"...You would not ask if you did not know."

[hazlogs]

It is currently 22:51 Pacific Time on Sun Mar 7 2004.
Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 52 degrees
      Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius). The wind is calm today. The barometric 
      pressure reading is 30.46 and rising, and the relative humidity is 89 
      percent. The dewpoint is 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius.)
Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (89% full).

Atcen lies on her back, stretched out in homid form, staring at the moonlit sky.
Jacinta climbs up the hill, tired and a bit drained from her recent experience.
      Seeing the cub, her eyes narrow and, even before she is close she speaks. 
      "Do you have something you wish to tell me?"
Atcen sits up quickly, but her smile of welcome quickly fades. Biting her lower
      lip, she looks away and hugs her knees. "...Tell... you?"
Jacinta finishes her climb and moves closer. "Tell me. Have you done anything
      of which you should tell me, before I find out from another source and 
      become angry?"
Atcen shifts her pale eyes over to the Ahroun's feet. "...You would not ask if
      you did not know," she says rather sullenly. "Me and Turtle went to the 
      caern and went into the Umbra."
Jacinta nods, crossing her arms over her chest. "And if I did not already know,
      would you attempt to hide this from me? Speak truly, for I will know if 
      you lie."
Atcen's lower lip pouts out. "Do I always have to tell you everything?"
Jacinta takes a deep breath and releases it slowly through tight lips. "What am
      I, to you?" she says, answering the question with one of her own.
Atcen looks down at her bare feet. "Teacher," she mumbles.
Jacinta nods. "And, until Brings the Buffalo Home's return, elder. I am the one
      to teach you, to protect you, to guide you into adulthood. Do you always 
      have to tell me everything?"
Atcen sighs deeply, sounding just like a frustrated, put-upon teenager.
      Reluctantly, she says, "Yes..."
Jacinta steps toward Atcen, shoulders tensing, all of her muscles growing taut.
      "Because I do not believe that hitting you will help you learn, I avoid 
      it. Do not think that I cannot, or will not, if you do not show me proper 
      respect."
Atcen hunches her shoulders and, with a whining noise, flops over onto her side
      and shows throat.
Jacinta crouches down beside the cub and places a hand on the side of her face,
      fingers up into the hairline behind her ear. The touch is gentle, despite 
      the tension that remains in her shoulders, and the gesture is obviously 
      related to the lupine assertion of dominance. She allows her hand to 
      slide down the jaw-line as she pulls away and returns to her feet. "Are 
      you ready to receive your punishment?"
Atcen sighs again, more resigned now, and sits up, still not looking at the
      Ahroun. She nods mutely.
Jacinta says "You will not return to the Umbra until you have completed the
      following task. After, you will return only with an escort of whom I 
      approve until further notice. You must perform, for an audience I will 
      invite, a parable explaining why your actions were foolhardy and wrong, 
      and teaching the appropriate tenets of the Litany which your actions 
      violated, or could have caused to be violated. Do you understand this 
      task?""
Atcen's lower lip pouts out again. She glances up at Jacinta, frowning.
      "What... _which_ Litany... tenets?" She falters over the last word, which 
      is strange to her.
Jacinta frowns slightly. "You may ask Turtle to assist you in that. Consider
      this a learning opportunity."
Atcen's shoulders sag as she looks away. She nods again, glumly.
Jacinta grunts and crosses her arms once more. "Now. I have given Holly
      permission to travel within our territory, and to the Caern, just as I 
      have given you. I expect that you will make good use of this freedom when 
      I am not around. I would like to see you assisting each other in learning 
      - that which I have taught, or Alicia or Olga. Other things which you 
      feel ready to learn, ask." She puts great emphasis on this last word. "I 
      am never far, and I wish you to learn. And learn without endangering 
      yourselves. Understand?"
Atcen nods wordlessly again, her arms hugged around her knees, blinking rapidly.
Jacinta shakes her arms out and allows the shake to then travel up her spine.
      "Do you have any questions of me? I feel the need to hunt, tonight, but 
      will stay as long as you need."
Atcen shakes her head rapidly and mumbles, "No," into her knees.
Jacinta drops down to her knees, fingertips resting on the ground before her.
      "Then I will go. Call for me, when you are ready to give your 
      performance. Luna light your way, and I will see you when the sun rises." 
      With that, she shifts down into lupus, giving a last look at the cub, one 
      ear tipped outward displaying a curiosity tinged with care that she did 
      not express in words or tone, but cannot hide in her lupus potsure.
"When sun rises," Atcen mumbles, curling deeper into herself. She doesn't look
      at the older Wendigo and thus doesn't note the concern.
Jacinta lopes off toward the lake.
Atcen gets up after Jacinta goes and, shifting down into lupus, dashes off as
      well, taking a different direction.