Tapestries: Pablo - Sunday, August 27, 2006, 7:35 PM

It's been almost an hour now since everyone left. It's very quiet now in the cub house, as you've been left alone.

Tony is taking the opportunity to work out a little. Jogging up and down the stairs, doing pushups, stretching himself out on the floor in various ways. He's no Yoga, and he never will be, but he still stays as limber as his genetics will allow. And, it helps pass the time.

There are some howls, every once in a while. You've noticed them more and more the longer you've been here. You don't know if you just never /noticed/ all the howling that goes on before, or if just assumed they were dogs, or if that sort of thing only happens around here.

Tony is pretty sure he could tell the difference between dogs and wolves, even before his change. Wolves definitely have a distinctive sound. Deeper. Dogs sound more... alone. Or lonely. He goes to the doorway, shifting down to lupus, and returns a howl of his own into the night sky. No idea what he's saying, just "Here I am!"

There's a giggle behind you as Bits has snuck back into the house when you weren't looking. "Someone's gotta teach you how to howl, I think. You sound sad." Then she pauses, "Were you sad?"

The wolf twists around quickly, ears perked. He pads closer to nose at her hip. Not sad, no. Just... He struggles to make himself understood like this. Melancholy is an awkward idea to get across. Walking by, he jumps up onto the couch, crossing his forearms and watching Bits with wolfy curiosity.

Bits flops down on the chair opposite you. "So, I asked Night-Talker about the bracelet and such. I guess I just misunderstood or something. I did have a kinfetch. So, there you go. It had nothing to do with this."

Tony tilts his head, his tail thumping the couch cushions. So what is it, then? he asks, peering at the bracelet, nose twitching as he sniffs towards you.

She shrugs a little bit, unsure, "I don't know. I guess I misunderstood what my teacher told me." She furrows her brow, thinking. "'This will help you get where you are going.'"

Tony gives a little grumbling noise. How vague. What did Night-Talker say about it? Did she speak with the spirit inside of it?

It takes a moment for Bits to understand exactly what you're asking. "Oh, I don't think she can speak with spirits. Usually only theurges can." She shifts a bit, "But I, you know, didn't want to bother Night-Spirit. I guess I could ask Whisper when she gets back.

Tony thinks about that. We could ask Gabrielle. She can speak with the spirits. He shuffles onto his side, letting his legs dangle over the edge of the couch and making more growly noises. Then he is on his back, squirming back and forth as he tries to get at an itch right in the middle of his spine. It's really quite amusing to watch.

Bits finds it hilarious watching you squirm like that. She breaks out laughing. holding her tum and rolling in the chair.

Tony does a writhing twist back onto his feet, looking around alertly. Sometimes it's easy to lose yourself in simple thoughts like this. Seeing you laugh, he gives a big wolfy grin and jumps down, then jumps up onto you and plays dead, legs draped over your shoulder.

Bits eeeks, "Big dead wolf on me, help me help me!" she mock cries, then looks around and rubs your belly.

Tony awwrrwwrr's, falling back and stretching his back across your lap as his belly is rubbed. Ooh... Oh, hey there, that's real nice. His eyes squint closed, head lolling to the side and one leg slowly kicking at the air.

Bits laughs and laughs and laughs when you do that. "You're so silly!" she says, "Absolutely silly, Tony!"

Tony slowly rolls to the side until he drops off your lap. He shifts back to homid as he crawls over to the couch, grinning brightly still. "What? Man, that felt good. A rub on the stomach, it felt good all over. You should try."

Bits giggles some more. "I'm sure it did." She sighs, happily, leaning back. After a moment, she asks, "So, had you not met Crystal before?" she asks, recalling the events of earlier that evening.

Tony shakes his head. "Hell no. She was... intimidating, even for a werewolf. I'm glad she's on our side. Man, I feel bad for Hope, if she attempts to give Crystal a hard time," he says with a sigh. "Cursor should be back any time, too," he says, glancing at the window.

Bits nods, "She can be intimidating. But she's not too bad." She giggles a little, "Or maybe she just gives me a break because I'm a girl. Anyway, there are others I'm more scared off." She looks out the window, too. "Yeah, I hope he is. I hope he comes back with good news."

Tony grunts. "Sigfried and Roy, for instance. What dickheads," he mutters. "I'm tellin ya, I'm challenging both of 'em once I'm passed my Rite. I'd take one of them on right now, except I really have no idea how to use Crinos."

Bits ooohs at that. "You should bug one of the ahrouns to give you fighting lessons! I bet they would. Or at least ask Gabby to ask someone. I got fighting lessons, it was fun! Though I got sneaky fighting lessons from..." she's interrupted, then, as the front door opens, and there's Cursor, back, only a couple hours later. He wipes his brow, and asks, "Kelly come back yet?" Bits pipes up with: "I think she's out on the bawn with Petey and the new Gaian cub tonight."

Tony stands up when Cursor enters. "So what was it like at her place?" he asks quickly once Bits finishes speaking. He isn't sure which possibility he wants more. That this girl killed her family, or that there are lies floating around among his newfound kinfolk.

Bits stands up, too, when you do, smoothing down her pants as she does so. Cursor shakes his head. "Not good. Lots of cops, lots of reporters, and lots of blood. They're calling it a mob hit, though." He twists his mouth in a frown.

Tony makes fists, turning away with a pained expression. "Fuck. Damnit, man. What the hell? That's... How can someone do that?" He can't imagine how it must have happened. He doesn't even want to try.

Cursor puts his hand on your shoulder in some sort of attempt to comfort. Bits does a bit better job, sliding over and giving you a hug. The Glass Walker is the one who speaks, though. "I'm afraid our world can be a pretty violent one, bud. Frenzy happens to the best Garou. And it happens to cubs, well, a lot. If it's any comfort, a Frenzy Change doesn't usually happen over petty things."

Tony stands where he is, accepting both forms of comfort silently. "But Frenzy doesn't last. When Hope finds out... Oh, God. How can we expect her to help us? How could we even ASK? After what we are... did that?"

Cursor sighs softly, "I don't know, Tony. I'm not the right guy to ask about that, you know? But the Rage, I mean, it's just part of who we are. She'll understand, eventually, I promise." He twists his mouth. "Many Garou go through similar traumas."

Tony considers asking if Cursor did. But then, if he did, it would certainly be a sore spot, and not his business. "Wonderful," is what he says instead, looking rather sad now. "So what is Crystal doing with her?"

"The same thing Gabby did with you, and Mary did with Bits here. Introducing her to her new life. Explaining things. Helping her adjust."

"I think her introduction is going to be a little more traumatic than ours," he says. "I really, really hope she understands or... I don't know. I hope things work out. Her name is Hope, after all."

Bits leans against you, "Sometimes names mean things. Sometimes they are predictive. Maybe they will be in her case, hmm?"

Cursor says, "If you're worried, you could go out and look in on them. Just, you know, don't interrupt if they are in the middle of something."

Tony raises his brows. He wasn't expecting such an offer. Still, he's going to jump on it. "Yes. Sure. Where did they go?"

For some reason, Cursor chuckles a bit at your initiative. "I think you might end up being a pack alpha, you know, Tony," he says, "Watch out. But I assume they are out by Crystal's tree. That's where Crystal usually is."

Tony just smiles at the suggestion of him being alpha. Yeah, right. Nice compliment, though. "Thanks. I'll see you later on. Oh, and really, really thanks for checking Hope's place out for me," he adds, shaking Cursor's hand. "C'mon, Bits," he pipes, patting her shoulder with a smile and heading towards Crystal's place.

Cursor gives you a thumbs-up, "Remember. You owe me, kid." And Bits is off like a shot, "Yay! Let's go." She's out the back door, waiting for you in lupus there in a half-second.

Tony is down on all fours just as fast, peeling away into the woods and zoning in on Crystal's tree. He has no idea what to expect when he gets there. A good possibility is Crystal picking both cubs up by the scruff and tossing them bodily back to the house.
Little-Smiles stops about a hundred yards away from the large, ancient tree where Crystal normally resides. She makes a motion with her head urging you to stop. Quiet, she says, and we sneak closer.

Tony comes to a stop, standing beside Bits for a moment before following her sneaky lead. Putting his paws where hers were, trying to learn how she moves so silently. And keeping his eyes and ears open for whatever it is he's walking into.

Little-Smiles stops a few dozen yards further on, crouching at the edge of a clearing. She lies flat on her belly, her ears twisted to the front to listen, peering through the darkness at the tree beyond. You can't smell the acrid smell of blood in the air, so that's probably a good sign. After a long silence, you can hear parts the conversation beyond. "... know it's hard, difficult to believe and understand, but it's true. You are going to have to accept it, Hope."

Tony takes up position near Bits, laying down as low as he can and listening just as intently. No fighting so far, apparently. And right into the meat of things.

Another voice responds, one you heard earlier, gruff, angry and upset. This time, however, it's choked up with tears, "I just want to go home, though. I don't want to be a monster. I just want to be me." Crystal shhhs softly, and her voice is inaudible for a few moments. Little-Smiles arches ever so slowly forward, looking, trying to get a better view.

Tony stiffles his sympathetic whimpers. He realizes in retrospect that his own introduction to this place was relatively smooth and uneventful. Are most abductions like this? How many people out there Frenzy on friends and family, not even knowing what they were?

Little-Smiles flicks an ear back towards you, overhearing the little quiet whimper, before they focus back on the two by the tree. You can hear some more, now, as Crystal's voice is a bit louder. "... still be you. No one is asking you to be anything but yourself. You just have to understand who you truly are, and where your place is." "But... but... school, and basketball... and my friends..." "You may be able to go back to that," Crystal replies, "but you have to learn, to control what you are, for your safety, and the safety of everyone else around you. So you can protect, instead of being a danger." There's another round of sobbing from the girl, before she relents, "O... okay."

Tony doubts she'll be going back to that. He wonders if the news about her family has sprung yet. It's obvious Crystal has experience with handling cubs like this. She's ideal for it, really, if there may be violence. He can imagine her laying the smack down far more readily than, say, Whisper.

Crystal says something inaudible again to the girl again, with murmured words that sound comforting. After a few minutes of that, she clears her throat, and louder, says, "All right, whoever is over there eavesdropping can come out now."

Tony rrs? in surprise, looking sidelong at Bits. Chuffing, he gets to his paws and shifts to human shape before showing himself in the clearing. "Sorry," he murmurs. "We just wanted to make sure she was alright." He looks at Hope, seeing if she's still in the same shape he left her.

Bits, if possible, looks even more surprised than you. She, too, resumes her birth shape and trots in after you. Hope looks like she's in better shape, actually, as she's fallen asleep, apparently having worn every bit of energy out of herself from the traumatic day. Crystal snorts at you, "Still. It's impolite to eavesdrop, and really none of your business. But your empathy, if that's what it truly is, is noted." The massive woman is sitting cross-legged, against the large tree. In the branches above her head is a small totemic shrine; something you've been told about, but not seen yet. She looks at you critically, "Now, which one are you? The Gaian?"

Tony lowers his head a little. "Sorry," he murmurs again, relieved that Hope at least seems to be alright. He looks at the totem shrine curiously, wondering what its significance is. "I'm Tony Meyer. Philodox cub of Uktena," he tells Crystal.

Crystal follows your gaze upwards, then looks back at you. She stands, slowly, staring down at you as you introduce yourself. She grunts an acknowledgement at your introduction, though you get the feeling that it's barely adequate. Either that or she is finding you lacking in some important aspect. "I am Crystal Shakes-the-Earth, adren Philodox of the Black Furies. I am Mistress of the Rite here at the Winter Night Sept."

The Black Furies. Yeah, that fits, from what he's seen and heard so far. "Nice to meet you," he responds, offering a hand out to her. "I don't have a deed name, if that's what you're wondering. I really have no idea how you guys even go about getting them, yet."

Crystal grunts at you, "Someone will give you one. Maybe as a cub. Maybe on your Rite of Passage." She looks over at Bits and nods at her, before turning her heavy gaze back to you.

Tony raises his brows. "Someone else gives me one? I hope it's no one I've pissed off. I don't want to end up as Tony Pisses-Up-The-Wrong-Tree or something," he smirks. "So..." he begins, his voice lower, "does Hope know..." And now to a whisper, "about her family?"

Apparently, you did something to irritate Crystal in a former life. Or she's just grumpy. Probably not a good idea to accuse her of it being her time of the month, though. "Leave the jokes to the new moons," she suggests. At your question, she turns to look at the sleeping Hope. The girl's still in her basketball uniform, but she looks much less beat up now. Crystal's expression softens, as she says: "No. She does not remember. It is not unusual in traumatic events like that to repress the memory. When the time is right, she will deal with it. We will deal with it."

Tony does very well at hiding the smile that wants to creep over his lips as he's chided for joking. Following her gaze, he sobers up quickly, then nods. "If you need any help, or... I don't know. She wants to talk to someone else who understands... sort of... us other cubs are here. So. Just let me know if I can do anything."

Crystal looks at you for a long quiet moment, as if trying to read your intent. She looks to Bits again, then back to you. Finally, she says: "Hope will be going to the Cub house soon," is her response.

Tony ohs. "I guess.. she'll be staying with Bits, then, since there's no more rooms left," he says, looking down at her with an awkward smile. "We should get going, I imagine. You've got stuff under control, and Hope is alright. Physically, anyway."

Crystal smiles for the first time. "Indeed, I do have it under control. You need to trust that others know what they are doing, half-moon. Leave the questioning of the ways to Bits."