Rosa's Story

[hazlogs]

It is currently 13:11 Pacific Time on Thu Apr 24 1997.
Currently on this calm and crisp spring afternoon in the general St. Claire
area, it is 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17.2 degrees Celsius). The wind is coming
from the southwest at 1.5 mph. The ground is normal. Skies are clear with a
definite chance of precipitation.
Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (85% full).

Rosa Pinay climbs down from a tree. There is no telling how long he has been
there. As she climbs, she reverts to birthform.
Erik glances up from his seat near the fire.
Rosa Pinay says "The Wheel... misses play. I have taken word to my Elder."
Erik hesitates, then ducks his head, nodding in thanks to the little Ahroun.
Falcon's Wing wakes up from his slumber near the fire, and looks around
muzzily.
Rosa Pinay says "Will... will you tell the story of my failed Passage... if I
tell you the story... so others can learn from my... mistakes?"
Erik blinks; the Fianna Metis seems surprised and absurdly touched by Rose's
request. "Of... of course. Um. Are you sure you want /me/ to tell your
story?"
Rosa Pinay says "You have a voice like a bird spirit... and I think you know,
a little... what it is like, to be Rose."
Erik tilts his head slightly, then nods once.
Falcon's Wing wathes the two silently.
Rosa Pinay sits down, and begins to stretch, while she speaks. "What... do you
know, so far, about me? About my... Passage?"
Erik shakes his head. "Nothing..." He spreads his hands slightly. "I don't
know anything... about you."
Rosa Pinay smiles, and cups her left foot in both hands, legs straight, as she
limbers up. "Nothing? Not my introduction? Not my name? Not my tribe?"
Erik ducks his head, chagrined. "Oh, er. /That/ I know. Dylan-rhya called you
Rose of the Moon, and you're an Ahroun of the Uktena tribe." The Irish lilt
becomes a bit thicker.
Rosa Pinay says "And you do not question how a Pinay girl belongs to Uktena?"
Erik makes a puzzled 'er' sound. "Pinay?"
Rosa Pinay holds up her luxuriant ponytail with one hand, showing its length
and thickness. She indicates her asian eyes with her other hand, her
smallish nose, her full lips. "Filipina. Not from the Pure Lands."
Erik says, "Oh," again and makes a vaguely sweeping gesture. "Maybe you'd
better just tell me...?"
Rosa Pinay returns to stretching and limbering up while she talks, more
vigourously. "Once upon a time there was a boy. He had the full pure blood
of the Uktena of the Yaqui people. Not like his half-sister, she who grew to
take the name Luz. He was the best of the best. Beloved by the Spirits.
Strong. Wise. Proud. Perfect. He was Walks-Far-In-Sacred-Shadows. He was...
my father.
Falcon's Wing listens intently, although he's not sure Rose wants him to hear
this.
Erik sits forward slightly, his full attention on the little Uktena gymnist.
Rosa Pinay says "And he hated what was impure. What was imperfect. What was of
the Wyrm. What was weak."
Rosa Pinay says "Like his half-sister, who was... not as pure as he. He knew
what was right. What was wrong. What was pure was right... and he was pure."
Rosa Pinay says "Do you understand?"
Erik pauses, then nods thoughtfully.
Rosa Pinay says "He had many duties, and many tasks, as befits a great hero.
One day, he disappeared... having walked farther in the Shadows than any so
young had ever done before. And his Yaqui people never heard from him
again." She begins to lift her right leg up over her shoulder, behind her
head. "And it was then that my mother's hero came to be, on a small small
island far far from here."
Erik nods again, his body still; he's a born listener and a rapt audience.
Rosa Pinay says "And my mother's hero, he saved the village of my mother's
people, from the great demon Tikbalang. Tikbalang had a body like a horse, a
head like a cat, fins like a whale, and breathed fire. But, in his great
battle, that made the whole island shake... he was lost. He was, my people
said, dead of his wounds, and Tikbalang destroyed. They made shrines to him,
altars that every day they took food to. And every day, his spirit accepted
the gifts, and the fishing grew better than ever, and life was wonderful...
and I was born, by the light of the full moon."
Alexandra climbs out of the entrance to the buried shelter nestled among the
trees to the southwest.
Rosa Pinay says "My people knew some of the Old Ways. But they could not be
sure I was Aswanga, which it the Pinoy word for Garou, like my father. And I
grew to be a happy child, who danced and sang all the time. I was... a
delight to my people, my mother said. And so, I had a duty... to delight my
people."
Erik tilts his head slightly, still listening intently to Rose.
Rosa Pinay begins to stretch her other foot over her head, until her legs
cross, and she stands up on her hands, an odd, inverted, contorted little
girl, now. "And, when I was five, the Government Man, he saw me do the knife
dance, just like the grown men of the village do... only with twigs, instead
of knives... and he took me to the Government Center. And they trained me
for the Olympics. And I ... I am now a former champion. The best in half the
world.
Rosa Pinay demonstrates, walking gracefully on her hands while her
double-jointed form seems perfectly comfortable within its pretzel knot.
"Until it came time, and the Curse overtook little Rose, and the Olympics
were lost, and Fomori came for me, in an airplane... I still do not
understand that. Perhaps Tikbalang sent them."
Erik murmurs a nearly-inaudible agreement, then laspses back into attentive
silence.
Rosa Pinay says "And all this time, Rose did not know Uktena. The plane
landed, the Fomori... they died on the winds when our fight broke a hole in
the plane's metal skin... and Rose ran away. I... thought I would be blamed
for breaking the plane, like I would be blamed for losing the Olympics...
like I would be blamed for letting down my country, and my village, and my
trainers, and my mother, and my father's spirit. So I called myself 'Mary'
and hid among strangers."
Rosa Pinay says "And... Mary, she saw such... terrible things. Strangers...
they do such terrible things. And the forms, they came to Mary. Not all the
forms. But the Bannog form, that we call Crinos, here, and the middle form,
that is Glabro... They came, in Mary's indignation and fear and anger. For
three months, Mary lurked in the shadows of allies and the dark places of
the city... She only did what she needed to... to protect herself. You
understand? Only what was needed. For protection."
Erik nods quietly.
Rosa Pinay keeps pacing on her hands. "But soon, Mary was noticed. A woman
named Miss Chloe, she saw and told a friend who was Mister Scott, and
others, named Mister Brian and Mister Timothy. And Mister Timothy, he argued
with Mister Thomas, who protected all the children at Regan Hope... Mister
Thomas, he knew... Mary was not right to have around children... Mary
sometimes did things that were... not necessary. You understand?
Erik nods again.
Rosa Pinay continues. "So, Rose came to the Wheel. And for six months, the
Wheel spun around Rose. Rose learned to be Garou, to control her Rage, to
fight, to read, to be like other Garou... And the Black Furies took in Rose,
who no one else would claim... but Rose knew... she was not... like her
Sisters. She knew she could never be... like her Sisters.
Elan enters the compound.
Randall enters the compound.
Rosa Pinay says "I... I showed the Gift. Uktena's Gift, in the open, before
others of Uktena's Tribe... And they knew then who I belonged to. Uktena
himself came to put his mark on me, while I stood in freezing water... and I
began to try to learn to belong to... my father's people."
Elan wanders in, drawn back to the woods. He smiles at Alexandra and Derrick,
and goes to sit by the Fang.
Erik, absorbed in Rose's story, does not notice the new arrivals.
Rosa Pinay continues to walk on her hands, body twisted into a pretzel-like
knot, around Erik, recounting a long tale. "And, in time, my Elder asked,
'Rose, do you think you are ready to attempt your Rite of Passage?'
Rosa Pinay says "Now, Mister Erik, you know who Rose was, before she attempted
Passage."
Erik murmurs assent.
Randall comes out of the trees close at hand by the fire. Judging the mood, he
gives his greetings with a series of silent nods to those assembled.
Rosa Pinay straightens and kips out of her handstand, coming upright in an
instant, with the tiniest of bounces. "I had been trained to fight, to
think, to be polite, to know the Litany and the Creeds and the Lore, as if I
were a cub of five tribes and five Auspices, almost. And my Tribe knew that
this would be... a difficulty. They questioned, was I Uktena enough? Was
I... Garou enough, having become... too much Garou?"
Falcon's Wing wakes back up, and nudges Elan in greeting.
Jeau enters the compound.
Jeau wanders in, hands in his coat pockets and whistling.
Elan leans lightly on Falcon's Wing and skritches him, listening to Rosa's
tale.
Alexandra nods...
Jessie climbs out of the entrance to the buried shelter nestled among the
trees to the southwest.
Jessie walks slowly out of the shelter, looking at the people gathered here.
Falcon's Wing, listening to Rose's story, whuffles a quiet hello to Jessie.
Elan smiles and waves to Jessie, and pats the ground at his other arm,
inviting her to sit down.
Rosa Pinay says "I cannot tell you the secrets of my journey from this place,
to that one, to the village I was born. There are many secrets of my Passage
attempt that... should never be known. But that was where I found myself."
She begins to stretch backwards, until she is touching the ground with her
hands, in a perfect arc, and she then kicks up, and begins walking on her
hands once more. "Home."
Rends-the-Dark picks her way into the clearing, looking down at her paws.
Jeau tilts his head sideways, watching Rosa turn over backwards, as he
approaches and swiftly drops himself down by Alexandra.
Jessie nods a greeting to Falcon's wing, and watches Rosa. She remains
standing by the edge of the compound near the shelter.
Alexandra grins at Jeau and indicates Rosa.
Rends-the-Dark pauses at the edge of the forest, uncertain with so many people
around.
Erik utters a quiet sigh; the Fianna still hasn't noticed the fact that the
compound is filling up.
Falcon's Wing restrains a bark of greeting to Athena, but does get up and trot
over to her, carefully skirting Rose's story.
Rosa Pinay says "And things were very bad at home. The fishing was poorer with
every passing moon. The Government had taken away the old crops, and made
the people grow strange crops that were not good. They built a school on the
sacred beach, that they said they would educate the village children in...
but instead, they made it a resort for government ministers, and surrounded
it with razor wire and soldiers."
Randall slowly folds his arms, regarding Rose's antics without comment.
Rends-the-Dark pushes her nose against Falcon's Wing's side in a silent lupine
greeting. Dusty and Silverfur are curently watching the wormhole.
Rosa Pinay continues her tale, walking on her hands, about the fire, with
perfect ease and confidence. "And the old people whispered, 'Tikbalang is
returned.' And the very old people, when they saw me... they knew I had
come... to finish my father's work.
Jeau watches Rosa with a smile, but nods to Alexandra.
Falcon's Wing flicks an ear at this. That is good. How are things with you?
Rends-the-Dark is all dirty from that place. Junkyard dog or homeless cub,
it's about the same. What has been happening here?
Rosa Pinay says "And so, one night after I arrived, I crept into a cave, where
I believed I would find Tikbalang. But instead... I found my father. An
Elder, strong in the Wyrm. Powerful beyond belief. Clever. Subtle. Wise.
Terrible. And tricky. He tried to turn me to Tikbalang's service. He wanted
to destroy the world. And... with Tikbalang's power... he could."
Falcon's Wing wrinkles his muzzle. I know. It's amazingly uncomfotable, there.
Rose is telling of her Rite. Other than that, things are rather boring.
Elan tosses a tiny pebble at Falcon's Wing's side. "Boring, huh?"
Falcon's Wing blinks. Well. Wait. We did Cleanse a cub, just recently. She's a
Fang, even. I don't think I've seen you since then...
Rends-the-Dark sniffs around, and takes a deep breath. THe woods are better. I
do not see how Dante could stand the city enough to /pack/ there.
Elan chuckles and shifts.
Elan contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Elan sparkles and blurs, shifting into Lupus form.
Falcon's Wing does not either. But... each to his own. I have never liked
cities anyway. And... he has motivations, familial ones.
Shadow Eyes pads over to Falcon Wing and Athena. He does well...
Erik stirs slightly, his attention vaguely disrupted by the background
chatter, and though he remains focussed on Rose, a slight but definite
irritation makes itself known in the Fianna's posture.
Rosa Pinay says "He tried to confuse me... he tried to tempt me with all his
powers and all his secrets. For eight weeks, I was patient with him, while
Tikbalang grew angrier and angrier. And then... He knew what I had done. I
had distracted him, so he could not control Tikbalang. He wanted me to
belong to the Wyrm so badly... he had risked his life. With time running
out, he tried to force me... but I slipped from his grasp, and tripped him,
just long enough that Tikbalang, hungry and furious... swallowed him up...
while I slipped away."
Jessie scans the crowd, but looks back to Rosa, watching carefully from the
edge of the clearing.
Rends-the-Dark shivers slightly at the mention of the familial obligations.
Rosa Pinay says "With the irritation that my father's madness had caused gone,
Tikbalang returned to rest... and to this day, rests. If Tikbalang ever
wakes, there will be much destruction. If Tikbalang ever is destroyed, all
the people of the islands will drown as they sink. Thus.. I failed."
Rosa Pinay returns to a standing posture, and studies Erik. "Do you
understand?"
Erik thinks before he answers, his head tilted slightly to one side. "Yes."
Falcon's Wing, listening to the story in the background, seems to think it
entirely unfair that Rose failed, but addresses Elan. I'm not surprised.
When he is not being flaky, Leaping Wind tries very, very hard.
Rends-the-Dark sniffs again, changing the subject abruptly. New cub?
Shadow Eyes whufles in humor. This one has not seen him be very flakey yet...
Rosa Pinay says "Thank you, Galliard."
Falcon's Wing flicks an ear. Yes! She's cool. Silver Fang, and sort of not
happy about Garou-ness yet. But she is here just now, so..
Erik gets to his feet, slowly, and bows slightly to the little Uktena. "Thank
you," he says quietly, then slips out of the clearing.
Shadow Eyes whufles to Falcon's Wing. She has not accepted yet? I thought so,
from what I'd heard her say...
Randall asks Rose, "I'm sorry I missed the start to your tale. I wonder if I
might ask who set you this task for your Trial of Passage?"