Werewolf Prelude: Charlene

It starts... on a pretty typical day for you, at least for a summer day. No school, so just time at the library where it's at least somewhat cool, and now you're on your way home. Your dad'll still be at work for a couple hours yet, but there's stuff to do. The day is hot and humid, and it's late afternoon.

Anthony walks with his head slightly bowed, already tanned neck exposed to the sun, a backpack hanging off one shoulder laden with books. It's a pretty awesome day outside, and if he were the type of person to enjoy the simple pleasures of suntanning and bird watching, he'd certainly be doing that. But no; he's got the lawn to mow, the bathroom to clean and the dishes to wash. Pausing to look up and get his barings by the street sign ahead of him, he waits for traffic to stop and crosses the road.

As you're heading down the road back towards your house and the innumerable annoying chores, towards your typical suburban home, you note an odd, old, blue panel van down the street, running but parked. It's not the sort of thing that most folks would notice, but you're the kind of guy who notices things that most folks wouldn't.

Anthony nearly smirks to himself; not that he thinks he's found something important out and is proud of his perceptive nature. No, he's merely amused that, thanks in part to his father's paranoia rubbing off, and to a lesser extent the mystery novels he loves to read, the first thought that jumped to his mind was 'I'm being followed'. But such a thought is rediculous, and obviously the product of too much imagination. So he chuckles at it and continues to walk home, adjusting his pack to the opposite shoulder.

Paranoia. Certainly. Though when you finally get to your house, and are starting up the walk, that feeling creeps up again, just for a moment before you hear a female voice call out to you, her tone questioning: "Anthony?"
This is not a feeling he's used to, or cares much for. It's like eyes are on his back - an expression he never truly understood until just now. His eyes widen even as his heavy brow lowers, his left foot paused just before his toes lift. Head canted down and to the side, he slowly turns around. "Yes?" he responds guardedly.

The speaker appears from the side of your house, out of the late afternoon shadows. She is a slim Hispanic woman, perhaps in her mid-20s, wearing a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' t-shirt and a pair of tight shorts. She brushes some of the hair out of her face and smiles brightly at you, her accent slight, "Anthony Meyer, yes? You have grown up so well, it has been so long. I am Gabrielle, your cousin."

He straightens his posture quickly when he sees the woman, flashes of things he should have done running through his head; comb his hair, worn a shirt without holes, and certainly not wearing socks with his sandals. But as quickly as those gender based thoughts come to him when confronted with an attractive woman, they pass away like smoke in the wind. Replaced by a feeling of lead in his stomach and a more serious expression on his face. "My cousin? I... what? I don't have any cousins," he says with the corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

The woman laughs, tilting her head sideways at your denial. "Of course you do! I was at your baptism. Not that you would remember that, of course! Just ask your mother, she knows who I am." She shifts from foot to foot, still grinning. Out of the corner of her eyes, though, she's glancing around. She's a bit uneasy here, obviously, though it's not clear why.

The young man things back now, as if he could dredge up the memory of those first few months of life and find this woman in them. His attempt fails, naturally. "My mother died, a very long time ago," he replies, his dark eyes scanning this stranger several times over, his own posture quite rigid and nervous. This whole encounter feels... foreboding.

Gabrielle looks ... well, crestfallen ... at this news. Her expression immediately turns to one of sympathy towards you. "I... I'm really sorry. I didn't know. I've kind of been ... out of the loop for some time." She looks thoughtful, trying to drudge up memories, herself. Or maybe making something up, it's a little hard to tell. "Your father," she starts, then shakes her head, "No, he wouldn't remember." Her lips purse, then a look of worry crosses her face. "The talisman she carried?" She leaves the rest of the question unasked, hoping you understand what she means.

Anthony looks unconvinced, and he makes it known. "Out of the loop for fourteen years? That's impressive." He never knew his mother, really, so the pain of her absence is one of unanswered questions rather than one of loss. Another feeling crosses through his chest, a light flicker of some unnamed emotion at the mention of the talisman. He can't quite mask the fact that its mention has an effect on him, but he plays ignorant still. "What talisman?"

Gabrielle takes a step forward, closer to you. "From your grandmother," she explains, her voice hushing, and quickening for no apparent reason. "A gem, that looks like the eye of a cat, that's what it was. You do still have it, I hope, or it's nearby?"

Anthony steps back evenly, keeping the distance between her something he can control. He frowns now, touching his fingers to his chest. "Yes, I still have it," he murmurs, admitting that much to her. How could she know about it? He keeps it on a chain about his neck pretty much all the time, and it's not something he shows anyone. Still, it's not inconceivable people have spotted it. "Why?"

She seems relieved at your reassurance, and relaxes, visibly. Apparently, all the woman needed was to know it was safe, not to possess it. She rolls her shoulders, trying to get some of the tension out of them. "Because it's important." She looks around, and, as there is no one close by, she whispers conspiratorially: "It's magic, you know."

Anthony seems briefly ready to listen to this woman; but her last words make him sigh, his own shoulders drooping and losing some tension he hadn't realized was building. A nutter. "Look, lady, I've got stuff to do. If it's not done when my dad gets home, he's gonna be pissed." He begins to walk in a circle around her, to get to his door. "I suggest you git before he gets here, cause he can be quite... Texan about property laws."

Gabrielle has that look of disappointment cover her face again. That would have worked for her, in the same situation. "No, really!" she protests. "Look. Come with me and I'll show you. It's /really/ important that you come with me." She glances around again, a bit distressed, and certainly feeling out of place for some reason.

Anthony is obviously of a more skeptical nature. He's had this ring for a very long time, and he's never seen it do anything other than look nifty and remind him that he DOES have, or did have, family other than his father. Giving Gabrielle a tired look, he reaches into his pocket. "Oh, just come with you? Just a sec, let me get my credit card number and I'll see if I can find something to write my social down on." He pulls from his pocket the keys to the house and goes to the front door.

She looks confused for a long moment at your statement, trying to decide if that means you are coming or not, so she just stands there, watching you move to the door, blinking. As you put the keys in the door, however, you feel a large THUMP on the back of your head, and then, in a voice that fades quickly, Gabrielle exclaiming: "SAM! What the hell? What if someone /saw/..." just before everything goes black.

Anthony slides the key into the lock. He frowns further, however, almost certain he hears another noise behind him. His plans to find out, however, are cut short. He slumps forward, head knocking against the door, and falls to the ground. The keys are left dangling in the doorknob.

When you start to come to, you're on something metal... and you're moving... on the floor of some manner of vehicle. Voices swim around you as you regain conciousness. First, there's a gruff, low, but female voice, from someone who sounds like a lifelong smoker: "... but, the point is, no one /did/ see, and you were just standing there, looking like an idiot while he was going to go call the cops." Gabrielle's voice, you recognize, then retorts: "I was thinking, dammit. He's my responsibility, you know." A male voice interjects: "Sam, Gabby, look, what's done is done. And if he's your responsiblity, then he's /our/ responsiblity, Gabby." Your eyes slowly open, and you find yourself looking up at, well, if it's a dog and not a wolf, it's the biggest monster of a dog you've ever seen. The wolf stares back down at you, its ears alert, and eyes open.

Anthony gives a low groan as consciousness is followed up rather quickly with the stabbing pain of a headache. Ever so slowly lifting his head, he squints at the big beast in front of him, the priority of his headache rapidly dropping in rank. The voices he hears are unfamiliar, except for Gabrielle's. He wants to jerk backwards away from this beast of a canine, but has a pretty good feeling that wouldn't be wise. So he slowly props himself up on his elbows, looking around himself in fear. Was I just kidnapped? he thinks frantically. Holy shit, I was.

The canine leans ever so slowly down at you, the leather of her moist nose flaring a bit as she sniffs at you. The conversation continues, with what sounds like a black woman saying: "What really matters now, I think, is what we're gonna do with him once he's awake, and we get home? I mean, I ain't got time for babysittin' cubs." She snorts in disdain. Gabrielle responds, sounding a little annoyed: "Look, I'm sorry that it's so much trouble for you, but I'm the only one that can teach him." There is a snorting sound from the canine hovering above you, and suddenly, there is silence in the van.

Anthony watches the wolf curiously for a moment. She doesn't seem to be threatening him, or making growly noises, which is good. There's something in her eyes, too, that seems almost out of place in an animal. He's distracted from these thoughts by the voices. Babysitting cubs? The silence is palpable suddenly. Anthony slowly gets to his feet, one hand bracing against the wall of the van. This is the same van he saw before, he realizes. "Who are you people?"

Everyone in this van is staring back at you. It's a real diverse, multi-cultural lot. Well, except the driver, thankfully. All you can see of her is the long, straight red hair as she concentrates on driving. Out the front windshield, you see a highway, though not one you recognize off-hand. In the passenger seat is a woman in torn shirt and jeans with a mop of blond hair. The second row of seats contain the black woman, wiry and buff wearing a tank top, and her hair in cornrows. Next to her is the only other guy. He's the only one smiling at the moment, giving you a little grin. He's got black hair and has Jewish features. In the last row is just Gabrielle. She looks uncomfortable at the question, but when no one else answers, she clears her throat and speaks up. "Um, you know, like I said, Anthony. I'm your cousin. And these are, um, ah, my ... friends." This prompts an elbow in her ribs from the black woman, and she whips around and says: "What?" through clenched teeth, "What if it's not the right guy?" The male, then, says softly, firmly: "It is." Gabrielle turns the other way, "How do you..." her question is interrupted as the guy points to his nose, and Gabrielle nods, before turning back to you. "This is my pack," she says, which of course, makes it terribly unclear.

Anthony's eyes go from person to person, taking in the situation with an almost calculating gaze. He's got the look of controlled distrust that seems unexpected in someone his age. They can thank his father for that later. "Your pack," he repeats flatly, resting his back against the metal wall. He feels reluctant to say more, with so many eyes on him. He's nervous and frightened quite a lot right now, though he's marginally good at keeping himself calm. "What do you want?"
Everyone's gaze has turned to Gabrielle now. Except the wolf, who is still watching you. And the driver. Again, small blessings. Gabrielle hesitates again, then says: "Well, um, it's a little hard to explain, and you probably won't believe me, so, you know, I might as well just get it over with." A nervous giggle. "We're taking you to teach you. You see... ah, we're all werewolves. And so are you."

Anthony glances down at the wolf, as if asking her if these guys are for real. He kneels down now, holding one hand towards the canine, testing if she'll let him touch her. "Werewolves," he says, again with as little inflection as possible. "You should have talked to my friend Susan instead. She's totally into that sort of shit." He gives Gabrielle a long stare, his brow knitted down. "So if you're werewolves, prove it. Go ahead. Tell me how it's not the right time of month, how 'it doesn't work like that', or 'it's not that easy'. Go on." He looks expectantly from person to person.

"Well..." starts Gabrielle, but the response comes from someplace probably unexpected. There's a blur of motion to your left, and you're pushed back onto the ground. Where once there was a large wolf now is nine or so feet and hundreds of poumds of fur, fangs and claws of female werewolf atop your suddenly fragile little body on the floor of the van. She growls, low and long, but somehow, you understand what she means: ~You should speak to your elders with respect, cub!~ "Stands!" Gabrielle cries out, and you see the werewolf's ear flick in that direction, and Gabrielle seems suddenly cowed, ducking her head. Not so the other man in the van who says, his voice calm: "Stands. She's right. The Veil." You think you hear a couple snickers from others in the van, and, after a moment of hesitation, the giant monster disappears and the wolf sits back where she was, as if nothing happened.

Anthony slams back against the floor of the vehicle, the whole frame of the van shaking under the sudden extra weight. He stares up at this... creature, with wide, shocked eyes, all the false calm and sarcastic expression he had on his face wiped away cleanly. Open surprise and fear now replace them. "O-okay," he manages to stammer back at his attacker, the sincerity in his reply almost comical. When the giant beast shrinks back to the already large wolf it was before, he stays on his back for several more minutes, breathing heavily, his heart wanting to jump out of his throat. "Convin-" His voice cracks. "Hem. Convincing evidence," he squeaks.

Most of the van breaks out laughing at your words. Even the wolf's tongue is lolling in what looks like a grin.  Gabrielle, however, just looks annoyed, shooting the rest of her pack dirty looks. "C'mon," she says, "Don't be mean to the poor kid." That doesn't seem to stop the snickering, though. She looks back at you, then, "I'm sorry about that. If there had been another way..." she shakes her head, then, "I guess we should just start with the teaching, or maybe introductions first. Yeah, introductions are important."

Anthony takes another moment to get his breath back, then slowly starts to sit up. He gives Stands a worried look, shuffling back from her as much as the van will allow. It takes him another few seconds to start paying attention to Gabe again. "I think I've met... Stan? Stands?" What a way to end the day, he thinks. This is messed up to say the least. "Gabrielle," he goes on, turning his eyes to her, then to the other guy. "Sam. Who sucker punched me," he says, rubbing the sore spot behind his head.

Again, Gabrielle, is about to speak when she is interrupted by the guy, who looks, well, a little bothered that he's been accused of the sucker punch. He explains, in a even tone, "Actually, I think what she means are proper Garou introductions. Knowing how to introduce yourself will save you a lot of heartache. Er, and probably physical pain. Normally, he of the lowest rank introduces himself first, but," he chuckles, "I am Alex Truce-Bringer, fostern Philodox of the Children of Gaia. I know, a lot of those words make no sense to you yet, but they will." The woman with the smoker's voice continues, then, turning to you, a smirk on her face. "I'm Sam, called Severe-Tire-Damage, fostern new moon of the Bone Gnawer. And I have the best sucker punch in this sept, thank you very much."

Anthony continues to rub behind his head as he looks to Sam. "You're Sam. Yeah... Yeah, it was a good one," he mumbles, bringing his hand around to see if there's any blood. He doubts it, it didn't feel like a bleeder. "Alex Truce Bringer. Philodox, Children of Gaia. You're right, it's nonsense to me." Shaking his head, the young man rolls to his knees, moving to take the last free seat in the back of the van, which looks much more comfortable than the floor. This brings him much closer to his... kidnappers, but they don't seem to want to hurt him. Not yet, anyway. Ever so gently settling down again, his eyes keep moving from face to face.

There's a knot on the back of your head, but that's it. No blood. There's a rumble from the wolf as you move, and then she lays down in the spot you vacated. Gabrielle speaks next, to the wolf first, "Yes, I'm getting to that," then to you, "She says she is Stands-Firm-Against-The-Wyrm, fostern Ahroun of the Fianna. She's also our pack alpha. You'll pick up the wolf-speak soon enough. It's pretty easy to understand, once you've spent some time in lupus." She runs her hand through her hair, "Anyway, yes, I'm Gabrielle Knows-The-Lune's-Path, cliath Theurge of the Uktena. And when someone wants to know who you are, which every Garou will when you first meet them, you'll tell them you are Anthony, cub of the Uktena, auspice unknown. Until we figure that out. Got that?" The black girl snorts, "He sure ain't no ahroun, I'll tell you that."

He seems less surprised that the wolf's little growls are understood by the others, now that he's seen her do that... trick of hers. "Pack alpha. Oh man," he sighs, putting his fingers over his cheek and leaning down into his palm, elbow on knee. "It's... er, nice to meet you all," he begins, "and it's pretty obvious to me that this is fucked up and... fucked up. But my father, he's going to come home, and I'm not gonna be there, and he's going to wig out when I'm not home by tomorrow." Shaking his head again, he leans back in the seat, head resting on the wall. "I'm also not a werewolf. That'd be something I'd notice growing up, you know?"

Gabrielle seems honestly sympathetic, and she places a hand on your shoulder. "I know. It's hard to understand. It was hard for a lot of us. But the Change doesn't happen until sometime in puberty. You're just lucky we found you before it happened, or someone innocent could have been hurt." Apparently, introductions aren't finished, though, because, in a bit more subdued manner, you hear the black girl introduce herself: "Athena Shares-Her-Strength, cliath ahroun of the Black Furies," and with a wave, a melodious voice from the long-haired driver says: "Caitlin Sings-the-Old-Songs, fostern Galliard of the Fianna." Gabrielle speaks again, then: "We'll show you, you'll understand, soon enough, once we're home. We just have to do it away from human eyes, that's the rules." She adds: "As for your father, well, we'll figure out how to deal with him later, okay?"

Anthony finds himself contemplating the possibility these people are presenting him. He figures a few things out himself. Obviously these aren't people who think you get to be a werewolf by being bitten. Or are they thinking he was bitten as a baby, when he wouldn't remember? "Caitlin, Athena. Okay." Touching a hand to his chest again, then ever so briefly examining the back of his hand, the boy frowns. "So where's Hagrid?" he asks Gabrielle, sounding bemused. Obviously he's deeply troubled and frightened still, but tries to keep a brave front on.

Perhaps a bit sadly, that question only gets you confused looks from everyone but Alex, who laughs. They all give him a strange look, and he says: "What?" Then shakes his head, "You people need to read more." Gabrielle shrugs, then shakes off the moment of silence before saying: "Okay. Teaching. Where to start?" Before she can continue, though, she's interrupted by the brakes squealing a bit, and Caitlin speaking up: "Start at the sept, 'cause we're here." Sam hops out of the still moving van, and you can see through the front window where she's unhooking a chain over the entrance to a gravel road that reads: "Park Employees Only." The van drives through, and, after a moment, Sam hops back in, and the van pulls into a small parking lot with a couple other vehicles parked there. Gabrielle smiles at you, and says, as everyone begins to pile out: "Okay, we're home now. C'mon." This warm statement is followed by a little sneer from Athena, who says: "And feel free to run if ya want to, 'cause I'd get great pleasure outta beatin' your ass."

Anthony sits up, looking out the front window as the vehicle pauses. Judging from what he can see, he figures they must have drive out to the north, into the more forested areas. He hasn't spent too much time up here, though he was told it's rather scenic. He gives Alex a lopsided smile, glad someone in the van has some connection with the real world. The boy remains quiet as the short drive into this 'park' is completed. When Athena suggests he might run, Anthony pauses halfway out the door, staring at her in an almost challenging way. Judging her from head to toe, an open sizing up of the woman, just in case she does decide to beat on him and he'd be willing to beat back. Without words, he steps outside and stretches his legs. Welcome to Wonderland, he thinks to himself.

Alex smiles back in a very friendly, open manner, but Athena receives your look with a cool glare. She's, well, buff, for a girl, not an over-the-top body-builder type, but certainly someone who is well-muscled. In fact, all of the 'pack' seem to be in pretty good shape, at least compared to your average group of American twenty-somethings. Gabrielle pats you on the back, and points in the direction of a barbed-wire fence. "Come on, this way," she says.

Anthony is surprised to find that he feels strangely welcomed here. It's a feeling he examines quickly - is this the warm tickle someone feels when they get tricked into a cult and believe they've found their true place? It seems unlikely, given how incredulous their proposition is, and how fearful and worried he still feels on top of that. "Where are we?" he asks Gabrielle as he follows her towards the fence. He was right about one thing, this place is beautifully wooded, except for that scar of a fence.

Gabrielle leads you to one spot in the fence that's a bit easier to cross, that's where the whole group of them go through. After you cross it, you feel a pleasant tingle... warm, almost electric. It's hard to describe, but it's a warm, happy feeling, a feeling of home. "This is our caern," she explains, "our holy place. Home to the Sept of the Winter Night, which is the name for this group of Garou. Garou is what we call ourselves, in case that hasn't been clear."

Anthony cannot dismiss this strange sensation as an internal change of heart. It's so very obvious, even to his skeptical nature, that he's walking on hollowed ground. "Cool," he replies absently, holding a hand out to his side and flowing it around, as if he were still riding in the van and playing with the wind. "Sept of the Winter Night. That's a sweet name." Lowering his hand, he catches up to Gabrielle again, looking conflicted. "Serious, like... I'm not a werewolf. I can't even believe what I saw before, but..." Shaking his head, he runs a hand through his dark hair. "Maybe what I saw was an exaggeration or something. Just the way she looked so close. I don't know."

Most of the others have melted away now ... at least you can't see them anymore. It's just you and Gabrielle. You walk along the fence line, but she stops, turning back to you. "Okay," she says, "I can believe you might think that." She pulls her shirt up off over her head, revealing a bare chest. But before you can even react to that sight, her form is shifting and changing, growing and swelling in mass, covering itself with fur, and changing into a giant dark-furred wolven monster that's got to be at least eight and a half feet tall. ~This,~ she says, speaking in the gutteral growls you somehow instinctively understand, ~is crinos. The war form.~

Anthony stops when she does, giving her a curious stare. Is she about to offer some kind of proof? When the shirt comes off, he opens his mouth, a hot flush running through his cheeks. What the hell? It IS some kind of sex cult, thing, he thinks rapidly. Not quite. As his 'cousin' starts to grow, her rather attractive body flowing into a new shape as easily as air into a balloon, he gapes, stepping away rapidly. "Wh... A..." There's no voice left in his throat, the young man just staring upwards with an open mouth.


The lupine monster that was Gabrielle pauses just a few moments as you take in the impressive size and shape of the war form, before she begins to change again. This time, the muscles and size melt away, though the fur remains, and a few seconds later, a wolf, looking just as normal as any other wolf (you think) stands before you. She makes a couple of vocalizations, but if she is speaking, you're not quite sure what she's saying.

Anthony's legs feel weak. He wobbles in place, then drops to his knees and hands in an amusing imitation of his cousin. "Holy... holy shit," he manages at last, staring at her with wide eyes that can hardly believe what they just saw. "Y-you guys are for real," he says, his voice again squeaking embarrassingly. Then, just to make sure it wasn't some trick of the light, and to make sure he's not crazy, he holds his hand out towards her, palm up. "Gabrielle? Where do I keep my ring?" That'll be sure to mess up any regular canine, since he only told her where it was.

She grins a little, her tongue lolling, bemused, it seems, by your question. She leans over and noses at the chain around your neck, then takes a couple steps back, and, in an instant, is human again. "I'm glad you believe now. I think that's the first step, or something." She's bare-chested again, of course, and she leans down to pick up her shirt. "You need to get used to nakedness," she says, off hand, having made note of your reaction. "It happens a lot around here. There's lots of lookie-lookie, but no touchie-touchie," she says, chuckling.

Anthony sits back on his heels, staring down at the wolf as she noses his chest. He puts his fingers over the hidden necklace, a small smile playing over his lips. Fear is gradually replaced with amazement. "That's incredible," he replies, looking up at her when she is human once more. The whole transition between the shapes makes him realize how much work CGI has yet to do in movies. "Nakedness. Right. Wonderful." That's easy enough for you to say, he thinks. A young man may find being naked around grown women somewhat... embarrassing. "Give me a few minutes to think?" he asks, leaning back against a nearby tree.

Gabrielle nods, her smile easy, almost, well, affectionate towards you. "Sure thing, kid," she says. "It's a lot to take in." She sits down near you, an arm's reach away, perhaps, and goes silent for a moment. In the silence you can hear the noises of the forest. At the edge of human hearing, there is occasionally the sound of a vehicle at the nearby road, but for the most part, nature is all you can see, hear and feel all around you. The setting sun warms your skin, and the light dapples through the trees.

Anthony stares upwards for a long time, letting the events of the day sink in. It occurs to him that nearly any change in his daily routine would probably have been upsetting. Strange, it's like we're designed not to expect anything truly different happening. Or rather, we learn not to expect it. Still, here we are. "Just call me Tony," he replies after a few minutes.

Your cousin nods again, "Sure, Tony. And you can just call me Gabby, that's fine. Though it's not easy to speak human words in the other forms, so, Path-Knower is good too." She stands and stretches. "I got someone else to introduce you to, to help decide where you should stay, here."

Pushing up to his feet, he brushes the back of his pants off and flicks a climbing ant off of his knee. "Okay, Gabby. First of all, how are we related, exactly? My mom died when I was an infant. I didn't think she had any sisters. My dad never knew of any." He again follows you through the forest path, looking around himself with an alertness he always carries.
This place you're in... it's wild, all right, but not uninhabited. Most wouldn't notice, but you do. There are paths, there are tracks. People walk around here fairly frequently. Probably wolves, too, though you're not as skilled at noticing the traces of animals. "Ah, yeah," Gabby says, "Gosh, that might be as hard to hear as 'Hey, kid, you're a werewolf,'" and she looks back, giving you a little grin. She's trying to put you at ease, but it is obvious that 'people-skills' aren't where her strengths lie. Soon, in a small clearing, a small, two-story house appears. There are a couple paths through the woods to it, but no apparent driveway, as most modern houses would have. "What do you know about your grandparents?" she asks, heading towards the house.

Tony can tell you're putting on a good face for him, and he appreciates it. Even from a complete stranger, little acts of kindness like that always make him warm up quickly. "You could say that. I don't have any cousins on my father's side, either. I never got to meet my grandparents on his side. Or on my mother's side. Hell, I don't even know their names. From what my dad told me, mother never said much about her past."

Gabby exhales, a bit of tension relieved as she does so, and she nods once more. "We share the same grandfather," she explains. "Your mother's father is also my father's father. As I understand it, our grandfather's relationship with your grandmother was ... troubled. That's pretty typical with Garou-human relations. It has to do with the Curse and the way we make most humans feel just by being around them ..." She enters the house, which is unlocked, as she speaks. Inside, it's neat, but simple. "Whisper?" Gabby calls out, "Are you in here?" There's some noise, that sounds like a couple of pans being banged together, from the next room, and Gabby smiles, and beckons you to follow as she heads that way.

Tony touches the wall as he enters the house, just brushing his fingertips along the paint and feeling the smoothness of it. "So you're like my second cousin. Or something. Our parents would be half siblings, right?" He wishes he had his backpack of books with him, suddenly. If only to have something from the outside world to touch again, and keep him grounded. He feels like Alice, or Neo. "Still, that's more family than I've ever had." Smiling back at you, he heads into the kitchen area alongside.

The next room over, through a swinging door, is a kitchen. Like the first room, it's simple, maybe old-fashioned, like it's been decorated in the same way for thirty or fourty years. Still, it too is neat. Standing inside is a woman in a peasant blouse and bell-bottom jeans drying her hands in a towel. It's hard to guess her age, exactly. She's pretty enough, with shoulder-length dishwater-blonde hair, and maybe in her early to mid 30s, but the lines on her face and the look in her eyes seem ... older ... than that. She smiles at Gabby, and at you, and, setting the towel aside, she speaks, her voice in the softest of whispers: "Good afternoon, Gabby. Who is your friend?" Gabby nudges you, and murmurs, "She's okay, introduce yourself."

Anthony offers this new person another smile, nodding his head politely to her when he enters the kitchen. This house is cool, he thinks. Most of the houses he's been in are all new built things made of concrete and steel. Maybe if he had some friends, he would have the opportunity to see some older homes. "Me? Oh... Er." He thinks to himself quickly. "Anthony Meyer. An... Uktena? Pup. Er, cub." He looks back to Gabbie for reassurance. "That just clicked in. You guys consider me a /cub/?" The boy finds that highly entertaining.

Gabby smiles at you and nods. The blonde woman's eyes light up at your words, in what can only be described as delight, or joy. Again, she speaks, maybe a bit faster, but still in that light brush of a whisper: "Yes, Anthony. Any young Garou who has not completed his or her Rite of Passage is called a cub. It is not an insult, do not worry. I am Kelly Whispers-with-Spirits, adren Theurge of the Children of Gaia. Keeper of the Land here at the Sept of the Winter Night. And your auspice...?" she asks, but Gabby interrupts before you can speak: "We don't know yet. We just cubnapped him, like, two hours ago." She grins when she says that, full of pride.

Anthony grins a little, shaking his head head at Whispers. "No, it's just that I used to be a cub in Beaver's," he says with amusement. "Nice to meet you," he goes on, nodding again. He gives Gabbie a look of surprise, then embarrassment. "Sorry for, like, making fun of you when I saw you," he apologizes. "I was sure you were some kind of scammer." Walking to one wall, he looks out the window thoughtfully, hands folded neatly behind his back. "Sept of the Winter Night, you said, right? So this place is kind of like a holy place?"

Kelly's smile broadens, "Two hours? My, my, you are brand new, aren't you? How wonderful." Gabby dismisses your apology, still smiling, "Don't worry about it! I'm just glad it worked out, okay, you know? I'm sorry Sam had to knock you out." For the briefest of moments, Kelly has a look of mild distress at this news, but her smile returns shortly. A look passes between the two women, and Gabby just nods, and pulls out a chair at the table. Apparently, she's passed the teaching baton to Kelly, as she answers your question: "Yes, Anthony," she whispers once more, "The most sacred of holy places: a caern. It is where the physical world is closest to the spirit world, which we call the Umbra. We gather at these places, and form septs to defend them, and to refresh our connection with the Mother." She indicates a chair, "Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable. Would you care for some water?"

Tony accepts the offered chair, settling into it and crossing one foot over the other beneath the legs. "Yes, please, water would be great," he says, realizing just how thirsty he is. The explanation of the caern is chewed on for a quiet moment as he leans back in the chair, head tilted towards the ceiling. "I guess that shouldn't be much of a surprise, either. The Umbra. The name has a familiar ring to it." Lowering his gaze down to Whispers, he asks suddenly and with a curious look of fear. Defense. "Defend it against what?" he asks, suddenly having flashes of his father returning home from a tour with proclamations of impending armaggedon in the middle east.

Whisper's expression turns dour at that question. She steps to the sink, reaches up for a glass, and then fills it with water, which she sets before you. "The short answer is simple: The Wyrm. Evil. Corruption. Decay. The long answer is a bit more ... complicated. Our enemies are legion, but they all serve the Wyrm, wether knowing or unknowingly." She sits, then, and suddenly brightens, "My, I almost forgot, half the reason you probably brought him over here in the first place, Gabby," she says, "To figure out his auspice!" Gabby's expression also lightens at this and she nods. "That's right! I remember seeing you use that fetish when I was a cub; I'd hoped you'd still have it." Whisper nods and pulls something that looks like a small rock on a string from around her neck.

Picking up the glass of water with a murmured thanks, he takes a long drink. About to put it back down... then tilts it up to finish it off. "Sounds like a complicated issue. I look forward to learning it in depth." The idea of such a foe is interesting in itself. It also sounds, to his ears, a bit too simplistic. Bad Guys, from what he's read and seen, are generally more complex than simply being evil and bad. "My auspice?" Tony gives Gabrielle an inquisitive look.

Your desire to learn, your eagerness and acceptance seems to only make two already pleased women happier. They both grin, ear to ear, at you. Then Whisper closes her eyes and concentrates. Gabby nods at you, and explains: "Your auspice is the phase of the moon when you were born. It ... determines your place in our society. But, you know, it's more than just that. It's part of who each Garou is. It's part of your personality, your attitude, your interests. It's really kind of amazing, when you think about it." She laughs a little and says, "It's like astrology. Only, you know, /real/." Whisper opens her eyes then, and leans forward to show the smooth side of the rock she was holding. The image of a half-circle appears on the shiny surface. Her soft voice speaks: "The half-moon. Philodox." She is about to speak more when, suddenly, the kitchen door bursts open, and both of the women shoot to their feet. No apparent threat appears, however. Instead, it's a girl. She's small, maybe five feet, and wire-thin. Her face and body are young, like a seventh or eighth-grader, maybe. Her features are distinctively Native American, and her straight black hair is long, and braided into two pig tails. She's got a huge grin on her face, her white teeth shining as she sing-songs: "New Cub! New Cub! New Cub! Yay!"

Anthony is almost as quick to jump to his feet when the door opens so suddenly, one hand held out in a warding gesture. The sudden fright fades quickly as the girl starts to sing about his arrival. He sits back down in his chair with a thump, another amused smile crossing his face. "Nice. I see news spreads fast around here."  He was hoping to talk more about this auspice of his. Still, he shant be rude. "Hello there," he greets. Waiting for one of the two older women to make introductions, he continues to watch this younger one amusedly.

Rather than introduce her for you, the two women sit back down. Gabby seems ... exasperated ... at the interruption, while Whisper is, well, patiently bemused. The girl comes almost bouncing up to you, looking you up and down. "Hi!" She says, her voice almost as quick as Kelly's is quiet: "I'm Bits Little-Smiles, Ragabash Cub of the Wendigo. Who're you?"

Tony seems pleased to find out this girl is a 'cub' as well. His voice doesn't squeak, this time, upon meeting a new person. "I'm Anthony." He pauses, glancing at Whispers, then goes on. "Philodox Cub of Uktena." He offers a hand out to the slightly younger girl, smiling at her warmly. He likes her already. "Nice to meet you."

Bits just keeps on grinning, as she reaches out and shake-shakes your hand, though there's a bit of a surprise in her eyes. "Ohh!" She says, "So you're not the cub that Talks-through-Nights went off to go get." Immediately, she covers her mouth. "Whoops!" Whisper tilts her head, and asks: "Mary went off to get a cub, too?" Bits nods, her hands still covering her mouth. Gabby laughs at this news, "Two Wendigo and an Uktena! That'll sure get Grim-scowl's lederhosen in a bunch!" Whisper gives both of the other females a stern look, and they both sit down. "Bits," she comments, "it's all right for you to keep listening. And you don't have to do it from the other side of the door, okay?" The girl looks embarrassed, as Kelly turns back to you. "I am very impressed you picked your auspice up right away and put it into your introduction, Anthony. Very good."

Anthony doesn't do well with compliments. He just gives a mild shrug, a small smile, and nods his thanks back to Whispers. Listening to the words bantered between the women, he tries to make some sense of things. Having a context now for them, he finds it's not as confusing as it all was even an hour ago. "So are you new here, too?" he asks Bits, though it's pretty obvious she's been around for longer than he has, given her apparent familiarity with things.

Bits seems surprised, again, that you're still talking to her, apparently used to being quickly dismissed. She shakes her head. "Um, been about, um, like two weeks now." She's got a bit of a twang to her voice, you notice now; it's not a local accent. Seeing that you're talking to the other cub at the moment, Gabby leans over to talk quietly to Kelly about something. Bits grins again at you, "You're, like, really new, though, right? Are you gonna stay here?" she asks, eagerly.
Anthony, while obviously more mature than most his age, still seems a little more comfortable talking to someone closer to his. "About as new as they get, from what I can tell. I don't know if I'm going to stay here or what. I  don't know how that sort of stuff works, yet." He realizes that if Bits is a werewolf, too, then she must be able to go all beasty like Gabrielle did. He can't even fathom seeing this cute girl going through such a change.

Bits puts her hand on yours, smiling. "I hope so. It'll be nice to have, you know, a friend around here, like my age or something. 'Cause, you know, Whisper an' my tribe are nice an' all, but," she just grins again, sheepishly. Gabby pokes her head in between the two of you, and interrupts. "Yeah. I think that we're going to have him stay here, in the cub house," Gabby says, "Whisper here is sort of looks after the place, and helps teaching cubs about stuff. I'll stay here the first couple nights, to get you settled in, Tony, okay? And I'll be around to teach you tribal stuff, and we'll find you an auspice mentor, too." She smiles. "This is the first time I've ever got to teach a cub." Whisper stands, then, saying, "Let's go upstairs and we'll let you pick out a room."