Rite of Passage: Brandon and Daisy

[hazlogs]

DATE:  Sunday, October 18, 1998 & Sunday, November 1, 1998
Place:  Silverton Apartments, Apt. #101

Salem collects the both of you from the Farmhouse and drives you back into 
   town near wordlessly, his usual, chipper self under new moon. Rather than 
   deposit you back to your respective, usual domiciles, though, he drives you 
   up to the Silverton Apartments. Daisy, at least, might know what that means.
Daisy does indeed. "We see Jay-jay!" she deduces cleverly as the car stops and 
   she fumbles with the door latch mechanism. It opens for her after a few 
   seconds of effort and she climbs out.
Brandon opens his door without the fumbling, his exterior calm and collected. 
   He wears a leather jacket over his torso, and slung across his shoulders 
   his the backpack that carried his items of survival for the long two weeks 
   at the caern. "Wee," he says through a smirk, closing the door behind him.
Salem gives Brandon a dark look, then closes the driver's door as well, and 
   goes into the apartment complex. He gives a knock on the door, following it 
   immediately with, "J.J., it's Jack." The fostern's voice calls out from the 
   other side, "Door's open." Salem opens the door (it is, in fact, unlocked 
   it seems), to the sight of an apartment in somewhat dingy shape, and the 
   sight of J.J. sitting on the far end of a couch along the wall, turned so 
   that he's facing the doorway, and beginning to uncock a gun held in his 
   right hand in his lap. The metis looks over the two cubs, and grunts. 
   "Good. You survived out there. How was it?"
Daisy is more excited, like a dog getting retrieved from being boarded two 
   weeks at the vet's while the owners are off on vacation. It's not a 
   hyper-excited like you might expect from a puppy, but it's present in her 
   step and eyes. She's back home and among her imprinted 'pack'. She eagerly 
   steps back into the apartment and the saving ammenities of civilization. 
   "No tee-vee," Daisy offers with frank candidness.
Brandon stalks toward J.J. with his hands fisted inside his jacket-pockets. 
   "Uneventful some nights.. barn-shaking some of the others. Their existence 
   nukes about every preconception science has about the ego..." He glances 
   aside to Daisy and shrugs his shoulders, adding a smile. "Yeah, and hence 
   no playstation. But it was fine."
J.J. Malone's mouth twists into a sardonic smile. "Good. Jack, give me a 
   hand?" he asks. Salem gives J.J. a hard look, but then does so, helping the 
   latter to stand up. "Leave your things, Brandon, you won't be needing them 
   where you're going. We'll get them to Jeff," J.J. says, as the two ahrouns 
   make their way back to the sole bedroom.
Brandon lets his pack drop to the ground as indicated and leans heavily on his 
   right leg. He watches the ahrouns make their exchange and then follows them 
   quietly.
Daisy sneaks a peek into the kitchen as Brandon removes his gear and JJ gets 
   up, to see if there might be anything interesting cooking in there.
The cupboard seems forlornly bare, as Daisy looks. As does the bedroom, for 
   that matter, when the reach it. It has the subtle feeling of being unused 
   for a few weeks. Once there, they can guess at what the purpose might be, 
   as Salem manhandles J.J. over to a full-length mirror. Putting the metis 
   down, he begins to reach through, as J.J. shifts to lupus. Reach through, 
   he instructs, before doing so himself. In this form, his injured 
   hindquarters are all the more apparent, hips twisted over to one side, 
   while forepaws look like in the 'sitting' position.
Brandon steps aside Malone and peers toward the mirror. He concentrates as he 
   was taught to do, watching his reflection closely until he finds the shroud 
   and begins to move through.
Daisy watches Jack reach through, then the elder shift to lupus before 
   reaching through. A moment of internal debate rages, before she decides to 
   stay in her current form. That settled, her gaze falls on the mirror and 
   she steps through.
The flipside of the Silverton apartment J.J. resides in is only a ghost of the 
   realm, but much cleaner (if you don't mind the handful of cockroaches 
   running around), the only object which seems really real being a short 
   piece of edged metal lying on the floor. Once on the other side, J.J drags 
   himself a couple of feet to one side, then shifts back down, this time to 
   glabro, while Salem does the same. The fostern pulls his legs in to a 
   cross-legged seat, then points the two cubs to spots before him. Salem 
   meanwhile fetches the piece of metal, offering it to J.J.
Brandon steps into position as is indicated, spreading his weight evenly 
   across both of his legs and tensing up as he watches J.J. curiously.
Daisy takes a moment to get her bearings, cocks her head to one side at J. 
   J.'s gesture, then settles into the spot motioned to without question. Her 
   eyes take in everything with her usual interest. The umbra hasn't lost its 
   freshness to her yet, and probably never will. In time, the more 'solid' 
   piece of metal held by JJ draws her full attention.
J.J. Malone takes the piece of metal and nods to Salem solemnly, odd for the 
   normally acerbic Glass Walker, then turns back to the cubs. "You," he says 
   to the one on his left, "put out your left arm. You," he says to the one on 
   his right, "put out your right arm."
Daisy sticks out her left arm, palm down. "Hokey Pokey?" she inquires 
   quizzically.
Brandon sticks out his right arm, darting a glance and a grin toward Daisy.
"Hokey pokey?" J.J. echoes, more confused than even the lupus is, as he 
   reaches to take Daisy's left hand strongly in his right, turning the arm so 
   that the palm and the wrist is up. Salem moves behind the girl, and clamps 
   strong hands around her shoulders, saying, "Hold still."
Brandon watches attentively, remaining tense.
Daisy does so, looking up at Salem who is holding her.
J.J. Malone puts the point of the metal to the inside of Daisy's wrist, making 
   two long-ish slashes down the sides, then short ones across them, into the 
   ladder-shape of the Glass Walker glyph. Then, before the lupus can heal, he 
   puts down the metal implement and reaches towards the closing wound, fire 
   suddenly springing up across his fingertips. Blood sizzles as the edges 
   blacken and harden under the flame.
Brandon's eyebrows lift at the scene at his side, but he remains still.
Daisy, oddly enough, tries to pull her hand away from the elder as he... 
   she... starts carving into the cub's flesh. not that she's going to get 
   anywhere being held by two ahrouns. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" she repeats rapidly 
   like a child with a scraped up knee. The human concept of stoicism and 
   priding oneself in not admitting she's in pain seems to have escaped her.
"Hush," Salem commands darkly, irritated, while J.J. pulls his hand away and 
   inspects his handiwork. The glyph remains cauterized in the theurge's 
   flesh. Giving a satisfied grunt, he releases Daisy's hand, Salem doing the 
   same to her shoulders, and turns towards Brandon, repeating the process 
   wordlessly.
Brandon keeps his teeth clenched from beginning to end, halfway through 
   shutting his eyes in a heavy squint. "Fuck all..." he mutters, almost 
   inaudibly.
Daisy does hush up, but a few tears escape her as she pulls her wounded 
   arm in close.
J.J. Malone snorts, almost sounding bemused, at Brandon's comment, heard, it 
   seems, despite his attempts at quiet. Dropping his hand as well, he then 
   says, "Now, switch places." Salem takes a step back into the background, a 
   dark, brooding presence.
Brandon switches places with Daisy, clenching his fists and letting the blood 
   flow freely through the cracks of his fingers.
Daisy takes Brandon's previous plot of real estate.
~Put out your other hands,~ J.J. then orders in Garou, reaching into a pocket. 
   After they've done so, faster then they can react, a pair of handcuffs come 
   out, snapping on their undamaged wrists. As the last clicks into place, the 
   metis says, ~The Glass Walkers have moved far from the ways of the wolf, 
   but we cannot forget that we still need the aid of our Family to get by in 
   this world. Those handcuffs will remain on you until you are done with your 
   test. They will shift with you, so you cannot escape them that way. If you 
   find some other way out of them, you will forfeit both the test, and your 
   life,~ he says, sunglasses moving from one cub's face to the other. ~If one 
   of you should die, then the other is responsible for bringing the body 
   back.~ A pause, to let that sink in, then, ~You may run into others where 
   you are going. Some might be able to recognize you as cubs on your Rite, if 
   you show them the mark. Some may help you, if you do. Some may hinder you, 
   however. You must use the judgement we have hopefully taught you these past 
   turnings of the moon. Come back adult Glass Walkers, or come back not at 
   all.~
Brandon stares at J.J. for a few, silent moments. His eyes turn slowly toward 
   Daisy, and his head bobs just barely in a wordless nod of reassurance and 
   acknowledgement.
Daisy looks curiously at the handcuffs linking the two cubs together, twisting 
   her wrist slightly. This is new. She looks to Shades. "Glass Walkers 
   family. Stay together." No problems with her, apparently.
J.J. Malone grunts, sounding vaguely positive, then says, switching back to 
   English, "Salem will escort you to where you need to go. The way will more 
   than likely be difficult. But if you are ready to be adults, you will 
   succeed. Remember Cockroach," he concludes, then turns to the few scuttling 
   around. One scurries forward, waving antenna. J.J. pulls a piece of bread 
   out of one pocket, putting it down before the roach. The others swarm over 
   as well, but the first seems to dominate. Once fed (a relatively short 
   time), it begins scurrying out the door. J.J. says to Salem, "That one will 
   show you the way. Whatever you do, don't lose it before you find the Airt." 
   The cliath ahroun nods, then says, ~Come on, cubs,~ before following after 
   the roach.
Brandon nods once more towards Daisy and begins to move, making sure her 
   locked wrist is kept aligned with his. "I suppose we should shift now," he 
   says to her quietly, eyes flickering between the other cub and the 
   handcuffs.
Daisy glances at the handcuffs shackling the two together. "Very hard to walk 
   that way. Not need extra legs in homid."
Brandon rolls his arm in a tight circle, stepping away from Daisy and finding 
   a good distance to remain as he walks. "Crinos?" he asks her.
Daisy debates this briefly. "Harder to walk in," she decides.
Brandon nods once and proceeds to follow after Salem, taciturn.
Daisy falls into step with Brandon, following Salem following the cockroach 
   spirit.
The trip isn't long, but even then, there's a brief scare as a small bane 
   decides to take a stab at the three of you wandering around in the Umbra 
   under new moon, one Salem is quickly able to convince to go elsewhere. The 
   cockroach re-emerges once the brief scuffle is complete, and continues 
   leading along the way, stopping in the landscaping of someone's suburban 
   home. Tracking it down within the boughs of a furry evergreen, Salem turns 
   up a brightly shining path rising from the earth, one that was before 
   completely hidden. With a scowl for the narrow path, he begins going up it.
Daisy follows the leader, Salem, up onto the narrow and previously-hidden path.
Brandon keeps his wrist close to Daisy's, his arm extended awkwardly forward 
   as the path narrows.

Airt:
The path below your feet is a pure, unbroken line with the texture and 
   appearance of linoleum, but is barely four-inches wide.

The cockroach scuttles. The two of you follow. It's an exercise in balance and 
   coordination, walking on something no wider then a balance beam. Especially 
   when the path begins to go screwy: straight up, straight-down, even upside 
   down. Salem is muttering continuous curses under his breath, and the both 
   of you are probably nerve-wracked and slighly sore by the time you reach 
   where the cockroach vanishes under the crak of a door set in the path with 
   nothing around the frame, and no doorknob.
Salem scowls, but then puts a hand to the door. Even before he touches it, it 
   slides open with a soft hiss of air. Noise comes out to assault your ears, 
   and you see glimpses of a city on the other side. Cautiously, he walks 
   through the doorway.
Brandon follows after just as cautiously. "Holy..." he says, keeping his wrist 
   still against Daisy's.
Daisy inches along after Salem, mostly looking at the moonbridge than anything 
   else. She covers the last few inches and passes through te doorway with a 
   faint sigh of relief.

Glass Walker Homeland:
High-tech skyscrapers dominate the landscape, towering over the city below, 
   and yet reflects the light of the sun by day and the light of the moon by 
   night to keep this city-of-the-future from having an oppressive feel to it. 
   Weaving through the city, you see the track for the monorail system which 
   goes wooshing by you quite frequently, and ribbons of moving sidewalks 
   wending their paths around the base of the buildings and through it all, 
   exhaust-less hovercars swerve, like out of "The Fifth Element". Unlike that 
   movie, though, the entire place is clean, cleaner than St. Claire, cleaner 
   than any major city you've ever seen you might even call it "pristine". 
   Despite all the high-tech, though, you can see vegetation everywhere, more 
   than is usual for major cities, and just down the block is what appears to 
   be a huge park.

A form disengages itself from the backdrop, dressed in an overcoat, gloves, 
   boots, and a broad brimmed hat, all of which leaves only the face in view. 
   "Ahhh, yes," she, because the voice is feminine, "says. We've been 
   expecting you. Right this way, right this way," she says cheerfully, 
   leading them to a moving sidewalk and hopping on.
Brandon pulls himself closer toward Daisy and, in turn, Salem. "What is that?" 
   he inquires, his attention not on the woman at present time.
Salem turns to look at Brandon at the question. "What is what?"
Brandon extends a hand in a general forward motion. "That." Big pronoun.
Daisy eyes the moving sidewalk warily. What the heck? She looks between Salem 
   and Brandon trying to pick up on the conversation. Her head turns to track 
   the woman the other cub points to.
The ahroun follows Brandon's motion, and chuckles slightly. "The Glass Walker 
   homeland, I guess. At least, if we didn't get lost."
Brandon bites down on his lower lip. "Cool." He catches one foot over the 
   other and barely stops himself from tripping into Daisy. He keeps his wrist 
   righted, however, and manages to continue walking without a fall.
Daisy angles her wrist to best cooperate with Brandon. She looks at Brandon, 
   then Salem, to see what in the world they're supposed to be doing next.
The park is looming next to the moving sidewalk, when the enshrouded guide 
   hops off, Salem with it. "Here we are," she says. To the cubs, she says, 
   "Right in you go, kiddies, you'll find what you're looking for in there. 
   You," she says to Salem, "I believe are free until they're done? Ever been 
   here before?" she asks, even as she begins leading Salem back towards the 
   sidewalk. "No," the ahroun answers tersely. "Well," she replies, "where do 
   you want to go first..." her voice trails off as the sidewalk zips them 
   away.
Brandon keeps his wrist close to Daisy's and, trying to coordinate the 
   required movements, waits till the moving sidewalk positions them as near 
   to the entrance as it's going to; then he steps off.
Daisy stumbles a bit in her relatively new form and dealing with completely 
   unfamiliar technology, but manages to keep her balance. She looks back at 
   the moving sidewalk with a faint hint of irritation, apparently not 
   comprehending its purpose beyond trying to trip her. "Better to just walk," 
   she comments to Brandon as her gaze leaves the people mover and takes in 
   the park's edges. "They have ice cream here?"
The philodox cub continues to walk until they reach the park's entrance. "I 
   really don't think they will," Brandon says in a slightly amused reply to 
   the lupus cub's comment.
Daisy purses her lips slightly as she walks in synch with Brandon towards and 
   into the park. She asks, as if perhaps Brandon would know, "What we looking 
   for?"
"Ice cream," Brandon replies, trying to wash away his nervousness with humor, 
   or lack thereof. "I don't really know, Daisy."
The park, like the rest of the city, looks clean, but in a well-tended way 
   that makes it different than a truly "natural" woodland area. For one, 
   sidewalks replace the dirt paths of forest, the path you came in on forking 
   into three prongs shortly after the entrance. One curves to the left. One 
   curves to the right. The middle one curves around a small hillock to a 
   building with a sign in front of it reading: Administration, then in small 
   letters: Visitors Please Check-In before proceeding
"Maybe we bring back ice cream?" Daisy muses aloud as the duo comes to the 
   three-pronged fork in the road. "Which way?"
Brandon looks directly toward the building with the 'administration' side, and 
   he makes a slight 'hmm' sound. "Might as well," he shrugs, pointing toward 
   the building. "Let's go there."
"Okay," Daisy says, being her usual agreeable self and heading down the middle 
   path.
The building, once it comes into better view as you make your way around the 
   small hill, is a log cabin structure, although its dimensions and materials 
   are too perfect to have been hand-hewn. Flower beds encircle the building 
   in turn delimited by neat rock dividers, but the beds are empty, cleared 
   for the upcoming winter. Colorful maple leaves only dot the well-manicured 
   lawn, hinting of having recently been raked. A sign on the wooden door 
   proclaims: OPEN, with a small plaque of its hours: 24 hours a days, 7 days 
   a week, including Christmas!
Brandon positions himself in front of the door and, using the hand not locked 
   to Daisy's, tries to pull it open.
Daisy takes in the scenery, shackled to the other cub and her attention about 
   equally divided.
The doorknob turns easily, opening without a single squeak to show a simple 
   reception area with chairs along three walls. The fourth wall is taken up 
   by a horseshoe-shaped desk lined with wooden slats creating pockets for 
   brochures, and behind that, the receptionist, a nervous looking young man. 
   "Ah, hello there, welcome to the Park. Are you here to sign in?"
Brandon is obviously taken aback by the presence of the young man, and he 
   darts a quick glance over toward Daisy as he says, "I think so."
"Sign in?" Daisy echoes quizically, not sure what to make of this signing in 
   thing. She, in turn, looks at Brandon.
The young man beckons you both forward, manhandling a huge book up from the 
   lower part of his desk to the top portion for the public. It lands with a 
   resounding *thump*. He then opens the front cover and pages through it by 
   inches, finally finding where it leaves off. "Ah, there we are." He turns 
   the book around, so that it is facing the two cubs. "Sign in," he confirms 
   Daisy's question, offering a pen to Brandon. "You're wanting to visit the 
   park, aren't you?"
Brandon bobs his head awkwardly, taking the pen in hand and, after looking at 
   the page for a few moments, signing his name. "I assume that's why we're 
   here, yeah."
"Yeah," Daisy repeats after Brandon, backing him up on the matter.
After Brandon's done signing, the young man looks at Daisy, expecting her to 
   be next. "Assume? You don't know?" he asks with confusion.
Brandon shrugs his shoulders amiably, keeping his wrist close to Daisy's. 
   "We're here for a reason. Does anyone ever come to the park that doesn't 
   want to be at the park?"
"Yeah," Daisy repeats after Brandon, backing him up on the matter
The young man looks from Brandon to Daisy, still seeming to expect something, 
   but answers the question. "Why, no, not really," he says with some surprise.
The young man looks from Brandon to Daisy, still seeming to expect something, 
   but answers the question. "Why, no, not really," he says with some surprise.
Brandon takes the pen from near the book and signs his name without another 
   word, his point proven -- so he thinks.
Daisy grasps the pen and, after looking at it a bit too long, looks to the 
   guest book. More hesitation, nothing to work with save strange scribbles on 
   different lines and the marks Brandon just put down. Holding the pen 
   incorrectly, she does manage to scribble in the correct spot. 
   Unfortunately, that's also what she puts down. Scribbles. She scribbles 
   left to right across the entry, then backtracks over it, scribbling right 
   to left. Then she applies three random dots. Maybe it's good enough to fool 
   the guy--if he isn't watching Daisy "write" her name.
The young man turns the book around and pulls it down to the second-level, 
   reading the two names. Something startles in his expression when he reads 
   the first, but it turns to dismay a moment later. "I can't read this. Who 
   are you?" he asks Daisy.
"Daisy," the young girl replies.
Brandon doesn't fail to notice the man's reaction. He squirms on his feet, 
   watching more closely now.
The young man shakes his head as he corrects Daisy's name in the book, tsking. 
   "The state of some cubs, I just can't *believe* you're from St. Claire. 
   We've been expecting both of you. Welcome to the homeland."
Brandon scratches his side absently with his free arm. "Yeah... well... 
   thanks," he replies, looking from Daisy back to the man behind the counter 
   once again.
Daisy either ignores the criticism or doesn't comprehend it. "Yes. Thank you." 
   Again, swiping tone and message from the more experienced Brandon.
"Just a moment," the attendant says, going to a sleek little computer in a 
   style well beyond anything either of you may have witnessed in your lives, 
   and taps rapidly on a few keys. A pause, then a few more keystrokes, and 
   then he grabs a bag and is coming around the counter through an opening 
   resulting from fold-back portion of the top. He herds you both to a doorway 
   on the wall opposite the front door, which opens up into a long hallway 
   lined with doors. "We've just about got the conditions for your test set 
   up. The guidelines seem fairly simple. Are you ready to go?"
Brandon nods his head in response to the simple question, and he says nothing. 
   His eyes search the doors for any details he may have missed, and his step 
   becomes a little more tense.
Daisy looks ready to go, but has a question. And she asks the man it. "What is 
   guidelines?"
The man stops at the last door on the right-hand side, turning to look at the 
   two handcuffed cubs. He blinks at Daisy again. "You haven't been told the 
   guidelines?"
Brandon quirks a brow and looks toward Daisy, then the man... as he did 
   before. He says nothing.
Daisy blinks at the man, not quite comprehending him. When in doubt and 
   someone is asking you if you know something, the proper answer is "No."
The man slaps his forehead with a freehand. "Good grief," he says, but then 
   settles down to talk. "Alright, then," he hands the bag to Daisy, the one 
   asking questions. "It's a game, of sorts, but a reality based one. Beyond 
   this door marks the beginning of a series of tests for you. In the bag, are 
   four objects, representing actions you can make during the test. When the 
   time comes to use one of your actions, you have to decide which to use. 
   There is one action for each test. But, be careful! If you choose the wrong 
   action for the test, you may have serious problems later down the line. You 
   can use more than one action per test, but then you'll be without an action 
   for a later part of the test. You have to pass at least 50% of the tests 
   successfully to have a chance to pass. You can look at the objects before 
   you go in."
Daisy opens the bag up. "Games are fun. Is this a good game?" She reaches in 
   to take out the objects, asking the man, "What they mean?" as she draws 
   them forth one at a time.
The objects Daisy draws forth from the bag are four metal disks, with 
   pictograms embossed in the surface. One is a side-on picture of a dog, or a 
   wolf. Another is that of a man. A third is that of a crinos. The last is 
   the classic 6-shooter revolver. "It's a game," he answers. "Oh, and both of 
   you have to agree to use the object before it can be used. Both of you hold 
   the object in your hand and say, 'We're using blah', whatever the token is 
   of. Lupus, homid, crinos, and a gun. You have to use the token to shift to 
   any form, except glabro, which is free. So, any questions?"
Brandon raises a brow and stares toward the young man, his eyes widened. 
   "No... I don't... I don't -think- so," he says, glancing to Daisy. "Do you 
   get it?"
Daisy scratches at the side of her head. "And only use one time and then it 
   gone?"
The man nods once. "Yes. One time, and then it disappears from the game."
Daisy asks another question. "What is 50%?"
Brandon puts his free hand on Daisy's shoulder and nudges her comfortingly. 
   "We'll do fine. Ugh, it means we have to get two out of the four right," he 
   says. "I think."
The young man nod-bobbles his head at Brandon. "Exactly right. So, do you have 
   anymore questions?"
Daisy 'oh's softly at Brandon's comment. "Why he not say so?" She looks at the 
   man. "No more. Thank you." She offers him a wave of goodbye.
Brandon doesn't seem to have any more questions of his own, and so he waits.
The man rubs his hands together. "Okay, then. If you're ready, just go through 
   the door, and the testing will begin."
Daisy turns and, with Brandon if he goes with her, passes through the door. 
   "Free. Free space. Bingo," Daisy comments, thinking out loud. "Bingo. B. I. 
   N-G-O. B. I. N-G-O. B. I. N-G-O. And Bingo was his name-o." The song trails 
   off into a hum.
Brandon stares toward Daisy as he follows her through the door, and a worried 
   look crosses his face momentarily.
The other side of the door opens up into more of the forest, a trail leading 
   from the doorstep to deeper in the wood. You two make your way down it for 
   some time. The sense of peace of the place is pervasive--you get the 
   feeling that the City of Tomorrow you know is out there is far from where 
   you are, no traffic noise reaches your ears at all, only the sounds of the 
   woods. After some time, there is the noise of something different, though. 
   A ripping sound, a cracking of wood, then a rhythmic crunching.
Brandon remains walking at a slightly slow pace. He takes his time to check 
   the ground in front of the pair as they walk, along with the forest to the 
   sides. He's heard horror stories about Rites of Passages, and he's not 
   about to be caught off guard if he can help it.
Daisy hums her way through "Old MacDonald", in contrast to the other Walker 
   cub.
The ground underfoot is the same, smooth asphalt as the original paths in, and 
   the forests to the side *appear* to be normal, although the normal sounds 
   have died out. The only thing out of the ordinary is the sound coming from 
   around the bend in the path in front of you.
Brandon follows the path and, becoming even more tense, tries to spot the 
   source of the sound as quickly as possible.
Daisy follows along with Brandon. The odd sound interrupts her humming and she 
   listens to it instead, trying to place the noise. "What that?"
Just after Daisy's question is issued, what appears to be the source of the 
   sound emerges from around the bend of the path. Next to the path, a 
   clearing has formed full of tree bits and ragged stumps, and a huge, ugly 
   creature standing about four feet tall, but with powerfully built muscles 
   on his arms and legs, and especially, his jaws. He takes a huge, thoughtful 
   bite out of an already gnawed on tree, and it cracks sharply, suddenly 
   falling to the ground with an earth-shaking *whump!*.
Brandon's jaw basically drops, which matches the widening of his eyes quite 
   well. He composes himself quickly, however, and takes a careful look at the 
   entire scope of the situation. "Gun?" he whispers to Daisy, as quietly as 
   possible.
Daisy shakes her head negatively, digging out all the disks and sorting 
   through them. "Crinos?"
Brandon squints his eyebrows together and, after a few more moments of 
   thought, decides to go with Daisy's presumption. "Crinos," he reaffirms.
Daisy finds the particular disk and offers it towards Brandon to hold. "We're 
   using blah," she says, as instructed by the man earlier.
"We're using Crinos," says Brandon, only to blink as Daisy says 'blah'. He 
   looks to her and says, still whispering, "I think we have to say 'Crinos'."
"Oh," Daisy says upon Brandon's prompting. "Crinos."
Brandon repeats the words after flashing Daisy a smile which he hopes is 
   something of a reassurance: "We're using Crinos."
Daisy echoes Brandon's words.
In a flash, you can feel the shift coming, and crinos-form you reach. The 
   sound attracts the attention of the thing, and he turns his huge, ugly, 
   head to look at you with beady little pig-eyes. With a roar, he begins 
   trundling towards you.
Brandon lets the shift come, and as soon as it ends he drops himself down to 
   all fours, urging Daisy... in whatever way he can manage... to do the same. 
   ~Move together,~ he reminds, stating the obvious.
Daisy crouches down and mirrors Brandon's actions. ~It is slow. Perhaps we can 
   get behind it. Maybe break a few legs and then kill it. Make Salem proud.~
Brandon urges his chained arm forward and then moves his entire form. He 
   approaches the creature with his fangs bared, silently judging where the 
   attack should be made and how.
The creature isn't waiting for plans to be made and discussed. He is slow, but 
   he's closing the ground rapidly. Within a few seconds, he will be on you 
   both.
Daisy moves with Brandon. ~From behind or side,~ she reminds the other cub. 
   ~Back leg if we can get it.~
Brandon starts to scoot himself into the position Daisy directions, moving as 
   best and as swifly as he can with one forepaw tied up. ~Get ready,~ he 
   growls upon nearing the creature.
Daisy moves to attack the creature as they get into position. Using her 
   unshackled arm , of course.
Brandon uses his arm to claw at the creature as well, trying as best he can 
   not to throw both their balance off in the process.
The fight takes time, but is not unusually bloody. The pair of cubs collects a 
   healthy set of slashes from the creature, but their claws tear through it 
   like knives through soft cheese, until it collapses in an ichor-stained 
   heap on the pathway. Once it does, it shimers out of existence, as does 
   most of the damage it has wrought on the trees, leaving only jagged stumps 
   and emptiness as a sign that anything happened there.
The Homid Cub's breath comes in light gasps, and as the creature fades he 
   says, in english, "Badass." Brandon's words, of course, come out as 
   inarticulate grunts, but his point gets across.
Daisy looks satisfied. ~Salem will be happy. So will Shades. We do well? Go to 
   next one? Need shift?~
Brandon shakes his head to Daisy's questions. ~Let's stay in this form,~ he 
   says. ~I don't think there was anything in the rules against that.~
Daisy seems to agree to this. She begins moving onwards.
The path continues on past the scarred area, and you start out down it. Not 
   long after you do, you hear the sound of something mechanical coming up 
   from behind you, a strange whirring that sounds higher in the air than 
   something running along the ground. And approaching fast.
Brandon tugs at his arm and motions Daisy that he's going to turn around. He 
   succeeds with the manuever, becoming more used to being tied up with every 
   moment, so that he faces in the direction from which the sound comes.
Daisy gives a tug on Brandon's arm. ~Hide in trees! Hide in trees!~
Brandon is jerked back with a fair amount of force as Daisy tugs his arm, but 
   he complies with a grunt.
As you get off the pathway, a solo hover-jet comes zipping by. The man guiding 
   it shoots over his shoulder at something behind him, which neither of you 
   can see or hear. Behind him on the platform you can see a black bag, and a 
   peek of money throught he opened top. His face is scarred and seedy 
   looking, as he zips by.
Brandon makes a very brutish sounding 'haroo?' type sound, his muscles 
   relaxing and then becoming tense again, in his confusion. ~What do we use 
   for -that-?~ he whispers to Daisy from their place in the trees.
Daisy looks completely at a loss in this human-centric situation. ~Nothing? 
   Let it go by?~
Brandon shakes his head and says, ~We've only got one shot at this. Let's make 
   it worthwhile: Gun.~ He pulls out the appropriate token and says, ~We're 
   using the Gun.~
Daisy fails to comprehend why and asks, ~Why shoot man? What he do that bad?~
As the two cubs discuss, the man begins reaching the range limit of a normal 
   gun.
Brandon raises a hand up and points toward the man... then lowers his arm. ~I 
   don't know,~ he says, realizing with a bit of shame what he was just 
   suggesting. ~You're right.~
Daisy repeats her earlier suggestion. ~Hide.~
Brandon hides, as Daisy suggests.
The man on his hovercraft disappears from view. Nothing seems to follow him.
Daisy stays down, seeming to expect something else to happen. When it doesn't, 
   she doesn't dwell on it. Maybe it was good. Maybe it wasn't. ~Go now?~ she 
   suggests to Brandon.
~Go,~ Brandon replies, ~yes.~ He stands from the forest and moves out onto the 
   path once again, moving onward.
Daisy tags along with Brandon.
You travel on, until the trees begin to thin. A few yards down the path, you 
   can see that it peters out, emptying onto a moving roadway, and the 
   brightness of a sunny day beyond it. The noise of hovercars filters through 
   to where you stand, the sounds of a city alive.
Brandon turns his head toward Daisy and says, ~Shift?~
Daisy huffs an affirmative to this question. ~Homid.~ She then tries to shift 
   without the aid of a disk.
Brandon does the same, blinking his eyes shut and forming an image in his 
   mind's eye of himself and his 'normal' state.
The shift does beging, but he area resounds with a giant BZZZZZZZT noise, 
   followed by a disembodied voice saying in monotone, "That is a violation of 
   the rules of the game. You have used up your one warning. Shift back to 
   warform, use the disk, or forfeit the game."
Brandon's head ducks down, and he quickly reverts to the war-form with a 
   disgruntled sound of annoyance. He looks over toward Daisy and, pulling out 
   the homid disk, waits for her to do the same. ~Sure we want to shift?~
Daisy looks around and up in the air, searching for the source of the voice. 
   ~Was that bad?~ she asks you.
Brandon nods his now-crinos head. ~Yes, bad,~ he says. ~Now let's go to homid 
   with the disks, Daisy. I don't think Crinos works well in the city.~
Daisy says, ~War form bad in city,~ Daisy agrees easily enough, cooperating to 
   use the second of the disks.~
~We are using the Homid,~ Brandon says, as would be expected.
Daisy echoes the statement that sounds like some bizarre Wonder Twin Powers 
   chant by now.
You shift, now, and the voice does not sound again, and you go out into the 
   city streets. You see people around, much as you would on the streets of 
   St. Claire. Faintly glowing arrows point out the path that you guess after 
   some discussion that you should be taking. Then, further down the road, you 
   begin to hear the sounds of gun fire.
Brandon doesn't even look aside toward Diasy this time, instead lurching 
   toward the sound of gunfire as soon as it's heard. "Let's go," he says 
   speedily.
Daisy follows, keeping pace with the other Walker.
You come upon a scene of controlled chaos. People are either scattering or 
   rubbernecking, much as crowds do, as hastily erected police barriers try to 
   keep the surging mob back. The gunfire is coming from two sources: the cops 
   on the ground, shooting up towards a tall, slender, windowed belltower in a 
   square surrounded by trees and grass on its own city block, and from their 
   probable target up there. Hovercars and helicopters attempting to close 
   with the tower seem to reach a certain distance then bounce off something, 
   tumbling drunkenly to the ground.
"What in the --" says Brandon, not even bothering to finish his explative. 
   "What now?" he instead asks.
Daisy purses her lips in response to Brandon, cocking her head slightly to one 
   side and narrowing her eyes to focus on the tower. "Is man that go past in 
   woods very fast. With gun. Up there." Sharp eyes.
Brandon blinks and then squints toward where Daisy has directed. He looks to 
   either side curiously, and then starts to push his way toward the outside 
   of the crowd. "What's going on?" he questions anyone that passes, trying to 
   get a better perspective on the situation.
The crowd begins to part around the philodox grudgingly, but someone answers 
   his question. "The police have treed a bank robber up in that tower there. 
   They're trying to get him down, I think."
Brandon pulls away from the crowd and comes to a blank. He doesn't seem to 
   know what to do, nor does he seem to have any ideas -- not yet.
Daisy does, however. "Sneak in. Umbra. Stop man. Leave in umbra. Easy."
Brandon angles his head toward Daisy and frowns some. "You got a mirror?" he 
   asks. "I'm about ready to take a crack at this with the gun."
Daisy says "Have one in bathroom in shop." She looks around for a likely shop. 
   "Go there. Come."
Brandon follows Daisy even as she says "go there". He isn't quite confident 
   enough in his idea involving the gun to take the necessary actions just 
   yet. "Just hope this isn't timed," he jibes, letting a grin cross his face.
To make things short and sweet, you do in fact find a mirror in the bathroom 
   in the shop (although there's a brief flurry of looks as Daisy walks into 
   the men's bathroom or vice versa). But, try as you might, reaching seems to 
   fail, and you walk back onto the street with the scene little changed 
   except for more airborne vehicles down.
Brandon's grin has faded. He is now, lacking an alternative, quite willing to 
   use the firearm. "Should I use the Gun?" he questions Daisy, asking for 
   affirmation.
Daisy shakes her head negatively to Brandon. "No use gun around people. Is bad 
   also. Like big form." She motions to all the nearby cops. "They shoot you 
   back."
As the two cubs talk, the shoot out continues. The cops have at least stopped 
   the attempt at arial assault, but the gunfire continues to be traded.
Brandon looks longingly toward the gun-disks, but he doesn't reach out for 
   his. "Then what do we do?" he asks the lupus, eyes flirting back and forth 
   between the two parties.
Daisy considers something. "If there is not umbra here, because it is Walker 
   homeland, maybe not Veil?" She looks to Brandon. "Maybe you ask person in 
   way you can learn but not break Veil?"
Brandon continues to look around fervently. "I don't even know if there 'is' a 
   veil here. I was never taught one way or the other."
Daisy tips her head quizzically at Brandon. "You can do this? Or not?"
Brandon squints his eyes at the figure that's exchanging volleys with the 
   group of policeman. "I think I could," he utters. "If I got lucky."
The gunfire continues on. On the ground, one of the policemen lets out a cry 
   of pain, crumpling to the ground clutching his shoulder. Companions drag 
   him further behind the partial screening of their cars parked inside the 
   barricade.
Daisy looks around and goes for the all or nothing approach. She points at the 
   nearest police officer. "Ask him."
Brandon raises his head up and peers toward Daisy. "Ask him if I can help 
   shoot the robber?!" he says. "Why don't I just do it? I mean... shit..." he 
   trails off. "I don't even think he'll answer me. He's a cop; he's a busy 
   cop. Y'know?"
Daisy shakes her head negatively. "No. See if there is Veil. If no Veil, then 
   we can help easy. If Veil, then we need do something else."
Brandon almost lets his jaw drop. "Ask a cop if there's a veil? I don't see 
   what you're saying, Daisy," he says, genuinely confused. "You think he's 
   just an actor or something?"
Daisy purses her lips and faults her own English as the root of the 
   communication problem. She switches to Garou, keeping her voice low. ~No. 
   This is not the same world we come from. This is Walker homeland. Walkers 
   are in charge here. Maybe these people all kin or know of us? Maybe the 
   Veil does not exist here--like the umbra. So you go and ask one of the 
   people,~ she gestures at a nearby officer, ~if a Glass Walker could help. 
   If he not know what a Glass Walker is and tell us to go away, then no Veil 
   is broken. If he knows, then we can work with them openly.~
Brandon blinks. He raises his eyes up to the sky and makes an 'ahh' sound. 
   "Duh... damn, I'm dense. Sorry, girl," he says, already making his approach 
   to an officer. He, in his most cordial manner, inquires, "Would you mind if 
   a Glass Walker helped, sir?"
The cop picked out, a slender African-American, turns to look at the two. 
   "Right now, we'd take just about any help. You offering?"
"Hell yeah," Brandon replies, promptly reaching for the gun disk. "C'mon, 
   Daisy, let's get this over with."
Daisy follows Brandon's lead, since he knows more about humans than she. 
   "Okay." She grasps the disk with Brandon and says the magic words.
Brandon says those happy magic words, feeling like a Power Ranger, and waits 
   for whatever's going to happen to happen. Guns are cool.
The disk, like the other two, shimmers into dust, and from their cojoined 
   hands holding the disk, the sound of a bullet suddenly cracks. A second 
   later, the gunfire from the tower ceases, and a body is tipping...then 
   falling over the edge, hitting the ground below with a *thump*. The cops 
   pause a moment to make sure he has no accomplice up there, then begin 
   pouring towards the men. Even as they do, the disembodied voice comes out 
   again, "Computer, end program." The scenery, the crowds, the tall tower and 
   "outside" disappears in an electronic shimmer of noice, revealing a simple 
   square room predominately black with a three-dimensional grid of yellow 
   lines over all six surfaces. Behind you, a door whooshes open. Behind it, 
   you can see the reception area of the park again.
Brandon raises his eyebrows and, quite abashed, turns toward Daisy, "Kickass!"
Daisy looks around, confused immensely by the bizarre transition. "This umbra?"
Brandon smiles quiet happily and, absently nodding his head to Daisy's 
   question, says, "Let's get out of here." He proceeds to move toward the 
   opened doorway.
Daisy looks at the doorway and decides the outside environment looks more 
   normal than the inside, and that's where she wants to be. She moves out of 
   the holideck. Make it so!
You emerge from the doorway, to the sight of another young man holding down 
   the fort, this one looking far more self-assured, and professional, despite 
   his age. He rises from behind the counter, and smiles. "Ah, good. You're 
   done in there. You had us worried for a time. Did you enjoy your time in 
   there?"
Brandon remains in-step with Daisy, still forced together by the handcuffs. "I 
   think I had an orgasm," he says, -apparently sarcastic, with a smile. 
   "How'd you like it, Daisy?"
Daisy looks faintly confused. She offers, "Not a very fun game. No ice cream."
The second young man chuckles. "I'm sure we can get some delivered if you care 
   to wait a few seconds. The person you came in with...Jack, wasn't it? Needs 
   a few more minutes to arrive." He goes to the back of his desk area, where 
   the wall shimmers away--yes, it does look like Star Trek's replicators. 
   "Two ice cream sundaes. Vanilla ice cream, two scoops each, at -2 Celsius. 
   Hot fudge, 30 milliliters, at 50 C." They shimmer into existence, complete 
   with the unspoken spoon, and are delivered up. "Here you go, compliments of 
   the house."
Brandon stares toward the man and then the ice-cream, and he shakes his head. 
   "If I ever get used to this kind of thing, Daisy, you have permission to 
   shoot me."
Daisy pauses with spoon halfway to her mouth. "That would not be good to do."
"To get used to it?" Brandon questions, half jokingly. "No, it wouldn't. Cuz' 
   then you'd have to shoot me." He proceeds to eat his ice-cream.
Salem shows up at about the time the two of you finish your sundaes, the 
   tiniest of smiles breaking his normally grim expression. "So, I heard you 
   two ere done. Are you ready to go back?"
Brandon sets the ice-cream down and nods, having had an awkward time eating 
   and holding it with one hand latched to Daisy's. "Salem!" he says. "Yeah, 
   let's go," he says, grinning afresh. "I need a towel." For the ice-cream? 
   Maybe.
The ahroun turns on his heel and leads the way out, a cockroach spirit 
   scurrying in front of them down the path, which they begin to follow again. 
   This time, though, it only takes you on the twisty path to a much broader, 
   and saner looking, moonpath, the stone glowing brightly and only holes in 
   some places. The trip back, therefore, is much smoother and less troubled, 
   and you reach St. Claire after a while. You may notice that the moon in the 
   sky when you arrive is waxing gibbous--definitely not the moon you left 
   under. Rather than returning to J.J.'s apartment, Salem deposits you back 
   at Nigel's, with instructions to sleep, and that the rest will be finished 
   later.