Alicia Joins the Roaches

[hazlogs]

It is currently 19:49 Pacific Time on Tue Jun 11 2002.

Currently the moon is in the waxing No Moon phase (9% full).

Harbor Park -- Fountain

Situated in the center of a large, open meadow is a clustering of six trees,
a flower bed, a few steel-and-wood benches set firmly into concrete, and a
flagstone courtyard that is dominated by a large fountain.

The fountain is a wide circular pool of water some fifty feet across and
about five feet deep in most places. The sculpture in the center is a mix of
old and new, traditional and modern: eight concrete-and-stainless-steel
slabs about six feet high are set in a rough Stonehenge-like circle around
the center of the fountain. Water flows from their tops, cascading in bright
mesmerizing sheets to the pool below. Rising above the steel circle is a
large marble statue of the Water Bearer, an androgynous figure draped in
robes of flowing water. It bears a large jug carved with various Greek
symbols, from which pours a seething torrent of water into the pool at its
feet.

Cars on the nearby street have an excellent view of the park as do any
residents of the tall buildings which line the waterfront.

The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of
the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of
St. Claire. Recent construction work is creating an earthen berm several
feet high all along the borders of the park in all directions.

Salem is visible in the light of the setting sun, a tall, still figure
clothed in black, seated on a park bench near the fountain. His arms are
folded across his chest, and though the sunglasses are off, the front brim
of his fedora is pulled down low, and shadows his eyes.

Making her way to the fountain is Alicia, dressed in her typical urban
style, a soft breath heard from the brisk jog. Upon spying Salem, she makes
her way towards him, slowing down her trot some.

John enters the glade in the middle of the open meadow. John has arrived.

Salem barely turns his head, only just enough to note that it's Alicia
approaching him. "Evening." His tone is flat.

Alicia dips her head to him, then slips onto the bench at his side. "Yo'.
You feeling Ok?" She asks.

"Fine," says Salem, and his gaze is clear; though there's still a hint of
shadow under his deep-set eyes, those eyes are not bloodshot, and he doesn't
seem fatigued. But his manner is very cold and very closed, as well. "You?"

Alicia rolls her shoulders a bit and glances about the dimly lit park. "OH.
I'm alright. Just got done catching up with Peggy and Rheen. Tucked 'em in
an all that good stuff. You getting more sleep?"

Salem grunts something that sounds like an affirmative, but doesn't
elaborate.

From the streets and the darkness, John makes his way towards the two of
them, and the fountain. He doesn't make any effort to avoid the pools of
light offered by lamp-posts, but doesn't seem to step through them either.
His approach is low-key.

Salem catches sight of his elder and alpha, and his posture shifts on the
bench. He wasn't slouching, but he sits up straighter nonetheless, and
pushes the fedora back on his head a notch.

Alicia glances over her shoulder towards John as he enters and stands up,
brushing down her jeans. "Hey you." She calls over to him, brushing back her
bangs from her face. "How do you find the night?"

"Dunno. It usually finds me." John stalks closer still, without slowing.
Even past the pair of them, as he lifts his head to look at the river - lit
as it is by the lights of the city. "I ever mentioned that that's a nice
hat? Very hip," the Ahroun murmurs absently.

Salem remains seated, following John with his eyes. The good eye, anyway.
His reply is a dead-pan, "Thank you."

Alicia glances over to the fedora, then back to John, keeping her own
opinion to herself. Arms crossing over her chest, she shifts a bit on her
sneakers, letting out a breath.

John takes in a deep breath of the night air, and then lets it out, slowly.
"Anyone got plans, tonight?" he asks mildly, with his back still to the
others.

Salem studies the Ahroun's back a moment before answering with a dry, "Not
especially."

"Like ta' meet ya' big roach so that I can be official an shit." Alicia
says, seriously, chin lifting up a tad.

The Walker Elder nods a few times, with the merest hint of a smile at the
edge of his lips. "Alright." He jerks his head towards the fountain. "Hop
the other side, hm? I got a phone dedicated for calling the big guy." He
seems to be waiting for the other two to step sideways first.

Currently the moon is in the waxing No Moon phase (9% full).

Salem glances at the moonless sky, lips compressing into a thin line. Then
he unfolds himself up from the bench and steps toward the fountain, all
without a word.

Alicia rises up to her feet and heads towards the fountain, letting out a
nervous breath. Last time she did this was in a Quest, and it was odd.

John follows wordlessly, waiting for the others to gaze into the pool of
water and disappear, before he does the same.

Alicia's eyes stop contemplatively on her reflection.
Alicia seems to shimmer momentarily, and then vanishes.

Umbra: Harbor Park

The Umbral ground beneath your feet here is lush with vegetation, an oasis
of life amidst the concrete and webbing of the scab. Trees stand proud and
tall here, their branches full of leaves. Shrubs line the outer edges of the
park, tangled with encroaching webs. The fountain stands out boldly from
even the surrounding area, the sleek lines sharper and more pronounced.
Clean pure water roars and cascades from the figure in the fountain's
center, falling into a cold clear pool that looks quite inviting. Spreading
out from the fountain, the rest of the park is a green veldt that seems to
radiate life and strength. The river banks the east shore of the park,
bridged by a massive rusty bridge. On this shore, the glade seems to have
spread out on to it, vines winding around the supports. Further across the
river, the bridge melds into the scab again, flaked with rust and covered in
webs. The river itself is clean within a few feet of the shore, but black
ooze seems to encroach menacingly from the murk of the rest of the river.

A walkway leads out of the Glade-like atmosphere of the park from just north
of the fountain. Eastward, the dark span of the bridge stretches over the
vile river. Dark streets lead west and southwest into the blighted Umbra of
the city.

Cutter lies sprawled on the ground near the fountain, nearly invisible under
the drift of restless spirits.

Salem pushes effortfully through the gauntlet with a thin-lipped grimace,
just barely showing the tips of his teeth. Not noticing Cutter, he links his
fingers together at the back of his neck and stretches.

As the Walkers and Child of Gaia arrive in the Umbra, and the spirits begin
to pay attention to their arrival, John rumbles, "We may want to find
someplace a little quieter..." And starts heading away from the curious and
hopeful spirits. *No gnosis here, buddy,* he grunts to a rather persistent
raccoon at his ankles.

After stepping through a few moments after Salem, Alicia tosses back her
hair, glancing about the Umbral version of the fountain. Noticing the
spirits are still out and about and begging for gnosis, a frown forms upon
her face, allowing a sigh to spill past her lips.

Salem carefully avoids stepping on a cockroach spirit, though he's a little
less careful with foolhardy rodent types. He looks at John, his face nearly
blank, now. "Moon this small, any place halfway safe is going to be refugee
central. I imagine that we'll simply have to make the best of things."

John grunts, "Just want a little space." Only a few more yards out of the
centre, and he lifts the phone from his jacket. Dialling a number that
apparently only has six digits, he looks to Alicia. "There might be a little
bit of a test."

Nodding her head, Alicia lets out a soft breath. "After Junior's challenge,
I don't think many tests will surprise me or give me a headache in the near
future." She watches, nervously, working her lip under her teeth.

Salem shifts his weight, then folds his arms across his chest and stares
coldly back toward the fountain and the cluster of spirits gathered there.

There's a few moments of nothing. No totem-roach. John sucks on a tooth as
he keeps the cell phone near his ear; he starts to tap a few fingers against
the phone. "This should work," he rumbles under his breath. And... sure
enough, the dim umbral sky gains a shadow for a moment. A big one, incoming.
Fast. The pack's totem - a five-foot long brown armoured cockroach - lands a
short distance off, and scuttles towards the trio of Garou with a
frightening speed. The creature stops directly in front of them, and looks
about a little. Despite the lack of pupils to its eyes, from the waving of
antennae and smaller, subtle motions, it seems to be investigating Alicia
keenly. It moves closer.

Cutter sits up, briefly alarmed, then blinks twice and lies down again.

Shifting a bit at the flash of light, Alicia holds her poise, swallowing in
her throat. As the cock roach starts to check her out, she reaches up with a
hand and pulls her hair out of her face, clearing her throat. "Good Evening,
big brother cockroach. How are you doing this evening?"

Salem's attention snaps away from the fountain and settles on the totem
spirit. Though he doesn't smile, not even a little, his expression lightens
just a tad, some of the tight, stiff control loosening.

John murmurs lowly to the cockroach, *This is Alicia Guards-The-Flame, who
we have spoken to you of. She wishes to follow you, with the rest of our
pack.* The cockroach comes closer still to Alicia, til its legs are reaching
forward and stroking parts of her clothing in quick little bursts of motion.
Smelling her. It turns to look at John and enquires something, though the
language is of the spirit, and the cockroach. It sounds like a series of
clicks, but there's a tangible sense of sadness and regret to it. The Elder
Walker inclines his head. *No. She was to be an addition to, not replacing
Howls-When-Dreaming. Things simply didn't work out that way.* Amidst a hint
of resignation, the cockroach makes another statement. And the Ahroun looks
to Alicia. He murmurs, "Explain why you wish to join the pack again. Your
own words. What you think the pack is about, what you hope to achieve within
it."

Nodding her head, Alicia turns her eyes upon the cock roach, reaching out
with a hand to gently stroke one of his feelers. "I want to join this pack
because of what it stands for, survival, in any way possible. All my life, I
have survived here on the streets since I left my family before my cub days.
I ran with the fiercest gangs, I learned to get my way by having others work
for me. I learned to survive on my bare wits and my own two hands. This
pack, reminds me of who where I came from, and who I am today. This pack
also has those who are close to me, like family. I saved John's life during
our first meeting together, I gave him back his sight. Salem and Francisco
have become like brothers to me and I would easily die for them if
necessary. What I want out of this pack, is a family, and a great one at
that, one which I know is very achieveable. This is a group of good Garou,
those I have come to respect and love."

Salem, if he's affected at all by Alicia's speech, shows no sign of it.

The roach makes another comment to John - somewhat lengthy - and the Walker
Ahroun nods a few times. *You already know my thoughts on the girl.* He
looks at Alicia. "Do you agree to abide by Cockroach's condition, as our
totem guide? That you must spare any of his kin that you come across?"

Alicia nods her head in answer, clearing her throat. "I have a few already
living in my apartment, and I have made my mate aware /not/ to step on them,
and to also let 'em have the chex mix if they want." A light twist of her
lips form a smile.

Some things don't need to be translated. A nod, and a mention of 'chex mix'
seems to set the totem into a happy state of increased excitement. John
gives a small snort of amusement, and grunts sideways to Alicia, "Happily,
you get to forego the whole roach-covering-body bit for that answer." He
narrows his eyes at the cockroach - still smiling slightly - and seems to
communicate silently. The roach makes another series of clicks and the in a
sudden burst of motion, its carapace opens up, and its wings flutter and
blur; the spirit flies away without warning. A pause, and John reaches back
to rub at the back of his neck. "Well... I guess that's it. You might get a
present under your pillow tonight, or something, I dunno. Roach accepts
you." He allows a bit more of a smile. "Congratulations, pack-mate."

First its a smile, one that turns into a giggle, soon followed into a quick
hug into John's body, arms wrapping about it. Alicia looks estatic. Her eyes
close, exhaling a soft breath.

Salem watches the spirit depart, saying nothing. After a moment, he looks
toward the other two. "Congratulations," he murmurs.

John blinks a few times, as he's hugged by the enthusiastic Child of Gaia.
Standing there with his arms out by his sides, he blinks a few more times
before uncertainly moving them to wrap around Alicia, and give her a couple
jerky pats on the shoulder. The eyes are slightly widened. "Yeah. Uh.
Welcome-- yeah."

"Sorry.. Just had to get that out. Been two whole days before I hugged
someone." Stepping back from him, Alicia gives him a light pat on the
shoulder, then grins over towards Salem. "You have no clue what I'm feeling
right now. I really think this is ganna work. I know this will. Gods.. how I
wanted a family again /so/ bad."

"Withdrawal? I had no idea you were so strung out, Alicia." Salem's tone is
dead-dry, only the slightest inflection to give it a thin touch of humor.
His face hardly changes -- still closed, still masklike.

John just gives Alicia another, warmer, pat on the shoulder, and drops his
hand away as he looks at Salem for a few moments. "Pot. Kettle. Black.
Should see about getting you laid, tough guy," John rumbles-- his mouth
twisting wryly. "Or at least /some/ form of R&R after tomorrow night." He
shoots a look towards the fountain.

"M'always fucking strung out." Alicia says with a smirk. At John's gesture
of him getting laid, a slight snort escapes her nose, then a widening grin.
She keeps what barely lept out of her mouth to herself. "Tomorrow will be
something else, thats for sure."

The hint of humor drops out of Salem's voice. "I'll take a vacation when we
have the caern back," he says, with all seriousness.

John exhales in something resembling a sigh, as he looks at the fountain
again. "Pity that won't happen anytime soon." He shakes his head a little.
"I gotta jet. I'll see you guys around?"

Salem grunts, then nods. "Of course."

Alicia nods her head. "Definitly. I'm everywhere, you can't miss me."

"Good." John turns, and stalks off toward the fountain, wading through
hopeful spirits, once again. There's muttered curses of, *Push off...* and
similar, barely heard as he gets further away.

Salem takes in a deep breath, then -- after a glance at the Gaian -- starts
off toward the fountain himself, heading for the gauntlet and the 'real
world' that he feels far more comfortable in.

Alicia glancing behind her, she notices that her Owl wings are gone,
officially. Letting out a breath, she turns her eyes upwards to the sky for
a few moments, then swallows. Soon, she follows right after you, pushing
through the walls.