What to Fight For?

Currently the moon is in the waxing Full Moon phase (99% full).

Bawn: Western Forest(#3018RA)
Tall Sitka spruce and sequoia crowd around and above you. Many of the trees are old, their branches twisted into impossible shapes, trunks broad and draped with lichen, mosses and creepers. Tendrils of moss hand down from them like green spiderwebs, snaring the unwary with cold, ghostly fingers. The patches of younger growth are dense and pale, needles tinged with silver. Matted undergrowth huddles sullenly in the occasional small clearings, clutching with thorns and burrs at the legs of those who would pass. Deer seldom venture here, but the forest is full of rustlings, and tiny glints from wary, watchful eyes.
The forest spreads out to the east, bounded on the west by Sunrise Road. From farther to the west, one can occasionally hear the distant sounds of the town of Kent's Crossing.
Contents:
Basil
Obvious exits:
Highway 22  Overgrown Path  Sunrise Road  Farmhouse  Caern of the Hidden Walk  Creek  Central Bawn  Southern Bawn  Northern Bawn  

Yi leads the young ahroun through the woods, away from the farmhouse and most pointedly towards the caern once more. The newly announced fostern herself, is quiet, but she is not sullen. As the howls from the Revelers rise faintly at the center, the ragabash signals for the cub to stop. "We will guard here, between the farmhouse and the caern." She turns around, looking to the cub. "Now... do you want to talk?"

Basil takes notice of Yi's gesture to stop, and backs off from her to lean against a tree. "Not really." He says honestly in an almost bitter voice, a pair of large leather gloves materializing on his arms. The things themselves look far too big for him, and show signs of some age, running up most of the lengths of his arms.

Yi shrugs at the cub's answer, and slips through the shapes until she stops at the Crinos form. Towering alongside, her attention spreads out to the immediate vicinity. ~Suit yourself, Long-Wind.~ Silence, disturbed only by the bolder bugs and nocturnal natterings, fills the space between them.

Basil doesn't bother to shift up and falls into a sit against the tree, listening with his head bowed to the sounds of the forest. Every so often the cub glances up towards the sky, but eventually he does speak. "Did you really mean it when you said I should no longer be a Bone Gnawer?"

Yi turns, ears first followed by body. Her golden eyes gaze neutrally at first upon the ahroun. Her nostrils flare, blowing out a snort. ~Smoke and shadows, Long-Wind. I only meant that you are not yet recognized as a Bone Gnawer. No cub can claim to truly be of their tribe. This cannot be explained until you go on a Rite of Passage.~

Basil shifts up to the form of Glabro without rising from his sit, doing so slowly and without anger on his face. "Do you think that I will be a good Bone Gnawer, that I fit with the Tribe and with the people in it?" He looks up at her face, not looking directly into her eyes, but near them. "I would have gone on my Rite soon, if Tamara hadn't interfered."

~I heard, if just briefly, about it.~ Yi rumbles. ~And in truth, I tell you that any Garou who sees things the Bone Gnawer way, will be a good Bone Gnawer. The question is if you see things the way the Bone Gnawers do.~ Her eyes seek his out. ~To expect your Rite to be soon, is to burden yourself.~

Basil says "I'm not sure that I do see them that way anymore. I'm sure Olga thinks the same. She believes she's taught me wrong, she said so herself. At least about Ahrouns." He folds his arms across his chest and bows his head. "But there is only the way of either completing this now, or being culled." He lifts his head again, not avoiding the Ragabash's gaze. "I wanted my Rite. I was ready. I could have done it."

Yi peers intently at the cub. ~And why not now?~ she asks. ~What makes things different now for you?~

Basil says "My own Elder doesn't believe in me. My Tribemates do not trust me." The glabro picks at one of his nails with the other, not taking his eyes off the Ragabash. "How would you feel?"

Yi rumbles, ears slicking back. ~If that were me, I would question what caused this to happen. What changed in me, to change their minds.~

Basil says "What is your honest opinion of me?" His posture is semi slumped and not usual at all, just like his quiet, almost muttering voice. "Maybe I am just different now, from what I've seen and heard, and done."

Yi turns from the cub halfway, nose pointing down as she closes her eyes to think. Seconds fly by, though the air seems tense. When things seem unbearably long, the ragabash turns back. ~In the end, I believe you will pull through, as long as you believe you have something to join to, something to believe. But at the same time... I question your motives. I question all, as I am supposed to, but you have done some things which make me wonder what drives you. If your path will join with ours or leave us.~

Basil says "As a Bone Gnawer, as an Ahroun, or as a Garou?" He smiles, a be it just a tiny bit. "When I joined you, I believed in you. And in some ways, I still do. But I also differ in many others. Even if I wanted to leave though, it's a little late to be jumping the tribal ship, isn't it? And who would have me? With many tribes, I don't have the blood to join."

~This is not a matter of blood, but a matter of purpose, Long-Wind,~ Yi replies. ~Did I ever tell you of where these scars came from?~ She points her claws towards the various marks that mar her body. The Glass Walker tribe's glyph, carved with claw into her lower stomach. The brand of an ankh, its tail spinning into a spiral. The marks of chains burned into her wrists, her neck, her head. ~These come from a time when I believed in nothing. When I... was lost.~ The ragabash bends, stooping slightly to allow the cub to see further. ~And at some point, I too, could have been killed because our laws say not to suffer others our sicknesses. But. When I was lost, some part of me still remained, deep inside. I believe it was Gaia herself, calling quietly through my anguish, my darkness. 'What do you live for? Why does your heart beat wildly when the moon grows full?' I believe you have that in you too, as with all Garou who know Gaia.~

Basil says "Among all the Garou in our Tribe, I only get along with a few, and then only briefly." He says after she speaks, bowing his head to her. "You and I will be fighting again soon, and so will I and Olga. Even I and Masao fight, and we were... " He trails off, looking over to one side. He turns his eyes back to the glyphs on her body, studying the Glass Walker one intently. "Why is that on you? I thought the Glass Walkers and the Bone Gnawers weren't supposed to be friends. Which is kind of funny, really. I have more Glass Walker friends than I do Bone Gnawers." He smirks just a little again. "I don't know why I live right now, or why I feel what I feel. Maybe I have it, but I just don't feel it yet."

Slowly, the ragabash reaches out to lay a claw on the ahroun's shoulder. ~Believe me. You are young yet,~ she rumbles. ~Even if you find your purpose, you may find yourself doubting its truth. That is fine, because those who never question, will never grow.~ She then follows his gaze to her scar, the claws retracting from the cub to trace gently along the scarred skin. ~This. This was not a mark of friendship. But it is... something... like a mark of territory. A mark of debt.~ The ragabash's hand drops to her side. ~Because I wronged the Walkers in my homeland. Because I owed them my life.~

Basil lifts a hand to to lay it on Yi's, turning his head to rest it on top of his hand. "A lot of Garou say that, but I only get into trouble when I question the way things work." Basil looks away from the woman's face, letting his hand drop away wen her's moves. "What is it that you did?" He lifts his hand, running it through his hair. "Would you hate me if I said that I wanted to leave? Do you think that Olga would?"

Yi growls deeply, but it is not displeasure aimed towards the cub. ~I...~ she begins, though it conjures up greater response as it builds, ~I would not. But you cannot be let to leave this place until you pass. It is our way - you know it too. But questioning the way things work, is not because you do not believe it works the way it does... but to show that it does work that way. That is why our moots begin with the Calling, and the Fool. That is why I stepped forward to call upon Faerie-Blood's lack of performing her duties.~ Her eyes look upon the scars more along her arms than down on her belly. ~As for what I did... would probably give you nightmares to think about, Long-Wind.~

Basil gives her a little while to settle any anger she might have before speaking again. "I didn't mean leaving this place. No matter where I go, I know that I will die. I'd rather die with the few friends that I have, than to die alone. Yi, if things really worked the way we're doing them, then why are we losing? Don't the methods deserve to be questioned when the war is being lost? I'm sorry if I don't see why they shouldn't be. Thats why I'm quiet about what I really think." He shakes his head, chuckling somewhat. "More nightmares than the thought of the concept of evil trying to destroy the world? Or of the fact that in the city, spiders and corrupted things dwell across the barrier from where I am? Or from Nexus Crawlers which could destroy us all with the power of a God?"

Yi glances over to the cub, ears flicking in thought. ~Death comes to all. But it should come at how you choose. The Garou have their Gatherings, for our dead, to honor them and speed them back to Gaia when they fall. No matter the reason.~ She glances away for a moment, furred brow furrowing as a moment's grief grips her, replaced shortly by a sting of rage. ~The worst thing that could happen, is to be alive, but not feel it. To only feel helpless, to fight against yourself.~ The ragabash takes a long breath in, visibly steeling herself before she loks back. ~The city Shadow has its evil, but you have your own as well. I do not worry about those things. Spiders, Banes, even the Nexus Crawler. Those we have the ability to fight. Our claws, our teeth, our spirits - all things given to us to serve as protectors. Why fight this war? Then I ask you - why leave it?~

Basil says "I don't have answers for either of those questions. I'm not sure why I fight, but I don't feel like giving up either. I'm not sure what I'm doing at all." He stands up, sliding his back along the tree and stretching his arms out high above his head. "We all have varying degrees of evil in us, that much I know. No one is fully pure. Still... " He shakes his head, then turns back to her. "Claws, teeth, guns, knives, and whatever else we can get our hands on. But we aren't just protectors, are we? We're also punishers. Avengers."

Yi gradually shrinks, her form dissipating to a Glabro, and she adjusts the enlarged clothing that serves to cover her telling body scars. "What makes you say that?" she asks, her voice swerved to a deepened tone, but recognizably the ragabash's still.

Basil says "What makes me say what, in particular?" He asks, tilting his head to one side. "And what I meant back there was... Well. Thinking about looking elsewhere, if I keep drifting from the Tribe. If anyone else will have me, which... Seems unlikely, given the lack of interest I got in general when I changed."

Yi frowns then, partly angered, partly concerned, all disturbed. "Basil, if there is a failure, it is not from your side but from your teacher's. From mine. I do not know what it is yet that makes you think you are drifting, but Rat's children never. Never. Leave one of their own behind." She gets up from her stoop, facing the taller cub as square as she can.

Basil frowns somewhat when Yi seems to square up, lowering his arms and watching the Ragabash carefully. "Not from the Garou's ideals in particular, but from the Bone Gnawer's. I told you, I don't really feel like I belong much anymore. I fight an awful lot with all of you, except well, Squeaks. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, really. Oh, and my new Ahroun teacher thinks I'm a pathetic son a bitch thats afraid of losing and probably not worth her time, too.

Yi tilts her head to the side, scrutinizing in return. "And you are keen to let her think that way of you still?" she queries. "We aren't fighting now," she also notes with a look to her large, slightly clawed hands.

Basil says "Considering how when we followed her orders, were yelled at afterwards, and she didn't even stick up for me or Aaron? I question her abilities as a leader. I'd rather learn from Touch Deer. Or Clemency. Even Kevin." He glances down at his own elongated nails which poke out through holes in his gloves, then shrugs, looking back to her. "That'll change soon enough. We fight on a weekly basis. Or at least every other time we meet. The only person in my Tribe that I haven't fought with is Kaz."

Yi peers at the cub, the concern faltering, replaced bit by tiny bit with the newmoon's innate curiosity. "Just... what sort of training is this? Tamara seems to have an interest in the bettering of your combat skills."

Basil says "I don't know, and I honestly don't care, but I'll do whatever she wants me to. Then I have to fight Michael before I go on my Rite, because, you know, I'm just a huge pussy of an Ahroun that should throw all caution to the wind and not think at all. I guess it'd be better if I was more like Brom."

"No," Yi states flatly, her hands reaching to grip both the cub's shoulders and look him in the eyes. "Listen to me, Basil. An ahroun is not just a fighting machine. Brom is not you, you are not Brom. Ahrouns are looked to not as leaders for peace or wisdom, but for their skills in the matters of war. And for the ahrouns of /our/ tribe, it is not always strength that we rely upon. The Children of Rat know when to wait, grow, and when the time comes, to sweep over the enemy like a wave." The hands lift off, gesturing widely as if Yi wanted to show a mighty horde. "But just because we do not always fight, does not mean we are afraid of it, or afraid of losing. We fight because this is our strategy. Yes, the war we fight is dirty. There is no such thing as fairness in the many eyes of the Wyrm. But you must not forget why you are fighting. No matter who you are up against, you must ask yourself not just how you might win, but why you are fighting, and what you can learn. If you are lucky enough to lose and can retreat... then you can live, learn, and fight another day. That is an ahroun of the Bone Gnawers. That is one who knows how to survive."

Basil says "Then tell that to Olga. The last thing I want is to be trained by that woman." Basil murmurs, looking right back at Yi. "I told her that I'm not the type of Ahroun to fight on the fullmoon, in the light of Luna. I'm the type of Ahroun that fights in the shadows of the no moon, where he can use his Rage the best, and strike from the shadows, then disappear back into them. I'm the type of Ahroun that would stab his enemy in his back, or use a gun, or use any dirty, nasty trick he could to win. I don't fight for glory, or honor, I fight to win, and to get my friends back in one piece. By winning and staying alive, I better myself, my pack, and Gaia. But everyone seems to have this sort of knightly view of Ahrouns, and I don't understand it."

"Then you are... what was the phrase," Yi notes evenly, thinking, "a 'one trick pony'." The ragabash looks back, pretty sure her choice of sayings was correct. "And an ahroun who has already lost the fight." She gestures for the cub to sit by a tree, herself folding down with a slight grimace at the bending of her right leg. "Because, if you keep attacking from the shadows... what will happen when all turns to light?"

Basil says "When you lose the element of surprise, you begin to lose initiative. When you lose initiative, the battle is over, and it's time to retreat and regroup. The purpose of hitting and running is to maximize damage and minimize casualties. I might not be effective in all situations, but I'll be very good at what I do." He sits down on his knees at the point where she gestures, leaning back against the tree. "A tiger can defeat an elephant if it bites it once a day."

"But only if the elephant does not block the tiger's retreat and crush him down before he can escape," Yi intones, fingertips tapping lightly against her knee. "And sometimes, it is not the tiger that attacks first, always. Surprise is good, yes. I know you like the tactics. But there will be times when those tactics will not work. And there will be times when you cannot retreat." She looks caernwards. "When there will be no more running, and you must turn and fight, or lose yourself forever..."

Basil says "Then I guess I'll just be dead when that happens. But I'm not going to end up all clawed, scarred and wounded. Whats the point in living if you end up looking like Freddy Krueger? That would sure make meeting Kin and other people an interesting experience. But I still don't want to be taught by Tamara." He nods in assurance with that. "Man, I'm just not really having a good time or any luck at all lately, I guess."

Yi purses her lips, a sharpened tooth peeking out. "You think being clawed, or scarred, or wounded..." she says slowly, looking at her wrists, "is the end of your life? Or that a kin who has known of the Garou, would not understand what we are? What a warrior is? Do not disrespect the kinfolk that way, Basil." She hangs her wrists over her knees, which bend up to meet them. "Tamara teaches you rightly. I think it is you, who must learn. You will, in life, have to do things that you do not want to do."

Basil says "If I don't believe in my teacher, or believe in what she teaches, then how can I truly learn from her? You know just how stubborn and what kind of person I am, Yi." He gestures down at himself. "A long time I went through life thinking I was unappealing. Now a lot of people have told me I'm interesting, and I'll lose my looks before I get a chance to show'm off. Kinda sucks. Oh well." He gestures out at his sides. "So, what am I supposed to do now?"

"The side story of Narcissus." Yi exhales, her eyes directing back to the cub. "The Bone Gnawers are not liked. We are the lowest of the low, the omega of the Garou Nation. What you look like, will not matter to the next Garou who comes along and hears which tribe you are." She gazes "And you /should/ care. Because like it or not, this is one hand you must choose to either play, or fold. The Garou, your elders, have called your bluffs. We have put in our bets, and this is all or nothing. You must choose, Basil. And when you do, you cannot have regrets."

Basil says "What can I say? I want to be told I look cute for a little while longer." He shrugs again, lifting his hands up and dropping them at his sides. "Then I guess that maybe I should have chosen someone else. Like I said, I agree with some of the things you say, but not many others. And I really don't want to end up a drifter, or like Olga on the street. I'd like to have a place, like you. I'd like to be able to stand on my own two feet and not have to depend on anyone else. If I made the wrong choice, is it too late to make another? Because I really don't want to end up like Hope."

Yi shakes her head, pushing herself up to her feet. ~Gaia /forbid/ you find yourself in the same rut as before, drifting on the streets and homeless,~ the ragabash rattles out in the Garou tongue, eyes gaining a certain glint. "My place is not but a place to go for shelter. And what is wrong with being on the streets? Day after day, those who live upon them go out and bear more hardships than you. And they aren't even Garou! How can you say you want to stand on your own two feet, when you sit at the farmhouse and cook more food in one meal than some unfortunate sees in a week?" She frowns, brow creasing. "You feel you've made the wrong choice, have you? The Bone Gnawers not good enough now? Or maybe too bad for you?"

Basil says "No, you don't understand." Basil says, shaking his head. "I think because my mother worked hard to keep herself off the street, I want to do the same. I don't want to end up without anything at all." He shakes his head again. "And if you gave most of them a chance to pull themselves up out of the streets, to have a decent job they wouldn't take it? To have a place of their own, where they can flip on the lights without worrying about the carpet doing the forty yard dash? And I eat well at the farmhouse when I can, because it sure beats that gruel stuff. Or the candy I can dig out of the trash from time to time." He shakes his head. "And it isn't that I feel I'm too good for you. I just don't feel like I belong. I know that you and Olga and many others are noble, and honorable Garou. And I trust them. It's a shame they don't trust me."

"Some of them have no choice!" Yi stakes down. "And some of them, simply choose not to be bound by the webs that human society has placed on them. We are the Wyld of the city, Basil. Leave the web walking to the Glass Walkers. Our business is to chew through those nets, not to be bound by them." The ragabsah is getting more irritated, her voice rising despite her attempts to keep quiet. "If you feel that it is not where you belong, let me tell you this: because you have chosen the low, those on high will not look to you. It would be a mercy of the Children of Gaia if they took you in now, but so help me Basil, I will not give my packmate more burden than she already has."

Basil says "I don't think I'd fit with the Gaians, either. Sweet as Stacey is, I'm just not into the whole... Healing, and second chances thing. I admire her for being so... Well, Stacey. But it's just not me." He smiles again, bowing his head with a halfway smirk. "I should have been more cautious when I made my choice. Seems I'm kind of boned now, and stuck on this path. Funny, me and Kevin talked about this before too." Basil reaches into a pocket, rifling around until he comes up with shattered but still held together lolly pop and sticks it in his mouth. "If one of the Tribe's goals is to destroy the spiders and webs, then won't it have to destroy the technology in the city? And wouldn't that pitch the city into total chaos?"

Yi grits her teeth, and puts away an errant curse. "Not to destroy," she eases out with admirable calm, "to keep in check. You have heard how the Triat was once in balance. And you have heard the story of the Wyrm turning corrupt, but it is the Weaver's maddening webs that are thought to have brought it so. At some point, either in this life, or the next or the next, the balance will somehow return. Until then, we press on." She squints halfway at Basil, her head slowly shaking as she turns and utters something in her native tongue. "If you feel you fit nowhere, then there are two options." She pauses there, reluctant to continue.

Basil says "The problem with that is that the humans will keep growing in number, and so will the cause of the webs. Ugh. This cosmology theory stuff makes my brain want to throw up." He lifts a hand to his head, rubbing at his temples for a while before looking up sideways at Yi again. "I'm guessing that one of those choices is 'Get culled', which is bad. But please, go on, I want to hear what my options are."

Picking a careful track through the surrounding forest, Poker is winding down from a stint of woodland running and chasing anything that caught her fancy. The sound of familiar voices in the leafy gloom brings her head up from casual investigation of a patch of pine needles and sends her ears swiveling towards the noise. Curiousity wins over wisdom before long and the cub is creeping in her stealthiest fashion towards the two Garou.

Yi seems to be having her own headache. "The other option, is to send you on your Rite and see what comes of it. Success, failure, is up to you and the spirits." The ragabash sucks in a breath. "Because there is no option to run away. Especially if you do not want to end up like Hope."

Basil says "So there is no possible chance to change now?" He asks, sounding kind of disappointed, he sighs. "Oh well... " He goes quietly for a long while, watching Yi for a time before speaking again. "Is it possible to change just a part of your body to something else?"

Getting a bit closer to the pair, the younger Ragabash falls still as Yi's words and Basil's response reach her ears. Sinking down until her belly touches the forest floor beneath her, Poker contents herself with eavesdropping for now.

Yi turns back around, clearly keeping down any further expression beyond a mask of firmness. "Why Basil? What is so ill-fitting about the Bone Gnawers that you couldn't find some way to accept? Your mother, true, worked hard. So did mine. She worked day and night, her job... not the most pleasureable of them. But she made her way. She lived without regret." The ragabash curls a hand into a fist. This fist, she looks at closely. Intensely. The limb is held close to her face, and with the passing silence, the cubs could see it grow. Very, very slowly, it expands in size just from the elbow onwards. The limb's clothing melts away into red and ivory fur, the fingernails becoming claws. It looks cartoony, impossible, yet real. And from this crinos-sized fist, she looks up back to the ahroun.

Basil says "I don't agree with what Olga has to say. I don't like Tommy. Me and you fight like hell. And I don't mean to sound like an ungrateful shit, because I know it'll sound that way, but the Odeon is really... Hot. And dark. Which is kind of good in a way because I've gotten better at moving in the dark, but can't shake the vague feeling that I'm sleeping on floors that were once awash in an ocean of semen. You know Touch Deer had no idea what porn was? Anyways... Hell, I even fight with Masao. A lot, lately." He watches with keen interests as he limb grows and changes, leaning forward just a tiny bit. "I need to learn to do that, but with only my claws. It'd make for such an excellent surprise weapon! How do you do that?" He quickly leans back though, looking back up to Yi's face. "You'd make a much better teacher than Tamara."

Poker lays her ears back tightly, pinning them to her head as she watches in rapt silence. Basil's words cut through her awe, though, and her lip curls up slightly on one side. She doesn't come any closer, though.

Yi doesn't answer Basil until her limb has shrunken back to fit her Glabro arm appropriately. When it does shift back, it's considerably quicker, but still requires her to be looking at her arm. She exhales, just as if the feat had taken great effort. That same arm is slipped to her side, the hand into the enlarged pocket of her dedicated clothing. "Stargazer's secret," she replies to him finally, looking at him intently. "Fighting happens. That is the way ahrouns are expected to be. But more importantly... the Odeon is the best we have right now. It is hot and dark for a reason. It is unpleasant, for a reason. The last place we were in... the St. Claire Zoo, was severely open and a Veil breaking area to be. The Odeon is our sanctuary now, where we can quietly raise Squeaks-Like-a-Rat without outsiders, and without burdening the sept with our metis cub."

Basil says "There is a difference between fighting, and finding yourself constantly disagreeing with your tribemates, bickering, and even coming to almost blows often. I just wish I hadn't wasted so much of my money getting ready for a Rite that got canceled, or spending it on things that I can hardly even remember. I might have almost had enough to get a place of my own after I Rited... At least, for a little while."

Rising from her crouch, Poker stalks through the brush towards Basil and Yi, the position of tail and ears speaking for perhaps more than simple annoyance on her part. Waste? Is all of it a waste, Long-Wind? Is it all about what you want, now? The cub's lips curl back at the ahroun as she paces to within a respectable distance and holds herself there.

Yi sharply glances towards the brush as the ragabash cub makes her presence known. The fostern is caught somewhat offguard, her words in result slipping from their place on her tongue.

Basil looks calmly over towards Poker, raising an eyebrow at the wolf and unfolding his arms. "It's a fullmoon, control yourself, and shift to Homid. You know by now that I've never been very good at understanding wolves, and Long-Wind is my old name. My new name is He-Who-Speaks-Poison, remember, Spins? It's not a matter of what I want, it's a matter of where I belong. The wrong man in the wrong place isn't useful."

Yi stares at the ahroun cub. "And who named you that?" she asks, almost demanding but not quite. "And where you belong is in the place you have chosen. In the tribe you yourself chose." The hand in her pocket curls tightly.

Do not tell me what to do, Poison-Tongue, when you bite at the same. Poker growls in definite ire, but shifts to her birthform nonetheless. "You are no better than me, Basil, so drop the attitude that you are." she says tersely, voice firmly kept to the most docile level she can manage with the moon. "It -is- about what you want, because you could adapt to how things are if you really -wanted- to." Turning her attention away, she lowers her head towards Yi, "Sorry for the interruption..."

Yi glances to Masao, sparing the newmoon a short nod in acceptance of the apology. "The better I know where the cubs are, on a night like this."

Basil says "Tommy Gun. He didn't catch me on one of my good days, and I said something nasty. He said I had one month or so before he'd rename me No-Tongue, and that I had to do something heroic to avoid it." He glances at Masao again, then looks back to Yi, disregarding the other Ragabash. "So it's true that no one ever changes then... Damn." He shrugs again and sighs. "I guess I really am stuck with Tamara then, and this."

Masao folds her arms across her chest and wrinkles her nose a bit. Without something to respond to directly, she lapses into a unsteady quiet, fingers scratching at a spot on one arm fitfully.

"Listen to yourself!" Yi snarls in exasperation. "'Stuck with Tamara, /and this/.' Just what do you expect Basil? That the world change itself to fit your wishings?" The fostern jabs a finger at the air towards the ahroun. "She is a great ahroun. Strong in the face of her deformity, and standing. She has survived the dishonor of her parents, traveled many miles and somehow not been caught or killed by Wyrm, Garou or human. You worry about your looks. What about her? She too has cause to worry, cause to hide. You are /lucky/ to have her as your teacher, Basil. To not appreciate her teachings... her sacrifices..." She bites off. "Use your head for more than just empty grumblings for once. The Bone Gnawers are not whiners. We do not laze about, wishing for things to be the way we want them to be. That is a fool's dream."

Basil waits for a while before speaking again, no longer looking the woman directly in the eyes, but rather somewhere on her forehead. "Given the chance, many people would do that. And she is a great Ahroun, but that doesn't mean I want her as my teacher, especially with people such as Touch Deer available. Or even Brom. I hate to admit it, but he really is one of the strongest of the Garou around." He lifts his hands up again, palms pointing towards the sky. "I'll follow her instructions to the letter, and I'll complete her training, and any task Olga sets before me. I'll do whatever I must in order to reach my Rite."

"Yeah, and then you'll do your best to disappear, won't you? Or have you decided there's somethin' worth stickin' around for?" Masao says flatly, eyes narrowed to sharp, dark slits. "Who says you can't go to Touch Deer or Brom for advice or wisdom afterwards? You'll have proven yourself worth the time and effort, that's for certain."

"Yeah, and then you'll do your best to disappear, won't you? Or have you decided there's somethin' worth stickin' around for?" Masao says flatly, eyes narrowed to sharp, dark slits. "Who says you can't go to Touch Deer or Brom for advice or wisdom afterwards? You'll have proven yourself worth the time and effort, that's for certain."

Yi furrows her brow, attempting to read the ahroun cub further in the darkness. "Your stubbornness is your weakness. You say one thing if just to get by, but you seem like you mean ill. This is not good, Basil. Not good." The ragabash turns, gaze feeling into the dark. "Your business is not with Touch Deer or with Brom. As far as you should be concerned, neither of them will find you worth their time. You are a cub who was claimed by the Bone Gnawers, not some renowned elder who can demand teachings and information with but a wish. And you were at moot. You have heard the things that Touch Deer and Brom have on their own schedules. They are not your teachers. They are not even in the same school, if you want to feel that way about it." She turns to the ahroun.

Basil says "Then Touch Deer must disagree with you both, because he's offered to train me. At least someone thinks I'm worth their time... " He murmurs. "It isn't as if I'm pulling it out of thin air. And after I rite, I'll need less in the way of fighting training, and more in the way of spiritual training. I've got to be able to store more inside of me." He glances briefly at Masao, then back to Yi. "But no, I won't disappear. I may have few friends, but I still have friends. People that trust me. People I'll lead or follow, because they believe in me as much as I believe in them. Besides, I was just using Brom as an example. I wouldn't really ask him to teach me."

"Gawd, at least you have some sense, there." Masao says wryly, freeing one hand to run over her hair loosely. "I believed in you for 'bout as long as I've known you, Bas...but... *sigh* I've flung my issues with gratitude at you already, don't think I need to rehash -that-."

"That may be so," Yi says stiffly, "but Tamara is your teacher now. And if I must drive my point home, I will tell Touch Deer myself that he is not to continue with you any further until you have finished the Strider's training to her satisfaction, and your tribe's elders' satisfaction." She folds her arms across. "And I would not speak so lightly of your Rite of Passage. Overconfidence has brought down greater Garou than you."

Basil says "See what I mean? We're already fighting again." He casts a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Well, if I do fail my Rite, I'll only know for about a minute before the enemy kills me. And I won't be able to do much about it. I'm not nearly as confident as people think, I just talk a whole lot. But I've been training for a long long time, and I believed I was ready. So did Olga, and Tommy. Then one stupid night at the barn suddenly made me inept, I guess."

Yi draws her lips tight for a bit, as if in expectation of the ahroun to continue. A glance goes to Masao, before she utters, "Explain what happened."

At some point on her way back from the Moot, Bug appears to have got a bit lost. Or perhaps she is simply wandering. Either way, she's in homid, and she's not taking a great deal of care to be quiet in her approach. Her extra pair of arms are tucked under her shirt and around her torso, resulting in a very bizarre bulkiness where her stomach should be.

"Fighting? This is fighting? This is really quiet fighting." Masao murmurs, shaking her head a little and catching the glance her way. If she was still in lupus her ears would be going to full mast. Instead her eyes round out a little bit and she chews on her lip a bit. "I know something happened...I came in at the tail end of somethin' a day or two 'go but didn't know what was goin' on."
Basil says "Clemency passed your training order off to Michael, and Michael ordered me to attack him. Given that I'm an Ahroun, I thought it would be a bad idea. Especially having been told from Olga that my Rite could be at any time. If I was wounded and went on my Rite, I'd be dead for sure. It wasn't that I was a coward, it's that I didn't want to fight on a big moon and risk the life of myself and my tribe might. But Olga said what I did was being a pussy."

Yi listens to the summary, though her commentary is cut short with the arrival of Bug. Noisy arrival, that is. The fostern's underlying tension smoothes over when the metis cub makes her appearance, and she waves a Glabro'd hand over. ~Bug is it? Come.~ Then, as she watches the Fianna, Yi adds to Basil, "Olga is right. But have you figured out why?" To Masao, she indicates that the newmoon retrieve Bug, in case.

Bug lifts her head, though she drops her eyes immediately to the level of Yi's collarbone, and no higher. Her brow is wrinkled, and her lips purse tightly before she turns and makes her way toward the small knot of Gnawers, growing gradually more hesitant and more hunched the closer she approaches. "Yes," she grunts. "Am Bug."

Masao blinks a bit at the retelling, but is distracted at the end by Bug's arrival. Fetching up an almost fond smile for the metis, she makes her way towards the cub. "Hey, Bug." she calls softly, tension ebbing out of her posture in an attempt to appear a bit more welcoming.

Basil says "I was trying to treat my Rage with the caution and respect that it deserves. Should I have been reckless instead? You just told me Ahrouns should think. That the Ahrouns of Rat are different." He shakes his head at Yi. "I fought Aaron, and I controlled my Rage, I didn't even back down from the fight until ordered. I'm not a coward."

"And do you think," Yi says while not looking at Basil, "that your elders would be foolish enough to send you on your Rite before you healed and were in your top form? Do you think we are that foolish to throw the lives of our cubs away by telling them to fight us, expecting them to kill themselves trying?" Once Bug is closer, she gives the Fianna cub a short nod and turns to the ahroun cub once more, eyes pinning. "Do you honestly think that we are /that/ stupid, as to not know what becomes of a cub who fights on the full moon?"

Bug returns neither the smile nor the nod, though the former does seem to relax her ever, ever so slightly. The metis cub allows her gaze to drop fully toward the ground, where she focuses as if it were the most interesting thing ever. Her brow remains furrowed and knotted.

Masao turns back to the conversation at hand once the other cub is nearer, listening intently to the reasoning. She nods a little at the last, but lets the Older ragabash make the point.

Basil says "I didn't want to have to spend days resting up and then making sure my body was back in order to go. I wanted to go as soon as I was able, and be in top form for it. If I thought my Elders were stupid, I wouldn't have gone over to the Gnawer side."

Yi curls a part of her lip, snorting. "There you go again, worried about how you are going to look. You are an /ahroun/. A fighter. Like it or not, you /will/ get hurt. In painful ways. There is no denying that in your future. The question is will you be able to handle it? This is why your elders test you. How else will we know? Words can be simply words, but your actions, Basil, give you away." Her eyes slip back towards the other two cubs, seemingly inclusive. "None of you would know when your Rites will be. I didn't know when mine was. I see no reason for you to anticipate the time. It is as expected as the Apocalypse." A dour analogy, to be sure. "But just because you want to be healthy all the time, doesn't mean you should excuse yourself from a chance to train your body and mind. The way I see it, Basil, you missed a great opportunity. And in that, you showed to others that you care too much about yourself and do not appreciate what others may have to offer you."

Bug lowers her head and shoulders a little more--possibly acknowledgment of Yi's words, possibly just a reaction to suddenly having a small amount of attention directed towards her again. She gnaws fiercely at her lower lip.

Masao chews on her own lip for a moment, nodding in comprehension of what is said. Her hands lace themselves together behind her back as she watches.

Basil says "I don't want to look like a turkey after thanks giving. If that seems selfish, then I'm sorry, but it's how I think." He glances at the other cubs, then turns back to Yi. "She told me my Rite was coming soon, and that I should be prepared. I knew when my Rite was coming, so I did as I was instructed. I prepared myself. I train more often then Christine ever did, yet I'm the one getting more flak then she did. Do you want me to follow all orders without question?"

"I want you to think about what is best," Yi states simply, "Not simply for yourself. Selfish is right. Gaia cannot be saved on looks and talent alone. You - you need to learn humility. Modesty. It is more than simply bowing your head, baring your throat or tucking your tail. And patience. You know, 'Coming Soon' can mean many things, but it never means that we will drag you out of the infirmary or some other place of healing. Your elders at least, are not so cruel." She gazes at the ahroun pointedly. "And you get the most 'flak' because you are the eldest as far as experience is supposed to go. You, of all the Bone Gnawer cubs, should know better."

"I want you to think about what is best," Yi states simply, "Not simply for yourself. Selfish is right. Gaia cannot be saved on looks and talent alone. You - you need to learn humility. Modesty. It is more than simply bowing your head, baring your throat or tucking your tail. And patience. You know, 'Coming Soon' can mean many things, but it never means that we will drag you out of the infirmary or some other place of healing. Your elders at least, are not so cruel." She gazes at the ahroun pointedly. "And you get the most 'flak' because you are the eldest as far as experience is supposed to go. You, of all the Bone Gnawer cubs, should know better."

"Trust your elders and they'll trust you in kind." Masao says softly, leaning her head a little to one side and regarding Basil thoughtfully.

"Then that is what I will do." Basil says simply, going quiet and merely looking back at Yi, saying nothing more than that. A passive look has washed over his features and his posture again, what little emotion he had shown subsiding completely.

Yi watches the ahroun cub awhile longer, before she turns westwards. "And one more thing," the ragabash notes, almost an afterthought. "Courage." The fostern regards her cubs. "Robin Hood did not get by on wits alone. He had his courage. And his trusted band of friends." The ragabash gestures to all the cubs then, for them to follow her. "Come. We will return to the farmhouse, for the night."

Masao bobs her head quietly and lets out a small breath, letting Bug precede her in heading back to the house. Brief glances are given to Basil, but they are, for the most part, blank looks.

Basil doesn't say a single word, sticking his hands down to hook his thumbs into his pockets. He waits for all of the others to walk out in front of him before following, taking the rear most position, an almost lazy sort of look in his eyes.

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