his eyes and he looks incredibly pained, but also defiant. "Do what needs to be done."

Yi stiffens at her deedname. Almost immediately those gentle eyes go suspicious, as she tries to figure out who this man is, and how he knows her. Is he? "How... Ebony?" The Gnawer stands there, inwardly shocked into stillness.

Daniel shakes his head. "I don't go by that name any more," he replies quietly, his American accent softening into something more English, though not quite as fully English as it once was, from months of Americanising. "Please, Yi."

Shaking off the surprise, Yi takes a step closer. "Ebony... I thought you were dead." Though by the looks of it, she's figuring out some things. His slightly paler skin. His crying bloody tears. The ragabash steps forward, a hand slowly reaching out towards his shoulder. She wants to see his face again. She must.

"I am." Well, there's the proof. "I am, Yi." Daniel/Ebony jerks back as he spots the hand coming forward, lifting his own as if to defend himself. "Don't touch me."

Yi withdraws her hand, gaze now hardened to glass. "Who did this to you?" Her question is less of asking, and more demanding. And it holds a twinge of Rage beneath.

Daniel exhales quietly. Here comes the contradiction; he's still breathing. Or looks as if he is. He feels warm, like any kind of human might, he blinks and moves in natural ways. Hmm. "I don't know. I didn't even know what happened at first, 'till S-....'till someone explained the basics to me."

Yi catches that slip. "Who?" she demands again, taking another step closer. "Who explained it? /Who did this/?" The warm concern that was there has abandoned her tone, replaced with a predator's hot, fervent search.

Daniel can't take a step back; bathtub in the way! "I don't know!" he replies, anger in his own voice. "I don't fucking know! All I know is I woke up in a hotel room on the edge of Seattle with a blinding headache and a hunger that doesn't come _close_ to normal. I didn't know what had happened until I was found by someone who had the balls to explain it to me."

"What was their name?" Yi continues, interrogating now with a restraint only held back because Daniel is, or was, kin. Seattle. That cursed city. The mere mention sets her blood simmering. "Daniel, you are a... a vampire. And you know... I can't let you go. The best thing you can do is tell me everything you can remember, and then we can get revenge."

The vampire shakes his head. "I'm not going to tell you who it was," he replies quietly. "He wasn't a Vampire. In fact, I only know one other Vampire, and he's not in St Claire any more. He said I'm called a Caitiff - or in Garou terms, Ronin."

Yi clenches her jaw, torn between beating the information out of him, and letting him go without knowing. "Why? Do you know why you were left .. like this?" Her voice mediates itself to something less vicious as she wills herself to keep control.

Daniel shakes his head. "No. No I don't. If I knew the answers, Yi, I woulden't be here. That's the only reason I've stayed in St Claire, even knowing all of you are out there."

"Why did you stay here then? You know how many Garou there are here." Yi just can't believe what is before her. Never has she been confronted with a situation like this... but she has been faced with similar.

"Because I have to find out!" Daniel sighs, exasperated. "If I can find out who, and why, then I can move on. I've lost my Family, I don't want to lose out on the chance of losing another."

Yi draws herself up. "But not more than a moment ago, you wanted me to kill you. And now that I know... you know I must tell the others. You know what I must do."

Daniel shakes his head. "Please don't," he requests softly. "Either finish it now and kill me here, or let me go. I don't want to exist night to night looking out for a wolf-shaped shadow lurking behind me."

Yi swallows hard, eyes staring, shining with her own tears. She knows what she must do. Taking a step back, she starts to shift up, growing and melding into the crinos form. Ivory fur clashed with dark, nearly blood red fur sprouts from the Gnawer, until she is fully in the form of war. Looming over the vampire, her muzzle twitches at the even fresher scent of blood. In this form, the Rage flows a lot closer to the surface. She can't believe this, still. Her claws flex, tension tangible in the air.

Daniel turns his back to you. Fresh blood is smelled once more, another tear or two escaping his control, the kinsman visibly shaking. He's terrified, but his control is enough that he does not frenzy.

For all the suspense, the ending is quite anticlimatic. Golden eyes stare at the back of the vampire, and then, silently, the Gnawer's claws reach out to grip around the kin's head and neck. A sudden rush of Rage fuels her frustration, as with a sharp snarl, the crinos jerks hard against both ends, pulling in opposite directions, to hopefully swiftly and quietly end the vampire's suffering.

*CRAAACK* The sound of a man's spine being forcibly broken, head pulled from body, fills the room. It's a sickening sound and one that even a Vampire cannot return from. The body of the kinsman sags and leaks vitae, though does not age into obscurity or crumble into dust. It's as if he'd just this moment died, and not some months prior.

Three-Blades's ears turn back as the sounds of spine being ripped apart is hardly satisfying this time. Once the deed has been done, she watches the blood seep down into the drain, the kin's head in hand, body in the other. One hand goes to the bathtub's water taps, and she turns the knobs to see if there's even some water running through the pipes here. The long process of clean up begins.