Know Thy Fight

8/29/2005

06:46 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (34% full).

Farmhouse: Fields
What once was worked cropland has been, over the last several years, allowed to go to seed, and the result is the natural prarie which has developed, enclosed on three sides by the forest. It covers several acres of land with grasses as high as a person's waist, large enough to be out of earshot of the barnyard but uniform enough that anyone in bipedal form could be seen approaching through it.
The looming buildings of the farm can be seen to the south.
Contents:
Aaron
Obvious exits:
BarnYard  

In the middle of the field a small puff of smoke rises into the evening air. Aaron lies on his back, hands behind his head as a cigarette hangs from his lips as he puffs from the end that lights a deep, fiery red. He sighs softly and takes a deep breath as the fullmoon tries to relax.

"You know, smoking causes cancer." The quiet accent of the Asian Gnawer floats up from behind - how she managed to be so stealthy coming up is something to muse over. In her hand, a pair of long sticks: probably a couple of old mop handles. "How are you feeling today, Aaron?"

Aaron sits up as he hears Yi's voice and looks up at her. His expresion, for a brief moment, looks like a little brother looking up at a big sister. He cringes and then shrugs his shoulders. "What does it matter if smoking causes cancer?" he replies. "I'd die gloriously in battle before cancer would eat at my body." He opens up his palm and puts out the cigarette right in his palm. It makes him jerk a little in pain, although he seems to accept it and drops the unlit debris of the cigarette onto the ground and places the unused butt back into the package that he had gotten it from. "Well, I was nearly mauled by a Fenrir today, but I'm fine."

Yi squints an eye at the sight of the ahroun putting out his cigarette. "Thank Gaia for the gift of healing," she says with a lean on one makeshift staff. "What happened?"

"I must learn how to conquer pain," he says in honesty as he looks to Yi. The young Ahroun stands-up slowly and looks patiently towards Yi. "Nothing really," the teenager answers. "Brom was just testing me."

Yi hunhs with mention of Brom, and then tosses one mop handle towards the cub. "There are more kinds of pain than just the kind of broken bones and bruises. But, those will also be conquered with time, no?"

Aaron manages to get a grip on the mop handle when it is tossed towards him. He tilts his head for a moment and, after a pause, he nods his head in understanding. "I think that part of me that is unconquered is what sometimes keeps me going, otherwise I would have nothing." he replies. "If I was never hurt in the first place, then I would have never felt the desire to retaliate."

Yi nods, though her eyes shift down briefly to the stick remaining in her hand. "There is always one part that is never conquered." The ragabash goes quiet for a moment, then glances back up, a half-smile twisting on her face. "And sometimes, you will have to hit back." And just like that, quicker than a snake's strike, the fostern is swinging one end of the makeshift staff at the cub's head.

Aaron counters with the first move that comes to him before he is twap'd with Yi's weapon, raising his own shaft above his head when it makes contact. "What is with you people today?" Aaron says, although there is a look of amusement on his face, and then he swings the shaft down at an angle and attempts to poke his opponent in the gut.

Yi grins, pleased that her attack is blocked. As she swings her staff back around to her side, the ragabash steps aside to neatly avoid the forward stab. "Not just today. Every day. You must be ready at any time, as the second law of the Litany says. Tell me - what is the second law?" The staff in her hand is joined with the other, and she holds it like a true user, experienced in fighting with such a melee weapon. Quickly again, she advances this time with not just one strike but a quick combo of stabs and jabs with her own end of her stick.

Aaron does his best to block in defence to Yi's sudden advances, although he does manage to stumble as he remains alert to the other Gnawer's actions and putting Touch Deer's lesson into practice now while sparring with Yi. It takes him a little longer than it usually would to think of that particular tenent as Yi jabs at him. "Combat the Wyrm," he answers finally.

"Every snake has a head, but also a body," Yi calls out, "what is the rest of it?" Her offensive is relentless, not just chasing the ahroun with strikes and blows, but seemingly pushing him in whichever direction she pleases. "Answer faster!"

The Ahroun begins to grow frustrated as Yi continues to push him, all the while in defence. He grits his teeth and then he finally blows his impatience as he strikes back. "Combat the Wyrm wherever it breeds and wherever it dwells!" he growls.

Yi swiftly switches to defense when the cub finally tosses in a strike at her. The sticks clack loudly, meeting in between them. She doesn't back off, but pushes in so that she's nearly in his face. Eyes meet. "Why do we fight the Wyrm?" she asks him, volume pitched low.

Aaron narrows his eyes and grunts at Yi. "If we do not fight the Wyrm everything would fall into sickness, and Gaia would suffer. We'd loose our future and our past..." He gives a heavy heave of his weight to throw Yi away from him while his hands grip his staff tightly until his knuckles begin to turn white. "There would be nothing and we'd fall into darkness."

Yi steps back as she's tossed off, mixed in expression between smugness and snark. "How do you know that? How do you know that all we are telling you now is not just some lie? The Wyrm, you know, was the Balancer. In this sick world, perhaps it /does/ need cleansing! By fire!" The fostern redoubles her attack, stepping up the pace even more. The staff makes barely audible whooshes as it is swung quickly enough to displace the air it cuts through.

Aaron uses defense but also strikes back at Yi. His face grows stern, cold as he feels Yi's movements with what seems like a six sense as his anger also gives some instinctive qualities to it. Sweat begins to bead on his forehead as he chases Yi with his weapon. "How in Gaia's name can I not look up into her daughter's eyes at night and not see the truth!" Aaron roars out, his muscles twitching as they appear to be responding to the intensity of the lesson.

Yi now concentrates, as the sun has set and the sky is darkening. The pair of Gnawers sweep around the fallow field, and this time the ragabash is the one pulling back. All the while though, it seems like she's anticipating, directing, watchful and cool despite the ferocity of the cub's Rage starting to peak. "And then you look in the Shadow and see the Red Eye of the Wyrm laughing at you. The Corrupter has his own 'truths' to whisper into your ears, to delight your eyes with. Which is to be believed? All is dying! You too, will die! So why fight your future?"

Aaron grows fiercely enraged, his shaft making strikes and jabs at Yi even if she counters them. "Because when hope is lost, you can never give up your faith!" he growls, his voice growing strained and difficult to hear above his heavy breathing. He snorts through his nose, making his nostrils flare like a bull.

Yi laughs. Cackles, perhaps. "Blind faith will get you put in the dark!" She dodges just a moment too late, catching a glancing blow on her shoulder. The ragabash grunts slightly, but is no less deterred. "How can you fight for something you cannot even see? Where in this forgotten land will you find some /proof/ for your ways?"

"Even the blind can sense light," Aaron replies stuggling to keep control as Yi begins to laugh. "Do you forget how many there are in this world that believe in something and do not know if its existance is even present?" He strikes and pushes forward, continuing to strike and jab at Yi. His face tightens as his anger grows very thin.

Continuing her dodging, her stepping back, Yi still has her cool under her belt. Just as the cub's staff jabs towards her face, she ducks low and with Rage fueled speed, blurs right up beside the ahroun in his face, seeming to pop out of nowhere beneath him. Both staves are stilled, the ragabash's clacking down to restrain the ahroun's in a locking hold off to the side. This time her expression is straightforward, also just as honest. "But you know things that those fools do not. You know the Shadow, the Umbra, the spirits. You Know the caern exists, and have seen it, felt it. This is your proof. This is why your faith can exist. You are strong, Aaron. Do not lose those beliefs, and remember them well when your test comes."

Aaron finally loosens his grip on the weapon, knowing that he is not yet practiced enough to defeat his opponent. His nerves seem to settle back into place and he takes a deep, shuttering breath. "I have never truly known of Gaia's existence but I somehow know that she is there," he says in a quiet whisper. Then, he adds, "Just like my mother."

Yi gathers the staves to her as before. Then she smiles, small but genuine. "She is Mother of us all. For some, Grandmother." Her free hand lifts to settle gently on the ahroun's shoulder. She pauses a bit, letting the cub calm himself. "Feeling better?"

Aaron slowly nods his head. "I do feel better," he replies matter-of-factly. He laughs softly before growing serious again. "I never got to know my real mother, y'know." he replies blandly, although his deep southern drawl is still there.

"Well," Yi notes, leaning slightly on her right with the handles as support, "maybe it is better that way for you. Here around us, Gaia can be your mother. Maybe you can see me as, oh, a big sister." She shrugs, laughs quietly, and straightens a touch. "I know it is a little crazy. We do expect great things, but take your time. Rushing into your future is like rushing into a fight."

Aaron nods his head and stands leaning against his makeshift mop-handle. He blinks his eyes lazily and tilts his head towards Yi. "Do you believe I will make a good Garou once I Rite?" he questions.

Though Yi doesn't answer immediately, looking up into the sky to spot the crescent moon, when the fostern answers it is with a deep belief in her tone that is far from trivial. "I believe all the cubs who pass their Rite have been given greater purpose by the Grandmother. It is not my place to say that you will be a good Garou. But you can be... and I hope greatly that you will be."

Aaron muffles a yawn and clearly is begining to see the end of the day as he slouches against the mop-handle. "Mm," he mutters. Then suddenly he smiles towards Yi. "Do you mind if I go and get some rest now?" he asks and straightens to hand Yi back the so-called weapon.

Yi takes back the ghetto staff, returning the smile. She nods once. "Go ahead," she agrees. "And Aaron. If.. you need anything at all, you ask. Ok? Olga, Tommy and I will do our best."

Aaron turns towards Yi as he speaks, his expression suddenly unsure about how to react. "A'right." he replies in a slow drawl and smiles slowly. "Thanks," he expresses with much meaningulness in his expression alone. The teenager turns and strolls towards the farmhouse, although his walk staggers where Yi might have bruised him but he tries his best to cover it up.

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