Cub Woes

[hazlogs]

Farmhouse: Downstairs
Three rooms make up the first floor of the farmhouse, the living room which is 
  the first as you come in, and the dining room and kitchen at the back of the 
  house. (See +view and places)
A door in the kitchen allows direct access to the barnyard behind the house, 
  while the door in the living room lets out to the front porch. Carpeted 
  stairs twist up the northwest corner of the room, leading to the second 
  floor.
Contents:
Cassandra
Kath
Anne
Kit
Eligio Sacateca
Stormcloud
Derrick
Scab-Survivor
Quiet
Dillan
Nikolai
Illuminated Text
Blanket
NOTE: Current Farmhouse Residents
Obvious exits:
Front Door  Back Door  STairs  

Cassandra stands up and strides over to Kath and her mother. "Kath wants to go 
  to another Sept, rhya. I think she's makin' a mistake but damn all I can do 
  about it."
Hazmat thumps loudly down the stairs, stopping at the blackage of Furies
  at the bottom.
Cristoph slides open the glass door in the kitchen, stepping in, and then 
  closing the door behind him.
Cristoph comes through the front door, bulky pack on his shoulders, carrying 
  an unstrung bow and a quiver of war arrows as well. He stops and blinks at 
  the crowd, surprised.
Cassandra shrugs, her eyes dark on Kath's. "If she chooses to abandon her 
  sisters, better now than when the chips are down."
Kath raises her chin another fraction, now that the word is well and truly 
  out. She says, "I'm going back to my grandmother, and the sept of the Clear 
  Well."
Scab-Survivor contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Kit is not strong enough to force her way past Anne. However, she doesn't back 
  down and she does not seem inclined to give up her daughter. "Kath and I are 
  going out to dinner. I don't know what else is going on here, and I would 
  appreciate having some time alone with her. Now get the hell out of my face, 
  okay?"
Scab-Survivor shifts into Homid form.
Anne says mildly, "She's my cub too, Kit. Relax, will you? Why, Kath?"
Hazmat frowns, halfway down the stairs, nose wrinkling at the bodies blocking 
  her way. She shoves her hands into the pockets of her trench and leans 
  against one wall.
Touch Deer shifts inside the kitchen, out of sight of anyone in the living 
  room.
Kit is not strong enough to force her way past Anne. However, she doesn't back 
  down and she does not seem inclined to give up her daughter. "Kath and I are 
  leaving. If you want to treat your cubs this way, that's fine. But I am 
  _not_ having my daughter left in the place, alone, untutored, untrained and 
  so scared of who she is that she calls me in tears. Now *move*!"
Kath's head turns and her eyes blaze at Cassandra. She says bitingly, "I'm 
  not." She turns her head back to Anne and says, still defiant, "Because it's 
  someplace where I'm wanted. My bloodkin are there."
Cassandra shrugs. "I think you are." She trembles as well, but in anger. "You 
  were wanted, you were just too fuckin' blind to see it."
Stormcloud raises his hackles as the tension in the other room builds.
Cristoph's eyes shift back and forth, taking in the scene.
Quiet whines comfortingly to the Talon. Still.
Anne's voice cracks with hard command. "I have not left her untutored, nor is 
  she _unwanted_. I've taught her, worked with her, and tried to help her 
  _gently_ past her fear. I've tried not to push her into acceptance, not to 
  force her, because that's going to make it worse for her, not better." The 
  Adren's eyes ignore Kit, looking past at Kath. "What of that makes you think 
  you're not _wanted_ here, Kath?"
Hazmat stands on her tip-toes, trying to see past all the furious Furies. "Um, 
  hey?" At Anne's voice, she shuts up and scratches her belly under the 
  sweatshirt.
Stormcloud lowers his head and glowers into the living room. No harm.
Dillan raises a hand. "Ooo! Ooo! I know! I know!"
Kit doesn't even react to the command in Anne's voice. Rank means nothing to 
  her, and she turns, pulls Kath into her arms again and says "It's okay, 
  sweetie. We'll leave soon. Grandmother Trisophne knows we're coming and she 
  said that she'll send someone out to meet us. We'll call her from the 
  airport."
Cassandra turns a sharp gaze, on Dillan, her voice cracking. "Shut up."
Dillan lists items off as if reading from a multiple-choice question. "A) 
  Multiple beatings. B) You can never do anything right. C) Everything's 
  really fucked up. Or, D) all of the above! Er, shutting up. Right."
Kath drops her eyes despite herself, instinct taking over. Her voice trembles. 
  "You've tried, when you've had time. And maybe you were doing your best. But 
  I /don't/ belong here. Every time I try to talk to anyone, they either beat 
  me or yell at me, or send me away. And of the people nice to me, most of 
  them are /men/." Kath's voice drips scorn, and trembles. Whether from anger 
  or tears is unclear.
Cassandra looks up at Anne, turning her gaze from the couch. "Let her go, I 
  think, rhya. If she wants to leave, we cannot stop her, and if it is not 
  now, it will be when we truly need her. It is not we who do not want her, it 
  is she who does not want us. Mother knows why." Her voice lowers, and she 
  turns her back on Kath.
Anne's eyes narrow slightly. "You haven't," her voice gentles out of the 
  harshness used to Kath's mother, "told me about being hit, or yelled at, or 
  sent away."
Quiet turns her head from Stormcloud and Nikolai. A warning growl rumbles in 
  her chest at the Lord.
Cristoph's eyes track to Dillan, hard.
Stormcloud's chest rumbles.
"Wow. I can sympathize. Oh, wait. No-one heard that. I shut up a while ago." 
  Dillan sticks a fist in his mouth and slides back against the wall.
Touch Deer turns to Quiet. "Keep Stormcloud calm....I do not want him to do 
  anything unwise."
Hazmat mumbles something underbreath and sits down on the stair, resigned to 
  waiting before she can get past the stairwell.
Quiet turns to Touch Deer. Keep /that one/ quiet. With that, she turns back to 
  nuzzling the Talon cub.
Kath shakes her head. She says, a little bitterly, "Why would it matter? 
  You've watched Cristoph do worse."
Stormcloud is too focused on the living room to pay anyone else much attention.
Touch Deer moves quickly over to Dillan, looking furious.
Cassandra mutters softly, "Kath, for the love of the Mother, grow a skin. Cris 
  slaps me around alla time."
Anne says, firmly, "No one but us are allowed to touch you, at all. Do you 
  really think the same won't happen elsewhere?"
Kit looks to Anne. "She is my daughter," she says calmly. "She the the child 
  of the one woman I loved most in this world. Joan gave her life for this 
  sept, and while it kills me to think that Kath could follow in those 
  footsteps, I swear to you that if I thought it possible that this place had 
  anything to offer to Kath, I would leave her here." Her voice grows angrier. 
  "But it does not. So I take her to her homeland, where she will be treated 
  with the dignity that I think all Garou deserve."
Dillan mimes zipping his lips. He waves his hands, as if motioning that 
  everything's calm. He gives a pair of thumbs up gestures at Touch Deer.
Stormcloud takes another step towards the living room.
Cristoph opens the door, apparently for Kath, and steps to one side, out of 
  her way. He takes off his pack, bow, and quiver, and sets them in a corner.
Touch Deer moves away from Dillan back over towards where Quiet and Stormcloud 
  are.
Anne is still blocking the three Furies from leaving the stairway, but she 
  ignores Kit's comments once again to watch, and wait for, Kath's answer.
Eligio Sacateca only watches the anger unfold in the small space at the foot 
  of the stairs, reserving comment. Reserving, even, judgement for all that 
  his dark eyes reveal.
Kath shakes her head. "I dunno. Maybe they will. Maybe I'm wrong, and this 
  whole life will be hell. But Mom grew up there, and being just among my kin 
  has to be better than being trapped here."
Kit straightens up and puts a hand on Anne's shoulder. Her voice is low and 
  filled with quiet steel. "Look, bitch. Just because you're some ass-kicking 
  Fury bitch does *not* give you the right to ignore me."
Touch Deer contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Stormcloud's lips part.
Touch Deer shifts into Lupus form.
Hazmat perks up, watching the altercation with interest from her front-row 
  seat. Her own emotions seem mixed, though, and it's not certain which side 
  she favors or agrees with.
Scab-Survivor begins whining towards Stormcloud in soft tones.
Anne brings a hand up to wrap it around Kit's wrist. "Nor does your being her 
  mother mean that I have to treat her like a child who can't speak for 
  herself," she says, quietly. Still holding the wrist, she suddenly pivots 
  out of the way, the wrist of her clasping hand showing old, encircling 
  scars. "You won't be shackled here," she says to the girl, still quietly, 
  still gentle. "You were never unwanted, but if Cassie's right and you don't 
  want us, then go freely."
Kit yanks the wrist easily out of Anne's grasp just a few moments after she 
  begins to move and nods curtly. "Thank you," she says.
Anne makes her way to a closet, which she opens to reach up and pull out a 
  small, carved pegasus. This, she tosses underhand at Kath. "This was an 
  apology to me from Remy for taunting and goading you. I'd like you to have 
  it."
Stormcloud quietly grumbles again.
Scab-Survivor makes soft chuffles towards Quiet while still trying to calm 
  down stormcloud as best he can.
Cassandra stands still, her back turned to the Fury cub and her mother, quite 
  pointedly.
Stormcloud cocks one ear back at Scab-Survivor and stops advancing. But that 
  is all.
Scab-Survivor's tail and head have raised, clearly in dominance towards the 
  Talon cub.
Kath catches the object instinctively. She looks down at it, turning it over 
  in her hands. "It's pretty, but he didn't give it to apologize to /me./"
Anne shrugs one shoulder. "He apologized for what happened, when it wasn't any 
  of his business to be trying to goad you."
Kit looks down at her daughter. "Ready?"
Kath says, even softer, "But he didn't apologize to me." With that, she nods 
  at Kit and follows her out the door. She has her head bent, but tears are 
  visible on her cheeks to those still watching.
Kit leaves through the front door. You can hear the screen door swing shut 
  again with a clatter.
Kit has left.
Cristoph gets out a notebook, and writes on the top sheet. He tears it off, 
  folds it, and hands it to Kath on her way past.
Kath leaves through the front door. You can hear the screen door swing shut 
  again with a clatter.
Kath has left.
Scab-Survivor advances on Stormcloud, still looking like he is trying to 
  dominate the cub.
Cassandra does not move until the door has closed behind the two. When it 
  does, though, the note of finality seems to set loose something within her. 
  She whirls around, exploding, "All right, who was filling her head full of 
  shit?"
Anne turns her own gaze onto Eligio, cold and hard. "Why in Gaia's name were 
  you just going to _fetch her down_ and let her go?"
Hazmat exhales heavily and sidles past Anne and Cassie to enter the living 
  room. She glances at the lupine forms there with some puzzlement. "I thought 
  there wuzza rule 'gainst that."
Stormcloud succumbs to Scab-survivors overtures.
Cristoph collects his gear again, and starts up the stairs, taking care not to 
  brush against anyone in passing until he gets to Cassandra. He puts a gentle 
  hand on her arm.
Scab-Survivor chuffs up to Hazmat, after the cub has become submissive, that 
  this is a cub of the Red Talons who did not know the rule.
Hazmat heads further into the kitchen, glancing at Stormcloud. "Oh, I 'member 
  him..."
Eligio Sacateca stands in the cold anger of Anne's gaze. "What makes you think 
  I was going to let her leave?" he asks, simply.
Cassandra rubs at a bruised shoulder, growling softly as she looks up at 
  Cristoph and nods shortly.
Anne snaps quietly, "I have no faith that you'd do anything but."
Scab-Survivor contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Scab-Survivor shifts into Homid form.
Quiet chuffs. He should be taught to shift, or taken to the sept, soon. But 
  better shifted in here than outside, where any can see.
Hazmat rubs the back of her neck. "Mebbe yuh should teach him tuh stand on two 
  legs."
Cristoph tilts his head towards the upstairs, inviting Cassandra to go there 
  with him.
Touch Deer leaves the kitchen.
Touch Deer has departed.
Cassandra glances at Hazmat, but bites her tongue and nods to Cristoph. 
  "Anyone know where Diana is? I think we all need to get together an' having 
  a long -fuckin'- talk."
Eligio Sacateca shrugs. "But then I've no need to prove myself to you, have I?"
Nikolai mounts the stairs, pausing briefly at the landing before continuing up 
  to the second floor.
Nikolai has left.
Derrick moves into the living room.
Nikolai comes down the stairs.
Nikolai has arrived.
Cristoph mounts the stairs, pausing briefly at the landing before continuing 
  up to the second floor.
Cristoph has left.
Nikolai moves into the kitchen.
Nikolai joins you.
Cassandra mounts the stairs, pausing briefly at the landing before continuing 
  up to the second floor.
Cassandra has left.
Touch Deer moves towards a wall in the living room, where he stands and 
  watches Cass with concerened eyes.
Stormcloud lies done in front of the fridge, abashedly.
Hazmat glances over her shoulder, frowning at the tension, uncomfortable with 
  it. So she turns her attention to Quiet. "Yuh his teacher?" she asks, 
  referring to Stormcloud.
Anne says dryly, "I don't know. Perhaps Timothy and Brian have more faith in 
  you than I do, Fostern." With a cold expression, she turns towards the 
  stairs to follow up after her tribemates.
Anne mounts the stairs, pausing briefly at the landing before continuing up to 
  the second floor.
Anne has left.
Derrick says "Well. Pardon me."
Derrick slides open the door in the kitchen, passing through into the back 
  yard.
Derrick has left.
Quiet shakes her ruff. I am not, as I do not think he is of my tribe. I can 
  teach him, if it is needed. He is an obedient youngling, and well-mannered.
Eligio Sacateca shakes his head. "Perhaps," is all he says after the 
  retreating form.
Hazmat grins at the Child of Gaia. "Yah, he is." She peers down at the cub in 
  question. "Yuh in front a' th' food, yuh know," she notes mildly.
Stormcloud doesn't move, not understanding.
Touch Deer says "He does not know any human speech, Hazmat."
In the kitchen, Nikolai looks a bit better and moves off quietly over near the 
  table.
Hazmat nudges Stormcloud with a toe and utters a damned convincing bark. Move. 
  She's amused, not angry, though.
You say "Yah, gotta teach 'im tha', too."
Derrick slides open the glass door in the kitchen, stepping in, and then 
  closing the door behind him.
Derrick has arrived.
Stormcloud yelps and scuffles over to Nikolai, tail tightly between legs.
In the kitchen, Nikolai holds out a hand to pet Stormcloud.
Hazmat rolls her eyes slightly and sighs, opening the fridge. She rummages and 
  pulls out a wrapped package of roast beef. Kicking the door shut, she kneels 
  down and unwraps the meat, showing it to the lupus cub.
Touch Deer scratches his belly-scars and moves towards the door. "I have to 
  see Cinder and the pups. Quiet, you know where to find me if you need me."
Dillan hops off the countertop. "I'm gonna assume if I talk now, I ain't gonna 
  get decked in the head for it."
"Feel free, though, to inform me if I got that wrong, though," the Shadow 
  Lord cub adds.
Touch Deer nods a good-bye to everyone and heads out.
Eligio Sacateca picks Quiet out of the crowd and goes over to her for a 
  moment. ~Quick question for you,~ says to her.
Quiet chuffles an agreement. I think I should wait for Mark-of-Thorns. Her 
  posture is worried.
Touch Deer nods a good-bye to everyone and heads out.
Touch Deer leaves through the front door. You can hear the screen door swing 
  shut again with a clatter.
Touch Deer has left.
Quiet turns her head and looks at Eligio questioningly.
Hazmat tilts her head, peering up at the Uktena.
Eligio Sacateca says, ~I've been asked to teach at least one of the Guardians 
  how to open the Caern; in case it is needed in defense of that place. As 
  Ritemaster, will you agree to this?~
Quiet tilts her head. Which?
In the kitchen, Nikolai speaks up from the table to those in the kitchen and 
  says "Can I go outside? I don't feel too well."
Stormcloud takes the offered meat from Hazmat.
Hazmat grins at the lupus cub and sits on the floor, helping herself to more 
  of the cold cuts.
"Hey," Dillan speaks again, undeterred by the lack of response. "So, like, if 
  it isn't a touchy subject or nothin', anyone care to fill me in on what 
  happened? I'm sorta curious as to what set that all of an' what it was 
  'bout."
Eligio Sacateca says, ~Thunder's Claws.~
Hazmat looks up, nose slightly wrinkled.
Eligio Sacateca adds that ~Joseph already knows it. That would give each pack 
  a way to tap the Caern's strength if needed.~
In the kitchen, Nikolai sighs and gets up to walk into the living room.
Quiet considers it, then dips her muzzle. It is well.
Nikolai leaves the kitchen.
Nikolai has departed.
Stormcloud after finishing Hazmat's gift looks up questioningly to Nikolai.
Hazmat drops the package of roast beef in front of Stormcloud and scratches at 
  her throat.
Stormcloud gets up to follow Nikolai, leaving the roast beef behind.
Nikolai walks into the living room and heads towards the bathroom where he 
  enters and closes the door.
Quiet pushes Stormcloud gently. You cannot go outside in the lupus form.
Stormcloud looks behind him to Quiet. No outside. Nikolai in.
Quiet chuffs. Just keep it in mind. I'm going back to the man-shape. Stay calm.
Quiet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Eligio Sacateca nods and leaves Quiet to the cubs then.
Quiet shifts into Homid form.
Eligio Sacateca leaves through the front door. You can hear the screen door 
  swing shut again with a clatter.
Eligio Sacateca has left.
Stormcloud leaves the kitchen.
Stormcloud has departed.
Stormcloud sits in front of the bathroom door, waiting for nikolai.
Nikolai comes out of the bathroom shortly and sees Stormcloud then looks 
  around.
Stormcloud whines up at Nikolai.
Hazmat watches Stormcloud and Nikolai, head tilted.
Dillan wanders out into the living room. "Well. Good to see everyone's so 
  talkative 'bout stuff."
Nikolai holds out his hand to pet Stormcloud.
Hazmat yawns and gets up, stretching. She looks at Dillan. "Wha' yuh wanna 
  talk about, then?"
Dillan perches himself on an arm of the couch. He shrugs. "Well, like, what 
  the fuck just happened. All I know is some chick came in here and grabbed 
  some other chick and they took off, and everyone was all pissed off 'bout 
  it."
Nikolai shrugs and says "I don't know. People don't tend to tell me much here."
Hazmat raises her eyebrows. "Looked tuh *me* like it was a fight fuh th' cub 
  'tween her mom an' her elders. An' tha' th' cub wanted tuh go home where her 
  mom's kin was."
Derrick says "Kath. One of the Fury cubs. Her mom took her off to some other 
  sept. I've got clue none why, though. The Furies seem to be less, uh, 
  physically demonstrative than the Fangs 'n Lords are."
Dillan says "Er. Okay. But was she here in the first place, then?"
Hazmat shrugs. "I don' 'member seein' her much, but I ain't been back long." 
  She flops into a chair and yawns.
Derrick says "I dunno, Anne seemed to think so. And what Anne says, goes."
Hazmat glances at Derrick.
Dillan shrugs. "I ain't never seen her before. But, okay. Lemme get this 
  straight. For some reason, girlie was here. And some other butch comes in 
  and drags her off 'cause life wasn't a bed of roses. Shit. I oughtta wait 
  for someone to come get me."
Hazmat snorts. "Wuss."
Dillan snorts. "I ain't phonin' no-one to get me, am I?"
Derrick grins at Hazmat. "Anne is a very impressive person who knows what 
  she's talking about, who whapped me once. I only carry grudges when I might 
  get something out of carrying 'em, and I sure as hell won't in this case."
Hazmat looks pointedly at him. "Yuh sure as hell *complain* a lot," she says 
  to Dillan. "I ain't nevva heard no cub whine an' cry like you."
Madeline comes down the stairs.
Madeline has arrived.
Derrick says "An' Dillan, I bet it was 'cause her folks are Kinfolk. Someone 
  told me that if my folks had been in with a Sept, I'd've known more about 
  stuff and wouldn't have had people dragging me off in the night."
Nikolai smiles a bit when he sees Madeline and says "Hi, Madeline."
Madeline says "Hey. What's up?"
Derrick says "Hey, Maddy! How goes?"
Madeline says "I'm feelin' better, now."
Dillan smirks at Hazmat. "I'll bitch all I wanna." He shrugs at Derrick, 
  calmer now. "Maybe. And y'know, you're startin' to sound like me sometimes. 
  Stop that."
Stormcloud follows Nikolai's gaze.
Derrick spreads his hands. "Hey. You're a good example, maybe?"
Nikolai looks to Madeline and says "Thats good. I haven't been feeling well 
  myself." Have you met Stormcloud?
Hazmat pushes up off her chair and shrugs at Dillan. "Yah, you bitch. Bitch 
  an' complain an' whine all yuh want. Jus' don' get surprised 'cuz everyone 
  thinks yuh such a joke, an' no one takes yuh seriously. I mean, yuh ever met 
  that Strider, Blinks-at-Fire? Yuh could end up jus' like him. Cliath, bu' a 
  joke. He ain't nevva gonna go anywhere or get anywhere."
Madeline looks at the wolf. "Nope, not yet."
Nikolai smiles and motions towards Stormclouds and says "Well this is him."
Dillan shrugs. "Yeah, I saw him at the moot. So what if he's a joke? At least 
  that's a step up from punching bag. Right, Boy Wonder?"
Madeline says "Hi. I'm Madeline. Silver Fang Ahroun cub."
Stormcloud cocks his head at Madeline.
Hazmat rolls her eyes at Dillan. "Wuss," she says again, and leaves.
Nikolai says "Um....he doesn't understand people talk. Just wolf talk stuff."