Tapestries: Pablo - Monday, August 21, 2006, 9:39 AM

It's a pretty typical night for Shay, maybe a bit quieter than usual. The streets of the city seem a bit still, but that could just be from the heat. It's early August, and most of the summer festivals are done, so downtown is empty after dark. The sky is clear, and an almost full moon shines down from above.

Shay shuffles into onto the stoop of a fancy law office. Being a weeknight, he's at a loss - nothing happening. The crowds of bored teenagers and young twenty-somethings looking for fun won't be out and about until the weekend - especially now that school is revving up. For a moment, the scruffy teen sits down on the concrete railing and kicks his legs, putting thoughts together as to the next course of action.

A glint of light catches your eye, drawing your attention and distracting you. Something bright is on the roof with you, just over to your right.

Shifting, the kid turns to look up onto the roof of the stoop, peering up through the darkness. With the bright moon and the city lights from the corporate types burning midnight oil, it shouldn't be too hard to get an idea...
You walk around to the corner and there, leaning against the air conditioning unit atop the building is a mirror. What a weird place to put a mirror, up on a building roof. You think you see something in the mirror and when you peer to look closer ... suddenly, it's like you've belly-flopped into the ice cold waters of the lake. There's a slapping sting, and then a chill runs through you and you freeze, for just a moment, suspended in ... what it's hard to tell ... in coldness. You gasp for air and instinctively arch forward, and now ... you're someplace else. The lights from the offices are gone, as are the stars. The only thing bit of light remaining is that moon, still shining, maybe even brighter, down upon you. The world seems muted somehow, drained of color.

Shay tries to pick himself up off the ground. Assuming there is some ground to hold onto. A shake of his head sends stringy, uncut hair flipping around. "Whuh." That wasn't cool. He didn't remember eating anything that could do this. Not for a while, at least... Though, maybe those stale bagels he dug out of the dumpster were spiked? If this is interesting, he'll have to go back there. Standing up, he looks around, to see where it is he fell. 

You seem to be actually, still on the roof of the building. Or of some building. It's rather translucent and you're not really sure how substantial it is. You hear a rumbling and a few feet in front of you is a well, giant spider. It doesn't appear to notice you, but it's covered in ice and just sitting there rumbling. Another noise from behind you, and you turn to see a little goat floating in the air in front of you. It bleats at you in a rather urgent manner. Though, for a goat, it's odd, only has one horn. This is got to be the /weirdest/ trip you've ever had.

Scratching the back of his neck, Shay looks thoughtful at it all. The first thing is first: he breathes in, and out, and makes sure he's all calm. First rule of tripping: make sure you're feeling good. Bad reactions come from bad moods and bad situations surrounding the trip itself, so feel comfortable and relaxed and have happy thoughts. Next, he shrugs and, walking over to the goat, bleats in return - a rather choppy, off-key noise, before he grins. 

The one-horned goat looks surprised, drawing its head back, and gives a hesitant bleat before it wheels around, long white horse-like tail flicking, and it gallops over towards the edge of the building. It's only at this point that you notice that you are completely naked. In addition, everything on this trip seems oddly ... clear. There's no haze, no distraction of any sort at the edge of your vision.

Naked? That's... new. He should at least be able to feel his clothes. The whole world never turns different entirely. This is weird, even for him. With nothing better to do, he crosses after the goat, though is very careful to avoid the edge of the building. No matter how much you think you can fly, it still doesn't mean you won't fall and crack your head. 

The goat reaches the edge of the building, flicking its tail back and forth, and giving you another insistent bleat. It's floating above ... well, that seems to be the fire escape, though instead of metal, it seems to be made of webbing.
Going over to the fire escape, Shay kneels down. A hazarded glance back at the spider, who seems to be chilling out. Then, with a shrug, he reaches down and touches the fire escape, to make sure that it's solid. Then a glance back at the hovering goat. 

The escape seems solid enough. As you hesitate, the one-horned goat bleats again. It seems to be in quite a hurry, and it starts to float downwards.
The hurry doesn't seem to be a problem for him. Far be it from him to be rushed by a goaticorn while he's naked and crawling down a metal web. Sliding downwards, he clings and carefully begins to climb. When he was younger, he climbed trees a lot. These days, it's all about scaling fences. 

You reach the bottom with relatively little effort, and you take a moment to look around. It's the city. Or a city, all right. There are buildings, of metal and brick and steel, but everything is the muted color of an old black and white photo, and there are webs everywhere, covering everything. It's like some sort of a post-apocalyptic movie where all the humans are gone and all that's left are spiders. And you and your goaticorn. Which is off again, galloping in the air down the alley towards the street. Behind you, then, you hear a new noise. Something that sounds like a cross between a chittering, static, and the sound a modem or fax machine makes.

Whatever that noise, Shay does not like it. He's going to get away from it, and not make the mistake of looking behind him - he's seen horror movies before. The kid jogs after his guide, but makes sure to hug the wall. Hopefully his guide won't lead him out into oncoming traffic. 

Your guide, unfortunately, has gone around the corner already. Also, quite unfortunately, unlike in horror movies, apparently not looking at the source of the noise isn't going to help. You're about halfway to the end of the alley when you're hit from behind. A spray of webbing covers your back. It's not sticky and light, like webbing you've felt before, but it's heavy, like dragging a parachute of concrete, and it slows you down considerably.

A noise barks from the kid's throat, not unlike a scalded puppy. This is... weird. This whole jaunt has been weird. "Uh. Goat?" His voice is kind've high and uneasy, croaking out. "Help?" That last bit is almost curious. He has a bad feeling, even if all of this shouldn't be real. A hand rubs at the webbing. Seeing as he has little option, Shay looks over his shoulder. 

When you look behind you, you see exactly what one might expect to see in this sort of situation. A spider. About dog-sized. It chitter/statics at you again, and lets loose with another spray of the webbing-stuff, pushing you against the side of the building, making it virtually impossible to move. You can turn your head enough to see the little one-horned goat return, size up the situation, bleat in what can only be described as panic and bolt back out of sight.

Well great. Now Shay is at a total loss as to what to do. This is getting bad. But it can't be real. So, he just stands there, rubbing at the texture of the webbing. This isn't right. Not at all. What he'd give for a really big shoe right now. 

The spider examines you for a moment, then lets out another spray of webbing. For a moment, you make the odd note that it's coming from the spider's mouth, not it's rear. That's weird. Then you're completely held tight, in the darkness, unable to move or see anything. You hear the chitter/static sound again, and then a second time, apparently further away. A few moments later, you hear something else. A bleat. Followed by some gutteral growls that aren't English, but you can somehow understand. ~What are you doing here, little guy?~ Bleat. ~What's that?~ Bleat. ~Timmy's trapped in the well? Sorry, I don't speak spirit.~ A very insistent bleat. ~All right, all right, I'll follow you.~ A few more moments of silence, then you feel hot breath panting very close to you, and that gutteral growl once more. ~Well, well, what have we here?~ BLEAT! ~You're /very/ helpful, you know that?~

Assuming he can be heard through the webbing, Shay calls out, "Hey. Um. Is there a talking dog out there?" It wouldn't surprise him, really. It doesn't surprise him he can understand it. But this all is pretty elaborate, a real trip around the world. 

That seems to surprise the voice. It pauses, then asks, ~Who are you?~ While he tries to decide if he should be insulted by being called a 'dog'.

The response is almost amused. "You're in my head - don't you know?"

This gets a panting laugh in return. ~Am I? And here I just thought I was in the Penumbra, running errands. You're blowing my mind. Anyway, if you'd like out of the Pattern Web there, just a little courtesy, huh? I suppose you're a Gaian, given your friend here.~

BLEAT!

A pause. "Don't follow, man. I just fell into a mirror. But uh, if you could get me out, that'd be great." Another pause. "I'm naked, too. Not cuz I'm weird, but I must've left'm somewhere. Or something." 

A pause in return. ~Fell into a mirror? But?~ Bleat. ~And, that means you are...~ Bleat! ~And he's...~ BLEAT! ~Good Gaia, this is quite the predicament.~ You hear a slash, and another, and a third, like knives running through plastic, and the webbing begins to fall away. You blink, open your eyes and see the one-horned goat floating there, all pleased with itself, and next to it is, well, it's a eight-and-some-change-foot-tall Doberman Pinscher (with uncropped ears), standing on his hind legs, head tilted to look you over, his black nose flaring as he scents you.

Shay just stares up at the pair. "Um. Woof?" He looks around for the spider. If his friend here is here, it'd make sense the thing Would be gone, but hey, nothing seems logical at the moment, so. Still, first things first - he peels himself out of the cocoon. "Big bugs," he comments as he slithers out of the mass.

The one-horned goat bleats in triumph. It's work here is done, apparently, as it disappears into nothingness. Meanwhile, the giant dog melts away, bones shifting and mass disappearing almost instantaneously until what's standing before you is a black man in his mid to late 20s, probably about 5'7" or so. He's got glasses on, is wearing a t-shirt with Huey from the Boondocks on it (I don't see what the big deal is just saying hoe!), and a pair of jeans. He has a rather modest, even conservative afro. He extends a hand, "I'm Cursor. What's your name, kid?"

Shay takes the hand, giving it a shake. He doesn't recognize the cartoon, not having seen a respectable hour of TV in ages, but he smiles none the less. "So, uh, did I step into some comic book tucked in an attic?" He gestures at the black and white walls, the spider webs.

Cursor rubs his chin. "Well, like I said, this is the Umbra, or the Penumbra to be precise. It's the spiritual mirror of the physical world. It's complicated, and I'm sure I will find someone else to explain it to you once we get somewhere safe. Even with the moon out, it's not the best place to be just hanging around." He tugs at your shoulder, "C'mon."

"Sure." Definitely a trip around the world. Shay looks around, as he follows close to Cursor. "So, where did my pants go?"

Cursor looks down. "Hadn't noticed," he smirks. "You left 'em in the physical world. Most things physical can't pass through the Gauntlet." He looks back upwards, and begins to head off into the street, which is strangely empty. 

"Watch out for the cable cars," Cursor says, "They sometimes come outta nowhere. It's just a few blocks to my car." Not that you can see any cars around here. It's spookily empty for a city.

Cable cars? But if ... Okay, this just isn't making any damn sense. But, one thing the kid is good at is not asking too many questions. Why and How ain't that important when what really matters most times is what. So he follows along behind Cursor without much trouble.

Cursor walks about a block and a half more and then he concentrates for a brief moment, before taking your hand in his. Before you can protest, or pull away, you hit that wall again, hard ... you're suspended ... but this time it's faster, doesn't take as long, and you can feel Cursor's hand holding yours. And then /wham/, you're back in the real world. The lights, the sounds, the smell of the city filling your senses again. You're standing next to a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, which looks almost brand spanking new. You hear the beep-boop of an alarm system being turned off and he opens the back door, "Get in, kid."

No questions, here. He slides in, marveling at the car. Doesn't get to ride in a lot, all that often. Sure, he makes friends in the party circuit, drifts with them, but not all that often, and nothing This pretty. He's touching everything, fiddling with it. 

Cursor slides into the front seat and, shutting and locking the doors (including enabling the child safety lock, which keeps you from unlocking back there), he looks in the rearview mirror. "Er, yeah, I'm totally going to get pulled over. 'Black dude makes off with naked white kid.'" He shakes his head, "Behind the seat back there is a duffel bag. Should be some spare clothes of mine in there, probably fit you." He turns on the truck, and the stereo blasts with Al Green, shaking the interior of the SUV, which he promptly turns down, sticking a Bluetooth earpiece over his ear, flipping it on, and speaking out loud: "Call Antonio."

Reaching behind Cursor's seat, Shay drags out a duffelbag, and shimmies into some rather big jeans. They would fit him just fine, if Cursor didn't have a taste for big ass pants. Then the shirt, and he pops on the beat up old sneakers. Good enough, really, even if he does feel like he's swimming in the clothes. "Do you usually run around as a big mandog in the Umbrella talking to goaticorns?"

That breaks the driver up laughing, and he answers, "Sometimes. When it needs doing. And it was a Unicorn. Just a little one." Then he's talking on the phone and you get to share in one half of his conversation: "Hi, yeah, Antonio. It's Cursor. You'll never believe what I found tonight heading back home. A Coggie cub, in the Umbra. No, I shit you not. In the fucking Umbra. No, unknowing, just fell in there, I guess. Luckily, his kinfetch found me. Pattern Spider had him bound up, but otherwise okay. Anyway, your protectorate and all, so I guess you have dibs. None? What about Donovan?" He snorts, "Doesn't surprise me. He was always such a flake. Okay, well, I guess I'll take him to Kelly, then. Your loss. Okay, then, talk to you later." And the call ends. "Well," he says, over his shoulder, "Looks like we're taking a bit of a ride. Hope you don't mind." It's really only while you're exploring and eavesdropping that you notice that the truck smells a bit like ... burritos.

"A coggie?" He has a few other questions, but what derails him is that scent. Food. His stomach grumble. Shifting around, trying to isolate that smell, his attention is only partially on Cursor. "Long drive's okay." 

Cursor explains, after he hangs up: "Child of Gaia." Not that makes any more sense to you. "It's why you had that Unicorn spirit attached to you. You should probably belt up back there," and he pulls onto the freeway, heading southwest on I-43.

Clicking his belt on, Shay settles in. "So, who's Kelly?" Since there doesn't seem to be really anything to do but talk to Cursor, after all, no sense in letting the air go empty. 

Cursor seems amiable enough, happy to answer your questions. "Kelly Whispers-with-Spirits. Most just call her Whisper. She's the eldest Child of Gaia around here, which is why I'm bringing you to her." He pauses, then asks, "I'm stopping for some burgers, do you want something?"

Cursor's being real nice to him. Rather than showing his enthusiasm, Shay smiles and offers as politely as possible, "If that wouldn't be too much trouble." He's learned to be appreciative when getting handouts - makes you not look greedy and unthankful. "So, why?" A pause. "I mean, is being a Child of Gigan something important? Am I some kinda jedi?"

Again, you've made him laugh, "Gaia, not Gigan. Gaia. What it means," he says this as he pulls off at an exit and into a McDonald's, "Is that, like me, you're a werewolf. Just a different tribe; the Children of Gaia." He says this very nonchalantly, as if it were blatantly obvious.

"Oh." Well, that makes a lot of sense. But, compared to the pattern spiders and unicorns (!) and stuff, he's not really shocked. Let's see where this goes. But right now, it appears to be going through a drive thru, which is a really great place to be.

Cursor orders a whole lot of food at the McD's, and he hands most of it to you. A super-size fry, two Big Macs and one of those giant pints of Coke. He sticks with a chicken sandwich and some fries. "That good for you?" he asks, as he pulls out and back onto the freeway.

"Oh yeah." That's an understatement. He stuffs himself. Like any other scavanger, you eat when you can, and as much as you can, since there's no telling when the next meal's coming. That's one reason he loves this time of year - even though school starts for his friends, a lot of the churches near the campus have free food night for a sermon. He may ache when the meal's over, but it's a happy pain. 

Cursor smiles a bit as he glances back at you. Having seen you naked, he isn't surprised you're quite hungry. He drives, letting you eat in silence as long as you wish.

After he's done, he packs his trash away, curling up. It's not a surprise that, once he actually stops aching, he starts to teeter off to sleep. Food + cool car = drowsy kid. 

You wake up sometime later, when Cursor pulls off a paved road and onto some gravel. Looking out the tinted windows, you notice you're way the hell out of the city. You're off a two-lane highway, but there's forest everywhere. Cursor steps out of the jeep, hops down to where a chain crosses the gravel driveway, with a sign reading: 'Park Employees Only' and unhooks it. He hops back in the vehicle, pulls forward a few feet, then rehooks the chain behind him. Again he hops into the truck, and pulls up a few hundred feet into the woods, where there are four or five other cars parked. "We're here," he says, looking over his shoulder at you. 

Woah. Woods. Aside from the park, this is a relatively new thing for him. When he was a kid... well... he unbuckles his seatbelt and crawls out, finding himself swimming in his pants again. "So. Um. Where is 'here'? Your friends camping?" 

Cursor chuckles. "No. They live out here." He takes your hand, the one not holding the pants up, and leads you off the driveway, through a bit of a ditch and to a barbed wire fence with a sign on it: "No Trespassing. Nature Preserve. Wisconsin DNR." "Careful there," he mentions, as he guides you over the fence.

He manaves to wiggle around that. Handling hazards like this isn't much a challenge for him, except that he gets his pants caught in the wire. A little dance later, he's walking along the way. 

It's not far past the fence that a feeling of warmth overcomes you. Like little gentle pinpricks of pleasure and happiness covering your body, this feels like 'home'. "I have to announce we're here," Cursor says, and then lets loose with a howl that's a bit surprising coming from a human throat. It's pretty impressive, actually, and after a moment, the 'song' is returned, with a chorus of other howls.

Blink. "That's creepy." Though, it isn't so much. It feels... nice, in that spine-tingly sorta way. He wipes the goosebumps off his arm, regardless. 
Cursor smiles down at you. "You'll get used to it, soon enough." He pats you, in what could almost be seen as an affectionate, fatherly sort of way. "This way," he indicates, leading you to the south and west down a small path.

After a few minutes of walking, you're brought to a small two-story home, one that's probably 100 years old or so. He knocks, then, opens the door, calling out: "Kelly? Are you around? Found something you lost."

Lost? He's never met this Kelly. But then, he's not going to interject. It'll all unfold, he's just gotta pay attention. 

A few moments after he calls out, a woman appears at the swinging doors to the kitchen. She smiles a kind smile, is probably in her early 30s, with blond hair, but the expression in her blue eyes and the lines on her face show someone with more experience. She brightens upon seeing the two of you, wiping her hands. "Cursor!" she says, her voice barely audible, just a Whisper, "How good to see you? And who is this with you?"

Shay has managed to keep himself from being noticed too much, so he tries that little vanishing act of blending in with the background. It doesn't really work, but he appears as unassuming as possible, while smiling some. Cursor's his liason, if it were - besides, she asked him, not Shay. 

Cursor's quick to answer, regardless. "His name is Shay. A new cub, of yours, I found him in -- get this -- the Umbra, bound into the Pattern Web." While he seems light-hearted about it, Kelly's expression immediately turns to concern, and she rushes over to Shay's side, looking him over, "Are you hurt, at all?" she murmurs.

A moment later, a fourth person enters the kitchen, though his attention is on a pad of paper he holds in front of him with one hand, a pencil twirling between the fingers of the other. He's a tall boy, around sixteen years old, with black hair and heavy brows, brown eyes, and a Germanic looking complexion. Stopping when he notices that Whisper isn't the only one here today, he silently looks between the other two guys. That black dude is... Cursor, right? The other one is completely unfamiliar.

Shay shakes his head, sending his long, unkept brown hair swaying. "I'm okay, the unicorn pulled Cursor over after I just got all gummed up." he assures. "But I do need to use the bathroom." Though, his attention is caught by the new comer slipping inside, and the fifteen year old brings his hand up, giving a wave. 

Whisper nods, and quickly ushers the newest cub to the stairs and up, careful and affectionate to the young man, in a very motherly way. Cursor turns to look at Tony, though, and ask, his brow furrowed: "Do I know you?"

Tony waves back to Shay. "Hey," he greets simply as he passes by. Turning his head back to Cursor, he shakes his head, smiling amiably. "I don't think we've met. I'm Tony Meyer, philodox cub of Uktena," he says, offering a hand out to the black dude.

The short black man takes the hand firmly and shakes it. "A pleasure. I'm Cursor, athro Ragabash of the Glass Walkers, and Moonwalker here at the Winter Night." He smiles wryly, "And now I know where I recognize you from. Your face is all over the TV."

Tony simply looks uncomprehending at that statement. "My face? What?" To his ears, something nonsensicle just passed. But then, just as fast, he realizes why his face would be on TV. "Fuck, fuck. Oh, shit, no. Dude, Cursor, you're the one with the cell phone? I need to call my father. He must have the cops looking for me."

Cursor gets a little bemused look on his face, more at being called 'dude' by a cub than anything. But he's a new moon, he can understand a little lack of decorum, especially in such a situation. He nods. "Yeah, missing white kid, gives the media a field day." He starts to the door, then Kelly reappears with the newest cub in tow. She speaks softly, as usual, but her words draw Cursor's attention. "One of those they cannot trace," she reminds the Walker, and he nods, giving Tony a 'follow me' motion. "If you'd been a girl, they'd've had a conniption. Now you're going to have to cross the highway and go down a few hundred yards towards the Forest HQ to get any signal at all," and he opens the door and heads outside.

Shay smells like everything in the bathroom poured into a bucket. His hair is wet, the scent of women's bathroom soap clinging to it. His clothes have that polpouri aroma, and he's rubbed lotion. Impromptu "bath", for all intents and purposes. 

Kelly turns back to Shay with a gentle smile. "So, Shay, tell me about yourself. And then we'll talk about your new life, here." She inspects the clothes you're wearing, "This looks like Cursor's style, so I'm going to wager you lost yours falling into the Umbra?"

Tony just nods his head quickly at Cursor, less concerned about the ethnic implications of an investigation on his disappearance and more worried about his father. The man may be a little nuts, but he's a good guy, and they have a healthy relationship. "Sure, whatever works," he says, heading outside just as Shay returns.

Shay gives a bob of his head, and he smiles shyly. It's somewhat awkward talking about ending up naked to a girl. "Well, I uh. I live downtown. Around." He makes a vague gesture. "I... New life? Are you adopting me?" The sound is a little dubius.

Kelly rests her hand on your shoulder. "In a way," she says, "You are one of us, a Garou, or, as humans call us, werewolves. So, you belong here with your kin. That is the reason you had the Unicorn spirit watching over you, to help us find you."

"Huh." It's a source of bewilderment. So, Cursor wasn't just, well... it's hard to believe, yeah, but he supposes... The kid reaches up, and lightly pinches Kelly on the arm.

Kelly laughs lightly at the pinch, "Don't believe in me? I would think being thrust into the Umbra would make a believer out of anyone. I don't believe I've heard of that happening, at least not in the city, to a cub." She reaches into her shirt and pulls out a small, smooth rock on a string. She closes her eyes and concentrates for a moment, then sets the stone down on the ground. A crescent appears on the smooth surface, apparently from nothing. "This is a fetish," she explains, "a fetish is an item that has a sleeping spirit bound to it, so we can use some of the spirit's powers. This particular fetish allows me to determine the auspice of those we don't know. This symbol means you are a Theurge, a crescent moon."

"Just making sure I'm not insane." Or he took something bad, laced with bad things. He's usually good about what he takes, but you never know. "Okay." He takes that all in, but doesn't really grasp the meaning of it - the single syllable word should impart that enough, but he's not about to harry the woman with 'what, why', providing her with a chance to 'go on'.

Kelly explains further, her tone always hushed: "There are a number of divisions among Garou. First is the manner of your birth. Most are born human, a few born as wolf, and some are born by the mating of two Garou. They are the metis, and deformed. Garou are not to mate with other Garou. The second division is by auspice. The phase of the moon under which you were born determines much for a Garou. Your auspice, and mine, is the crescent moon, the Theurge. We are the seers, the speakers with spirits."

That might explain how he saw the unicorn. "So, how does that relate to the Children of Gaia? Cursor said that's what I am, and what you are. Isn't he, too? Or...?"

Kelly shakes her head. "No, that is the third, and saddest division among the Garou. The tribes. There are 12 tribes of Garou who are allies, of a sorts. But our tribe is not one based on ethnic relationships or regions of origin. Our tribe was formed to end the Imperigium, millenia ago." She smiles, sadly. "The Imperigium was a time when Garou controlled the population of humans in the world by culling when there grew too many. We are today the peacemakers of the Garou, the mediators. We seek to unite the tribes in our true fight, for our mother Gaia, and end the petty differences that have long seperated us.