Aubrey Returns
7/1/2007
12:20 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.
Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (91% full).
It is currently 12:16 Pacific Time on Sun Jul 1 2007.
Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 67 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius). The wind is calm today. The barometric pressure reading is 30.06 and falling, and the relative humidity is 52 percent. The dewpoint is 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius.)
The Sept Compound(#2075RAM)
Sweeping branches of trees form a sort of natural roof overshadowing most of this clearing, no more than an open space of grasses and beaten earth in the heart of the forest. Some pains have been taken to keep wear and tear on the area to a minimum, so the firepit tends to shift from time to time. The firepit, several sawn logs polished from use, and a stack of firewood discreetly piled up at the base of an old spruce under a tarp, are the only signs of constant occupation. However, a student of such things might think that some minimal landscaping or planning has been done, for the meadowlike profusion of grasses and other plants has an unusually high concentration of brilliant flowers, which attract a number of bees and butterflies.
A faint trail leads off to the east, and a bit north.
Contents:
Basil
Aubrey
Stone slab
Obvious exits:
Forest
A pale wolf makes her wait into the sept compound, appearing to drag her feet tiredly. Once she reaches a familiar sleeping spot, she falls over with a heavy thud and immediately closes her eyes to sleep.
Lain out amiss the grass and forest debris, Basil doesn't even notice the Garou wandering around in the woods. He simply lays with all his limbs sprawled out, sucking a lollipop with his eyes closed.
Spirit opens her eyes just as quickly as she realizes that she is not alone. Looking over and spotting the young man laying out on the grass, the Fianna chuffs at him. Who are you?
Runner is slow to arrive but deliberate in her pace of patrol. Still, each of the Gnawer fostern's limbs move in quiet concert as she approaches the cleared area from the northeast in the direction of the caern. With the wind calm and breeze blowing towards her, she scents the pair long before she sees them. Her pace quickens as she breaks the treeline, black tipped tail lifting as she signals her presence and barks to punctuate it. The ragabash's nose sniffs quite fervently at the old, but nostalgically familiar scent of Spirit.
Basil opens his eye and turns his head to look at the unfamiliar wolf, his eye barely open, a lazy expression on his face. "Basil, Bad-Penny. No one really important to anyone but a few Garou and Coyote himself."
The pale wolf stumbles up to her feet, shaking sleep from her mind as she hears a familiar bark reach her ears. The Fianna howls back: Spirit, here! The male goes completely ignored for a moment as the Theurge appears way too excited to be able to divert herself from an old friend's arrival.
Runner runs to meet the Fianna theurge. It's you! It's you! Joy and excitement swing her tail back and forth in wide, sweeping motions and Yi circles the seer moon a couple of times before butting a shoulder against the pale colored wolf. Not ignoring Basil though, the newmoon chuffs loudly to the ahroun. Fairy-Spirit is back! she announces, rather obviously.
Basil watches the exchange and then the two Garou as they meet, watching Yi jump up and down. "You look like someone just offered to take you for walkies." Basil pulls the lollipop stick from his mouth and puts it into his jacket pocket, sighing as he runs a hand through his hair and lights up a cigarette. "She's a friend of your's, then? At least it looks like a she wolf."
The Fianna shivers in joy and lips and licks at the fellow Gnawer's face. Hi! Hi! She then turns her attention back to the Ahroun, tongue lolling from her open jaws.
Runner flips her ears forward at the ahroun, a dismissive flick about the walkies comment made. She's too glad to see the theurge, head butting and licking back at the others' jaws in amiable affection. You should know Fairy-Spirit, says the ragabash to the ahroun, she was here while you were here. The fostern's demeanor changes with the lighting up of the cigarette though, and Yi growls in distaste before shifting to her breed form. "Those... are a bad habit."
"I don't know her." Basil says to the Ragabash, waving his pack of cigarettes at her. "And these are a group of ones that I rolled myself, so it's not like they're made by some evil huge company. She might have left before I came here, well, before I was a cub anyways."
Spirit follows Runner up into breed-form. "Not to mention a waste of your finances," the Theurge replies, although she is still smiling from ear-to-ear. "I fail to remember him, Yi." she replies. Then, to Basil, "What is your full-title?" She steps forward, outstretching her hand towards the Ahroun. "I am Aubrey Bennett, Spirit, Theurge Fianna Claith. Ex-Alpha of the former Crescent Wing, temporary Alpha of Fianna before Cole took over my spot, and ex-Guardian and temporary Gatekeeper. Also, I am a survivor of the retaking of the caern from the Black Spirals."
Yi blinks at the both of them. Her eyes shift away and narrow, a thoughtful frown coloring her expression before she looks back and puts a little more upward curve into her lip corners. "I guess I must be getting old then, because I can remember when Aubrey was a cub too," remarks the ragabash with a comb of her hands through her fingers. The cigarette gets no further comment too.
"I get to waste all the money I make however I want." Basil announces, defiantly taking a long drag from his cigarette. "You're a Fostern so it's less like 'getting' old, and more like 'am' old, but it's in a good way. You're all old and wise." Basil glances between the two of them, then looks at Aubrey again. "No one important. Basil, Bad-Penny, Ahroun of the Bone Gnawers. Cliath."
"Everyone who is pure in spirit is important to Gaia," Aubrey replies as she gives the Ahroun a studying look. "Wait," she says catching the Fostern comment from Basil. "You're Fostern now? No way!"
Yi looks less pleased with Basil's defiance than she is with his age comment, and his introduction. There's even a little arch of her brows at his mentioned deedname, and the ragabash wets her lips. Aubrey's exclamation claims her attention next and she smiles again at the theurge. "Yes," she replies, nodding, "I am called Runs-the-Gauntlet now. I challenged Jamethon for rank a few years ago." Basil gets a sidelong look.
Basil glances sidelong back at the Ragabash with one brow arched, using his free hand to catch any stray ash from his smoke on his glove. "What?" He asks. "Why are you staring at me like that?" He looks at Aubrey, then corrects himself. "I meant important to the average Garou. Everyone is important to Gaia."
"Seriously," says the Fianna, "Everyone I know is now a Fostern. Looks like I am going to have to make an attempt sooner or later." The Theurge slides her hands to her hips. "What makes you so highly unimportant, then?"
Yi lets out a slow sigh, running her hand through her hair to comb it in common habit. She doesn't answer the ahroun's question though, instead letting him take Aubrey's first. A slightly bigger smile comes to tug at her lip corner when she looks back to the Fianna. "Cole was successful with his not too long ago too. He knew me pretty well. Maybe, too well."
"Bone Gnawer, Charach, take your pick. Some ass Gaian accused me of being a Spiral the other day because I said there were probably two packs left in the area, and because I predicted a 'major attack' coming some months ago." Basil snorts, scratching at the side of his head with a tired expression on his face. "I told him someone angry as him should try looking in the mirror for a potential Spiral, because my faith was strong. He didn't like that."
"Cole tole me that he had succeeded with his challenge," replies Aubrey, "You might feel old, but I am right there with you. I found Cole's kinfetch, crazy huh?" Then to the Ahroun, "One little charach? I wouldn't let that hold you down. At least it didn't result in a metis. I cannot think of anyone who has been a constant screw-up than Salem... Walker, whatever he calls himself these days, but he is still a kickass fighter and people still like him despite his faults."
Yi stiffens up upon those words from the ahroun. Charach. Spiral. The hard look she gives him is not so easy now. "Who called you that?" she asks plainly, momentarily missing mention of Grey.
"Jack? Jake? Jacob? Some bootlick." Basil tells Yi, rising up slowly from the ground with one hand always beneath his cigarette to catch the ash. "Told me he should kill me right there, he did. Had my hand on my knife when he was holding me by the shirt. He says he'll be watching me." Basil looks over at Aubery and snorts at her. "I never ran and there was never any danger of Metis, I stood and I took my punishment more honorably than the person that exposed me. But like a year later, all I hear is charach charach charach."
Aubrey crosses her arms over her chest. "I hardly call you dishonorable, then." the Fianna says with a frown and a deep expression of concern.
"It is a label hard to ignore, when it is branded to your chest," Yi utters in a most disagreeable manner. All the happiness from her reunion has gone clean out as she looks upon the pair, although there is the feeling it's not meant for them. "Well. Next to that point," she then forcefully digresses and turns to Aubrey, "What has brought you back to the Hidden Walk?"
"I'm not. I just made a mistake, like the Philodox that did this will. And when they fall, I'll be there to laugh at them and kick salt in their wounds." Basil murmurs, sticking his off hand into his pocket. "Been meaning to run into you Yi. Been meaning to ask you a thing or two. How's the Guardian thing going?" Basil asks, trying his best to seem interested in Yi's business despite the scowl on his face.
There is a look upon Aubrey's face that seems to indicate that she knows how Basil feels without actually being in his shoes. "I cannot even recall how many times Cameron grabbed my ass as a cub," Aubrey mutters under her breath with a mischievous smile. Then frowning, "We'd probably be called charachs for that now, even though both of us were dating kin at the time." Then, answering Yi's question, "Chimera sent me a vision." That is all she says for now, allowing the Fostern to answer her tribemate's question.
Yi tilts her head at the theurge's reply, its enigmatic nature not lost on her. "A vision," she echoes thoughtfully. "I see." Not yet prying but clearly curious, the fostern's attention diverts to Basil and his questioning then. "I, you've been looking for me? I have been on the bawn - big though it is. Being a Guardian is... well, it is something to do that I always welcome. What were you looking for me for?"
"People still think I'm going to go run off with Kevin or something, they have even though I've had a boyfriend for a while." Basil mumbles, reiterating the 'Had' part under his breath. Basil puts out his cigarette when he realizes how short it's dwindled, then tucks it's remains away in a sandwich bag inside his pocket. "I *was* going to ask you to consider helping me form a pack when you were done being a Guardian, but I'm in a friggin' mood now."
Aubrey listens for a few minutes, then peeps, "I'm looking for a pack." Then, to Yi, "Yes, it was kinda odd... but I was begining to miss the place."
"You are an ahroun, and the moon is fat," Yi points out with little flourish. However, she does tack on, "I'm sorry" with a faint sort of smile, a light tease. Then back to business. "I could help you, Basil," she notes with a fleeting glance to Aubrey, "though for now I stay with the Guardians. Jamethon too, wants to form a new Guardian pack to help guard this place as Ridgeline broke up. But if you are looking for members... there is one right here I would recommend too."
"I was grouchy before the moon came up." Basil tells Yi, rubbing his hands together to cast the ash from his smoke into the air. "Friggin' Kin left. Job promotion. Whoopee." Basil twirls his finger around in the air, nodding at her intention to join Jamethon. "Good for you. Maybe I'll find another member or someone that isn't afraid to follow me under a rock or something. Maybe some sort of... Snail." Basil glances between the two of them, then waggles his finger at Yi. "That's nice, but I don't know her, and I don't invite strangers."
Aubrey frowns unhappily. "Okay, well, then I will join Cole's pack." she replies haughtily. "I am sure Wildfire would be looking for someone with my expertise." Then, muttering, "Some Galliard hasn't been doing their duty. If it wasn't for /me/... well, with Cameron and Tobin, this caern wouldn't exist... /well/ not really. As far as our whole finding the spirits of the glade part of getting this caern back. Everyone had their own part..." She continues babbling incoherently to herself for another few seconds before suddenly becoming silent.
The one smile she almost had going turns back into a more neutral line edging on a frown. Yi folds her arms over her chest, looking back and forth between the two. "Leaving and returning is common everywhere I guess. I would be glad for the Kinfolk. They must live their lives too, and be our reminders of the world beside our own." Dark eyes settle on Aubrey and her babbling, and Yi blinks with a thinning of lips upon mention of other old names. "The caern was brought back by /many/ Garou's efforts, not just the Crescent Wing. But those stories have not been sung recently, no." She lets go of a sigh then, turning ot Basil. "Who do you have in mind, then, if not strangers?"
"No. I don't *know* you." Basil tells Aubrey, clarifying himself to the Fianna. "I wouldn't let the grand high Gnawer into my pack just because they were the grand high Gnawer. He could be an asshole, or a great guy that happens to just not get along with me. Or an asshole." Basil's hand strays down to the pocket where he keeps his cigarettes, but it halts itself just over them. "Nothing personal. Don't know, really. Not many people want to serve with me, not many people think it's a great idea. I ask Olga every now and then. Alesia might, but I'm not clean enough for her image really. Who else is there? Masao, if she gets in contact obviously. That's about it."
"I said that," Aubrey replies to Yi, that was in the incoherent babbling part. "Okay, I get your point." the Theurge replies. "I have just been itching for a pack since Crescent Wing disbanded, that's all."
"I know the feeling," Yi tells Aubrey sympathetically with a physical scratch of her finger against her neck. "It hasn't felt quite right without Resonance, but so far manageable. And, it is always good news to hear about other Garou wanting to form packs." Here she looks at Basil again. "All of them are good Garou, Basil, and as your former teacher I would hope to teach you another lesson: Don't underestimate yourself. Olga, Masao, Alesia. And though you do not join them again, Vendetta must be supportive of you, right?"
"I don't underestimate myself. But I don't want to waste time with petty infighting because 'Oh wah, I gotta be Alpha because MY dick is bigger' instead of doing the right thing." Basil snorts and tells Yi. "They do, and I'm sure Reggie will lead them well, but they can't really help me form a new pack."
Loud whistling precedes the arrival of a member of Vendetta, and the hefty figure of Reggie emerges from the forest. A string of salmon, tied together with a rough, home-made twine, is slung over his shoulder, their tails thumping against his wolfskins, and a several strips of cedar bark are clenched in Reggie's undamaged hand.
The Theurge cocks her head to the side. "Vendetta?" she asks. "Yes, maybe Wildfire will be better off with me." The Fianna gives a throughtful expression.
Kaz enters from the forest.
Yi exhales with a short huff at the description of the pack. "Basil, they were your packmates. Maybe no longer, but they /were/ bonded to you and you lead them once. If you don't underestimate yourself, then at least don't talk down about those you considered to be that close to you." Speaking of the devil, as the Vendetta packmate appears, Yi cocks her head at his whistling. "Reggie," she calls out with a wave at the Uktena. "Look!" The wave turns into a point at Aubrey.
"Don't be stupid, I wouldn't talk that way about my packmates. I meant I want to avoid recruiting people that will get in my way and the way of the greater good with stupid shit." Basil tells her, sitting back down on the ground near the two ladies. When Yi calls to someone else, Basil looks up, then waves at the fish toting former packmate. "Heya Rags-to-Fishes."
Reggie's whistle cuts off as he's called, and he looks over towards Yi. "Hey!". He follows her pointing to Aubrey, and nods towards the Fianna. "We've met". He continues walking around the fire pit, greeting Basil as he passes by with a "Hey", and takes a seat on a log. The fish get put on the ground, where they stare sightlessly.
"He already knows I am here," Aubrey replies to Yi. The Theurge turns to address Reggie, "You are Alpha of a pack now too, Reggie?"
Yi gives Basil a bit of a shrug. "I only say it sounds bad when you say it a certain way. People will hear it wrong and be mistaken." The fish on the ground get a glance before she looks back to the Uktena. "You've met already. I see..." She goes quiet with Aubrey's address to the Groundskeeper, also listening in.
"People *always* hear what I say the wrong way." Basil tells Yi, waggling his finger at her again. "Oi, Rags, she also tell you that she's looking for a pack? You already know her, and you're alpha of that pack now. Maybe you should take her yourselves, get a Theurge in. Every pack should have one of them."
Reggie pulls apart the strips of cedar bark, making them into thinner strips, and yet again into thinner strips, his attention on his task, then he glances up, momentarily surprised that people are addressing him. He looks from Aubrey to Basil, his eyebrows raising, then he looks back to Aubrey. "No, I'm not. Still, if you want into a pack--Vendetta's looking for good people." He tilts his head slightly at Aubrey, considering her.
Off in the woods, someone can be heard singing Mozart.
"That really depends," Aubrey says as her eyes slide over to Yi. "Has this guy been good?" she asks, jabbing her thumb at Reggie. "I'm still a little bitter about your inability to relay information correctly." Then, she asks, "You mean to tell me that your pack has no Alpha?"
Yi shrugs one more time at Basil, this one being in mock innocence. "Good enough to be Fostern now," answers the Gnawer to the Fianna. Aubrey's observation gets Yi's brief attention, but it's the Mozart floating about that catches her ear and she straightens up a little to listen to that. There's no words said to dismiss herself, but Yi does bob her head in a quick bow before moving off in the music's direction. Her brow furrows in her investigation.
Reggie's mangled fingers stumble slightly as they work on twisting the bark, rolling it against the sturdy denim of his jeans. "I do not", he addresses Aubrey. "What I said, I am not Alpha of Vendetta."
Since the singer is coming this way anyway, Yi soon comes upon her as she heads from woods to path. Breaking off her song, Kaz mutters, "Yo, hey" in Yi's direction, smiling a bit.
Basil glances off in the direction of the singing, then looks back at Aubrey and tells her. "There is an Alpha. I just assumed since Rags moved up the ladder that he had taken over Alpha. Kevin, a Ragabash, the Garou I sorta slept with is the Alpha... But I'm sure that Reggie is clever enough to win it over. Not that Kevin's daft or anything." Basil waves when he sees Kaz, whistling to her.
Aubrey uhs at Reggie. "Tell me more about this pack?" she asks. Then, she turns her head as she hears the greeting from Kaz. The Fianna squints her eyes and then brightens as she notices who it is. "Kaz! Mama Kaz!"
"I thought that was you," Yi remarks to the Gnawer galliard with another smile. Just about to spill the news again, Yi's parade is rained on with a shower of the Fianna theurge's enthusiastic greetings. "Guess who's back," she says instead with a glance in the other three Garou's direction.
Reggie yanks his head up to notice Kaz. "Hey!", he greets, then addresses Aubrey, with a jerk of his head. "Ask Kaz. She's the Galliard. Better at that job of relaying information." His head bows back down over his work of making twine.
Kaz says, "Well, most other people prolly ain't singin' Mozart," and nudges Yi's shoulder in passing in what serves as a hug. Aubrey's call makes her wince just slightly, as usual when she hasn't heard the name for a bit, but then she brightens. "Dude! When'd you get back?" She heads into the Compound itself, and blinks at Reggie. "Yo. What'm I supposed t'be relaying?"
"News and shit about the pack. Aubrey is looking for one and Yi and I suggested Vendetta." Basil nods at Aubrey, then looks back at the other two. "You guys know her, so you shouldn't have a problem with her. Bug's a Fianna, and Kevin's easy going. She should stick right in."
Yi grins with the not-quite-a-hug, and finds herself a seat upon one of the logs nearby after trailing the galliard back to the circle. "They pack under Raccoon," Yi adds in Aubrey's direction. Reggie's ministrations gain a spectator, just because.
"A few days ago," Aubrey replies excitedly. "I had a vision in which Chimera told me that I needed to come back, that the Sept needed me here. My brother and sister-in-law are taking care of m'boy, so it's alright." Then, rubbing her hands together, the Theurge listens intently about the Vendetta pack.
Kaz says, succinctly, "It's me, Kevin the Ragabash Glass Walker, Morgan the metis Fianna, and Reggie here. Reggie's just Challenged Kevin for Alphaship, after Kevin Challenged Morgan, who'd taken it from Basil before /that/. Musical Alphaship, no lines, no waiting. Anyway, we're packin' under Raccoon, like she said, and our territory's off that way." She outlines the territory a bit more specifically, and then stops abruptly and blinks at Aubrey. "Wait, did I even know you'd /had/ a kid?"
Reggie bends over his work for a few minutes, then his fingers still, and he slowly looks up, taking in Yi's study of him. He inquires, "Yes?"
Yi doesn't say anything back but just smiles at the Uktena and shrugs. Nothing at all. The ragabash's attention redirects to talk about children, and before she can say anything, Kaz does it for her.
Basil gestures from himself to Reggie. "He'll be taking over soon I hear, and supposedly he has some great ideas about where to take the pack. Was a fun bit, really. I just wish I'd juggled everything in a way that kept everyone happy, y'know? Ah well. Maybe I'll get it right with the next pack eh?"
"I'm going to be settling down in Kent Crossing," Aubrey replies. "I just don't want another Guardianship position for awhile." A pause, "The racoon is kinda cool. Didn't you pack under the racoon before, Kaz?" She looks around and then dips into her pocket to take out a leather wallet in-which she removes a recent picture of a near-two-year-old boy. The Theurge passes it to the Galliard. "A Fianna kin who was passing through here sired... The kid will have some good blood, although he's no Garou." she says.
Kaz takes a look at the picture and, predictably, awws. "That's nifty. An' so you went back home t'get support an' all? Makes sense. Glad your parents were cool with it." She nods at the question, limping over nearer to Reggie and plunking onto the ground. "Yeah, me an' Max an' Bernie and Nevada and alla them in Trouble. This's a different bunch and a different spirit, but... I like Raccoon. An' we f'damn sure ain't Guardians, so there ain't no worrying on that front. An' Baz-- it's your first Alphaship of any kind, you ain't gonna be perfect first crack."
Reggie rests an elbow on his leg, and straightens his other leg out in front, as he continues looking at Yi. Finally, he exhales and and bundles up the cedar twine into loops around his hand.
"Coulda been. You can bat a thousand every time you step up to home plate, even if you're new if you got luck, skill or will. I didn't have enough of either of those three, so things sorta fell apart. No biggie." Basil tells Kaz. "I ain't bitter or nothing, things happen."
"Something like that," Aubrey retorts to Kaz. "I don't have any parents anymore... I thought you knew that?" Then the Theurge chuckles, "Hell, I wasn't the best Alpha either."
Kaz gives Basil a mock salute. "'s cool. Long as you ain't or nothin'." She makes a wincing face at Aubrey. "I /did/ fuckin' know that. Sorry."
Basil picks at his nails, ignoring the parts of the conversation that he knows nothing about. "Maybe, but... You aren't an Ahroun, so you aren't supposed to be. No offense. I wonder who I'm going to tap for the pack I'm trying to form? Besides Olga and Masao, no one really comes to mind. Maybe Alesia, but who else? God knows I ain't joining any. I'm not invited."
"I mean, there is my mother... Gaia only knows what happened to her." Aubrey replies. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Wyrm had her." The Theurge rolls up her eyes into the sky and then back down at the Galliard. "That's what you get for letting yourself go and selling your daughter to the streets." The woman then sobers, "Does Vendetta need a Theurge then? I think I'd be intrested, you're certainly in the right location."
Kaz's eyes darken. "No shit." It takes her a moment to shake the anger from that, before she says, "All things considered, hell yes. An' you're nifty folks, too, which just makes it better."
"When is a good time to meet your pack totem?" asks Aubrey seeming very interested in this pack. "I guess that it will want some shinny things as payment too?" Then, the Theurge blushes a little. "I've always wanted to be in a pack with you Kaz, you've always been so cool."
Kaz slowly takes a Coke out of her pocket. "Well, first thing is, I think you oughta meet Kevin an' maybe Morgan first. See if you can work OK with them. P'ticularly given as Kevin's th' Alpha an' all. Then-- heck, you can meet Patches anytime. An' yah-- He'll definitely want some shinies." She levers herself to her feet again, quirking a small smile. "Yeah. It was really fun watchin' you turn into a damn good Garou."
Yi, having been quiet through the conversation, watches Reggie pick up and go before herself standing again. There's a bit of restlessness to the movement, partly the moon's fault. Her words are meant for Basil though. "If I recall right, Basil, you had decided you were going to go out on a self-searching journey. Maybe you've already come back from that, but forgive me if I say that the three you have in mind may make for good packmates already. And three is a great start. Work on it, and it could pull through, or don't work on it and continue on with how things were. And maybe there are others you don't know about, waiting. Take it up at moot, and see. That is what I say." The ragabash then looks back to the pair, nodding to them. "If you'll excuse me. I must continue my patrols."
Kaz gives Yi a salute. "Good t'see you."
Yi reaches up to salute to Kaz as well, though hers is much more lax. "Remind me to tell you about Cole's challenge some time, if you do not hear about it at the moot. That boy has a tongue of fire, and it certainly burns," she remarks with a soft laugh. "Good to see you again too, Aubrey. Good luck with finding a pack of your own as well. And Gaia grant you both good hunting."
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