hazlogs | "But. Do not tell Jacinta... this is _better

It is currently 19:15 Pacific Time on Mon Apr 26 2004.

Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 82 degrees
      Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the 
      northeast at 5 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.12 and falling, 
      and the relative humidity is 26 percent. The dewpoint is 44 degrees 
      Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)

Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (48% full).

Two Eagles Bluff(#3332RJ)

To the northeast, the foothills climb upwards into the steep, snow-capped crags
      and mountains. Here, the tall summer grasses bend in sporadic waves as 
      the wind dances on the bluff. The evergreens and aspens give way to an 
      open field that lends itself to a panoramic and picturesque view to the 
      south and east. A small stream wends its way unobtrusively through the 
      eastern edge of the mountain's crags, the scent and sound of trickling 
      water clear on the hesitant but almost incessant breeze. Wildflowers 
      litter the green of the grass, coloring them with touches of violet and 
      bright oranges, yellows and blues. Tucked in along the sloped wall of the 
      forested foothills to the northeast is a well-worn section of ground.

Turtle lopes down the angle of the Bluff's slope, appearing among the scrub
      near the treeline. Here, she slows down to her normal teenage trot, nose 
      to the ground, as she approaches the cave. The wolf's been tracking 
      Atcen's scent, looking for her.

Atcen, in homid, lies flat on her back on the ground near the cave. She's easy
      to sense by the smell of sweat alone. What's been a balmy spring for 
      others has been a sweltering heat to the metis.

Turtle's ears lay back when she comes up on the metis. The strong scent makes
      the nostrils of her little black nose flair. Crouching, she shifts and 
      turns, blurring up into her birthform. All of the concern, so easily read 
      on her lupus expression is hidden in this form. Even her tone is chipper. 
      "Hey," she says, poking lightly at the galliard. "How you doing?"

Atcen makes a disgruntled noise and waves swattily at the poke. "Stupid hot,"
      she grumbles.

Holly lets the metis push her away, a mild smile on her face. She looks down
      the hill, thoughtfully. "I got an idea," she says, standing from her 
      crouch. "Think you can follow me for a while?"

Atcen scowls at the homid's good cheer, then pushes herself upright. "Yes. I
      can follow. Stupid hot."

Holly warns, in that same nearly sing-song, too-good-to-not-die tone, "It's a
      long way. You sure?" She's already headed down the slope, this time in 
      homid.

"Fuck you." Well, it seems that _some_ skinny little metis has big ears and a
      keen hearing for swearwords. Atcen stomps down after Holly, using her 
      shirt-tail to wipe at her face.

Holly seems surprised by the curse, mouth hanging open slightly. But, it's
      followed by a little laugh. The Wendigo theurge, remembering the way the 
      metis outworked and outran her in her first few days, gets her revenge 
      now. She sets a fast but not blistering pace, working her way down and 
      around the bawn to the overgrown tracks to the southwest. Once there, she 
      lets Atcen sit for a while, breath, and cool down some. Her only 
      explanation about where they're going is, "Won't be too much further. 
      Promise."

Atcen shifts down to lupus on the way and replies with another disgruntled
      noise, her ears laid back. Her muzzle gapes open, tongue panting out.

Holly continues, once Atcen's cooled down somewhat. She picks her way
      carefully, and when the woods start to thin out and Kent Crossing looms 
      near the Sunrise Road, ahead, she tells the metis, "You need to take 
      homid again." Waiting, she looks Atcen over to make sure she's at least 
      presentable enough to not get them in trouble among people. "Hrm."

Atcen is sweaty and grumpy in her dirty t-shirt and cutoff jeans and dirty bare
      feet. The pocket-knife Jacinta gave her makes a bulge in her back pocket.

Holly, getting a good look at the galliard, shakes her head, laughing a little
      bit. "You are really sad," she says, and despite effort, some of that 
      earlier concern creeps into her voice. She reaches in and pulls the the 
      knife out, tucking it into her own jacket pocket where it's better 
      hidden. "Just til we get back out of town. Promise. It'll be worth it. 
      Just..stick close to me, ok?"

Atcen stiffens a bit, but lets her fellow cub take the knife, and some of the
      scowl relents, as if she remembers that this is _Holly_, after all. Her 
      sister in everything but blood (and even a little of that, thanks to 
      tribe). "Where are we going?"

The question elicits a devilish little grin. "You'll see," Holly answers,
      pushing past the treeline to walk up the deserted road. As they make 
      their way down, into town, the pavement of the road gets better, traffic 
      gets more prominent, and there's simply more activity. By the time Holly 
      pulls up again, looking across a fairly busy street to a 7-11 standing 
      beside an Econ-O gas station. Tugging on the metis, to keep her close, 
      she moves to cross the road.

Atcen reaches out, in fact, and grasps Holly's hand in her own, squeezing it.
      As the two cubs wander deeper into civilization, the feral metis grows 
      more wary and uncertain. She keeps glancing downwards at the hard stuff 
      covering the ground, her unshod feet often coming a little to close to 
      sharp things for comfort.

Holly squeezes the metis' hand, instinctively reassuring, as if she expected
      the reaction. For her part, Holly seems to be on a very specific mission, 
      and when she spots the 7-11, she mutters something to herself. "That'll 
      do." Crossing the road, they cut between a pickup and a sedan, with 
      plenty of room to spare, but it might nonetheless spook the metis when 
      the cars go by. As they stand on the curb of the storefront, Holly, gets 
      Atcen's attention and says, "When we go in, follow me to the back. Don't 
      take anything, unless I say you can, ok? I gotta figure out how much 
      money I have."

Atcen nods slowly, not saying anything. She looks around, eyes constantly
      moving, weight shifting from foot to foot.

Holly waits til a a man goes in to buy cigarettes before she pushes the door
      open behind him. While he's getting rung up at the register, she pulls 
      Atcen to the back of the store. The metis is surrounded by bags powdered 
      donuts, potato chips, beef jerky, bars of candy lining the walls, aspirin 
      bottles, cough syrup, and in the very back---a line of glass 
      freezer/refrigerator doors showcasing columns full of beer, soda, milk, 
      and ice cream. Holly pulls open the ice-cream door and lets the cool air 
      wash over Atcen, unable to stop a soft giggle from escaping.

Atcen isn't entirely unfamiliar with the magic of indoor-coldness; she's been
      to the farmhouse once and raided the fridge. Still, the combination of 
      this along with an almost sensory overload of items and objects and words 
      she can't read makes her jaw slacken, her mouth opening slightly. Then 
      she looks at Holly and grins, showing yellowed teeth.

Holly's laugh redoubles. The man with the cigarettes gathers his change and
      heads out, while the man at the counter eyes the two girls. "Evening," he 
      says from his spot up front. It's polite enough, but it also subliminally 
      says 'I see you back there'. Holly, turning to look at him while still 
      nonchalantly holding the freezer door open, offers, "Hey, we'll just be a 
      minute."

Atcen's grin fades slightly, and the nervous, cautious way she looks over at
      the counter man just _screams_ 'juvenile shoplifter'.

Indeed, the man's stare is more on Atcen than on Holly, but he keeps a close
      eye on both. He's frowning, too. Holly's eyes sweep over the selections, 
      and she quickly grabs a couple pints of Ben and Jerry's, as well as two 
      Popsicles, one cherry and one grape. These she brings to the front, 
      digging into her jeans pocket for the few wrinkled dollars she has. She 
      keeps Atcen behind her and as far from the man at the counter as she can. 
      She lays everything down, including the money. "Nice night, huh?" she 
      says to him.

Atcen keeps quiet. She's starting to get a little used to the place, wariness
      giving way to curiosity. Fortunately, she remembers what Holly said about 
      not taking anything, and she even refrains from touching things.

With the two girls this close, the man's frown turns into an unpleasant scowl.
      Atcen is the worse, clearly, but even Holly is a little ragged. He looks 
      like he wants nothing to do with either. The money is counted out 
      reluctantly, and that's when he notices Atcen's bare feet. "She can't be 
      in here without shoes," he says.

Atcen looks up from a display of cheap toys and jewelry and insense holders to
      frown at the man, her pale eyes narrowing. "Why not?"

Holly looks back to her sister, and then smiles at the clerk. "We're leaving,
      soon as you take the money," she counters, already grabbing up the ice 
      cream. Now she elbows Atcen to head back out into the heat. "Let's go," 
      she says. The man's eyes narrow at Atcen, but since Holly says they're 
      leaving, he just takes the money and pings the cash register. His eyes 
      follow the girls as long as they remain in the store, though.

Atcen glowers at the man for a moment before following Holly out. As the door
      closes behind them, she glances back over her shoulder, scowls, then 
      turns her attention to the other cub. "He was not nice."

Holly shrugs a shoulder, walking around to the backside of the store near the
      parking lot. she sits on the curb and pops open the ice cream. "Yeah, 
      he's a jerk. Most of them are. If I wasn't afraid of Jacinta finding out 
      and forbidding me from /ever/ seeing the ...other side, again, I'd have 
      some fun with him." She offers Atcen the other pint, and licks the lid of 
      the open one.

Atcen squats down next to Holly, nodding agreement. She takes the pint readily
      and pulls off the top, her disgruntlement fading as she gets curious. 
      "What is this?"

Holly looks sideways toward Atcen. "Ice cream?" she says, question, to see if
      the metis recognizes the word at least. "Try it. Lick it."

Atcen's eyebrows rise. "Jacinta made ice cream. But she said only qussaq name
      it that." She looks at the brown cold stuff with darker brown chunks in 
      it, notes, "Aqutaq not look like this," and takes a lick. And then her 
      eyes go _wide_.

Holly leans back, laughing. "Good, stuff, in'it?" she says, unable to contian
      her laughter. Her own pint contains chunky monkey, and with the help of a 
      finger, she digs out a chunk and offers it to Atcen. "Try this one."

You paged the room with 'Imagine growing up never tasting anything sweeter than
      a berry or maybe some honey or something, occasionally. Living on mostly 
      fish and meat. Now it's like OMG SWEET OMG.'.

Atcen leans over and slurps up the offered chunky monkey, eagerly, then uses
      her teeth to gnaw out more of her chocolate-chocolate chip in a way 
      that'd make anyone with cold sensitivity in the teeth wince. She makes 
      gratifying noises of pleasure.

Holly, for one, winces. But she's also laughing. she eats hers much more
      slowly. In fact, in the mild heat of the night, the pint is starting to 
      sweat in her hands, and she has to switch from one to the other as the 
      coldness gets to her fingers. Nevertheless, watching Atcen makes it all 
      worthwhile. "If you get sick, Jacinta's going to kill me."

Atcen giggles. There's chocolate all over her chin and around her mouth. "Not
      sick. But. Do not tell Jacinta... this is _better_ than aqutaq."

Holly, lacking a spoon, isn't exactly clean herself. She doesn't seem to care.
      Though she puts a healthy dent in her pint, there's plenty left over when 
      she puts the top back on. "We should start making our way back." One look 
      at Atcen, and she starts laughing again. "And we should probably take it 
      slow. All that junk in your stomach, and you feeling the heat."

Atcen makes a scoffing noise, and before replacing the lid of her pint, takes
      another bite. "I am _fine_," she says with confidence.

Holly leads the way back across the street, down Sunrise Road, and then into
      the woods. She remains in homid but gives Atcen her knife back and tells 
      her to shift down for easier moving. By the time the climb the Bluff's 
      slope, it's late and what's left of the ice cream has melted. Holly takes 
      both pints to 'sink' into the stream. It may not stay frozen, but the 
      cold water will at least keep it a few hours.