A Pack for Erik

[hazlogs]

[2/4/98]

Big Red Barn(#3420RA)
The barn is built in the old style, a vast three level structure that is 
  greater in height than a mere three stories, actually closer to five. Great 
  wooden posts support the weight of the upper levels and roof, sunk into the 
  hard-packed dirt floor of the first level like a sparse forest of regularly 
  spaced, naked trees. The stalls and flagstones which once were here have 
  been torn out to leave a rather open area where even crinos Garou may roam 
  freely without fear of running into anything but the supports or the walls 
  or the ladder at the back which allows access to the other two levels.
The first two levels are relatively open to each other, the second being only 
  little wider than a catwalk going around all the walls but the front one, 
  which has massive, twenty foot tall doors set into it. The third level is a 
  true second floor except for a place cut out that allowed hay to be tossed 
  down to the ground floor when the farm was actually worked. Now, it is a 
  hayloft where Garou can sleep outside of the house.
Obvious exits:
BarnYard  

Currently on this highly windy and cold winter afternoon in the general St. 
  Claire area, it is 33 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius). The wind is 
  coming from the northwest at 43.6 mph. The ground is snowy. Skies are cloudy 
  with a definite chance of precipitation.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (52% full).

[Derrick, Athena, and Dusty arrive.]

Erik is up in the hayloft; you can hear him moving around.

Derrick slips in, moving aside so the others can get in, squinting to try and 
  find the Fianna.

Dusty slips in last, holding the door for Athena and allowing her to pass 
  first, if she wishes.

Derrick calls, "That you, Erik?"

Athena smiles at Dusty and slips in.

Dusty's doesn't return the smile, but he does fall in behind Athena, closing 
  the door quietly behind him and examining the rafters and floor for any 
  other presences behind Erik.

The movements overhead pause, and then resume; Erik's shadow appears at the 
  entrance to the hayloft, near the ladder. "Er, yes?"

A grin makes its way across Derrick's face. "I think we're pretty agreed we're 
  gonna stay Guardians. Would that mess with your head too much?" He pauses. 
  "I mean, if you joined up with us."

Erik hesitates, and then sits down slowly at the edge of the hole, legs 
  dangling. "I... I'd do my best," the Metis says hesitantly. "...What about 
  Anne?"

"Gone." That's Dusty's voice, calling quietly. "She had to go home because of 
  her family."

Derrick waves it off. "She's gone," he says, sounding equal parts sad and 
  happy simultaneously.

Erik's hand grips the edge of the wood. "Then... I can join you pack? Really?"

Derrick leans against the wall, Erik's pained eagerness reflecting in him in a 
  positively embarrassed grin. "That's what we're here for, yeah."

Dusty smiles faintly to himself, standing balanced on both feet and crossing 
  his arms at the base of the ladder. "If you want to..."

Athena grins quietly.

Erik leans back, veiling his face in shadow for a few moments. When he speaks 
  again, the musical tenor voice trembles slightly. "I... yes. Yes, I do. 
  Thank you."

Derrick says, "Cool," in an ostentatiously calm tone of voice, and then adds, 
  firmly, still looking both slightly embarrassed and, now, faintly jubilant, 
  "Welcome to us, then."

Dusty takes one pace back from the ladder, suggesting quietly, "You can come 
  down ,you know."

Erik hesitates, and then leans forward, feet finding the rungs of the ladder. 
  The one-armed metis climbs down slowly - even considering his handicap - and 
  the expression on his skeletal, corpse-pale face is a mixture of disbelief 
  and hesitant joy.

Derrick kicks his heel against the wall, and looks down, grinning still.

Athena moves a little towards Erik and the ladder, and then stops.

Dusty watches Erik quietly, though a trace of that smile remains on his face. 
  Oddly enough, he doesn't look away from Erik, nor does he flinch as that 
  hideous face comes into view. "Um...I guess maybe we ought to think about 
  possibly questing for a Totem..."

Erik reaches the bottom of the ladder and touches ground, hand still on one of 
  the rungs. He looks from one to the other, speechless until Dusty brings up 
  the subject of totems, and then he turns to the Gaian, nodding.

Derrick looks up. "Which'd you rather have, Erik? Pegasus, or Raccoon?"

Athena adds, "Or something else?"

Erik hesitates. "Er." He finds his voice. "To be frank, I'd probably be bloody 
  terrified of Pegasus."

Derrick tries not to smile, this time. "I guess of Panther, too?"

Erik ducks his head slightly, embarrassed.

Lawrence enters the ground level of the barn through one of the doors.
Lawrence has arrived.

Derrick says, gently, "That ain't an answer."

Lawrence creeps towards the barn door and peers inside, though he himself 
  remains standing in the snow beyond.

Erik shifts his weight slightly, and then takes a breath. "Perhaps not afraid. 
  But... would She accept me?"

Derrick's leaning against the wall near the door, looking at Erik, repressing 
  a smile ruthlessly.

Dusty stands with his back to the door, perhaps a pace back from the ladder to 
  the hayloft. He, Derrick, Athena, and Erik, appear to be discussing 
  something by the base of the ladder.

Derrick looks at Athena. "Don't see why not. She's not a /fan/ of men, but she 
  only rejects Get. Right?"

Erik lets go of the ladder rung and rubs the back of his neck. "Er, well, I 
  can guarentee I've never abused any women..."

Athena cocks her head. "Pegasus is the one who won't accept Get, I think. 
  Panther... Panther likes cats more than women."

Curiosity apparently overcomes prudence, and Lawrence steps inside the barn. 
  He tries not to interrupt the conversation with his presence.

Derrick looks over at the Gaian cub, and nods. "Panther protects both, 
  although I guess the... she only requires folks to help cats."

Erik studies the floor, then looks upward toward the barn rafters. Hesitantly, 
  he suggests, "...Owl?"

Derrick blinks. "Owl? That hadn't even occurred to me."

Lawrence seems utterly fascinated at the litany of totems that's being rattled 
  off. "What's Owl like?" he asks quietly.

Athena looks up, a grin breaking across her face. "I like Owls."

Dusty blinks too, but tilts his head thoughtfully. "Me either...don't know 
  much about it."

Erik ducks his eyes down, glancing at the Fang, thin lips twitching slightly. 
  "Owl..." He glances at Lawrence, then Dusty. "Owl is wise and swift. He 
  gives his children wisdom, and wings to fly with in the Umbra."

Derrick, suddenly, looks very interested. "Wings?"

Dusty turns as Lawrence finally speaks, and immediately stiffens a bit, 
  looking down at his feet. "Um...hi. I don't know..."

Erik nods to Derrick; the metis can't suppress his grin much anymore. "Wings."

Athena bounces. "And I can even talk to them, so we could talk to it even if 
  we don't get a theurge."

Lawrence's expression screws up in puzzlement. "What... wings? So, like, you 
  could fly?" He pauses a moment, reflectively.

Derrick says, "Huh. Y'know..." He looks at Athena, then Erik, then asks, 
  "Dusty, what you think of this idea?"

Erik nods again. "Only in the Umbra, but yes. Actually fly. I've... seen 
  others with it."

Dusty's eyes brows go up. "If that's true..." he glances at Lawrence, 
  speculatively, then back at Derrick as he's addresses. "Um...if Owl would 
  take us..."

Derrick says, again, "Huh. I think we should talk t'someone who's got 
  Summoning, then. This may be a much better solution than any've the ones 
  we've had so far. Flyin'..." He trails off, a faint smile on his face.

Erik puts his hand over his mouth, to stifle a giddy-sounding little laugh.

Athena cocks her head. "Who used to be in the Owlpack here?"

Lawrence looks around at the other four, and takes a couple of steps 
  backwards. "So you guys are all like a pack, now?"

[Lawrence]
A fairly attractive young man in his mid to late teens, Lawrence carries 
  himself with a quiet dignity and seriousness that's not usually present in 
  others his age. About six feet tall and with the lean build of a runner, he 
  wears his brown hair in a conservative cut so that it stays out of his face 
  and chocolate-brown eyes. He's of no distinct ethnicity, pure American 
  Mongrel. Humor doesn't seem to come very easily to him these days, and he 
  seems somewhat withdrawn and inwardly-focused.
He dresses in fairly typical clothes for someone his age: button shirt, jeans, 
  sneakers, and a King Senior High School jacket with a varsity letter sewn 
  into it.

Derrick thumps the barn with his heel again. "Um. Gauntlet, I think. Eligio's 
  pack." He looks at Lawrence, and adds, "We won't bite. C'mon in, y'know?"

Dusty shakes his head slowly. "I thought the Rite for seeking a totem quest 
  was kind of different..." He trails off and turns to Lawrence as the boy 
  speaks, with a grin and a nod.

Lawrence shrugs his shoulders awkwardly, and shuffles forward the step or two 
  that he'd just retreated. "I just didn't want to interrupt or be rude. I'm 
  sorry."

Derrick gestures. "Us three, Dusty an' Athena an' me, we have been for like 
  ages anyways. We just asked Erik in, like 5 minutes ago."

Erik nods as well, still covering his mouth; now that disbelief has 
  evaporated, the giddy joy takes firm hold over his deformed features, an 
  expression no one has ever seen upon the Fianna metis. He's all but floating.

Lawrence shrugs his shoulders awkwardly, and shuffles forward the step or two 
  that he'd just retreated. "I just didn't want to interrupt or be rude. I'm 
  sorry."

Lawrence glances down at his feet briefly. "I suppose I have to wait until 
  after I have my Rite of Passage before I can join a pack."

Derrick tells Lawrence, "If we objected, we'd've told you to go away."

Derrick adds, "Yeah. It's... a pain to have to wait, lemme tell you. How long 
  till your Rite, you think?"

Dusty draws in a breath, considering that. "Well, yeah..."

Lawrence's eyes widen slightly at the question, and again he shrugs his 
  shoulders awkwardly. "I dunno, really," he answers quietly. "I mean, there's 
  still so much I feel like I need to know, and I haven't had much chance to 
  learn how to fight."

Derrick smiles faintly. "We're gonna be helpin' Erik there learn how to fight 
  better. We could help you, too, if you want."

Erik leans against the ladder, green eyes, now vibrant within their deep, 
  skeletal sockets, turning toward Lawrence; the giddiness remains, and the 
  Fianna clearly doesn't trust himself to speak just now.

Lawrence grows a bit hesitant. "And, truth be told, I'm not really looking 
  forward to it. Another Child of Gaia just died on his Rite of Passage."

Dusty nods, his lips twisting a bit. "I guess ours wasn't so bad, Derrick. I 
  mean, I kinda had fun."

Derrick's expression darkens. "Who - Oh. Shit. James died?" He manages a smile 
  in Dusty's direction. "It was a pain in the ass while we were there, but I 
  liked the bear shifters."

Erik's mood deflates slightly, remembering James. He rubs at his mouth with 
  the back of his hand and nods confirmation to Derrick.

Lawrence nods in answer to Derrick's question, and turns silent as 
  conversation turns to other things.

Derrick asks Lawrence, confounding his falling silent, "What happened?"

Dusty nods slowly, that faint smile tugging disobediently at the corner of his 
  otherwise carefully controlled lips.

Lawrence shrugs his shoulders slightly. "I don't really know. I just heard, 
  from the other person who was on the trip with him. Kasie, I think her name 
  was?"

Derrick says, "Oh! Yeah. I thought I'd smelled her around. Brightspot. I'll 
  have t'go ask her. Just... as witness, you know? Since we don't seem to have 
  any gravestones anymore."

"Kasie." Erik's mood sobers a bit more, though the near-giddy delirium of 
  happiness remains underneath, unsnuffable. "Walks-Far-Alone. Fianna 
  Galliard." He recites his former student's name with a kind of reverence.

Derrick looks at Erik, and says, "Walks Far Alone," in a half questioning, 
  half affirming tone.

Dusty tilts his head, considering that name, almost as if filing it away for 
  future reference.

Erik shifts his eyes toward Derrick and nods, then allows himself a small 
  sigh. "She's... all grown up."

"Do people usually get new names afterwards?" Lawrence asks quietly, even as 
  he moves to seat himself on a nearby bale of hay.

Dusty nods to Lawrence, taking a pace back towards the ladder and leaning 
  halfway against it. "Almost always."

Erik erms. "Sometimes. Not always. I didn't."

Derrick definitely can't keep his smile down, now. "I will definitely ask her, 
  then." He nods at Lawrence. "Deed names, kinda. I didn't have a lupus name, 
  before my Rite, at all. Now, it's Falcon's Wing... Sometimes, it comes from 
  an event on the Rite, or it comes from... something the person wants to 
  commemorate, or something of the sort."

Erik nods quietly.

Athena smiles at Lawrence. "Mine just sort of happened. Putting me together."

Derrick gestures at Lawrence. "You have a lupe name?"

Lawrence wrinkles his nose. "Andrea just gave me a name," he mutters. "Will I 
  keep that one, or get a new one to replace it, or use them both?"

Erik rubs the back of his neck. "Er. Really, it's your choice. What you 
  feel... fits you."

Dusty leans forward a bit. "What is it? And it's up to you. Andrea gave me 
  mine too, for what it's worth."

Derrick says "You can keep it, if you want. Or use both. Or sorta combine 'em. 
  I did that, with two've my names. For formal occcasions."

Derrick intones, "Falcon's Wing Leads By Example." He snorts. "Doesn't that 
  just /scream/ Silver Fang at you?"

Athena glances at Derrick. "You /are/ Silver Fang."

Lawrence chews on his lower lip for a moment. "She called me Reaches-High, I 
  guess because she thinks I'm trying to go after all these high-minded 
  principles." He pauses, then adds, "I guess she's right."

Erik grins widely at Derrick; though the expression is genuine, it only makes 
  the metis look more like a living skeleton.

Derrick says, "Yeah, I know. That's why I've got the name." He shrugs. "I just 
  meant, it was, like, ultra-typical." He looks over at the cub. "Huh. Sounds 
  good to me. What's your auspice?" He then mutters, "Hey, he could fly an' 
  it'd fit his name, too."

Lawrence swallows. "I'm a Philodox," he says, then thrusts his hands into his 
  pockets. "I... don't know how good of one I'm going to be, though. I'm not 
  like Marcus."

Christian enters the ground level of the barn through one of the doors. 
Christian has arrived.

Dusty shrugs, his eyes on the floor. "I don't think of myself as being that
  good of a Galliard, Lawrence, so I guess..."

Erik's grin fades, the light-headedness receding slightly. He passes a hand 
  across his face and remarks, "Marcus-rhya is an elder. I mean... we can't do 
  everything at once."

The doors to the barn open as Christian peeks in. He then walks fully into the 
  barn, closing the door behind him. He waves and smiles to those inside.

Dusty shrugs, his eyes on the floor. "I don't think of myself as being that 
  good of a Galliard, Lawrence, so I guess..."

Erik's grin fades, the light-headedness receding slightly. He passes a hand 
  across his face and remarks, "Marcus-rhya is an elder. I mean... we can't do 
  everything at once."

Lawrence draws a breath. "It's not like that," he says. "I mean, I've learned 
  a lot about the Litany, enough about some of it to really believe it rather 
  than just say it. That's what I want, you know, because I figure it's not 
  enough to just know the law." He pauses, looks down at his feet, and says, 
  "Marcus is very harsh. I mean, he was ready to let somebody who'd gotten 
  beaten up just lie there bleeding and in pain, because she'd committed a 
  crime. Getting beaten up for it wasn't the punishment, but it didn't matter 
  to him. I just don't think I could do that. I don't think I could let 
  someone suffer for what I think is no good reason."

Erik's good mood dries up; his eyes drop to the floor as he shifts his weight, 
  perhaps making a guess who the 'criminal' Lawrence mentions is. Shame 
  mingles with pain and nausea's memory as he bites down on his lower lip, 
  silent.

Derrick says, softly, "And I think I respect that... more than I respect 
  leaving someone to bleed."

Christian joins the others, crossing his arms as he listens, looking at 
  nothing in particular.

Derrick nods in greeting to Christian. "Hey."

Dusty nods slowly; although he says nothing, his eyes say that he is clearly 
  in agreement. He looks up at Christian joins the group, and nods quietly.

Christian clears his throats, saying only, "Afternoon, guys," before falling 
  silent again.

Lawrence exhales. "I don't know," he says, glancing up and over towards 
  Christian with some wariness. "I sometimes wonder whose idea it was to make 
  me Garou."

Christian smiles at Lawrence. "Sometimes I wonder the same. Yet the answer 
  comes, in time." He shrugs.

Dusty shrugs a shoulder diffidently, some of that shy and reserved air coming 
  back as Christian approaches. "Um...I guess I do too, sometimes..."

Derrick heaves a sigh. "I asked that, for awhile. Then I said, "Fate. Or Gaia. 
  Or Falcon. But does it really matter who did, s'long as I'm a... Garou who 
  does right as often as possible?""

Lawrence shrugs his shoulders again, and then looks back towards the floor of 
  the barn. He scuffs his foot over the floor and rises slowly back to his 
  feet. "What I'm discovering is that the definition of 'right' depends on who 
  you ask. Anyhow. Thanks for letting me listen, and then for listenting to me 
  complain."

Dusty nods to Lawrence, watching him soberly. The smile is almost completely 
  gone now. "It's the truth," he murmurs quietly.

Derrick nods. "That's certainly true. Of course, it's also true in human 
  society. It's sort of... annoying, though, when you have to obey everyone, 
  no questions asked. Being a cub sucks." He quirks a small smile. "And my 
  pleaasure. That's not complaining, that's pondering. There's a difference."

Erik merely nods to Lawrence, subdued.

Christian remains silent, as well.

Derrick snaps a finger. "Patrol," he mutters. "Gotta go, guys. I'll talk to 
  you later."
Derrick leaves the barn through one of the doors.
Derrick has left.

Lawrence offers an uncertain smile towards Derrick and Dusty -- though the 
  expression fades when his eyes fall on the latter. "I gotta go," he says, 
  and then also turns and heads out of the barn.
Lawrence leaves the barn through one of the doors.
Lawrence has left.

Erik abruptly leans heavily against the ladder as if feeling dizzy.

Christian looks up at Erik, his arms falling to each side. "You ok there, 
  Erik?"

Erik murmurs, "I'm fine." A short laugh escapes him, light-headed. "More than 
  fine."

Christian frowns, his lone eye turning into a slit. "You sure?"

Dusty turns to watch Erik quietly, still shy. After a moment, he murmurs, "I 
  should patrol as well, as foul as the weather is. I'll see you later, 
  Erik...and welcome." He offers the Fianna a brief grin as he zips up his 
  jacket again.

Erik grins back at Dusty. "I'll... yes. I'll have to join you tomorrow, on 
  patrol. Need to relearn the circuits." He giggles briefly, giddy.

Dusty nods to Erik as he turns for the door. "Of course."