Tapestries: Pablo - Saturday, November 04, 2006, 1:52 PM

It's slightly after dusk, and the cub house is, for now, fairly empty of Garou, both adult and cub. Kelly is off with her son, and Yiska and Bits are with the other Wendigo ... they are getting lessons in both tribal and auspice matters from elders of their tribe. Hope is on the front porch, shadow boxing in the dying light, making those grunting noises one does when practicing the martial arts.

Shay's feeling a little jealous of Bits and Yiska. It seems that Kelly is really the only Gaian around, and so he hasn't any elders about to really teach him much. And while Tony's cousin and Kelly are both Theurge, he hasn't gotten a whole lot from them. It's all been general information, nothing imperative. There's also the matter of stir-craziness. In the city, without the presence of a home tying you down, you can roam as far as you're able and willing. Here it's so... stifling.

Tony, for his part, actually looks a bit chipper the last day or so. Like he received some really good news. If that's the case, however, he isn't spilling the beans. He's out tonight running through some paths, this time on two legs. Musn't neglect the basics, after all. He's just coming back to the cub house as the moon begins rising, panting and sweating, but looking refreshed as he slinks to the front door.

Hope gives a grunt and grin of greeting from the porch to Tony when he passes her on the porch, but otherwise doesn't say anything, apparently intent on her martial practice, whatever it may be.

Hearing the front door swing open, Shay pokes his head out from upstairs. "Hey, Tony." He starts trudging down the stairs, to sit down on one of the few bottom ones.

Tony returns the grunt-greeting to Hope as he heads into the house. He slumps to the side, into the living room area, and falls onto the couch as Shay sits. He lifts his head enough to look at the other cub. "Hey," he says. "What's up?"

"Absolutely nothing." Shay gives a lazy shrug while peering around. "You look a little beat. Have fun out there?" 

Tony lays his head back. "Yeah. Just running, keeping in shape and all that. It's getting chilly out, though." Crossing one foot over the other, he kicks each shoe off in turn, sighing. "Any ideas on what your dream vision thing was?" he asks.

Shay leans his head against the opposite wall. "Wasn't a prank call. Probably some kind of ominous 'there be dinosaurs out there, don't get cocky because you're Garou' or something. 

Tony grunts once more. "Could be that simple," he agrees. "But, I mean, that's pretty basic, isn't it? I'm sure every fucking cliath, athro, and adren we meet before we go is going to tell us the same thing five times each anyway."
Shay spreads his hands. "What else could they be trying to say? 'Jurassic Park was a kickass movie'? Don't bring back souvenirs from Pangaea? Don't touch anything?"

Tony lifts his arms into the air. "Pff, I dunno. It was a pretty good movie," he admits. "Well, let's see if we can figure it out, then. Tell me again about it," he says, shuffling back to sit up properly.

The theurge rubs a knuckle into his eyelid. It's a source of mild annoyance because he's been running in circles over this whole thing for the last few days, to no avail. He had the dream again last night too, which doesn't help. It's explained again to Tony. 

Repose: The drapes are closed in the room, the sunlight from the outside sealed out so the cubs can sleep when Shay hears the tapping against his bed. "Come on, boy, wake up, I have important things to tell you," he hears a man speak with an upper class British accent.

Repose: "Nng." Shay sits up. He actually is rather easy to awaken - you don't get to be a heavy sleeper when you're sleeping on a street. He blinks up at the voice. British? That's new.

Repose: The cub blinks, his eyes filled with sleep as he focuses on the figure before him. He's an older man, with a bit of a belly and a snow white beard, as well as a pair of black rimmed glasses. He's dressed in an all-white suit and hat... and, really, looks something like a combination of Col. Sanders and Santa Claus. If he were a Brit. The man is standing near the closed door, and the floor is covered in what appears to be a layer of fog. On the other bed, Tony is sprawled out, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. The man leans forward on a silver-tipped black cane. "You shan't make the mistake I did," he says.

Repose: Trippy. Though, he doesn't remember taking anything, or falling into the Umbra. So, this is either a dream, or something has slipped into the cub house unannounced. Shay reaches a hand up, rubbing the back of his neck. "All right," he answers. "So, uh, what can I do for you?"

Repose: "Just pay attention," the man says, though it doesn't really feel like he was answering the cub's question, per se. "Pay attention to me, and learn from my mistakes. Know where the danger lies ahead of time, and be prepared. And for heaven's sake, don't let yourself get arrogant. Nedry was arrogant and look where it got him!"

Repose: "O...kay." Shay slides to the edge of his bed, probing the mist of the floor with his toe. "So, why me? Is it because I'm a theurge?"

Repose: "Ah, yes, the questions... always the questions." Again he doesn't seem to be answering the cub directly, but looking past him. "The answers you need are in the words. That's where you'll find them." He turns his head. "If you'll excuse me, I believe that's my helicopter. Good day to you!" And that's when Shay wakes up. What's oddest about this isn't the dream, per se, but that it's the fifth night in a row he's had it.

Tony contemplates in silence, stroking at his fledgling beard. It's a pretty short and sweet dream, not like the sprawling pizza-induced messes he usually has. "Okay, so... Learn from his mistakes, right? What mistake did Hammond make? He cloned dinosaurs, but they got out of control."

"I'm more concerned with the answer being in the words. Does he want me to read the book?" Shay just shakes his head and tugs at his long hair. "I guess 'don't play god'?"

Tony shrugs. "I don't think the spirits are into reading novels. The words, though. The answers are in the words..." He sighs, rubbing his face. "It's too vague."

"There must be a rule that everything has to be cryptic," Shay says a little wryly. "At least spirits havn't discovered math."

"What's too vague?" asks a voice as the door opens behind Tony, then with a sharp, almost bark of a laugh, the short black man answers his own question. "Oh, talking spirits! It's their moral and ethical duty to be that way! Or something." It's hard to not be startled when Cursor shows up in the middle of your conversation, though it seems that, like Bits, he's got a lot of that natural stealth that keeps his movements quiet.

Shay waves to Cursor. "Hey man." He smiles a little bit. The Glass Walker is still a little bit of a hero to the theurge, given that he did save him, and all that. "This is a little out of your way. 'Sup?"

Tony's head jerks to the new voice, surprised to find Cursor right there. Just when he was starting to consider himself pretty perceptive. Still a lot to learn. "So it seems," he agrees, dropping his feet to the floor. He wonders if Cursor could shed any light on the riddle, given his experience with Garou.
Cursor flops into a couch, sprawling like he owns the place, "Oh," he answers Shay, with a grin, "I like to check up on you kids every once in a while. Besides, it's refreshing, youth and eagerness. Helps me get a spring back in my step, you might say." He chuckles, "Anyway, the scuttlebutt amongst my friends is that there's a cub around here who just got new privileges, and a certain mother hen is worried that said cub might do something foolish."

"Ah, okay." He can understand that Cursor wants to hang with those who are more his generation. Other Garou seem a little more stuffy, or something. Then he peers over at the black guy in turn. Privileges? Is he talking about Kelly's son? 

Tony is leaning against the other wall, near Shay, when he gives another start. Dude, news spreads fast around here. "Er, yeah," he says. "Gabby is pretty worried, since I told her what I wanted to do." The cub gives Shay an apologetic little grin. "She, er, said I was allowed off the bawn."

Shay just looks back at Tony cluelessly. "You can leave?" He glances out towards the front of the house. "We could go to the mall or something, I guess?" The thought definitely makes him hopeful.

Cursor laughs, "And, unlike Bits, apparently, Tony plans to actually /go/ off the bawn." He looks towards the Uktena cub. "Though I think what worries Kelly is that you are thinking of walking into the city." He rubs his chin, and the bit of beard he's got there. Then he smirks at Shay, "I don't think he was given permission to take /you/ with him. But, I thought that maybe I'd give you kids a ride, a bit of a field trip, into the city. What do you think about that?"

Shay just shakes his head a little. He'll never quite get why the city is such a worry. After all, that's where Cursor lives. The wyrm, maybe, but that should be okay in sunlight, right? To Cursor, he just grins a little. "That'd be cool. It'd definitely let us get out of here. It's too quiet."

Tony is also feeling a little bemused by everyone's attitude about 'the city'. He's been in big cities plenty of times. Sure, they can be intimidating, but no more than being lost out in the woods. "Anyway, no, I didn't want to walk straight into the city. I wanted to visit my dad."

Cursor rubs his nose thoughtfully. Then he nods. "Well, we can drop you off there, and find something stress relieving to do in the city, maybe. And you can call me when you're done. My cell is 262-391-5619. Any of the other cubs around beside Xena on the porch?" He smirks, "What got you two all smirking anyway?"

The Xena reference is lost on Shay, but he doesn't care. Just getting out of here and going into town is a definite plus at the moment. Cool. "Smirking? Y'mean about the spirit thing, or just how everyone is so 'ooh, the city, beware'," says Shay, donating an overly spooooky voice to the comment.

Tony gets the ref, and he snerks at it. He also lends Shay an amused grin at his voice. "It's just that we've been to the city before. It's not a particularly frightening place."

Cursor stands, beckoning the two younger, but taller Garou with him. "We'll talk about it on the way to the car." Hope seems quite thrilled as well to get to go with you; it's her first trip off the bawn, period, since her cubnapping. As you head over towards the parking lot, Cursor says: "Well, you have to remember first of all that the city isn't really the place country Garou belong, you know? Even if half of them grew up there, it's still weird and foreign for a lot going back. It's not 'home' any more. And things you didn't notice before your Change, you'll notice now, and things that paid no attention to you before will notice you now. Banes, formori, and so on, mostly. Sometimes Weaver-things, too, which may not have the best intentions."

It's Shay's first trip off too, for that matter, so naturally he's happy. Though he tilts his head at Cursor. "Banes, formori?" As a theurge, he's going to have to know this stuff, but Kelly hasn't really delved into really the nasty stuff out there, it's all been general info. 

Tony follows Cursor after hopping back into his shoes and grabbing his book bag from beside the couch. He doubts Shay will find the city too weird even now, given how he grew up there. For Tony, who simply lives beside the city and visited frequently... Well, he's curious to see how he feels about it when he gets there.

Cursor can see the skepticism in Tony's expression, but lets it drop. As for Shay, Cursor makes a mental note to kick Kelly in the ass and get her teaching her cub something useful besides peace and love. "Banes are spirits who work for the Wyrm, evil, corrupting spirit. Probably the most common thing you'll fight. If not them, then fomori, which are humans usually who have been possessed and merged with a bane. Though you sometimes see it in other animals, mostly it's humans."

Hope listens intently. She's not a big talker, usually, more of a doer than a thinker. She nods, as the group heads past the edge of the bawn. She shivers a little bit as the gentle 'home' feeling of the caern and its environs leaves when you all walk past the edge, and make your way to Cursor's black SUV.
Shay frowns. Yuck. Though he can imagine what sorts of things corruption spirits could be responsible for. Crack houses? Gangs? There are parts of the city that *feel* oppressive and dark. "Yick." Shay rubs his arms at the loss of the caern, which is a feeling he'd grown so accustomed to. 

Tony keeps his own counsel on the subject. He certainly isn't one of the people who like to blame humans for all the world's troubles, but he also finds the idea of blaming all problems on Wyrm just as annoyingly narrow. Among Garou, there's assholes and violence that don't seem to need any outside influence. "Possessed and merged, huh? Sounds horrible," he says with a deep frown.

Hope's response is not as vocal, but kind of a low disgusted growl at the thought. Cursor pulls out his remote and unlocks the doors with the usual *be-boop* noise, then pulls himself up into the driver's seat. "Yeah," he says, agreeing. "Worst thing is that it's permanent, can't be fixed. Only thing you can do is put them out of their misery." As he starts up the truck, he reaches over and turns off his black iPod after only a couple deep bass beats play out of the speakers, and the distinct odor of Mexican food fills the truck, as he looks over his shoulder, backing out, turning, and heading towards the entrance of the little gravel parking lot.

Sliding into his seat, Shay clicks his belt and gets settled. This is a good feeling, inside a car, heading somewhere, somewhere different. As the sedan goes, he watches the world go by. Then an idea reaches him. Turning his head, the kid peers at the rearview mirror. Not to drop into it, but merely to See into it, as he had done with the mirror in the cubhouse during the spirit alarm.

Tony likes being in a vehicle again, feeling the vibrations and enjoying the hum of the engine and whistle of the air. And, he's going to see his father! No idea at all what he's going to do or say to explain himself, but... still. It'll be great. And he can grab some stuff, some money, and maybe check out the library, then go see George. The cub leans back, closing his eyes.
@@

The glance Shay makes into the Umbra isn't easy as sometimes, both the vibration of the vehicle and the Weaverish nature of it make peeking difficult, but after a couple efforts, he is able to see ... sort of. The moon is slim, so it's dark in the Umbra, but he can certainly see the mostly-sleeping spirit of the truck, all wrapped up in a skin of spiderwebs. Meanwhile, in the Realm, Cursor stops the truck, gets out, undoes the chain on the entrance, gets back in, drives ten feet forward and gets back out once more to put the chain back up. When he returns, he's muttering something under his breath about an automatic gate when Hope pipes up, her alto voice, saying to Cursor: "Your truck makes me hungry for burritos." This prompts a laugh from the Glass Walker, as he explains: "Biodiesel. I get my oil from Miguel's Restaurant in Eagle."

Weird. Shay comes back out of the Umbrasight, grinning just a little. It's weird thinking of everything with a spirit, especially Cursor's truck. "This is cool," he says out loud to no one in particular, before peering out the window again. "So, after we drop off Tony, where you guys gunna go?"

Hope pipes up, "I kinda would like to go to the mall, and maybe get some new clothes. The ones I have are kinda ... stinky." She wrinkles her nose. Cursor chuckles, "That's fine. Maybe we could see a movie or something. Moon's slim; we shouldn't have to worry about anyone getting too angry. Unless I get a call, we can do whatever tonight." He whispers, then, sounding a little conspiratorially, "Maybe let you guys be normal teenagers for a night. Don't tell anyone, though."

Shay gasps. "Us, Normal?!" A shake of his head, smiling. He can't imagine the others getting really upset that they went out, at least not with Cursor on their backs. Granted, he's no ahroun, but he's much older and wiser and all. 

Tony snickers. He's hit with the feeling of surrealism. It will be odd, seeing people and having this knowledge, being what he is. He never stood out before, or felt himself to be particularly unique. But now, he's part of some elite fighting force, one of the Planeteers or something. And he can't tell anyone.  Tony abruptly rolls his window down, then goes into lupus form. He sticks his nose outside, and immediately he's grinning like an idiot, tongue lolling and flapping in the wind.

That move prompts a laugh from both Hope and Cursor, before the elder gives a chuckling tsk, "Mind the Veil," he says, even though it's dark, and the highway pretty lonely right now. Cursor's correction is interrupted, though, as his attention is taken by something else. "That's odd," he says, sounding a bit perplexed. He turns left at the first road, rather than going straight towards the highway, and heads north, towards what looks like a light show behind the trees ahead.

Shay laughs too. "Tony, you'll have to tell us why dogs hang their head out the window!" He grins a little, but then pauses as he sees what Cursor does. For some reason, this gives him a baaaad feeling. 

Tony's tail fapfapfaps against the seat as he sniffs into the air. So many smells at once, it's like a kaleidoscope for the nose. And the wind on his muzzle and over his face just feels nice. He brings his head inside as Cursor makes an unexpected turn, cocking his head curiously. He leans down and forward, peering up through the windshield. What is that?

The lupus-shaped Tony's probably the first to realize what the light is, smelling the acrid scent in the air, but within a few moments, and a turn on the road, to reveal the source is a large house, flames from inside the front bursting through windows, and licking up the front. The entire place isn't engulfed yet, but the fire is growing, quickly and hungrily. Cursor picks up his cell phone, and quickly dials 911. "Yeah," he says to the operator at the other end of the line, "I want to report a house fire at the corner of Wilton Road and Highway N." As he speaks, a figure is silhouetted by the growing fire, going back into the flaming house. The side door of the SUV bursts open and with preternatural speed, Hope's blurred shape is across the lawn, shifting into Crinos and following the other figure inside. "Oh, fuck," is all Cursor can exclaim, before he resumes talking to the operator.

Shay is stuck for a moment too. Shit, man. Though his concern is for Hope, and who ever she might stumble across beyond. "I'm going to cover Hope's tail!" Shay calls out, before snapping his belt, shifting into lupus even as he jumps out of the car. Four legs beats two for speed, and while he's not as fast as Hope, he's certainly on her trail. Even as difficult as it is; the smell of smoke to the nose is like looking into the sun: painful and utterly distracting.

Tony's ears lay back and he gives a little whine. He doesn't like that scent at all. Reminds him of the leech hunt. He puts himself back into human shape as the car stops, stepping outside just in time to see Hope flying across the lawn like a bolt of furry lightning. Is she nuts!? That's probably humans in there! He looks after Shay, unsure what to do. Part of him wants to run inside, be a hero, but... Fire hurts just as bad as it always did, despite being Garou now. But, ah! Hope has that gift! Hell, so does Shay. Those two would be more useful in there than him.  All this internal dialogue goes on within two heartbeats. "Shit, Cursor, what the hell do we do? Hope's going to send any survivors into a mental breakdown!"
Cursor flips his phone shut before he responds, "That's Rowan's house. Should only be Garou and kin in there. What we're going to do is get out, and see if we can pull everyone out," he's already out of the truck, which is parked half on and half off the grass, "Before the fire department gets here." He runs towards the flames. "And hope they survive, and hope that Hope /knew/ this was a kin house." He holds up his arm to block the glare of the flame from his eyes as he approaches as close as he can without getting burned.

Meanwhile, Hope charges into the flaming house, with Shay quick on her heels. The lupine sense of smell is offended by the stench of burning plaster, wood and other materials. Pools of flames cover the floor, in many different spots, and sheets of flame spread up the walls on all sides of the room. Hope ducks her hulking form out of the smokey ceiling and spots the crumpled form of a human on the ground. She moves towards it, scooping the shape up in her arms.

Shay circles the edge of the flames, barking. What should he do? Now that he's here, now what? Crap crap crap. Wait. There are many Garou houses around here, right? That means that many are Garou. Which... He has an idea. Tipping his head back, the wolf howls, trying to make it as loud and long as possible. If any garou are inside and conscious, maybe they'll respond. 

Tony stays beside Cursor, also holding his arms up to guard from the flames. The smell is enough to make anyone gag, even humans. With the amount of smoke billowing out, he realizes suddenly why it's the smoke and not the flames that kill people in housefires. It's like a goddamn chimney, vomitting black steam. Rowan's house? Damnit. But still, that means there's no worry about humans. Into crinos he goes as he moves up beside Shay. ~Shay, this is a kinfolk house!~ he growls. ~Put it in four wheel drive and come on,~ he says, ducking low as he can, moving on all four for now and starting to search the rooms.

As Tony Seeks-Truth moves into the house, Hope turns to see him, crouched with the limp humanoid figure in her arms. The only sound that Shay hears in response to his howl is the crackling and bending of the giant house slowly dying in the flames. Right behind the Philodox, there is a loud crash as a beam from the floor above crashes down, blocking the door in which he entered, preventing Shay from following him in, even if he wanted to. Coughing, Hope's massive black-furred shape growls: ~Carry her!~ to Tony, as she steps forward through the smoke, dropping the limp form he can barely recognize through the smoke as the kinfolk Katrikki.

Meanwhile, Cursor steps closer just in time to see the crashing timbers. He grabs Shay by the tail dragging him backwards, calling out to everyone, "HOPE, TONY! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" in his loudest, best alpha-ish voice. He's not that interested in who else may be left behind now. Of course, just as he backs off, a pickup truck pulls up at the scene, a single red flashing light atop it. "Shit."

Shay barks and looks over his shoulder, just in time to see the flashing light. He breaks ranks from Cursor and runs around the side of the house, out of sight before he leaps back into Humid and calls, "Guys, come on! Cops are here! Hurry!"

Tony takes the body offered to him without question, not knowing who it is and not caring at the moment. He twists to see the timber falling, and growls deeply, angry and now quite fearful. He can vaguely hear Cursor beyond the deafening crackle of burning and falling supports. There was a front window, he remembers suddenly, and there's a room right there. Maybe it was a dining room at some point, but now it's just a charred and smoky mess with a dangerous hole leading to the basement. ~Follow me,~ he growls to Hope, darting into the room, skirting the edge of it and making his way to the window that's billowing smoke.

Hope was planning a different route, but seems to think this isn't the best time to argue about tactics, so she follows Tony. When they move to the other room, she acts quickly, leaping forward towards the broken window, shoulder-first, taking a few shards of glass with her, but leaving a large hole in the weakened structure behind her that's much easier to get through. She turns and waits for Tony, all the while Cursor is barking out: "SHAY! TONY! HOPE! Get here NOW!"

Hoping that they heard him, Shay skuttles around the other way. "Right here, Cursor!" He calls out, hoofing it over to the Glass Walker. "No sign of them yet." Then he hears the glass breaking, turning towards the sound.

Tony can't toss himself bodily outside without hurting his passenger. He hugs the limp body against his big chest tightly, ducks down, and makes a much more careful exit through the hole. One jump up onto the sil, where he cuts his feet on glass, and then another hop down to the ground, and then he's skittering towards Cursor's voice.

Hope helps carry the unconscious kinfolk -- a little harder now that they are both in homid, back to Cursor, where she starts to go down and breath for the unconscious girl when Cursor speaks, indicating the Native American man standing next to him now, in jeans and a t-shirt, who obviously arrived in the truck with the light, "This is Joe. He's kin." As the Glass Walker starts to explain further. "And an EMT and a volunteer fireman. Leave the girl here with me, and get out of here before the rest of the department shows up; I'll take care of things." Cursor starts to protest, but Joe shuts him up with a repeat of the command: "GO!" Cursor makes a bit of a face, then, says, agreeing, "Hope, leave her, let's go." And he heads towards the truck.

Tony sets the girl down on the ground, and is surprised to see who it was he was carrying. "Katrikki, dude," he huffs, then breaks into a fit of coughing as Cursor and Joe start to usher the cubs away. He gets back to his feet, staggering towards the truck as he catches his breath, glancing back at the house falling apart. "What the hell, man," he groans once inside, coughing again, nose feeling like it's been permanently burned with the smell of smoke.
Shay doesn't want to leave, but he can see that someone with much more capable skills are on the scene, so he falls in line behind Cursor. He catches Tony as he sways. "Whoo there," coaxes the Theurge. "We don't need you falling over on us too."

Hope doesn't want to leave either, frowning, but she pushes forward. As soon as all the Garou are moving towards the car, Joe kneels down next to Katrikki and starts giving her oxygen, popping open his medic's box. Cursor grunts, "Shay in front, Tony and Hope in the back. Lay down, in lupus, under the window, and heal up. Stay out of view." He's certainly got the command voice going now, whatever lack of leadership he showed before gone.

Shay doesn't question. If anything, he's learning very well to follow alpha commands. It prevents you from getting into further trouble. Though he is curious as to why he got shotgun. Regardless, the now-wolf Shay crawls over the divide and curls up in the front seat.

Tony follows the orders as well, moving into lupus form and lowering himself to the floor, head resting up on the seat. He chuffs out a few more smoky coughs, but can already feel the toxins starting to fade. It leaves him feeling sick and weak.

Cursor peels out of the yard, out and away from the fire. After a long moment of silence, he exhales slowly. Hope also has shifted to lupus form, and Tony can see now that she's gotten worse than anyone, with patches of singed flesh and burnt fur covering her body. She takes a deep breath, concentrates, though, and those wounds begin to heal up quickly, just like any other. Apparently, she has remembered about her gift. Cursor glances over at Shay, "Were you hurt too? And the two of you back there, are you healing well, or do we need to find a Theurge?"

Shay just shakes his head, and offers Cursor a wag of his tail. Though he does crane an ear back towards the other cubs.

Tony watches Hope's wounds heal with fascination. Good, very good. I'm glad you remember how it's done, he tells her with an amiable nosing to her muzzle. Lifting his head at Cursor's words, the big wolf responds in the negative. He is doing well, now. No need for a theurge.

Hope also chuffs saying she's fine. If she's feeling pain, she's trying not to show it. She touches her muzzle back to Tony's thankfully, quietly asking: 'Do you think the girl will be all right?' Cursor seems quite relieved. "When you're feeling all better, you can shift back to homid, just do it out of sight." He continues driving, turning onto a larger, two lane highway, then says, after a bit, "You know, I'm going to have to tell your elders about this."

Shay sits up in his seat, watching the road. When there's no headlights coming, the kid shifts back into homid. "How come? I mean, did we do anything to warrant a uh, reprimand?" After the issue with the female Garou that came onto the cubhouse, he's been a little nervous about sticking his nose into a situation. Even if that's exactly what they did.

Tony's immediate reaction to Cursor's words is to protest similar to Shay. After all, whenever your elders get told something about you, it's never for the good. This is true among humans and Garou, he thinks. Once he's breathing normal again, he moves back into human form, sitting up on the seat. "I really hope so," he replies to Hope. "Katrikki is cool." He leans forward, putting his chin on the back of Shay's seat and eyeing Cursor. "We didn't do anything wrong, did we?"

Cursor chuckles, and says, "Because Joe was there." But then he grows serious, and seems to be choosing his words carefully. "You have to tread very lightly about the Veil, you know. You really shouldn't go charging off in Crinos without knowing if you could be endangering it." He gives Hope a look in the rearview mirror, and she lowers her head, hiding a little. "The Litany is there for a reason. It protects us, as a people, it protects us each from our Rage, and from each other." He pauses. "On the other hand, sometimes you don't have time to think these admittedly important things through when the time demands action. If you were adults, you'd have to make this kind of decision yourself and bear the consequences of it, whatever it may be. So, it's not that you necessarily did the wrong thing as Garou. It's that what you /should/ have done, as cubs, is wait for me, your elder, to take the lead. Do you understand the distinction?"

"Sure." Shay understands as much. Though, had they worried about an elder's actions back at the vampire hunt, Bits may have been way more wounded. But as Cursor said, sometimes you just can't do what it says, make decisions. He just shrugs. 

Tony slumps back into his seat silently, though it's obvious he feels rather tweaked by this. People interpret the litany differently? Sounds like hypocrisy to him. Technically this, and technically that. He understands the importance of the Veil, and part of him knows Cursor is right. A chain of command is needed. Still, it really irks him that he'd get in trouble for rushing to save lives.

"So, anyway," Cursor continues, "As far as anyone else needs to know, what happened happened because that's what I told you to do. No harm, no foul." He offers a little smile in the mirror to the two in the back seat. This seems to relieve Hope greatly. "If anyone wants to yell about this, they can yell at me. I probably should have told you to wait while I called 911 anyway. All I ask in return is that you help nurse me back to health after Crystal beats the shit out of me for endangering her cub." He laughs again, sharply. He takes a pause to concentrate on the road for a moment, then continues, "What might be best to take from this for you, Tony, is to know that your pack is going to come to you and expect you to know how what they are planning is affected by the Litany, all the time. They are going to seek your counsel, and you need to be prepared to give it to them. And you need to be prepared for Bits, or whoever your new moon is, to question your calls, to try and poke holes in your arguments. That's her job as much as yours is to explain the laws is. It's two sides of the same coin."

Tony finds this to be a cruel twist of roles. Him, being the one arguing for a set of rules he doesn't fully grasp? He'd be much more comfortable tearing someone else's arguments apart. The Litany, to him, sounds great in principal. Eh, maybe in practice, too. He's just not sure, yet. "I want... more experience, finding out why the Litany is important," he replies after a minute. "I mean, I know it's important, I understand it, but I don't /feel/ it, you know?"

"You don't *believe* in it yet," Shay proposes.

Hope finally joins the rest of them in homid form, but she doesn't add her two cents, feeling a little, well, dumb, her mouth in a small frown. Cursor says, "I think Shay may have it there. But I wouldn't stress too much about it. There are plenty of cliaths who don't yet feel comfortable in their roles, too. It will come in time. It's not just a matter of chance you're born under the moon you are." He smiles a little grin, "You know, before I had my Change, I was a computer geek. And this was, like, back before the Internet was big, back before it was cool to be a computer geek. Anyway, even at 14, I knew, like, a half dozen programming languages, and I loved the fact that they were so /certain/. That they had rules you could follow, and if you did, it always worked. So, when I first found that I was a new moon, that I was supposed to take rules that obviously had been working for ten thousand years and try and twist them around, well, I was aghast."

Shay just eyes Cursor warily. "You must have been like, really good at math." There's a lazy grin about him though. "You just don't look like a nerd, ya know?" Though, he stopped school about fifth grade or so, so it's not as though he really would know the "nerd" type aside from movies.

Tony listens to Cursor, nodding slowly. "You said you used to be a computer geek. Why did you stop being a computer geek? I still am one," he replies. "I know a few languages myself. I can't see suddenly turning away from it all."

Shay adds, "And, you're a Glass Walker. Don't you guys... y'know..." He makes a gesture with his hands. "Do computers and other Weaver stuff?"

Cursor laughs, "Okay, you caught me. I'm still a computer geek. And, yes, I do use computers and other technology. But your elders are my friends, so I'm not going to draw you into my Urrah ways. And, Tony, I'm not going to encourage you or discourage you, but most Garou are skittish about the Weaver. They don't understand Her. So, if you take on that role, you're going to have to accept that a lot of your fellow Garou will look down upon you, maybe even more so since you're not a Walker."

Tony grunts. "If using a computer is too good for them, they can look down all they want. I'm not a gamer or anything, I use them as a tool. I mean, hell, you know how useful they are. Technology can be a weapon. I'd rather be holding it than looking down its barrel."

Shay scratches the back of his neck. "Huh. Garou are like, the Amish with tails or something."

Hope adds, "Don't forget the large claws and big nasty pointy teeth."

Shay peeks over his seat at Hope. "Grandma, what a big Crinos form you have?"

Tony pipes up, making an inhaling hiss. "Nana's Crinos was so big and bulgy," he lisps.

Cursor chuckles, shaking his head as he pulls onto the freeway, heading east. Apparently, despite the earlier incident, you're still heading into town. "Anyway, my point is this. Give your elders a chance. Listen to them with open minds. Enjoy the benefit of their wisdom. It ain't easy to be a Garou. And then, after your Rites of Passage, you can make these decisions for yourself and choose your own path."

Pablo (OOC) says, "I should mention that Garou are, in essence, pack animals. It's in their nature to follow the group, and want to belong. It's instinctive. The rebellion that is common among humans is not so common among Garou, which is why it's hard for them to choose a new path. Just keep that in mind. :)"

Pablo (OOC) says, "If you /want/ to be those rare rebels, that's okay. I assume that PCs in games I run are heroes, maybe a little different than the rest of their societies for some reason or another. Just be aware that it will be emotionally difficult as well as socially difficult to be so."

Christin (OOC) nods. :) Though it is getting a little late. c.c

Charlene (OOC) nods as well. But yeah, late.

Pablo (OOC) says, "That's fine. We can handwave the actual trip, since I got the ... incident ... in that I wanted to, anyway. :) [more]"

Pablo (OOC) says, "If there's something you want to have accomplished in the city, let me know. Tony, feel free to decide for yourself the reaction of Tony's father. He's your NPC, and I don't feel the need to take over him at this time."

Charlene (OOC) mmms.

Pablo (OOC) says, "In other words, there's nothing that's going to prevent you from doing what you wanted to in the city, getting the money, etc."

Charlene (OOC) thought we were going to get attacked in the city.

Pablo (OOC) says, "Not this time."

Charlene (OOC) says, "Well, I'm still going to put in my vote that Tony's dad has been compromised somehow."

Pablo (OOC) says, "I know. But that's either not happened (yet) or it's not showing."

Charlene (OOC) nods. "Alright. Well, he'd just get his money, some books, clothes, and talk to his dad.

Pablo (OOC) says, "Any particular books, or just fiction to read? Also, any contact with your allies?"

Christin (OOC) wants to pick up his stash. O:)

Charlene (OOC) says, "I'd say some fiction to read, maybe some history books. And as for contacts... Well, I want to RP out the contact with George."

Pablo (OOC) says, "Okay, we can do that, later. :)"

Pablo (OOC) says, "Are you going to be open about it, Christin, or just ask to pick up some stuff and hide it in some clothes?"

Christin (OOC) says, "Probably the latter."

Pablo (OOC) says, "Then it's fine. Cursor's not going to search you. He'll believe you, so you can get it."

Pablo (OOC) says, "FYI, Hope doesn't want to go home at all. Which is just as well anyway."

Pablo (OOC) says, "I should be around tomorrow, Charlene, if you want to do that rp with George."

Charlene (OOC) says, "Cool."

Christin (OOC) hugs you guys. o.o

Pablo (OOC) says, "Night!"

Charlene (OOC) says, "Nightnight!"