04-13-2005 : Yi Challenges For Fostern

Yi Challenges For Fostern

4/13/2005

01:00 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (30% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the east at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.05 and steady, and the relative humidity is 65 percent. The dewpoint is 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 12:36 Pacific Time on Wed Apr 13 2005.

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

This afternoon holds a pleasant smell wafting around the farmhouse. One that smells like chicken, with hint of BBQ sauce, and the faint overlay of something fried. The Gnawer ragabash is standing in front of the stove tending some chicken pieces in a mid-sized pot, humming lightly as she prepares a lunch that looks to be too much for just her to handle.

Basil walks in from the living room, his hair and beads of cold water clinging to his face. He smiles brightly when he sees the person in the house is Yi. "Hey Yi. Hows it going? Cooking up something good for yourself? Sure smells it, I could almost taste it from all the way upstairs."

Yi glances up from the stove, and smiles back warmly. "Good afternoon Basil," she replies without rush. "I was actually cooking lunch for more than just myself. You are welcome to it.. The cubs in this house probably don't expect any cliaths to cook for them after all." The ragabash gestures to a chair. "Mmhm. It's almost done." A pair of chopsticks (when did those get in the farmhouse?) flips over a piece of chicken expertly, the meat sizzling a touch. "I spoke with Olga last night, too.." she adds.

Basil takes a seat without a touch of hesitation, chuckling a little bit. "There are more then just myself and Christine? Oh yeah, Rae... I don't think Christine would eat it though. I'd love to have lunch with you though." He grins a touch more at Yi's mention of Olga. "The sage within me tells me you spoke with her at the barn. That, and the fact she nearly made me fall off the damn ladder. What'd she say?"

Yi moves in a nice paced whirr, like clockwork as she slips a hand up to grab a couple of plates from the cupboard, and plates the freshly fried chicken onto two. "If you are wanting to come to the Bone Gnawers," she replies with a slight shake of the BBQ sauce bottle, "then the Gnawers would welcome you openly. As it were, Olga and myself have mobility, but Benny has taken to watching over Squeaks at the Odeon. Which is our city HQ, so to speak."

Basil waggles his eyebrows a little bit. "Groovy. I've got pretty good timing then. I was just about to tell you that I'd decided on the Gnawers as my Tribe. Emma helped a little with confirming that. What is this Odeon place that you speak of, anyways? And I assume I'll still stay here until I'm Rited?"

Yi glances up from her busy plating as she grabs a smaller kitchen knife and cuts two fresh eggrolls in diagonal half, and places them as well on the plates. "Really? So you believe Rat has called you from our shadows..." She grins widely, definitely pleased. "Then let this lunch be in celebration, and welcome!" She grabs up the two plates and a couple sets of fork and knife after making sure the stove top is turned off, and the hot oil in the pots carefully covered. Bringing them over to the table, she sets both down and slips into a chair herself. "What brought you to decide?" She pauses a beat, blinks, and asks in wonder, "I thought Emma was a Get..."

Basil watches Yi's movements quietly, waiting patiently for the food to be set out before him. "Something like that, heh, yeah. Call it a gut instinct. Besides, you have been teaching me pretty good. Treating me good. And Olga isn't bad. Joey was nice. You've given me no reason not to like your Tribe... Now I just have to learn to fit in with it, learn how to fight for it, and learn to bite my tongue a little more."

Basil lifts a hand and pulls his plate closer to him. "Emma thinks I'll fit in. And she had nothing to say but good things about you and Olga. Plus, she told me a nice story about a Formori and his package."

Yi pushes over a knife and fork as well on a dinner napkin. On the plate, three pieces of fried chicken and the egg roll. Fried, yet somehow not greasy or oily at all. The BBQ sauce is also set upon the table. "I'm surprised," she notes with just that odd expression on her face telling of how she hadn't expected to hear that. "I thought the Get all disliked the Bone Gnawers. Even though I hold them in high honors. Signe-rhya and Jamethon-rhya both have been amongst the two I can truly say it is an honor each time I go into a battle with them." The ragabash proceeds on it, working at the chicken first with knife and fork. "But I too think once you learn a little more about us, you would come to greatly like it. I couldn't say that there was no pressure, but our tribe is rather relaxed in one sense. Come what may, we will survive."

Basil nods at Yi and regards his egg roll curiously, then takes his first bite and makes a very audible 'Mmmm' sound. "What is this again? It taste pretty damn good. You must be used to cooking for yourself. I'll have to get you to teach me some new recipes sometime." He takes another bite then pipes up again. "The Get are pretty cool. But I'd rather hang out with you guys. Besides the fact you probably won't get mad and punch me, you just seem neat. Plus, while I love nature... I kind of want to go back to the city. Hit some arcades. Get some new clothes. Check on my mom."

Yi chews around a piece of chicken and sauce, dipping a second piece into the puddle of BBQ on her plate. "It's a chicken and vegetable eggroll. Actually was on the menu at Tin-Yen Chop Suey restaurant on Regan. The owner Mr. Chen thought it tasted very good too, so he added it." The ragabash chews a bit further, swallows, and then gets up a moment to go to the fridge and extract two sodas. "Oh, there are other ways to show one is mad." The Coke cans are set down. "But it hardly gets anyone anywhere in most situations. Sometimes all one needs is a look. An attitude. An air." She twirls her hand around, exaggerating the 'air' part. "Mm, but I do agree with staying in the city. I grew up in a city, and somehow I don't think I could make my home out here- nice though it is." The last part the cub notes though, draws the ragabash's eyes back to him. "You shouldn't check too closely yet, Basil. But when you pass your rite of passage, you are free to do as you please- provided you can follow the Litany."

Basil says "I've never had one before... Sounds like a Chinese food joint. The most exotic take out I've ever had is pizza and burgers and even those were only once and a while." He takes his coke and cracks it on open. "Trust me. I know when someone is kind of mad most of the time, growing up around people like that. Gets kind of thick in the city. I know it's kinda naive to think I could go back to my mother, or school... But I really don't know what I'll do. Where I'll live. Who I'll live with. But once I complete my Rite, at least it will be my decision."

Yi chews slower now, deliberating on each piece as she watches the cub. "Somehow I do not find it so hard to believe that you have not eaten an egg roll before," she utters quietly after swallowing. "Though about what you will want to do after your Rite. Where you will go. What you will do. It is all..." she trails lifting a hand and waving the fork towards the glass door. "Out there. Whenever you want to decide to find something new. Why worry about the future, when there is so much to do in the now? To make plans is to be caught spinning webs like the Weaver- if you mess up, you might find you have sewn your future's fabric right into the sleeve of your shirt."

Basil snickers over at the Ragabash as he polishes off one half of his egg roll. "Mom was kind of thrifty, what can I say?" He takes another drink of soda. "I like to think of it like this. Keep an eye on the future, but keep yourself in the present. And a mirror in one hand, so you can always look back at the past behind you. Heh." He decides to try a slice of the chicken, cutting off a thin piece and sticking it in his mouth. "Heavenly, Yi. Heavenly. You've really outdone yourself."

Yi licks her lips as well, but the cub liking her food is something that the ragabash takes great pride in. She sits just all the more straighter, prouder. "I'm glad you like it. The cookbooks here are hard to read, but with my dictionary, that is just a challenge to overcome." She nods at this sagely, in self-satisfaction. "As for what you say- indeed, always keep a mirror. It's handy, too. For side-stepping into the Shadow realm." She grins a bit, slicing down another thicker slab of fried chicken breast. "Now that you have chosen a tribe, you can expect Olga and I to bring you into the Umbra when the moon is a bit fuller. We can start at the caern. I'm sure you'll be able to feel exactly why we Garou protect our caerns so stubbornly, once you see what is on the other side."

Basil tilts his head to one side. "You can't read English too well? You speak it more smoothly then most of the people in my school. Or most of the people from my neighborhood, for that matter. I didn't know you used mirrors for that stuff though... " He takes a moment to clear his throat. "I know that the light is not for me, save for that of the moon over the rock tombs of Neb. I have known this ever since I stretched my fingers out to the monstrosity in the great gilded frame, stretched my fingers out and touched the cold and unyielding surface of polished glass." Another drink of coke follows his abbreviated quoting of The Outsider. "I can't wait, really. The spirits that are in there, they are spirits of things, yes? What about the spirits of the dead?"

"You sound like you lived in a library," Yi laughs fondly. "I think you and Bernie would have gotten along very well. I cubnamed her Reads-in-Darkness when she was first found. She would sit in Harbor Park at night with a Scooby Doo flashlight and read on one of the benches." She sighs quietly, but in a nostalgic manner. "After she finished her rite, she and Matthew probably went to explore the rest of the world with their newly opened eyes. I wouldn't have expected her to stay in St. Claire for very long." The ragabash picks up the bone of her drumstick and sticks it in her mouth, literally gnawing on the bone lightly. "I never really liked learning by books," she explains, voice muffling around the bone. "But Jeremy, a Glass Walker kin, thought it was too much trouble not to learn. So I am... a little bit. The speaking and listening is easy- I would give tourist tours for extra money from visitors back home in Hong Kong, with a .. a friend." The ragabash cleans off some more meat and the cartiledge, chewing with that slight rubbery crunch. "It was pretty easy to get money like that."

Basil says "Oh, no... I'm just a good fan of a tortured, old man from long ago. His writings were typically said to come from his dreams... And if that is true, I'm glad I don't dream like him." He smiles for a moment, looking Yi in her eyes. "You miss her a lot, don't you? You also sound like you miss that friend. Don't worry. I am sure they are ok, and living life for every day. Perhaps now, they are thinking of you as well, and smiling back on past memories. If you want, I could help you if you need something read sometime. Help you with words if you want to learn. I really wouldn't mind at all... " A moment of thought. "I wonder what I'll do for money when I leave here..."

Yi pauses in her bone gnawing, having gotten to the marrow of the drum. The ragabash sucks on it a couple of times, extracting the inside like a vacuum. "You can do whatever you can," she replies in thought. "Sometimes I like to sit outside and watch people. Sometimes, I do some tricks or dancing. Other times... I pick a person who looks like they could stand to use a lesson, and take my pay from that." The latter elicits a grin of mischief from the newmoon. "But I used to look for some jobs too, where the owners don't care about you as long as you do some work. Like, delivering the Tribune, once... or cleaning bathrooms. Or, cooking at Tin-Yen. But those never last very long. You can sense it when people become uncomfortable. And you know it's too dangerous for us to try and work on fat moons. Especially for an ahroun as yourself. In the end... that is probably why Gaia made Kinfolk."

Basil hums to himself and tries to think about it. "Honestly, I couldn't steal from a person that didn't do anything to me. Not unless it was extremely urgent that I get money right off. Besides, look at my face. They'd take one look at me as a mugger and laugh, anger or no. I suppose I'll have to find something... Or live with a Kinfolk or someone. Do all their housework and cook for them, odds and ends, for a place to sleep, food, and a little money now and then. We Ahrouns aren't too good with society, are we? Heh."

Yi shakes her head. "Ahrouns have their own place, as do ragabash, as do kin." She wipes off her hand and sets the gnawed on drumstick down on the plate, the bone pretty much stripped devoid of anything but bone. "Maybe you can meet Simon, and he might have some way to find a job for you. Not to mention, once you are rited, you would be able to find a pack."

Basil takes another bite of his chicken, chuckling quietly once again. "I wonder if I'd even fit in a pack. I'm not a real big people person after all. I Just hope that I get through my Rite... I'll deal with whatever comes after. I just hope when we go in, it isn't a place with too many humans. That way we can use the best forms for the job."

"A Bone Gnawer will adapt to whatever is needed to be done to survive," Yi intones. "But the most important thing is, yes, knowing what is best form to use for the job." The ragabash seems to be done with her lunch, mysteriously having cleaned off all items on her plate without having noisily done so. Darn no-moons. "Oh. Though once I have spoken to Olga and told her of your decision- if you don't see her first- I believe it would be Ok for you to come back to the city some time. That way, you can meet Squeaks, and Benny, Badger and Isla. And we can get you some clothes. Maybe from WalMart."

Basil says "Yeah... But I'd much rather be in any form but human heading into combat. I can't heal when I'm like this. Are Rites like... Extremely dangerous, will we be totally alone except for ourselves with no way to call in support?" Basil still has plenty of bird left on his plate and he's taking his time eating it. "If I see her, I'll tell her. Yeah. It'd be nice to get some clothes of my own, pick up some cheap books the library sells, meet some people. Oh. I've got to take you to a movie too. A classic." He grins. "A couple of them actually. Have you ever seen... Evil Dead?"

Yi arches her brows, and shakes her head, only to furrow them after that. "I have not." She skips a beat. "Rites of Passage are determined some times by the elder performing it, and other times, by the spirits themselves. Either way, during your rite, you would learn much more as you proceed. More about yourself, more about others. The spirits who come to help you, or to hurt you, are all there for reasons that Gaia knows only a theurge might be able to explain. I question, but some times those questions get confusing answers." The ragabash sips at her Coke. "I take it from the title, the movie is a horror movie."

Basil says "So they just consult amongst themselves, and give us a Rite out of the blue, or... ? I'm hoping we don't go alone. I'm sure I'll have good training and all, but man it'll suck to die. I want to at least see some more sights, travel the world like the viking hordes of old. Killing houses, raping livestock, and burning down the women! Shit, I got that wrong didn't I?" He finishes up his chicken, leaving some meat on the bones and smirking at Yi. "It's a horror. Sort of. But more of a comedy. A bloody comedy... But still. It's one man's decent into a battle against the forces of evil, with plenty of funny things happening. And parts of it are just insane."

Yi peers at the cub curiously, his words looking like they just get curiouser and curiouser. But, the ragabash has the good graces not to interrupt him, waiting until he finishes his comment about the movie. "Mm, well. Live or Die, the cycles we go through are determined by what we make, and what we have made. I wouldn't worry about if you go on your Rite alone. Though if it proves to be better, perhaps you and Christine might end up going together. It isn't unheard of for cubs to attend their Rites at the same time. Mine was just as such." She rises from the table, bussing her plate and making to clean up the stove and counters. "Even so, rites with more than one cub... aren't easy in my opinion. In fact, it makes another reason to worry. If you do not care for your fellows, then you will not make it. That was but one of the lessons I learned on my Rite."

Basil nods his head at Yi. "I know, we must look out for each other if we go together... To be honest, I'm terrified of failing and dying. I don't want to die yet. The thought scares me. Especially if I die and my packmate or buddy is counting on me. That would be a shitty burden to carry with me into the next life. Really shitty... " He looks up at her. "Did anyone die on your Rite? Did you come close?"

"If you weren't afraid of failing and dying, or your friends failing and dying, I would question your mind," Yi notes over the sound of her washing dishes. "It happens some times though. I was lucky. Ken, Bold, Hanna... they were all great Garou. We worked together, and made it back to our home sept with a huge junk boat that still is used as a cub house to this day. If we did not work together, one of us would have surely passed on." The plates and pots are washed quickly, but made sure to be clean before the ragabash dries them. "If anyway, you will find your place, and purpose. It might not come immediately- like for Joey, she still has to work on her self-confidence. But it is a big step to pass a Rite of Passage. It is what proves you are a true Garou."

Basil says "I guess I'll just have to work hard, and pray to God that I can make it through... And bug you to tell me the story of your Rite sometime. Sounds pretty cool. Heres hoping it isn't too hard, I don't die, or lose too many limbs on it." He stands up and tosses his can into the trash, walking over to the back door to look outside. "How long will it be? Before I go?""

"That will depend on your progress," Yi says in even reply. "As for my Rite, well... long story made short, Grandmother Rui and my Uncle Drives-Hard-Bargains, took us all the way to Shanghai, dropped us off, and said 'see you in a couple of weeks!' And they drove off laughing, left us with about 100 US dollars to spend for our food and housing, and we had to be back at the Sept within the deadline. Of course, there was more, but we all made it. I think Ken learned to swim really well then, after he was tossed over the side of the ship by that one fomori..."

Basil says "That doesn't sound too bad, really. I just hope they don't send me against some great Wyrm beast or something. Like the rabbit from Monty Python. Though it would make for a funny story if there was indeed a Heaven." He shrugs his shoulders. "So basically, you are saying anything could be chosen for my Rite, and anything could happen."

Yi looks to the cub and nods succinctly. "It is part of the spirits' job, and part of the Garou elders' job to decide what your rite will be. And all you need to worry about now, is learning what you can, and training yourself as an ahroun, as a Bone Gnawer, and most of all, as a Garou."

Basil smiles as he looks off into the distance. "I know... I know. But I still worry. I'll train the best I can, and do all that I can. I just hope that in the end I make you proud that you were my teacher. And that my actions do not bring shame to the Tribe, or us as Garou."

Yi laughs aloud, lightening from all the heavy talk as she gets out a couple of plastic plates and places the cooled fried chicken onto them, like mini-microwaveable dinners ready to heat right out of the fridge. "It will be very difficult for you to do that I think, Basil. But, as many Garou seem to be noting to you, that tongue of yours will need a bit of a leash on some things some times. Or else, the first rite you end up learning might be the one I performed for White Bear." She covers up the plates with some foil, tucking the wrapping underneath, and then moves to place them in the fridge.

Basil turns to look at Yi and sighs. "I know, I try, honestly. Sometimes I just get riled up and can't help it though. I apologized to Emma for something I did yesterday, though. Me and her seem to be a bit better now, she's nicer, talks more freely. I like her too. At least I can recognize when I'm out of line, even if it's a little late, then try to make amends. Better then not realizing it at all."

Yi straightens back up from bending to stick the plates in the fridge. Closing the door with a short brushing of her hands against each other and a large in and out breath. "It's Ok Basil. We all have our personalities, and yours tends towards a galliard's tongue, that's all. You never know- maybe all your talk will help save yourself, or someone you care about, some time. Above all, don't be sorry for being who you are." The ragabash walks over to pick up her soda, sipping lightly. "So you met Christine right?" she asks. "What did you think of her?"

Basil nods at a little at Yi. "Heh. They'll fear my bark is as bad as my bite eh? I can only hope so. I'll insult the Formori until they leave me alone, or something. Christine... " He looks up at the ceiling, lifting a hand to stroke his chin. "She's an alright person. She thinks this might be a disease, then I told her about the Umbra. And if we went in it, it would disprove that theory. She got all quiet. She doesn't like shifting. She's easy to upset. She's going to touch off sooner or later, and I wouldn't trust her to guard my back. She seems to have some pacifist beliefs... But she's good to talk to. And I never knew people that pretty existed in real life."

Yi smiles and contains a chuckle, tuning it to a soft laugh. "She is /very/ pretty, I agree. More beautiful than some of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in this world myself. Christine looks like she should be on TV, not one of the Bone Gnawers." Yi sits back into her chair, eyes on her Coke and thinking of the other cub. "I'm not surprised that she would think this is a disease. I have heard that humans long ago even wrote books about how being Garou, or believing yourself to be a werewolf, was a disease of the mind. But, that doesn't deny that we can do this with our bodies. It doesn't show how the Umbra, even if are not so in tune with the spirits, is Still right on the other side of the Wall. What concerns me is how much she hates the idea. The fact that we exist." Yi tips the soda back for another sip. "Yesterday night, she told me, 'You should be extinct.'" The ragabash sighs quietly, showing that bit of hurt that hadn't been there before last night.

Basil chuckles once more under his breath. "I swear, if she wasn't a Garou and I had a decent look to me, I'd have to try to at least take her to the movies or something. At least, *try*, like shooting at the moon with a pop gun. It'll be a damn shame to see a face like her's get all torn up like the streets where I used to live." He goes to the fridge and grabs out another soda, leaning on the appliance whilst taking a swig. "Lycanthropy. Thats the name. And don't worry about her, she'll come around. Eventually... I hope. I think you and Olga are doing a great job."

Yi pulls the bandanna off her head, rubbing at the thin scar encircling the very edge and slanting down the sides of her temples. "But we cannot wait for her forever, Basil. She needs to learn, quickly. Normally I would not be so pushy with cubs, you know. But something about her. Something just makes me want to make sure she will be ok, and be able to protect herself. If ever something happened to her because we did not teach her well enough..." She trails there, unwilling to complete the sentence. "And she keeps blinding herself with her beliefs. She doesn't think she can change, but she knows she did it once. She doesn't believe the Garou are anything but sick, but does that mean she is healthy?" The Gnawer ragabash hunches over the table, thunking her chin down atop it and eyeing the label on the Coke dejectedly. "And I as a ragabash. I need to open her eyes. Make her see the truth around her. That the world is never so simple as her black-and-white one."

Basil walks over to Yi without a moment of hesitation, his eyes momentarily glancing at her scars. His hand comes to rest on her shoulder where he gives her a firm pat, pulling a seat from the table and turning it around. He sits leaning forward against the back rest. "You are a great Ragabash, and you will think of a way. And perhaps I can help. Too bad you can't influence her dreams, or... I dunno. Maybe show a way that this thing can be used for good. Still, I'm not sure I'd want to Rite with her... She's... Hum."

Yi looks over at her shoulder when she's patted, then up at the cub as he pulls up a chair. Her head lifts from the table, shoulders rolling back with a bit of will being forced into the movement. "I know there is some way we can help her see. There is only so far we can pull her along, but eventually she will have to decide for herself... to sink, or to swim." The ragabash glances back to Basil, that old quirky half-smile of hers tweaking on one side. "And I think it is too early to say yet, about her Rite. Or yours."

Basil says "I think there is too... I just hope that when she comes around, that it is sincere. Genuine. If we get down into some bad Wyrmy crap, and she suddenly decides it's a good moment to run... I think I'd rather be alone then have to count on someone who might bolt. I'm not really sure what she'll do though. Or if she'd run. She's so hard to read except when she's angry."

Yi shrugs one shoulder, tracking down her Coke with an idle hand and tipping it back for a few gulps. "It's hard to say what she will do. But even more so, we don't even know her auspice yet. Neither Olga nor I have been able to get her to say anything about it. Or instead, we have been busy trying to get her to at least believe us when we say she is a Garou. Maybe the methods we choose are wrong." Yi glances back over at the cub. "You would think after being here and training as many cubs as I have, I would have learned to how to overcome this first hurdle easily."

Basil lifts his hands up and lets them fall. "I think some progress is being made. But it will be slow. If we rush too fast, she'll just resist more. She said she was about.. Fourteen or fifteen when I was talking to her. Not much, but it's a start... As for the hurdle, well. Gaia gives you challenges yeah? Just like God. Keeps you sharp and ready. What does she think is so wrong, though? Besides the Werewolves themselves."

Yi nods once, glancing back outside. "I almost wish that she would try to run. Just to see how far she would get on her own, before she came back," the ragabash murmurs. Then she adds, "Olga said she'd told her that her birthday was some time last month." The ragabash turns back to the cub. "But I would feel better if we had a date. Maybe..." She pauses, eyeing the cub. "Maybe you can get it out of her."

Basil smirks a little at Yi. "A cunning plan. However, if you left her just out anywhere, she could find her way to a road and we'd all be in a bit of trouble. Take her somewhere not flat, and where it's hard to get around. Woods or something. I think she'd just get pissed and refuse to shift and end up wandering the woods in human form for a long time though, then be *really* pissed when she got back. I can try to get the date, but... Me and her, kind of off and on. Hm."
Basil says "If only we could convince her, that her Werewolfness was a gift from God."

"Or that Gaia, or God, whatever you want to call the Wheel, it is still that we exist, and we have our purpose to do so," Yi notes quietly, returned to thinking. "Well, I could always take her out to some very far away part of the woods, and only give her a note that says she must find her way back. Of course, that is what Leonard would have suggested I bet." She smiles faintly, humored by the thought. "She would have to shift... or she would end up too weak to go on."

Basil says "But how can we do that... Hm. Could always have a fake demon or something attack her, but I don't know how the hell we'd do that. Out in the woods, you know, that might work. Your plan. But she already hasn't eaten in a day... And I wonder to myself if she wants to die. If she's convinced she won't make it out of this, or that she's damned. Who is Leonard anyways?"

Yi shakes her head. "If she is a true Bone Gnawer as the kinfetch spirit pointed her out to be, then she will do what she must. It lies in her blood, and in her spirit. Somewhere." The ragabash swirls around her coke, feeling about 1/4 of the can left inside. "Leonard Brings-the-Buffalo-Home, but I liked to call him Little Bear- which was his cubname. He was a Wendigo galliard, a packmate of mine when I followed Salmon. He taught me many, many things about the woods that I never knew, and helped me through some of my hardest times. Leonard was proud, and very stubborn in his beliefs as well. I dare to say he would have given White Bear a good run for who could be more woods-oriented. And I think Leonard would win." The ragabash smiles again. "Leonard journeyed away from here some time ago. Salmon's Leap was broken up when Sepdet, our alpha, and he ended up strongly disagreeing about matters of the caern's new totem after we managed to take this place back from the Black Spiral Dancers." The ragabash says the name of the Dancers with no disguise of her loathing for them. But back to talking about her packmates of old, "So when it came to surviving out in the wild, and being able to hunt, or set traps, or find traps out in the woods here... all that I learned, I could say I learned from Leonard and my packamtes in Salmon's Leap."

Basil says "You've had many, many friends that have moved on over the years, haven't you? I suppose it comes with the territory... But I hope that mine are a little less in the way of wanderers. I'll hold onto them for dear life once I actually make some, I think. Heh. You better not go wandering off on me, at least not before you teach me a thing or two. And let me take you to one of our fine, American classic movies. You haven't seen insanity until you've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Yi slips out of her nostalgia, looks back to the cub and nods once. "I have had many dear friends come from this sept. Each one I cherish, and know that they are out in the world doing what needs to be done for themselves, for Gaia. I guess it is my place to stay here though, and be the one who can say 'Welcome Back' when they do stop here again." The ragabash smiles. "I wonder why you say all these movies, but they all seem to be horror movies? By their names, that is."

Basil snickers a little bit but smiles at Yi's comment. "I'm sure you were one of the best friends they'd ever had. You'd do anything for them. Anything. I can sense it in you. And Olga more or less seems the same way... Only she can be scarier then you. And Brom. What are the others in your Tribe like? More or less the same as you two? Vastly different? Are they girls too?"

Yi leans back against the back of her chair, thinking on the query. "We are all Rat's children, but we're as much different as we are the same. Olga is nice, and wise... there is a reason why she is tribe elder and I am not. I couldn't imagine myself as a tribe elder anyway," the ragabash notes with a short laugh at herself. "As for what others in the tribe are like... some of them dislike humans and their systems a lot, so they choose to live on the streets. They take their chances, and don't let anyone tell them they are lower just because they make not permanent home for themselves. Others take advantage of the way the humans work, because Rat learned to survive in all places, and especially the city. I suppose I could say this is where I believe myself to be. I like having good food, or a bed. And I like being able to prove all those other Garou who believe Gnawers are dirty and do not take showers wrong."

Basil shakes his head and chuckles quietly to himself. "I want to have some money. A place to live. And my own friggin' shower, that is for damn sure. Get my own, stylish Wal-Mart wardrobe. A few cigars. A fedora. And I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. When will I be going to the city anyways? For how long? Will I be able to walk about, maybe find some money, see a movie or two?"

Yi smiles understandingly at Basil as he makes his wishes known. "We will go once Olga and I have decided we can trust you not to go crazy out in the city. With you being an ahroun, I think we will ask you to come back to the farmhouse when the next full moon comes. That, and we will be able to bring you to the moot, and introduce yourself formally to the sept as one of us." The ragabash drains the last of her coke. "As for how long you can be there, if you prove that you can handle yourself and not hurt anyone or yourself in any way... and you make us a promise that you intend to keep about not telling anyone where you are.. or what you are, then I believe you are allowed to do whatever it is you wish to do. Rat's children are asked only one thing in return -- that you help keep rat's children safe as well."

Basil lifts one of his hands up and places it on an empty soda can. "I solemnly swear upon the Coke Can of Christ that I will not flip out in the city, kill anyone or fight unless I have no other choice. I also promise not to step on any rats, and kick any cats that try to eat them. Promise. Honest injin. But... What is a moot? And you want me to talk in front of a whole group of us? Ah... Crap. I'd imagine the audience in their underwear, but then they'd just be all furry."

Yi laughs. "When you say it that way, then most of the Garou at moot would be naked. But furry." The ragabash is amused by the swearing of the Can of Christ. "But we need to see your promise happen, rather than just hear it. And that is best done by bringing you to the city again. Don't worry. You will be able to watch the movies you want to watch soon enough, young cub." She glances out the sliding door for a moment. "That, and because Olga and I must be out here for a little while, to train Christine, you might feel that you should stick around at the farmhouse some time. But at least I will be traveling between here and there. It seems like Christine has taken to Olga better than me, so I will try and make up for the Gnawer's presence downtown."

Basil thinks for a moment, lifting a finger and pointing at nothing in particular. "I wonder what a shaved Crinos would look like. I am... Almost frightened by that thought, but strangely intrigued." One of his eyebrows remains up, a look of puzzlement stuck on his face for the moment. "I know I should stick out here for a while, but I at least want to go back for a little while. While the moon is skinny. Get some new clothes. You know how long it's been since I washed my pants? The damn things are going to flee in terror at this rate when I take'm off."

Yi glances down to the cub's pants, her smile twisting before she has to force herself to look away and hide her amusement. It doesn't last very long though, as she bursts out laughing, lasting for mere moments before she can work herself down to a quiet bubbling. "Oh Basil," she utters between giggles. "Who ever said you couldn't do your laundry here?" She covers her mouth, but is unable to hide her mirth. "Well, I'm sure Olga would agree to allowing you into the city within the next day at least."

Basil smirks a little at Yi. "People are wandering in and out of this place all the time. I didn't know it had a washing machine and a drier... But I'd be standing around naked from the waist down. Can you see why I've washed my shirt, and not my pants yet? I suppose I could try it in Lupus form, but not having thumbs is a real bitch."

Yi laughs some more, shoulders shaking with mirth before she stands up from her chair and puts the now empty soda can into the recycling bin. "It's not so much that, but you could have easily worn a different set of pants while you washed the first, couldn't you?" she asks him.

Basil snickers a little bit at her. "I didn't even know of the clothes chest in the attic until a day ago. And I didn't take anything, because I didn't want to snatch away some clothes without permission. And again, I did not know about the washing machine or whatever. You guys don't even have a TV or a radio, assuming you had a way to wash clothes aside from olden day stuff didn't strike my mind."

Yi scrubs at her head a little bit and then reties the bandanna on her head. "Mmhm. Well, you should still find some way to not be so shy. After all, if you think about it, your other forms are naked." She points out, finger lifting. "But, if that is so, I will try to bring you some new clothes when I next come back from the city. And then, I will help you by Dedicating them after you choose. It will help you out I think." The ragabash makes her way to the sliding door. "For now though, I need to go out and perform some patrols for my pack's territory. I should return soon, but in the meantime, practice on your forms, mm? In the barn."

Basil waves a hand over to Yi. "I'll just borrow one or two pairs of pants from the chest until I can buy my own. And some underwear. Pants can be kind of stuffy to sleep in all the time." He yawns widely and rises to his feet. "Thanks for the meal, the talk, and everything else. Good luck on your patrols, I'm going to go take a nap. Check on Christine."

[later in the evening...]
09:52 PM

Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (33% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is mostly cloudy. The temperature is 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the north at 5 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.15 and rising, and the relative humidity is 89 percent. The dewpoint is 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 21:29 Pacific Time on Wed Apr 13 2005.

Center of the Caern
This is the central point of the 30-meter-wide clearing. The ground is a mixture of dark, rich, muddy soil mixed with clay, though there is an occasional patch of grass. At the center rests a large white boulder, immovable even by the strongest crinos. The boulder is shot through with streaks of quartz that produces scintillating colors when light strikes it just right. It is, for lack of a wholly adequate word, beautiful.
Around you, twenty yards in every direction, stretches the caern. To the southeast, a waterfall plummets over the edge of the chasm into a small pool in the caern; nearby, to the southwest, steam comes from cracks in the ground, perhaps some of the same water. Northwest, a rocky spar juts out of the ground at a low angle, showing a sloping but smooth top. The chasm walls narrow a bit to the northeast, causing some of the mist to swirl in that area.
Obvious exits:
Rock Slab Windy Spot WaterFall Steam Vents

By the Waterfall, there is a moment of electricity in the air, and then Jamethon appears at the base pool, looking into it deeply. He turns and stands, a satisfied smile on his face as he makes his way away from the pool a short distance, to look out onto the night.

Yi walks out from the woodline, approaching the center of the caern with intent to reach a goal set to her expression. She looks around, eyes scanning the center and on down the various outskirts of it, roving until she finds the waterfall. Then the Get Gatekeeper appears, and the ragabash picks up her pace. "Jamethon-rhya!" she calls out, a hand lifting to indicate where she is. Hopefully her voice carries over the not-so-quiet cascade of the pounding falls.

By the waterfall, Jamethon still has his ears filled with the life of rushing water, but something does fall just short of audible to his senses and he turns about to see just what it is that he knows he didn't hear. Like when someone is watching you, and though you don't hear them make a single noise, you know to turn around... there is Yi in the distance waving. He starts off his lumbering walk, a brisk pace with some actual joy in the step.

Yi makes up a part of the inbetween distance, coming forward to meet the Get and breathing on her hand. As he gets closer to a conversational distance, the Gnawer takes in a breath and asks, "How are you this evening, Jamethon-rhya?"

Jamethon eyes the Gnawer at her question, and after a short passive moment he nods. "Well enough, Three-Blades. And you, young Gnawer?"

"Young?" Yi asks with a soft laugh. "Oh come, I do not think I am that much younger than you? Unless... you have found some secret to aging slower that has been taught to you by the spirits." The ragabash gives the theurge a bit of a teasing suspicious look, before she takes another breath and faces him more fully. "I believe I have yet to answer a question that you asked me, though."

Jamethon is set into a hard expression at her jest, a bit of a scowl that melts away the moment she refers to the question. "I thought I might never hear an answer. So, who is this Yi who is also a Fostern?"

Yi doesn't seem deterred by the Get's hard expression, in fact appearing glad to have managed to elicit it. As it melts away and he poses the question again to her, Yi sweeps off her bandanna tied to her head, clutching it and looking to it for a moment in her fist. Then, she looks up at the Get. "She is a scout, a trickster and sometimes a thief as is her birthright from Luna's closed eye. She is a sister, to family, to tribe, to pack. She is a teacher and a student, always learning more of her world and herself. She is compassionate, but also a warrior who is ready for what lies before her. But most importantly... She is me. I am Yi. I am Three-Blades. And Jamethon-rhya... it is I who wish to challenge you for the Fostern rank."

Jamethon stands taller and straighter during Yi's answer, awaiting the end of it he knows is to come. By that time, he is the vision from every story of the Get of Fenris. Standing tall and powerful, arms crossed over his chest while wild and untamed hair flows outwards behind him on an unruly wind. "Then I Jamethon Black, Gatekeeper of the Hidden Walk, Fostern Godi of the Fenrir, warrior of the Nation hear your challenge... and I accept. You will have your terms at the moot. Be ready young Gnawer, for you have challenged a Get of Fenris."

Yi stands straight as she can, her short height never able to match the Get's but her expression and the glint in her eyes like one who is proud of herself, confident in her abilities to take on what is ahead. Her smile could only get brighter, and a touch more fierce as her answer and challenge is accepted. Drawing herself up, the ragabash dips her head in a bow in which her eyes do not drop low, instead looking in a line towards the face of the theurge. "I am ready, and will be waiting for your terms at next moot," she answers him formally, straightening after the bow. "Challenge now set, Jamethon-rhya, I am curious to know what has you in such a good mood, having come out of the Shadow realm so, and on your moon as well."

Jamethon doesn't look up to the moon as it is mentioned in an action of visible restraint. "I know it is there, a dagger in the sky piercing all things unknown and bleeding them into the open air. I will save my suffering for tomorrow, Yi. Tomorrow is always a good day to die." He nods once more in agreement with himself, then he continues towards the center and there he does sit on the ground, a moment later laying down with arms crossed under his head as he peers to the sky.

Yi doesn't move from her spot as the Get passes her going to the center, only turning to watch him as he lays down. The ragabash doesn't inquire further, instead moving after him and slipping closer for a moment. Then she shifts, traveling the shapes until she is upon four legs, and giving her fur a quick shake in lupus. The chokechain around her neck clinks and clanks with the motion for a short second, before the Gnawer chuffs lightly to the Get. I thank you again, Rhya. Gaia keep you, and good hunting. Then the ragabash is off, trotting towards the woodsline again to leave the theurge to his thoughts.

Jamethon grunts in answer, a generally amiable sound as he watches the stars.

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