Tapestries: Pablo - Thursday, August 10, 2006, 10:42 PM

Peter's tail wags, ever so slightly, kind of doggishly, really. ~May Luna watch over you,~ he says, apparently a wish of good luck. He looks over your head, towards his mother, who wordlessly communicates with him. He looks back to you. ~It was nice to meet ... meet you, too. Thank you.~ And with that, the horned wolf-child tromps back into the front room. "Thank you for being nice to my son," Whisper says, standing, "I will see you later, and we can speak more of what it means to be Garou."

Anthony nods to Whisper, giving a little bow of his head in a gesture of deferrence that he isn't even consciously aware of. "Sounds good to me," he murmurs, watching her leave. "That's cool. Well, I mean... not cool, cause he's deformed, but... I don't know," he blathers to his cousin. "It didn't seem so bad. I mean, you guys look like that when you want anyway, right?"

Gabby leans back and considers this, "Well. Some are worse than others. It's kind of freaky, though, especially when you're used to seeing normal Garou, to have one with a horn sticking out of his head. And, the bad guys, like he said, are often deformed. They're sterile, too, I dunno if I mentioned that or not. There are just so many reasons to avoid having them ... " She shakes her head. "But, personally, I try not to prejudge. It's hard. But, you know, if a mule is useful, then, you know, I'll treat 'em decent. Even if they're beneath you -- all are of Gaia. That's what the Litany says. Not everyone feels the same way, though."

Anthony has more he wants to say on that subject. It seems to him that this Litany has a few conflicting points. "I can understand the reason behind not wanting Garou mating, if it leads to infertile kids. I mean, that's just basic survival. Sounds to me other like issues I've heard, like homosexuals." He takes a breath, rubbing his forehead. "It's too early in the morning for philosophy," he decides.

Gabby laughs a little at that. "Yeah. It's always too early for philosophy for me. Now, if you want to talk spirits, I'm your girl." She laughs some more. "Oh, and before you say something. We will. And I'll show you how to get into the Umbra, the spirit world. But that's a trip for some night. So, I guess we could talk tribal things, unless you had a specific question about something." If you didn't know better, you might think she was trying to avoid talking about the tribe. Maybe it's just your imagination.

Anthony nods towards her. "Tribal things sounds well enough. Can we talk outside, though? Get some fresh air and walk around some?" He likes this house, but he wants to stretch his legs, get some exersize in and wind himself up for the day. He's quite fit himself, which has him fitting right in among all these other werewolves who seem to be all in shape.

That makes Gabby grin. "Of course! Here I am having you all cooped up like some silly Glass Walker. Let's go!" The idea seems to have reinvigorated her, and she almost runs out the back door.

Tony hustles after her, taking a deep breath once he's out in the open and under the morning sun. He stops a few meters from the house to stretch properly, arms held out. Pinwheeling them around several times each, then twisting his torso this way and that, touching his toes, arcing his back, and rolling his head around. Looks like it's a bit of a routine for him. Each leg is twisted and bent as far as he can. Not like some atheletes can for sure, but with the ease of familiarity nonetheless. "So tell me about Uktena," he says once he finishes, bouncing on his bare feet towards you.

Gabby watches you for a moment, then does some stretching of her own, just a moment or two, though. "Well, like I said," she starts, "We're one of the original tribes from the Pure Lands here, like Younger Brother Wendigo, and Middle Brother Croatan." With a bit of sadness, she says: "Middle Brother is gone, however. They sacrificed themselves to save the Pure Lands, shortly after the Wyrmcomer Garou arrived." She considers for a moment, then says, "I'll ask Talks-through-Long-Winter-Nights tell you that story sometime. It's sad, but heroic. And she tells it really well." She brightens, then, and heads off down a path, making her way back in the direction you first came to this house.

Tony is about to ask about Middle Brother, one he had not heard of, but closes his mouth. "Okay. How many werewolves live on this caern, anyway?" he asks, moving up to walk beside you, his steps light and quiet on the pathway. The sounds and sights of the forest around him are a little jarring; he wants to keep an eye on every pathway, every corner that could be rounded or rise to hide behind. But out here, there terrain is so different from the somewhat more urban areas his father takes him to. It feels wilder, more alive.

Gabby has to stop to think and count to answer your first question. "Er, there's about 30 of us. Which is a lot for a caern this size. It's a bit crowded." She starts moving again and it's obvious she feels perfectly at home here; a moment's thought might recall that the way she acted in the city was similar to the way you're acting now ... wary, feeling a little out of place. She continues down the path, and speaks some more about your tribe. "There are a lot of Uktena who are ... well, wary is a good word ... about whites ... Garou and human alike. I mean, it's totally understanable when your ancestors have been killed and massacred by them. The Wendigo have it worse, though. Younger Brother really burns with anger about whats been done to their ancestors." She pauses again, to look at you. "Here, at this sept, most of us are a little more moderate. You have to be, in a place that's full of all manner of tribes."

Listening along like a good student, the younger werewolf nods slowly to your words. Racial issues are something he could have been a lot more involved in during school, but mostly ignored for more introspective endeavors. He regrets that, suddenly. "So there's racial tensions around here, too? That's too bad. Weird, though. I mean, if I'm Uktena..." He gives you a wry smile. He's quite 'white'; Germanic, in fact, other than the darkness in his eyes and hair.

Gabby's smile turns wry. "Well, actually it's not that weird for an Uktena to look like you, or whatever. We've been intermingling human races for a while, though white folks only fairly recently. The 'racial issues' among Garou are mostly more about tribe and actual ancestry, rather than what color your skin or fur is, or what your head looks like. Though there are exceptions. Younger Brother is pretty much pure blooded Native American." She stretches and continues the walk. "So, our tribe is all about... how to put this... magical, mystical things. You know, finding and learning about the secrets of world. Sometimes folks distrust us a little because we know these secrets, but," she shrugs, "Jealousy, mostly, I think."

Tony looks somewhat relieved. He was worried that he'd somehow be a black sheep among these Uktena folk. "So it's Tribal tensions, then," he corrects himself as he walks along with her. "Magical, mystical. You know, Gabby, you're really working hard to stretch my mind," he tells her, smirking. "What kind of magical and mystical things? I know how a lot of things work, but not magical stuff."

Gabby laughs. "Well. You know, I'm just a cliath, and this isn't an Uktena sept, so, I'm hardly privy to all the deepest secrets of the occult. But, you know, all the tribal magic stuff that 'Modern Science' dismisses out of hand, but still works for people? A lot of it is that kind of stuff. And a lot of it is related to spirits, which are hard to show. But, hmm, what can I show you?" She laughs a little. "Most of my gifts are all, you know, subtle things. I haven't learned Shroud... I can talk to spirits, and sense the Wyrm, and sense magic, but, you know, none of that you can /see/, at least not here in the physical world." She purses her lips. "I think that's just going to have to wait, until tonight, and I'll take you into the Umbra, and /then/ you'll see."

Tony laughs as well. "Well, of course it'd be hard to demonstrate. I wasn't expecting anything flashy. Hell, I believe you anyway, for the most part. The Umbra. Mmm." He wonders to himself if the sorts of things he's going to be learning will be explanable in scientific terms. Somehow he doubts it. "So we can do that tonight. Well, for now, we can try that wolf trick you do," he suggests. "Teach me how to do it?"

Again, Gabby seems terribly bemused by your choice of words. "Sure," she says, "But you gotta undress, first, or you'll rip all your clothes."

Tony grins at you sheepishly. "Undress, huh? Down to my boxers, anyway. I've got a spare pair in my pack. Sorry, I just... I can't get naked on the fly like that." He takes his shirt off, though, and folds it neatly under his arm, letting his tanned skin bare to the air. "Where do we go, though? Surely not just here in the middle of the path?"

Your cousin laughs, "Anywhere around here is fine. No humans here on the bawn. They stay away. If you feel better stepping into the woods, that's fine."

Tony considers, then nods. "Let's step into the woods. Even if it's just other werewolves around, I mean... this is kind of a personal thing, isn't it? A young man's first change, or something." He grins lopsidedly, taking his bare feet off the path and into the woods in a random direction.

Gabby follows you, shaking her head, "Silly cub," she murmurs. "If you want, I can not watch, if it makes you uncomfortable. Otherwise, just find a spot, take off what you're gonna take off, take a deep breath, and picture yourself in your mind. Then picture a wolf, and kind of blend the two images together."

Tony finds a spot where there's some room to move around, and still have the trees hiding the main path from view. He stops there, taking his pants off as well, and just leaving him in his TMNT boxers. Setting his clothes down against the base of a tree, he shakes his head at you. "No, you can watch. I'm not expecting anything to happen, to tell the truth." However, he does as you say, and closes his eyes as he stands there. There's a wolf, in his head. And there's me. He knows what this 'warform' should look like, having seen two examples already... But to somehow imagine himself in it is quite a different challenge. A few permutations run through his head; him, but bigger and with a wolf's head and tail. Fur all over. The image seems silly, and he snickers aloud.

Gabby leans against a tree, and does watch. Incredibly, the boxer shorts don't make her laugh. When you snicker, though, you feel a bit of ... annoyance ... run through you. Like someone else is laughing at you, even if it is just you. "Open your eyes," Gabby says, louder than you expect to hear. And when you do, there you are, standing almost nine feet off the ground, covered in fur. Everything is louder, really, the sounds of the forest. And the smells... they're everywhere.

Tony's snicker fades, his brows knitting somewhat at the unexpected feeling of irritation. His ears perk up straight when you speak, his eyes opening quickly as well. And there you are... way down there, looking like a small child in size. The big crinos stumbles backwards a few steps, muzzle opening wide, hands flying up to be studied. ~Hrr... Hoowww...~ he growls awkwardly, then breaks into a cough as the sound of his voice and the way his throat vibrates feels so off. But nothing to cough up, his vocal cords have simply altered. Big paw-hands clasp around his muzzle, feeling the shape, even as his eyes cross to have a look at how far his nose has moved.  His colouration is typical Uktena. Black for the most part, except for slashes of red that haphazardly crisscross his body like scars, and one single swathe of crimson between his eyes, over the bridge of his muzzle.

Gabby looks up at you, though you might notice she's remained more than an arm's length ... more than your new arm's length ... away. "See? That wasn't too hard, now, was it? And here you thought you couldn't change just because you'd not tried it before." She grins. "Most folks try lupus first, though, I think. But that's good. It's good to know crinos."

After several more minutes of self-examination, the big beast laughs throatily into the trees. He sniffs the air several times, nose darting through the air, taking in the plethora of scents that suddenly seem as easily noticed as street signs. He doesn't know what half of them are, but still. Stepping towards you, he holds a hand out to your head, touching his fingers just over your hair, then bringing them towards his lower chest to compare height. ~Wow.~ That's easy enough to say in this new tongue.

"And you didn't fall over either. Good job, Tony!" The Garou tongue doesn't have a lot of fancy words in it, modern or technological concepts are hard make clear. But simple sentences, that's no problem. "One thing you have to remember, though, is that it's easier to anger in crinos form. Our Rage is part of what fuels our changing, too ... generally it's not useful to wander around in the war form. It tends to lead to violence in situations you don't need them."

Tony examines his big feet, then nods several times at you. He walks around easily, balanced on his toes as he is; doesn't feel terribly difficult for him. Muzzle open and tongue showing, he breaks a grin as best he can. ~Go back?~ he asks awkwardly, flexing his hands again, staring at his big claws. He pokes his fingers into his mouth, and has a good feel at the topography of those chompers with the help of his tongue. 

Gabby waves her hand, "That's even easier. Just..." even before it comes out of her mouth, you find yourself shrinking almost instantaneously back to your original, human form. Sans clothes off course. "Yeah, just think about being human again. It's always easiest to go back to your birth form. In fact, if you're knocked unconscious, or worse, you'll automatically shift back."

Tony wobbles as his balance changes again, heels hitting the forest floor. "Whoa. Wow. That's... holy fuck," he huffs, being somewhat more explitive than usual. "I mean, that was crazy. It makes no sense." He palms at his forearms and chest, his nakedness forgotten in the wonder of the moment. "I can't believe I was just that big." He twists around, looking up where he stood a moment before, then glances at the top of your head. He's almost the same height you are, and that was just at his lower chest. "Christ. It makes no sense. How does it all fit in here? Where did he come from? That's nuts."

Gabby just shrugs. She seems completely unconcerned about the conservation of mass. "It's magic," seems a simple enough answer to her. "But," she says, helpfully, "if you have to have some sort of science answer, we'll find you a Glass Walker. They know all the Weaver stuff inside and out."

Tony is more concerned about those sorts of things, obviously. "Magic," he repeats, grinning. "Magic. That's... yeah. Okay. I definitely want to talk to someone about it. I'd win first prize at the science fair for sure, with an exhibit like that." His bemusement fades enough so that his modesty kicks in. He bends down to grab his pants, holding them around his waist. "You said lupus, before. That's... an actual wolf?"