On the Rite of Accomplishment

8/8/2007

11:55 AM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (34% full).
It is currently 11:50 Pacific Time on Wed Aug 8 2007.
Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 64 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the west at 9 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.04 and steady, and the relative humidity is 60 percent. The dewpoint is 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius.)

Bawn: Central Forest(#2876RA)
The forest is dark and quiet. No, not quiet. Listening. The ancient firs rear up all around, branches interwoven in a dense roof of dark green. Fallen needles lie in a thick carpet on the ground, heaped up around the drifts of undergrowth clinging to the scarce patches of light reaching the forest floor. Every sound seems muffled, and the sharp scent of pine hangs in the air like the clouds of midges that swarm ceaselessly beneath the branches. Even the many deer who roam here seem to step more quietly than usual, and the songbirds seldom sing.
The forest spreads out around you in all directions.
Contents:
Basil
Obvious exits:
Burial Mounds  Story Tree  Caern of the Hidden Walk  Western Bawn  Southern Bawn  Northern Bawn  Eastern Bawn  

The quiet of the forest goes undisturbed here on the central bawn. Where every scent is magnified by its unsullied purity of wildness, here nonetheless, is where one finds a lone fostern Gnawer sitting beneath a large, ancient looking pine tree. At first it doesn't seem like she's doing anything, head bowed and cross legged. As it turns out, though, her eyes flick back and forth over a page, and her lips move slightly while she reads. The faint rustle of the book in her hand as she turns the page is the only sound for some time.

The subtle sounds of someone in the distance getting closer and closer grow louder and louder, though it's hardly as if the person is stomping around. Merely not hiding his roaming. From behind a pine Basil emerges with what looks like a handful of blue berries, merrily popping them into his mouth berry by berry as he walks along without dropping a single one.

Yi looks up from her reading as sounds interrupt her reading, nearly focusing right on the direction of the incoming ahroun. The ragabash closes her book, setting it against the trunk of the tree as she stands. "Basil!" she calls out to him, lifting a hand in greeting.

[look Basil (homid)]
Somewhat more noticeable than the average teenager, he still wouldn't stand out much in a punk crowd. A deeply tanned white teenager, Basil stands at nearly six feet tall now ( or close to it ). The boy's hair has grown out to his shoulders, groomed but wild and dyed an electric red. His facial features have started to grow out and become more masculine, and if not for the three jagged scars over his right eye he might be called handsome. Above his blue eyes, his eyebrows have been dyed a slightly darker shade of red. Covering his neck is a thick studded leather collar with grease or something smeared on the metal to make it shine less. His once plain leather jacket has been added to. On one shoulder there is a rat, and on his back is the laughing head of an antromorphic coyote giving the viewer the finger with a banner beneath it that reads 'Fuck You'. Beneath it is a black t-shirt, tucked into a pair of tight fitting leather pants. A belt holds them up with a buckle which reads something, but it's hard to say what from anything but a few feet away. He also wears a pair of black engineer boots and heavy leather gloves of some kind ( typically ones that cover his forearms ) at nearly all times.

Basil looks over quickly when he hears the familiar voice call to him, then smiles in the direction of the Ragabash. After a quick glance around him the Ahroun walks over to stand in front of her, carefully stepping over a few fallen branches on the way. "What are you doing way out here?" He asks, offering his handful of berries. "Brought them from the farmhouse, they're fresh and washed. Promise. Used to be some raspberries mixed in but I ate all of them."

Shaking her head lightly with a shrug just to acknowledge the ahroun's claim, Yi reaches over to pick up a few of the berries. "Thank you," she utters softly. "What /am/ I doing here?" she echoes his question with a glance around to the forest around them. "I thought you would be in the city," she dodges in answering his question. "But I am glad to see you out here."

"I don't have to be a Guardian to patrol the Bawn. Or wander around aimlessly eating berries and claim I'm patrolling. Either one." Basil smirks a little bit at her. "But I guess I'm always surprising people, ain't I? When I'm not frustrating them or making them blush. Just think, without me, you'd have never gotten a cub to ask if he should give you a blow job."

Yi's eyes widen at the latter of the ahroun's statements, her expression changing from pleased to an undecided mix of indignance, sharp anger, and embarrassment. In the end, she settles for a simple quick shake of her head, popping the rest of the berries into her mouth and chewing furiously. Her response stalls, but picks up again out of its dive as she turns her gaze back upon him. "You should not be teaching them that sort of thing," she tries to admonish, ending up instead with the indignance and none of the offense. She sighs too. "I swear, Basil, sometimes I think you are worse than Alicia was when it comes to... to sex."

"C'mon." Basil tells her with a smile, lifting up his hand to put it on her shoulder. Leaning in, he murmurs. "You know it was funny. Sometimes I really do think you're a little too serious." Basil pats her on the shoulder then leans back again. "Besides, Matt is too young to even do anything and I've already told the others again and again that Charach ain't worth it and it's dumb, here, even if I don't agree with it being law. This one time though, these Gaian cubs saw the mark on my chest and asked what it meant, I told'm. The girls blushed and looked away, then asked 'So what's sex like?'. I'm pretty sure I laughed. Alicia was a Gaian eh? What did she do that was so bad with sex stuff?"

Yi doesn't move from the shoulder touch, looking to his hand first and then back. "I just think there is a responsibility to it, not that they should not know about it," she protests weakly. "And I am /far/ from serious!" Says the ragabash all too seriously. "But I am also-- I am tired of hearing of that word," she ends up sighing out, her own shoulders slumping as if to show her exhaustion of it. The ragabash moves to lean against the tree she stands beside. "I would much rather hear about Garou and Kinfolk and whatever 'dirty'," she says with visible quotes like the word itself isn't one she'd use, "things they do than Garou with each other. And yes she is a Child of Gaia, but, I do not want to talk about what she did or did not do. She was bad enough."

"I didn't know anything about sex before I started in with you guys. Didn't have my first kiss until Masao. Never dated outside of her either." Basil turns and moves to lean up against the tree beside Yi, nudging her shoulder gently with his. "I wasn't talking about Garou doing it to me anyways. I learned that lesson after I was betrayed once, thanks. It's a good thing I didn't go to that moot, because if Kevin did what he did in front of me, I'd have probably killed him." Basil goes silent as he munches on a handful of berries, clasping his lips so that none of the juice escapes from his mouth. "God knows I'd love a steady Kin, but I don't get steady Kin. I get Kin that use me for a furry fuck toy and then they screw off whenever they feel like. That's it."

Yi winces at the ahroun, and eyes him with a pained look. "I have never... really had that problem," she murmurs quietly, gaze averting. "But maybe you should consider not giving yourself to them so easily either, then," she notes. There's a pause and she pushes off the tree again restlessly. She turns around to look at him. "I just want you to be happy, Basil. Last time you said you wanted to be recognized, right? Well, I want to help."

"It's a good way to let go of things, frustrations, to forget about everything for a while. During sex I don't worry, I don't think about how shitty the world is and how little I can do. I don't regret. Plus, it feels really good." Basil's face goes still and stony for a few moments before he smiles just a little at Yi. "With Kevin I waited for over eight months, or closer to a year. I think I'm screwed with relationships, no matter what I do. No pun intended. Maybe I should try dating Kin in their thirties if I find one, they'll probably be less... Stupid? Yeah, I'll go with that word. Stupid." Basil pops the rest of the berries into his mouth and sits down against the tree, shaking his head. "This conversation is making me want a vicodin or a smoke, or maybe both. But I appreciate the sentiment'n all, Yi. You're a good friend even if we fight."

"If you've got one," Yi notes in mention of the smoke, "I wouldn't mind one myself." She rubs her hand on her eyes, exhaling heavily, but pausing and holding up her hand. "Not-- that I should be breaking Bawn rules. No tobacco without approval from the Master of Rites to do so. Last thing I want to hear is the spirits getting angry, making our jobs as Guardians even harder."

Basil stands up and runs a hand through his hair, then hooks his arm and offers it to Yi. "Then maybe we should head towards the farmhouse, we can have a smoke in the fields. If m'lady would want to accompany me." Basil offers, weakly trying to lighten the mood with a playful tone. "Count it as a break. There ain't a rule that says we can't talk while we walk and have a smoke when we get over there."

Yi's brow creases at the fullmoon's suggestion, but releases as she nods in acceptance. "Lead the way, sir," she says with a gesture and a returning faint smile. The book she leaves by the tree. "By the way, those notes you left on the farmhouse refrigerator," she adds as they walk. "What do you mean 'the best swordfighter'?" She eyes the ahroun sidelong.

Basil shrugs his shoulders and looks around the forest, then starts walking back in the general direction of the farmhouse. "Grab your book, it's going to rain and it might start before we get back. I hate it when books are ruined." Basil keeps walking regardless of what Yi does, occasionally glancing back at her. "I'm a swordfighter. I know how to use a sword, and I've trained for over six months. I'm willing to best I'm the best, or one of the best here."

Yi looks back towards the tree as Basil mentions the book, and then with a glance skyward, nods. She swings back to rescue Mrs. Frisby, and catches up. "Yes but, the 'best'?" she resumes with a growing grin. "And you do not think there are others who would best your claim?"

"Well, I figure there's a straight shot that I'm one of the best. Lets run down the kinds of people that would have a sword and know how to use it, huh?" Basil turns his head forward, lifting a hand to count off his fingers one by one. "Silver Fangs. Justin hasn't got combat training like that or the strength to really use a sword. Blackriver wouldn't use human tools. Theres a Metis, but what Silver Fang would teach a Metis? Then you've got Cedric. I think he knows how. I'm pretty sure he's got one of those klaive thing, but it's just a hunch. Either that or some sort of spirit thing. So that's one." Basil flips up his finger. "Next, the Lords. If Kenneth knew I'd probably know by now from Stacey or someone else. If Vera knew, she'd wear one at least at moots, because it's intimidating. Felix carries a gun or a knife, not a sword. That new Shadow Lord looks like a Lupus to me, and Saul doesn't know how. Next, the Get. Maybe, hard to tell. If I guessed anyone, I'd guess James. But he prefers spears. All the Furies like bows except for Alesia, who likes bows and spears, and everyone else uses typical modern stuff or stereotypical stuff. So I'm willing to bet just on odds, I'm one of the best people here, if only because there aren't a lot of trained people here. Logic tells me so."

Yi nods slowly with each report, although there is a wryness at the tail end of it. "And yet, you do not count one of your own teachers?" she asks in reference to herself. "Or have you forgotten already, once my name was Three-Blades?"

"I assumed that if you knew how to use swords, you would have taught me when I was a cub." Basil muses, nudging her gently at the side. "Besides, I always assumed you liked knives. Faster, lighter than swords, easy to conceal and a lot more practical."

"Swordfighting was something I learned some time ago," Yi says with a nod, "but you are right. I am not partial to swords because they are hard to hide. And besides... I am a Bone Gnawer. Where do I have the money for a sword?"

"Sugar daddy?" Basil suggests, not seriously. "I can make you one, but only one out of wood. I don't have the skill or the equipment or nothing like that to make a real one, if I did, I'd probably have one for myself."

Yi shakes her head again, a smile returning even with the tease. "Out here, I have myself. Knives. The trees themselves. Though you may want to make a couple of practice swords, just for the cubs there. There really are a lot of them now," she comments passingly as they proceed on towards the farm. "Speaking of, I heard you had found one for the Children of Gaia? Only, locked in a freezer?"

"I already made a few. One for myself, one for a cub I'm training, and like one or two more for when I need them. Took a while to carve them, make them smooth, stain them." Basil shrugs his shoulders. "Another day, another cub. Like I've said I've probably gotten more cubs around here than anyone else over the past two years. I'm like, the guy that caused all those animals to get out. And the guy that hotwired that truck. If you watch the news."

Quirking her head, Yi looks lost on that. "I am afraid I have not watched the tele in months," she notes. "And the newspaper is... a difficult challenge for me." Embarrassed, the Gnawer fostern rubs the back of her neck with a hand and walks onwards, rounding a tree.

"Maybe I could help you to read sometime. I could read some books and make a... Lesson plan for you. Think of it as a trade, your knife training you gave me as a cub for my training you how to read now." Basil suggests. "Nothing to be ashamed of anyways. If I ended up in China I wouldn't be ashamed I couldn't speak or read the language of a foreign place. So, you were saying before, something about... Me?"

Yi smiles back at the ahroun, nodding her head in appreciation. "I think I could use a little help," she replies without pride. "And what I was saying before?" The change of topic catches her, and she looks off in thought. "Oh!" Realization comes. "I am not sure if you remember. There was a time a short while ago. I contacted my mentor, Grandmother Rui. There was a rite... it is a rite of praising. Honoring, you could say. But rather than waiting until someone has done a great deed, this one takes all the small things and builds them up. After all, sometimes those small things are overlooked. It is up to us who see them, to help others recognize. Your Guardianship on the Bawn should not go unnoticed. Your teaching of cubs, caring for kin, mating successfully to produce more pups even. These things, that is what others should know about when they see you."

"What has to be done to have this Rite happen anyways?" Basil asks, raising his eyebrow at Yi. "It isn't a big production or anything like that, is it? Like with, y'know... Other big Rites. Didn't know you were the Rite type either." Basil shrugs. "Don't think I've really cared for any Kin though. Mostly I just slept with a few for a while, but other than that I guess I did do a few things." Basil runs a hand through his hair again while wiping some juice or moisture off on his pants with the one that had the berries. "Call me curious. The Bawn and being a Guardian, is that the only reason you wouldn't pack with me?"

Yi gives a shrug back at the ahroun. "It is a rite that praises the accomplishments of another. It should be a 'big production' as you say. But no, it can be as simple as telling your story. But there are a few twists to it, which is why it is a Rite and not just a story." The ragabash continues on, stepping around bushes on an invisible trail. "My knowledge of rites only goes so far, however. I would learn more, if I could. Gifts from spirits, too. There are some tricks I find myself wanting to know the secret to, too. Your gift of finding things, for example." She pauses though, at his statement of curiosity. A long look and quiet moment of silence after, the no-moon shakes her head slowly. "No, Basil, that is not the only reason." Her own hand toys with the tangled ends in her hair. "You keep saying it is your pack, your pack," she notes. "But I... you were my student. You were a cub I taught. I am proud that you come this far since your Rite of Passage. But I am a fostern, and you a cliath. I am not sure how long it would be before... before I feel there would be a challenge. And then, looking at what happened to you with Vendetta, that is the last thing I want, to drive you away."

"Maybe I could also teach you that gift, for another." Basil tells Yi, sticking one of his hands in his pockets. "You're worried about appearances? Heh! For some reason I think that's funny. If you can deal with the kind of person I am, and won't kick me from the pack for it or pretend to be Queen Yi, Lordess of the King Shits like Vera or something I'd be fine with you leading the pack. I heard a while ago you were going to do Coyote but you never got it together'n all, so I know you want a pack. As for the Rite... Well, I kind of meant... Uh." Basil looks forward again, away from the Ragabash. "I don't want a whole lot of people around when it's happening and stuff. Talking in front of a lot of people about how great I am and how I deserve this and that and all this shit makes me feel weird."

"It isn't just appearances, Basil," Yi says in return, although she shrugs uncomfortably on mention of Coyote and looks off again. "Every pack is different. Every pack changes at some point. We both understand that much. I don't want us to argue so much at least not in front of others like that one day. I realized a little bit after you had left what you meant by the fortune cookie. And I want to say it should have been me doing the same. And I would do my apologies in the way that honors you. Let me do that rite, Basil. And it is not such a big deal, I promise. It is not about /deserving/. It is simply acknowledging what you have done."

Basil huffs at the Ragabash and looks at her. "You know how much I respect Kaz. You know how much I love Masao and Olga. If ight with all of them. I fought with just about everyone with words at least once, that's how it is with us." Basil reaches out and puts his arm around the woman's shoulders, giving them a brief squeeze as he walks along with her. He points a gloved finger at her, saying. "But we don't hate each other. We trust each other. Hell, we even respect each other at least a little bit. I don't know how much you respect me, but I do respect you a whole lot. If you put a pack together and wanted to be Alpha, I'd trust you, if you'd tolerate me." Basil smiles, adding. "And if not, that's fine too." Basil lets his arm drop and looks off into the tree, sighing quietly. "Maybe, but I wouldn't want you getting in trouble for doing a Rite like that for someone people didn't think deserved it."

Yi walks along with Basil through the woods of the bawn, their destination seemingly nowhere but in the general direction of the Garou farmhouse. The pace is slow though. "That is only because you can be so /difficult/," Yi mock-complains at the fullmoon with regards to their fighting. She gives in though, to nod with his statement of trust and smiles back faintly, if more than a bit flattered. As he looks off and sighs, her smile weakens and replaces with a thin determination. "Basil, I of all people, am not one you should worry about getting into trouble. Especially, when it comes to dealing with it when it comes. You leave the rite up to me. The only thing I will ask is you come to it. Late even, if you want, but at least show your face and show it proud."

Sharp beady eyes scan the forest floor, as Val searches out familiar faces and eventually finds a pair. Black wings carry the raven to a nearby tree, where she perches and peers down at the two Gnawers. Grrrrup!

"Of course I am. Coyote likes me, he wouldn't like me if I wasn't difficult." Basil murmurs with a small smile of his own. "I've already gotten you into trouble once, and it was for a mistake. I don't want to get you in trouble again. You could have lost rank over the thing that happened if the Philodoxes were real vicious, and it got Masao punished too." Basil puffs in a frustrated manner, looking up towards the bird. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a particularly shiny coin that's been run through a polisher and lets it catch the sunlight, then tosses it into a bed of pine needles. "Guilt is the worst emotion."

"You know those who follow Coyote's teachings, are not considered to be very wise to begin with," Yi replies with a helpless shrug. "I have done worse, but I understand what you say. I am lucky, yes, to have been treated mercifully for my mistakes." The call from the raven gets a quick look skyward to the trees, but the bird goes unseen amidst the branches. Yi watches the coin as it flips on into pine needles. "Guilt is only a bitter reminder, and must be chased with sweeter memories."

Finds-Stories hops from one foot to another, then descends from the tree and lands on the ground a short distance behind the Gnawers, where she turns into a woman. "Excuse me a moment, if you two have a little time, there is something that I really should tell you. Rather important, really. Especially for you two, since you spend most of your time in the city."

"Most of my sweet memories are tainted with threads of guilt. But only a fool would think someone as you dumb for following Coyote." Basil tells the Ragabash with a smile, turning around when he hears the sound of something shifting. He startles when he sees Val and takes a step back, then peers at her and tilts his head. "I remember you, but not your name. You're a Corax. I haven't seen you in a while, but go ahead, please speak up. We're not going to chase you off like that dumbass Get."

Yi catches the downward landing of the raven, casting a small smile as she too recognizes the arrival of the Corax. Unlike Basil, there is less surprise and more just a small nod of familiarity. "Val, hello again. It has been some time, and I am sorry to not have seen you earlier." The news announcement raises the Gnawer fostern's chin a touch, although she does glance to her tribemate beside her briefly before looking back. "Yes though, please, speak. But do so quickly - there are those who would not welcome your presence, at least not on the ground."

Val's sizable nose wrinkles up, tongue sticking out a little. "So much for having permission to be here. A special task force is going to be arriving soon. Everyone is a buzz about it at the police station, but no-one really knows why they are coming here. They typical guesses are running around, drugs, murder, prostitution. What it comes down to in the end is that there are going to be a lot more police in the area for the next little while and they will pay a lot of attention to anything unusual that crops up." The small woman shrugs her shoulders. "Just figured you'd want to know."

"Hey, wait a minute... That sounds like the kind of thing that might just pop up to investigate a new drug hitting the streets." Basil reaches into the keyhole of his pants, and pulls out a ziplock baggie containing about an ounce of pink powder. "Like this stuff I bought last night. Hell if I know what's in it, I haven't taken any yet."

All manner of pleasantries cease upon the revealing of such dire news. Yi straightens considerably, eyes going big in alarm. The fostern gives a small look to the drugs, and then it's back to Val. "Task force?" she echoes. "What do you mean 'here'? The woods? The farmhouse?" She unwittingly takes a step forward towards the Corax, concern reading all over her stiffened posture. "When did you hear this?"

Basil glances between the two of them, then looks back at the drugs in his hand. "I still think this is it, but it could be anything else I guess. I should warn my fences and all to keep low, I don't need any of my connections getting pinched. It's a pain in the ass to build up friends when you scare everyone."

Yi blinks a few more times, and then she turns her gaze up towards the tree canopy to let out a sigh of relief. The fostern brings a hand up to rub her face, staring at Val with a weak chuckle. "I see," she utters before she turns back to Basil. "What is this drug? It's new?" A more examining look goes to the pink stuff, and then the no-moon looks to the birdwoman. "The police do not know why they are gathering their own?" she inquires further. "Do you know where they are looking first, then? The city Garou should be warned..."

Val scratches at the back of her neck. "Don't normally see FBI special investigation teams showing up unless they have a reason, is all." The slim woman shrugs her shoulders, then scowls as the pager at her hip goes off. "Oh bother. Have to go. Work calls - but no, rumour mill doesn't know why they are coming. Seeya!" Rather abruptly, the woman shifts and takes to the air, disappearing among the trees.

"My my. Curiouser and curiouser, huh? Something wicked this way comes." Basil looks back to Yi and puts the drug away, hiding it in a well hidden pocket sewn into his pants. "Didn't get a name. The stuff is cheap though, supposedly it's natural and only has one source. Two gangs are selling it, and there is a truce so it isn't fought over. Maybe it's something crazy, like ghost residue, or freeze dried vampire blood."

Brow creasing as the Corax shifts and flies off again, Yi turns back to the ahroun only to stare harder at him. "Vampire blood is nothing to laugh at," she growls suddenly. "It... can be very addicting." Blowing out a strong exhale, she resumes course towards the farmhouse fields. "And two gangs in a drug selling alliance means there is cause to worry - especially if the FBI are involved. Your contacts, and mine, should be alerted. And I am not comfortable thinking Squeaks will be in an area they might search."

"Olga is moving her anyways. To the woods. In Kaz's van or something." Basil tells Yi somewhat distractedly, then flicks the powder. "You really think this could be Vampire blood? That actually makes sense? That's almost scary if some Vampire is out there feeding his blood to hundreds of people as a drug, a couple hundred people addicted to his blood would make him a sort of king of the streets. You could cause all kinds of hell with that."

"Exactly," hisses Yi with an increased level of tension, "but let us hope that is not the case. Make no mistake though, there are vampires in St. Claire. And if they are bold enough to come out to do this, then there may be someone powerful. There is almost always a head to a snake."

"I bet if this stuff is Vampire blood, it'll trip that Gift that lets people figure out where Wyrm things are." Basil tells Yi. "Which means that maybe we should shuffle a bit faster off the Bawn, before that crazy white boy that thinks he's an Indian that thinks he's a wolf comes along and eats us both."

Yi has to parse the identity out of that, arriving with the conclusion of "Silvertip. He is not as crazy as I think, sometimes. And vampires do not, though you would think they do, smell of the Wyrm. Not the ones we had at home, anyway." She continues on, hopping over a log. "But you are right. Let us hurry." The pace picks up, with the fostern muttering a small curse under her breath in her native tongue.

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