More Lessons for Malachi

[hazlogs]

It is currently 09:24 Pacific Time on Wed Aug 1 2001.
Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous/Waxing Full

"Yo'. Kaz? Junior? Anyone home?" The voice of Alicia echos down into the 
  basement as the young girl strides down the steps, taking each one at a time 
  carefully. She's wearing her baggy jeans and a trench coat this time, and of 
  course, a shirt. Don't get your hopes up. Her heavy boots clump heavily on 
  the wooden steps.

The basement appears empty; even that agitated kid with the glasses seems to 
  be gone. Except there's a wolf in the corner lying on top of an old blanket. 
  He's chewing on a corner of it.

Pausing for a brief moment, Alicia looks over to the wolf, one brow rising up 
  a bit. "Hey. Who're you?" She calls over, running a hand back through her 
  hair.

Malachi stops chewing -- he's caused quite a bit of destruction to that one 
  corner of the blanket -- and looks up, ears pricking forward. The mismatched 
  eyes, one blue and one brown, are unusual enough to be familiar, and a pair 
  of coke-bottle glasses are sitting on top of a small pile of clothes nearby.

Alicia crosses her arms over her chest as she heads over, a light smile 
  tugging upon the end of her lips. "OOoh.. Malachi eh'? Unless of course you 
  ate the kid." She motions to the glasses. "So, how ya liking the world as a 
  wolf? Cool so far?"

Malachi utters an irritable huffing sound and bites savagely at the blanket. 
  Good, but want out. Out again. Was out... last night.

"Well, I think they are waiting for ya' to have a little bit more control 
  dude. Who knows right?" Alicia kneels down next to him and tilts her head to 
  one side. "So, how are you feeling in general? Getting used to it?"

Malachi bites at the blanket again and sits up, his ears flattening, his 
  feelings obviously mixed as he replies. There's too much to say easily in 
  wolf-speak, and every so often his agitation expresses itself -- the blanket 
  gets bit, or he gets up to pace around in a little circle, or the like. Easy 
  to change human. Hard to change wolf. But I like wolf. But place still too 
  small, and smells. Not a bad smell with nose... but don't like it. Too 
  small. Outside is bigger, but some smells bad, and too /loud/. Want to bite 
  everything. Everything.

Alicia leans back a bit as she watches him. "Well, just be careful what you 
  bite, could get splinters or something ya'know. And don't stay as a wolf too 
  long. I got a cub I'm taking care of who won't go back to his normal human 
  form, he thinks he was born a wolf or something, being a real shit about it. 
  Just don't forget who you are and have a blast, just learn all you can. 
  After you get that control thing down, they'll let ya up."

A frustrated whine escapes the cub, and he gets up, padding away a few feet 
  and snapping at the air. Only a little. Too little. Hate this place, too 
  small, too /small/.

Alicia rubs the back of her neck. "I know how you feel dude. I got stuck in a 
  place like you for a few months. My tribe is a bit more stricter when it 
  comes to freedom. I'm sure the Gnawers will let ya up in a few days. Why 
  don't you shift up and take a breath?"

Malachi clearly doesn't want to; he looks back at the blanket and pile of 
  clothes with something a little like loathing. Then he turns his face toward 
  the Child of Gaia and asks her, very seriously, if he looks like a dog or a 
  wolf.

Alicia tilts her head to the side. "You look like a wolf, nothing like a dog 
  at all."

Malachi is relieved. He scuffs at the floor with his front paws a bit. Don't 
  want to be a dog. Don't like this place at all, not just /this/ place but... 
  outside. You know? Hard. Bad smells, burn nose. Loud. Too many humans. Want 
  to bite. Even when human, I want to bite everything.

Alicia runs a hand back through her hair and sighs. "Look, then shift up so 
  you won't smell those things. You smell things like that cuz' your nose is 
  more sensitive. So is your ears. Everything is amplified. I'm sure once you 
  get the hang of it, they'll take you to the farmhouse where I used to live 
  and you can stay near the woods and such, where its beautiful, lots of 
  things to eat and places to run around."

Malachi's ears prick forward, his attention sharpening. Woods? There are woods?

Alicia nods her head. "Yup, there is. And a beautiful lake also. Have they 
  told you about the Caern yet?"

Malachi bristles irritably, though his ire isn't directed at the Gaian. No. 
  They said nothing about woods, about lake. What is... thing you said?

Alicia leans back a bit. "The Caern is like our place of power. You know that 
  all things are of Gaia right? Well, this place is like a special piece of 
  her. Its pure energy kinda. And you can feel this in the trees, the ground 
  and in the air you breathe. Its almost magical. The Caerns all across the 
  world is what we strive to protect against the Wyrm, the evil dark father 
  that wishes to draw us off our path and defile us. Once you see it, you'll 
  understand why its worth protecting."

Malachi listens intently. Once she's done speaking, the cub pads back to 'his' 
  corner and grasps the edge of his t-shirt in his teeth. He then eyeballs the 
  Child of Gaia warily, and with some embarrassment. Turn around?

Alicia nods her head and turns around so that she can't see him shift and 
  dress.

Malachi reverts to his birth form and gets dressed with alacrity. "Junior said 
  I hadda practice th'wolf thing," he says after a few moments, now dressed 
  again and sitting crosslegged on the blanket. "I like it, but it's hard 
  t'do, and it's hard t'concentrate in here." He frowns. "Nobody tol' me 
  nothin' about any woods or anythin'. I thought you guys all lived inna city 
  'r something. Though that din' seem right."

Alicia shakes her head and glances over her shoulder, then turns around to 
  face him. "Nah. Some of us live in the city, some of us live in the woods. 
  Maybe they haven't got around to telling ya everything yet cuz they want to 
  make sure they can trust you." A smile brightens along her face. "Trust is 
  sometimes hard to earn, and its hard to get it when yer' a cub. I can tel 
  you are a lil bit reckless and you do have a mouth on ya. But hey.. you are 
  an Ahroun right? Thats expected."

Malachi grimaces faintly. "I'd rather be angry than scared alla time." A 
  thought occurs to him. "An' I wasn't kiddin' when I tol' Junior las' night 
  that my dad's prolly called th' cops by now. I mean, he fuckin' gets freaked 
  if I'm even late f'/dinner/."

Alicia nods her head. "I think yer' dad has called the cops. I read the news a 
  lot. But well.. thats not a biggie. Us, as Garou has pretty much got it down 
  to a science when it comes to making people disapear for a bit." She smiles 
  a bit, her lips pursing in thought. "Don't think 'bout it too much."

Malachi's brow furrows into a frown; he seems not entirely satisfied with the 
  answer. Saying, "Oh," he leans back against the wall and starts chewing on 
  an already well-bitten fingernail. "So... I get th'shift thing down... what 
  about the laws thing? Kaz tol' me one, about not mating with other 
  werewolves, but she never got t'the others."

Alicia mmm's lightly. "Well, there's a number of them. Kinda like th' ten 
  commandments ya'know? But, our rules are a bit more strict. Lessie.. You 
  know the mating one. The next is Combating the Wyrm wherever it dwells and 
  breeds. Which means, if you know something is tainted by the Wyrm, and if 
  you can kick the shit outta it without ripping apart the veil, then do it. 
  Its hard tho' this day of age to really just do that, its why we roam in 
  packs and we plan ahead most of the time."

Malachi chews on his fingernails as he listens. This law he seems not to have 
  any problem with -- it's fairly straightforward after all. "'Kay."

There's a jingle upstairs, and then faint swearing when someone drops their 
  keys, and then Kaz comes tromping down the stairs, looking less than awake.

Alicia continues on. "Respect the Territory of ano--.." She pauses and glances 
  over towards the other Galliard, waving a hand. "Hey you."

Malachi glances up, frowning at Kaz for a moment before looking back to Alicia.

Kaz says, cheerfully, "Yo. Litany? Rock on," and slides into a seat against a 
  wall.

Alicia nods her head. "Yah, Litany. Decided to kill time and he was interested 
  in learning. So.." She smiles. "Respecting the territory of another. That 
  means when you come across another Garou's lay of land, you do the intro 
  thing and you be polite about it. Don't give the big dog a big hissy fit or 
  'tude. Pretty much don't piss on their fire hydrants, shit on the lawn, you 
  know what I mean? Just mind your manners."

Kaz adds, "In the woods, with the lupes, you howl to tell 'em you're there."

Alicia nods her head. "And when you introduce, you give them your full title. 
  Ya'know, you'd be.. Malachi, Bites-Everything, Ahroun and cub for the Bone 
  Gnawers." She teases him a bit with the cub name.

Kaz asks, eyebrow quirked, "Bites-Everything?" She doesn't seem to think it's 
  a /bad/ name; mostly, she seems curious as to the origin.

"You din' tell me you lived in woods /too/," Malachi informs Kaz, somewhat 
  peevishly. His eyes flick to Alicia. "An' I'm not a--" He bites the rest off 
  with a grimace.

Kaz shrugs. "We're half wolf. A lotta people live in woods. Us Gnawers don't, 
  though. 'Licia don't, neither. An' you're not what?"

"Not a cub? Don't worry 'bout it. Its just 'rank' ya'know what I mean? I 
  consider it the first step. But thats just how ya' intro yer'self." 
  Chuckling, the Gaian leans back a bit. "And yah, I don't live in the woods 
  anymore, I did when I was a cub for the longest of times cuz' my tribe, the 
  Children of Gaia felt it'd take me away from 'evil distractions'." A slight 
  eye roll. "Oh well."

Malachi shakes his head at the questions. "Nuthin', doesn't matter." He eyes 
  Kaz, though. "But I wanna see the woods, an' this caern thing that, uh, 
  'Licia mentioned." Slight pause on the name like he isn't sure.

Alicia glances over to Kaz. "I was kinda explaining the whole Caern thing 
  ya'know, since he was interested we had woods. Seems he may be 
  claustophobic or something, he says the basement is too small." She shrugs. 
  "Told him that maybe one day when he earned your guys's trust, you may take 
  him out there to romp around for a bit."

Kaz tilts an eyebrow, curiously. "Ain'ta Gnawer, or ain't a cub?" At Alicia's 
  comments, though, she sighs, slightly. A little glumly. "Yeah, 
  claustrophobic. Don't surprise me at all. Then again, so'm I. So I know the 
  feelin'. But yeah -- once you got the Litany in you an' shit, we'll bring 
  you over."

Malachi chews on the dead skin around his right index finger rather than 
  answer Kaz's question, but her last remark gets his attention. "'Kay."

Alicia smiles and glances to the two. "The next law is to Accept an honorable 
  surrender. Which means that when your battling another Garou, like perhaps 
  an honor match, or just a brawl or whatever ya'know? Maybe you had a bone to 
  pick. Lets say you kick the dudes ass and he hits the ground and bares his 
  throat to you. That means he's submitting and you are honor bound not to 
  kill him or rip his throat out. Its important you know that one, especially 
  as an Ahroun cuz' ya'll tend to get a bit blood lusty. Also, lots of dudes 
  would frown upon ya' if you went 'round killing those who stopped the fight 
  first right?"

Kaz adds, "One thing you gotta understand, most of our leadership is 
  determined by challenge. So this is /important/."

Malachi remains sitting, but shifts his weight around restlessly. "'Kay."

Alicia grins. "You'll like this one. Submit to those higher in station. I'm 
  sure you kinda got the jist of that one. If you are out ranked, you gotta 
  mind your manners and the such. Don't back talk ya'know? Your Elders are 
  higher ranked for a reason, they fought the good fight longer and they know 
  a lotta stuff. Its best to learn from them, then fight against them. It just 
  makes your life easier."

Kaz says, wryly, "That's the one I mentioned without actually, um, usin' that 
  phrasin'."

Malachi wrinkles his nose, shooting a brief glance toward Kaz before looking 
  back at the Gaian. "Yeah... I remember. How many more?"

Alicia glances over to Kaz and smiles. "You wanna continue with this?" She 
  seems to be checking her pager every now and then too.

Kaz says, "Yeah, sure. Malachi, there's like 8 more. You wanna do 'em now?"

Malachi nods firmly, even a touch impatiently. "I wanna get /outta/ here. 'N 
  not f'just walks like Junior did las' night."

Alicia grins. "Knowing Kaz, she's ganna make ya recite 'em back to us 
  afterwards so that she makes sure you understand 'em."

Kaz says, a little ruefully, "The Litany ain't the only thing keepin' me from 
  springin' you, though. I like you a lot, an'--" She glances at Alicia -- 
  "You seem to give more of a shit t'day, but I gotta trust you won't bug out 
  on us. It may take a bit. Or it may not."

Alicia glances back over to Kaz and lifts a brow up a bit before focusing her 
  gaze once more on the younger boy. Pushing herself up, she dusts off her 
  jeans and scuffs her boot into the ground.

Malachi's mood, which had been edging into something vaguely approaching 
  tractability, immediately curdles. "Where'm I gonna go? Only place I wanna 
  go is /out/. Outta /here/, outta th' /city/, an' I don't know how. I keep 
  /tellin'/ you that I'm gonna go /bugfuck/ an' y'don't listen t'me."

Kaz grunts. "Kid, you can tell me you have all the tea in China, but that 
  don't mean..." She trails off, and glances at Alicia. "Could do the Litany 
  and then stick you Caernwards, though." Hello, 180.

Alicia glances up at the kid, looking a bit distracted, her eyes glazed over 
  and glossy. Shaking her head a bit, she clears her throat and blinks once.

Malachi stops chewing on his thumbnail and goes quiet, looking from Alicia to 
  Kaz and back again.

Alicia glances over to Kaz, a light smile tugging at her lips. "Hey Kaz'bo, 
  I'm going to scoot because I gotta meet up with the pack and do some 
  talking. Good luck, just call me on the cell or page or whatever." She 
  starts heading for the steps. "Take care Malachi, we'll see each other again 
  real soon. Maybe I'll bring something cool for ya' ta' play with. Maybe my 
  boyfriend's Gameboy." Then, a mutter. "Maybe that'll get him to pay more 
  attention to me."

Kaz shrugs at Malachi, not explaining her sudden 180. "So. Next, right?"

Malachi stares at the closed door for another few seconds before dragging his 
  attention back to Kaz. "Don't fuck other Garou, don't piss on someone else's 
  turf, listen t'people bigger'n you, fight the Wyrm thing, 'n lay off when 
  yer fightin' 'n the other guy gives up. What's next?"

Kaz sounds as if she's quoting someone with an entirely different accent as 
  she says, "The First Share of the Kill for the Greatest in Station'. Which 
  basically just means, the boss gets more of the shit, be it meat or a drug 
  dealer's money. 'Course, then he goes an' gives it everyone else, so it 
  works out in the end."

"What if he don't?" asks Malachi.

Kaz says, "Then he's a sucky leader, an' most of the time people'll challenge 
  his ass, eventually. But it's first /share/ of the kill anyways -- they 
  never take all of it."

Malachi nods. "Okay. Next?" The cub mayhap be forgiven the note of impatience 
  in his voice. He seems to be making an effort to simply sit still.

Kaz doesn't seem to mind impatience at all. "'Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of 
  Humans.'" Which I don't think you got much of a problem with, so long as you 
  only bite an' don't chew." This would appear to be a joke.

Malachi makes an 'ew, gross' kind of face, unsurprisingly. "Uh... right. No 
  cannibalism."

Kaz says, "Ayup," and leaves it at that. Impergium? What's that? "I mentioned 
  this one, too. 'Respect for Those Below Ye in Station -- All Are of Gaia.'"

Malachi considers that. "That jus' for werewolves or for, like anythin'?"

Kaz blinks slowly. "I'd ask a half moon on that." She stops. "You know the 
  auspices, right? Anyway, I tend to kinda apply it to other shit, too, just 
  'cause we're the protectors of, well, th' streets, but I dunno if it's 
  actually something the law expects."

Malachi chews his lower lip at the word 'auspices'. "Uh... some werewolves are 
  more fighters than other werewolves, 'r somethin'..."
Malachi adds, "An' it has t'do with the moon or somethin'."

"Oh!" Kaz reels off a few facts, slowly. "Ahroun, that's you, you're the full 
  moons. You're the expert fighter types, the ones in command of battle. 
  Galliard, that's me, gibbous moon, we're the storytellers an' the 
  information passers. Bards, basically. Philodox, that's the half moon, 
  they're the judges and the arbiters of the Garou, they're the ones that 
  balance the rest of us, an' figure out what the Litany, the shorter version 
  and the longer version, actually mean. Theurge, that's the crescent moon, 
  they're the spirit types, Umbral experts. An' Ragabash, they're the no 
  moons, like Max. They're the scouts, the questioners of the ways, the 
  trickster types. Basically, y'job's decided by what moon y'are. An' the 
  larger the moon you are, the pissier you are, naturally. In theory, anyways."

Malachi nods. "'Kay." He starts reviewing, quickly, using and reusing fingers 
  for each point. "Fighters, storytellers, judges, uh, spirit experts, scouts. 
  Th' boss gets the first pick of stuff, don't push people -- 'r maybe jus' 
  werewolves -- around 'cos yer bigger, and -- ugh -- don't eat humans. Duh. 
  'N don' fuck Garou, don't keep fightin' if the other guy gives up, listen to 
  people older'n you... um, don't piss on someone else's turf, and..." He 
  pauses, trying to think if he's forgotten any he's been told so far. Oh, 
  yeah: "...An' fight the Wyrm."

Kaz nods, as she listens. "Pretty much. Good summation. You listen hard, 
  doncha?" She goes on, "This one, we also mentioned. 'The Veil Shall Not Be 
  Lifted.' Aka, don't tell no one about us."

Malachi wipes at his mouth. "Duh." He frowns. "What 'bout my dad 'n mom, 
  though? I tol' Junior /and/ that other girl, uh, 'Licia, that my dad would 
  call th' cops, 'n /'Licia/ said she figured he actually /did/."

Kaz says, reluctantly, "Unless he's Kin --" She stops. "We've explained Kin, 
  right?"

Malachi hesitates, thinking. "Um..."

Kaz explains, immediately, "Kinfolk're related to the Garou, but ain't Garou. 
  They can see us in the Warform without goin' batshit, an' they're our allies 
  in the human world. So if y'folks're Kin, mebbe you can tell 'em about us. 
  But if not, you're gonna have t'figure some story out for 'em."

Malachi nods slowly. "Okay... so, don't spill th' shit. Um, break the Veil."

Kaz grins. "Yeah." She stops, at the next one. "B'fore I do this one, you seen 
  us heal an' shit, right?"

Malachi shifts his weight a bit. "Yeah... when Junior cut his hand open, 'an 
  it healed like in seconds."

Kaz nods. "Alla us can heal like that, just, not in homid. So it takes a lot 
  to kill us. So this one, it's for like, if you lost both legs or something. 
  'Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness in Death.' It's like wolves 
  do, see."

Malachi's frown deepns a bit at this, but otherwise seems not terribly 
  bothered. Twelve years old and immortal, yup yup. "Okay..."

Kaz continues, "The next two are related. 'The Leader May Be Challenged at Any 
  Time of Peace,' which is what we're theoretically in right now, and 'The 
  Leader May Not Be Challenged in Time of War,' which is often."

Malachi studies his fingers, then picks a not-quite-so-chewed nail to nibble 
  the corner off of. "Okay."

Kaz says, "OK. Last one's probably obvious. 'Ye Shall Take No Action That 
  Causes a Caern to Be Violated.'"

Malachi asks, "'Cos they're so special?"

Kaz nods. "Yeah. They're... well, they're Gaia incarnate, Gaia's energy 
  brought to life." She doesn't seem at all embarrassed by her phrasing.

Malachi takes a deep breath. "Okay. So... Don't fuck other Garou. Fight the 
  Wyrm. Keep the Veil, the secret about us. Don' challenge the leader when 
  it's war, but you can challenge when it's peaceful. Don' eat humans, don't 
  let a caern get messed up. Don' piss on other people's turf, an' don' keep 
  fightin' when the other guy gives up. Listen to yer bosses, don't be an 
  asshole to people yer boss of."

Kaz adds, "Don't eat people, neither, but I think you got that idea already."

Malachi frowns. "Thought I said that... oh, an' fuck off if yer too sick 
  t'take care of y'self. Are there any more?"

Kaz shakes her head. "That's it. Wannna get the fuck outta here an' get 
  Caernwards, then?"

Malachi springs immediately to his feet. "/Yes/."

(But Kaz has duties and is not able to take Mal out that day.)