Lessons for Kasie

[hazlogs]

It is currently 10:58 Pacific Time on Sat Jul 12 1997.
Currently on this calm and hot summer midmorning in the general St. Claire 
  area, it is 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius). The wind is coming 
  from the south at 2.3 mph. The ground is wet. Skies are clear with a 
  definite chance of precipitation.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (49% full).

Erik enters carrying a small bundle of clothes, apparently from the farmhouse.
Kasie's brown eyes shoot towards the sound of the figure entering and she 
  scrambles up to her paws.
Erik ducks his head slightly, murmuring a greeting as he kneels to put himself 
  on the cub's level. "H'lo, Kasie. Are you doing, um, well?"
Windsoul wags his tail softly behind him as he watches Erik enter the compound.
Kasie's tail becomes more sure in its wagging. She pads over to the tall, 
  masked figure and sniffs him over before tilting her head up to smile at him.
Kasie's head moves up and down once, then she thrusts her muzzle into the 
  clothing and nudges it through them.
Erik lets Kasie sniff the offering. "I had to guess at the size," he murmurs. 
  "But if they fit, I can dedicate them to you. Then, when you shift forms, 
  they'll shift with you, disappear, and generally won't get, uh, shredded."
Windsoul watches and listens to the 'conversation'.
Kasie nods again, then glances around, then down at the clothing. She looks up 
  at Erik with her head tilted to one side questioningly.
Erik clears his throat and offers the bundle - shirt, jeans, assorted, uh, 
  delicates - to the wolf. "You can change over in the trees." His tone is 
  faintly embarrassed.
Cassandra wanders down the trail, and stops at the treeline, watching to see 
  what's going on.
Kasie opens her muzzle wide and takes them. She makes a face at the feeling of 
  the cloth against her tongue, then turns and walks into the trees. She keeps 
  going until she's well out of sight.
Windsoul looks after Kasie, then to Erik...he chuffs a bit, then shifts...
Windsoul contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Windsoul shifts into Homid form.
Erik settles back on his heels and doesn't even attempt to watch where the cub 
  has gone.
Kasie is gone for a number of minutes, longer than it should take to shift and 
  dress. However she does finally reappear, and in homid form. The clothing 
  fits her well enough, only the tee-shirt seems a size or two too big for her.
Kasie contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Kasie shifts into Homid form.
Erik glances up as the girl returns. "Erm. Is it okay?"
Kasie heads straight for Erik as she steps out of the trees. Self-consciously 
  smoothing the shirt, she nods. She glances to the others gathered here only 
  once she's reached the 'safety' of Erik's side.
Erik, in afterthought, hands Kasie her backpack and rises, moving toward one 
  side of the compound, motioning for the cub to follow.
Only when Kasie comes back and seems settled does Cassandra come out from the 
  treeline and drop onto a log by the fire witth a wave for all present and a 
  frankly curious stare for Kasie.
Kasie takes the pack back and holds it close to her as she runs her fingers 
  lightly over it before slipping her arms through the strap and shifting it 
  up into place. Holding a strap tightly in each hand, she trots after Erik, 
  daring another glance at the others as she moves.
Erik settles down on one knee, motioning for Kasie to settle down near him. He 
  explains the ritual quietly. "Basically, what I'll be doing is 'awakening' 
  the spirit of the items and binding them to your own spirit. You'll learn 
  how to do this yourself, eventually... probably after you're Rited. Until 
  then..." He trails off with a shrug. "Anyone with the ritual can do it for 
  you."
Kasie lowers herself and sits cross-legged in the spot he indicates. She looks 
  down at her shirt, "Spirits?" Her voice is soft and does not carry far. "In 
  my clothing?" She shakes her head a little in confusion as he speaks of 
  rites and rituals, then just offers an accepting shrug.
Cassandra looks after the pair, then shrugs and looks back at the fire.
Erik nods. "Spirits," he confirms. With gentle motions - and more of that 
  apparent fear of breaking the cub - he takes her hands in his gloved ones 
  and begins to sing, the aetherial tenor voice weaving a chantlike, 
  religious-sounding melody in reverent Gaelic.
Kasie makes no effort to keep her hands from his as he draws them up. Her face 
  is uplifted towards his, her teeth bite at her lower lip as she watches. She 
  seems to calm a little once his singing starts, her small white front teeth 
  freeing her lip.
There are no special effects. No sparklies or shining lights, just Erik's 
  singing, which goes on for several minutes without pause. Finally he lets 
  the song trail off and his grip - which is never too strong to prevent the 
  girl from pulling free whenever she wishes - opens, releasing her hands.
Kasie sits quietly throughout Erik's whole song, if indeed it was only one 
  song, or if it was a song at all. As he opens his hands, she gently lifts 
  hers. She fingers the shirt experimentally and asks in her same quiet tone, 
  "They're, uh, awake now?"
Erik sits back and rubs the nape of his neck. "Unless I've, er, botched 
  something." He pauses. "I don't think I did. Um, why don't you try it out?"
Cassandra watches with some interest and a faint grin, then stands up and 
  heads off back into the forest, slightly east of where she came in.
Kasie's head tilts to the side in question. "Uh, what should I make them try 
  to do?" Her voice drops even lower as she reached the end of the question, 
  whispering the last words. She glances down at her outfit with a look that's 
  a mix of mistrust and uncertainty.
Cassandra leaves the compound.
Cassandra has left.
Erik seems taken aback for a moment. "Er. No, I meant, go ahead and shift to 
  wolf form. If it worked, they'll seem to vanish. And then reappear when you 
  change back to, er, human form. They'll get bigger when you take the 
  near-human, too, and probably disappear around when you reach the war-form."
Kasie ohs! and her expression brightens. "No more ripped clothing? That'd be 
  neat!" She glances around to see if the others here are watching. Softly to 
  Erik, "Should I shift here?"
Tsah is sitting near the cookfire, idly scanning the entire compound.
Erik nods. "This is a safe place. And private. Those you meet here will be 
  Garou, like us."
Kasie ohs and nods. She shifts position, moving to her hands and knees. She 
  breathes a few words under her breath. Only those closest might catch a few 
  of them 'hope' and 'can do' mostly. She closes her eyes and takes a deep 
  breath.
Erik absently rests one hand on the violin case, watching.
Kasie takes another breath, then a deeper one. She shifts with qute a bit more 
  ease than last night.
Kasie contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Kasie shifts into Lupus form.
Erik seems to exhale with relief. "You're getting better at that, Kasie."
Kasie blinks her eyes open. She looks down at her foreleg and grins. Reaching 
  back with her head, she runs her muzzle against her side, then looks to Erik 
  with a wide grin.
A playful gleam appears in Kasie's eyes before she closes them again. She 
  lowers her head and breathes deeply again, shifting back before he can 
  suggest it.
Kasie contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Kasie shifts into Homid form.
Erik nods again, then shifts his position, sitting crosslegged. "In a few 
  days, you'll probably speaking wolf speech fluently," he murmurs.
Kasie opens them and looks at her arm. Finding no fur, she smiles and sits up. 
  Pride tinges her expression as she looks to Erik. "I did it!"
Erik's tone is pleased, though naturally his expression is hidden. "Yes, you 
  did."
Kasie keeps smiling as she moves to sit cross-legged again. Suddenly she looks 
  down at her intact clothing, then to Erik. "Wow... Was that a spell? How did 
  you do it?"
Erik tilts his head. "We call them rites, but, erm. You could describe them as 
  spells, I suppose. Gaia grants us many different types of powers."
Kasie says "Gaia? Who's..." The girl pauses, "She was in your story 
  yesterday...." Tone becoming more unsure, she asks, " You said she made us? 
  Is she like... a god, or something?"
Erik reaches down and lays a hand on the ground. "She is the earth. The soil, 
  the water, the air. She is our Mother, because without her, we would die."
Kasie ohs and nods, "So she made everyone, not just the wer-, eh, garou, 
  right?"
Erik tilts his head, and then nods.
Kasie sits quietly a moment, mulling that over. After a time she asks, "Uh, 
  last night? When everyone was introducing themselves on the porch? I, eh, 
  didn't really understand all that long name stuff." She sweeps her finger 
  through the dirt, dropping her eyes from his face to watch them as she asks.
Erik nods, pulling a knee up to his chest. "I can probably explain this best 
  by example. Myself, for instance." He coughs. "Erik is my human name, what I 
  use when I go - went - out in human society. If I needed a last name I 
  called myself Erik Daae, but it's not exactly offical. You already have a 
  human name, since it was given to you at birth. Okay so far?"
Kasie looks back up to him as she quickly nods.
Erik considers. "Sings-in-Shadow is my deed name. As a wolf, we can't say 
  things like 'Erik' or 'Kasie', so most of us have a descriptive alternate 
  name. You can pick your own, if you like, or someone will give you one 
  eventually. Probably you'll get a different one later in life."
Kasie nods again, "Sings-In-Shadows, that's nice!" She cocks her head, "I 
  could... pick my own? Name myself?" She huhs and her face grows thoughtful. 
  She sits quietly as she thinks, then her lips twitch downward and she lowers 
  her face before further expression changed can be seen. She shakes her head 
  as if ridding herself of unpleasant thoughts. "Can't think of one," she 
  mumbles.
Erik hesitates, then blurts out, "Brightspot."
Kasie glances over to him, eyes still troubled. "Brightspot?" She smiles a 
  little.
Erik nods, fingers twisting around themselves, embarrassed again. "Yes. You, 
  um. You have a bright spirit to you." He clears his throat. "You can change 
  it when you think up something better."
Kasie smiles again and looks down, "Thank you, I like that." She tilts her 
  head to glance sideways at Erik, looking at him for a moment without saying 
  anything.
Erik is silent for a moment, wrangling with his suddenly muddled thoughts. 
  "Right. Now, um, next comes auspice, the moon-phase you were born under. 
  We're both Galliards, but there are four others. Ragabash, new moon. 
  Theurge, crescent. Philodox, half moon, and Ahroun, full moon."
Kasie thinks a moment, "Aerin was a theurge, she said she worked with spirits 
  and stuff. That boy, uh, Derrick? He said he was a Ragabash and he scouted. 
  What does a Philodox and Ahroun do?
Erik explains, "A Philodox is a judge, a mediator. And the Ahroun are 
  warriors, even moreso than the rest of us."
Kasie ohs at 'warrior'. "You said something about that before, what's a 'war 
  form'?"
You say "It's the melding of wolf and human, the largest and mightiest of the 
  forms we can take. Its other name is Crinos."
Kasie nods, "Okay, so there's human, and wolf, and Crinos... are there any 
  more?"
Erik nods. "Glabro, the near-human, and Hispo, the near-wolf. One looks, 
  erm... big and hulking. Neanderthal-ish. The other is a dire wolf."
Kasie says "Dire wolf," she says softly, half to herself, "Saw them at a 
  museum once, with my class...." She sits up and says in a louder (louder for 
  her, anyway) voice, "I really should call my aunt. She'll be worried about 
  me, they'd miss me at school by now...""
Erik hesitates, then shakes his head. "What would you tell them?" he asks, 
  softly.
Kasie answers quickly, "I, uh..." She thinks and says, "That..." She frowns a 
  little, then glances over. "But they'll worry! She'll call my mother and 
  she'll /really/ be worried! I can't just not call them!"
Erik sighs. "I'll speak with Brian about it, when I can," he promises. "Right 
  now, it's better you didn't." He pauses. "I'm sorry."
Kasie nods a little as she looks down to her hands in her lap. "S'okay."
Erik is silent for a moment, then clears his throat. "Name, deed-name, 
  auspice... breed. There are three."
Kasie rubs a hand over her face before she says, "Okay, so I'm Kasie 
  Brightspot, Galliard, ...garou?"
Erik shakes her head. "Homid. Born of human, er, stock. Lupus are born a wolf, 
  and Metis... Metis, like myself, are born of two Garou."
Erik seems more than happy to leave off the lesson about Metis until another 
  time. "Next comes tribe. This is harder to define, though usually you're 
  born into it. We're both Fianna, and our roots lie in Celtic tradition."
Kasie huhs and shakes her head a little, then puts it all together. "So I'll 
  say," she takes a deep breath, " 'Kasie Brightspot, Galliard, homid, and 
  Fianna' ?"
Erik nods. "Add that you're a cub, which means you're still learning, and that 
  you've not yet been on your Rite of Passage. This will give you a bit of... 
  leeway, while you learn our customs and the like."
Kasie nods, "And cub..." She glances over, "Hope I can remember all that..."
"You will, don't worry." Erik's tone is encouraging.
Kasie smiles at him, her expression is uncertain but it looks like she hopes 
  what he says is true. She leans back, hands against the ground behind her. 
  "So, what do you do here? Mostly just hunt and talk and stuff?"
Erik shrugs. "I'm a Guardian of the Sept, which means I patrol the area quite 
  a lot. Like a guard."
Kasie cocks her head, "Guard against what? People?"
Erik nods. "Humans, yes... and those who follow the Wyrm."
Kasie sits back up, returning to the cross-legged position. "Wyrm, one of the 
  three, right?"
Erik nods. "The destroyer, yes. If the agents of the Wyrm had their way, this 
  all would be a wasteland. Perhaps a shopping mall."
Kasie glances around with a slight frown. "That happens a lot. They cut down 
  all the woods back at home to build something. ...was that the Wyrm, too?"
Christian enters the compound.
Christian has arrived.
Erik nods. "The Wyrm, and the Weaver, to a lesser degree. Both are... out of 
  control, but the Wyrm is a greater threat."
Christian comes in from the woods to the south, brushing some twigs from his 
  clothes, as he walks into the Compound. His eye immediately falls on the 
  ones sitting next to each other, and smiles. "Hello, there. How are we 
  today?"
Kasie blinks once then slowly asks, "So how do you fight it from out here? How 
  do you stop them--" She stops speaking and looks over to Christian, then her 
  eyes flicker back to Erik.
Erik glances up, startled. "Er. Hello, Christian."
Christian nods. "Hello, Erik." Then he turns towards the girl. "This must be a 
  new cub," he says simply.
Kasie echoes Erik in a voice hardly soft enough to reach, "Hello."
Erik turns to Kasie and nods. "Introduce yourself," he urges, gently.
Kasie nods and takes a deep breath, "I'm Kasie MacM--, eh, Brightspot, homid 
  cub, Fianna, Galliard." Her voice rises at the end, making it almost a 
  question. She glances over towards Erik for confirmation.
Christian nods and smiles in his own confirmation. "Well met, Kasie. Christian 
  Juttigger, Preacher-Who-Walks-Through-Fire, Firewalker, Cliath Theurge of 
  the Silver Fangs."
Erik nods again to the cub. "You did just fine," he says quietly.
Kasie looks back in Christian's direction as he speaks, head slightly cocked 
  as she listens. At Erik's words she lowers her face and smiles.
Christian smiles. "Brightspot, hmm? Well, welcome to your new life, Kasie. 
  Erik here is a good man, an even better Garou. You can trust him. Can't say 
  the same about me, though." His smile turns into a teasing grin.
Erik clears his throat.
Kasie smiles and sits up a little straighter, nodding. "Erik named me that!" 
  Her pride is evident in her tone. She tilts her head and looks at Christian 
  as he mentions not being trusted, then slowly returns the grin as she sees 
  he's joking.
Kasie looks to Erik as he coughs.
Erik just shakes his head. He's probably embarrassed again; that seems to 
  happen to him a lot.
Scab-Survivor enters the compound.
Scab-Survivor has arrived.
Christian clears his throat and lets out a breath. "Well. If you'll excuse me, 
  I'd better get going. Erik." He bows slightly, then he turns towards Kasie. 
  "Again, Kasie Brightspot, a pleasure meeting you. Welcome to our Sept." He 
  bows to her as well, and then dissappears in the underbrush towards the 
  north.
Kasie smiles and lifts a hand to wave to him as he leaves.
Kasie leans over to Erik and whispers a few words.
Kasie whispers "He was nice!"
Erik leans down to listen, and then nods to the girl. "Most of the Silver 
  Fangs here are, I've found, um, rather decent."
Kasie says "Is a, " she thinks for a second or two, " 'Cliath' Theurge some 
  other kind of Theurge?"
Scab-Survivor makes his way free of the brush at the south end of the 
  Compound, a small amount of blood on his chops. He looks up and chuffs a 
  greetings in the direction of the two Fianna, and makes his way towards the 
  fire.
Erik shakes his head. "Cliath is the next rank after cub. It means he's 
  completed his Rite of Passage. I'm a Cliath as well." He turns, ducking his 
  head to the wolf.
Kasie ohs, then looks over towards the wolf. She smiles, her eyes brightening 
  as she watches him.
Scab-Survivor contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Scab-Survivor shifts into Homid form.
Touch Deer takes homid after reaching his destination, and wipes a fleck of 
  dried blood off his chin. "Hello."
Kasie leans closer, watching the transformation with something akin to 
  amazement on her face.
Touch Deer sits down cross-legged, and nods at Kasie. "I am Touch Deer 
  Survives-the-Scab, Wendigo Ahroun and member of Ouroboros, child of Uktena.
Kasie says "Uh, hi. I'm Kasie," She glances at Erik, then continues, "Kasie 
  Brightspot, Fianna Galliard, cub.""
Erik introduces himself quietly. "Erik Sings-in-Shadow, Galliard of the Fianna 
  and Guardian for the Sept."
Touch Deer leans back. "Pleased to meet you both."
Touch Deer looks around the clearing. "I have gone from the Wheel for awhile. 
  Has anything occured that I missed?"
Kasie folds her hands in her lap and fidgets a little. When she thinks he's 
  not looking, Kasie glances at Touch Deer.
Erik thinks for a few moments. "The Warder candidates are still working on 
  their chiminage. Other than that, nothing new that I can think of. We've 
  had, erm, quite an influx of new cubs, thankfully."
Touch Deer looks at Kasie for a moment. "Good to hear that."
Kasie drops her eyes back down, trying not to be caught looking at him. She 
  gives a little nervous smile to the Wendigo's words.
Touch Deer takes out from his possible bag a small leather strip and a piece 
  of antler, and then taking his stone knife he starts to sharpen it. "Any 
  news on when the Fetish brought back from the Deep Umbra may be put to use?"
Erik lifts his head a bit. "I thought your, er, pack was taking care of 
  that...?" His tone is puzzled, curious, and a bit worried.
Touch Deer shrugs. "I just got back a few days ago, and haven't talked to them 
  at length yet. I was just wondering if anything had been decided by the 
  elders...or Brian." He wipes a rock flake off his leg. "I hear they are 
  asking for volunteers to guard it."
Kasie listens quietly. Her eyes occasionally move to Erik, but mostly she 
  watches her hands, or the ground near her.
Erik nods. "The Usual Suspects are helping guard it, and others, in turn. I 
  believe that the Warder candidates are being put to the task as well. I 
  don't know what else is being done, however."
Touch Deer stands up. "I'm heading to the Caern. All good medicine to both of 
  you."
Kasie looks up as he stands. "Bye," she says softly.
Touch Deer leaves the compound.
Touch Deer has left.
Erik watches the Garou leave, then looks at the cub. "Would you like to see 
  the caern?"
Kasie leans over to speak, her voice low even though the boy is gone. "He was 
  an indian, wasn't he?" She cocks her head, "The what?"
Erik nods. "Native Americam, yes. Um, the caern is like... a holy place. It's 
  where Gaia is strongest and the link between this world and the spirit world 
  is thin."
Kasie ohs and nods, "Okay." She stands up in one graceful motion.
Erik rises as well and leads her out of the compound.

[travel to caern]

In the Windy Spot, Rain Walker is not sure that you must have the wolf-born to 
  teach their own. What she is, is Uktena. What she is, above even that, is 
  Garou. And we can show her those things as well as her own kind. What she 
  does not need so much is to learn how to be a wolf. That she should already 
  know.
Erik pauses at the edge of the caern and turns toward the girl, leaning down 
  to murmur. "Two things you must remember here. One is that the stone in the 
  center there," - he gestures to indicate the table stone - "...should be 
  treated with respect. The other is that if you walk around the edge, you 
  must always go counter-clockwise. Or go through the center. It offends the 
  spirits if you go clockwise."
Kasie looks towards the stone as he points, nodding slowly. As he finishes, 
  the cub asks, "Clockwise offends them? Why?"
In the Windy Spot, Esther nods again, her fingers unconciously tapping on the 
  side of her leg. "So she should, although she seems to have escaped from 
  some sort of wolf-hybrid breeding place. It's just the mind-set is difficult 
  for me to get a handle on. But I can carry on teaching her myself, I guess, 
  unless you'd like someone else to do it."
Erik's shoulder lifts and falls in a shrug. "I'm not exactly sure. One of the 
  elder Theurges might be able to tell you."
Kasie repeats softly to herself, "Be careful of the big stone and never go 
  clockwise." To Erik, "Anything else to remember?"
In the Windy Spot, Rain Walker flicks one ear towards Erik and the new cub but 
  does not offer his comments. He asks Esther ~Do you know what face of Luna's 
  heralded her birthing?~
In the Windy Spot, Esther scratches her head. "Not yet, no. Got Duane's, he's 
  Cresent Moon."
Erik shakes his head at Kasie. "Just remember that this is a holy place to us. 
  You already know how to treat others with courtesy, so you shouldn't have 
  any problems."
Kasie nods as she takes a half-step closer to Erik. "Okay," she says, though 
  she doesn't sound too sure of it.
Erik pats the girl's shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring and leads her 
  into the center of the caern.
Kasie smiles a little at the pat. She follows quite close to him, looking 
  around as they arrive. Her eyes come to rest on the Table Stone.
Erik gets down on one knee, speaking quietly. "When the moon is full, there 
  will be a Moot, and you'll be able to see nearly the whole Sept gathered 
  here, and the gauntlet between realm and spirit opened."
Kasie crouches down next to him, leaning in as she studies the large stone. 
  "Looks like little pictures on it," she says in a hushed voice. She draws 
  her eyes from it to look towards Erik, "Moot? Like a, uh, meeting?" She 
  gives her head a little shake and sits back on her heels, "What opens?"
Erik nods. "Like a meeting. A gathering." He makes an expansive gesture. 
  "There is a barrier between the Realm - this world - and the Umbra - the 
  spirit world. During Moots, this barrier is opened, and the Totem spirits of 
  the caern come forth. We meet, tell tales, speak of issues, and give power 
  back to the caern, renewing our connection with Mother Gaia."
Kasie uhs, the sound soft. "Spirits will come here?" She glances about before 
  looking back to the older Galliard, "What do they look like? Can you see 
  them?"
In the Windy Spot, "I'm paying chiminage," Esther tells the tribal elder, 
  moving on to another subject.
Erik lightly traces three glyphs on the table stone. "Magpie, Buffalo, and 
  Cougar are the patron spirits of this Sept. During a successful Moot, they 
  will manifest and appear in the realm, yes. Otherwise, we have to often 
  cross the Gauntlet to see them." He pauses. "Sometimes, a spirit will 
  manifest on its own, especially in places like this, a caern, where the 
  barrier between worlds is thin." He rubs the back of his neck. "A Theurge 
  could explain it a lot better, probably," he adds, with some 
  self-deprecation.
Kasie listens closely, eyes shifting to his hand and following his tracings. 
  She seems not to hear the tone of his last line. "You can go and see them?" 
  Her tone is a mix of curiosity, awe, and the ever present uncertainty. "How 
  do you, uh, cross the Gauntlet?"
Erik hesitates, then says, "Through reflection. When the moon is full again, 
  I'll show you. The Umbra will be safest when Luna is full." An answer which 
  will probably spark a dozen new questions.
In the Windy Spot, Rain Walker tilts his head. ~In what manner?~
Kasie does, of course, have more questions. she speaks almost before he stops 
  talking. "Umbra? Bet that's the spirit world, right? Why's it safer when the 
  mo-, eh, Luna? is full?"
In the Windy Spot, Esther's face drops into a wry, half-amused expression. 
  "Got to get the Cliaths looking to their elders more, for leadership."
You say "Because there, the sun has no strength. Only Luna's light gives 
  safety from the shadows. During the day, it's so dark that even if not for 
  the Banes - the Wyrm spirits - you could easily get lost. And even at night, 
  if Luna is thin in the sky, it's still very dark and dangerous." He pauses. 
  "In any case, I suggest you never try to go alone into the Umbra. Not yet, 
  anyway.""
Kasie rests her forearms on her knees, head lowering as she mulls all of that 
  information over. She nods slowly, juat a touch distractedly to his 
  suggestion as she says, "I won't."
Erik pats her on the shoulder again and rises. "I need to get back on patrol. 
  But I'll be nearby if you need anything, okay?"