The Nightengale Charm

[hazlogs]

It is currently 19:25 Pacific Time on Sun Jun 30 2002.

Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 64 degrees
Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the
southwest at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.19 and falling,
and the relative humidity is 62 percent. The dewpoint is 51 degrees
Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius.)

Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (63% 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.

Contents:
chalk drawings(#2525d)
Flowers

Obvious exits:
ManHole  Harbor Park Meadow  

In the waning late afternoon/early evening, Jack Salem contemplates the
turgid, murky Columbia river, his hands clasped behind his back, his back
straight, his face closed.

Lyra walks in to the park from the street, slowing down when she sees Salem-
even though she'd rather expected to see him. She stops, well out of his
line of vision, trying to find the courage to do this without making an
idiot out of herself. A white plastic bag swings in her hand, a red silk bag
inside of it.

As the Gnawer cub hesitates, the Glass Walker, still ignorant of her
presence, unclasps his hands and brings one up to his face to rub his thumb
along the line of the most prominent scar, which runs from his ear, curves
up along his cheek, and over his eyesocket. It's a pensive, gloomily
thoughtful gesture.

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

Lyra takes a deep breath, then glances up at the moon. Not too full...oh my,
here goes... She starts walking towards the cliath slowly, plastic bag
rustling with each step. "Salem, sir," she calls out hesitantly.

Salem stiffens, then drops his hand away from his face. When he turns toward
Lyra, his face is closed again, tight and cold. His tone is chilly but
polite. "Good evening, Lyra. Can I help you in some way?"

Lyra halts a moment, almost stumbling. But she keeps walking towards the
Walker until she's a body length a way. "No, sir," she says softly, glancing
up in his face for a brief moment before looking down into her bag. "But...I
talked to Laura yesterday. And I know tomorrow is a big day, and...and...I
brought you a charm. For good luck." She roots through the plastic bag,
grabbing a bird charm. She looks at it for a moment, then holds it out to
Salem with a none-too-steady hand.

[The charm]
Dark blue brocade and silver embroidery decorate this three-inch-long charm.
It's a nightingale, with silver leaf patterns drawn on it. It's wingtips are
heavily embroidered, and silver spiral patterns swirl up to its silver silk
beak. A silver silk tassel hangs from it's black brocade claws, as does a
tiny, silver metal bell. Mandarin script is written on the wingtips in black
embroidery.

Salem's eyebrows lift toward his swept-back hairline, a hint of honest
surprise flickering past the mask across his eyes. After a moment's breath,
he reaches out and takes it from the cub's hand, his fingers barely brushing
hers, if they even touch at all. He examines the charm, peering at the
unknown characters. "Mnh. Thank you."

Lyra smiles in shyness and relief- she would have been very disappointed if
Salem hadn't accepted it. Both hands go back to clutching the plastic bag.
"My mother brought that from Beijing," she explains, smiling at the
nightingale. "I hope...I hope it keeps you safe tomorrow. I wish I could
give one to everyone fighting, but I don't think I have enough charms."

Salem continues to turn the charm over in his hands. Then he turns his dark
gaze at the Gnawer cub, regarding her critically. "Why me?"

Lyra blinks, then tilts her head slightly, glancing up at the moon before
looking back at Salem. "A few reasons...one, because I want to show you that
I'm not angry at you, or wish you ill will, even if that feeling isn't
reciprocated." Then she gives the Walker a -look-. "And if I tell you the
other reason, you have to promise not to give it back. That would make the
charm unlucky."

Dark black hair falls past Lyra's shoulders, bangs sweeping into her eyes-
well, they would be, except she has them tied back with a twisty tie that
looks pilfered off of a Christmas tree. Slightly slanted hazel eyes stare
out from a pale face that's a bit smudged with dirt. She's a slim 5' 3",
thin fingers and tiny feet, but the eyes prove she's not full Chinese. She
doesn't look very strong- she isn't -but she has an athletic look about her,
a toned body rather than a muscular one. Her pink/red sneakers, those
beloved British Import Shoes, are gone, the life of a cub too much. She's
wearing old sandals that once belonged to her aunt. Her cutoff jean shorts
have been replaced with a tennis skort. The white sweatshirt is wrapped
around her waist, and she's wearing a white-and-blue striped tank top. Seems
like this cub's been rooting through a dresser. Her posture isn't much
improved, but at least she doesn't look so frightened anymore. Well. From
that spaced out expression on her face, she doesn't really look much of
anything.

Salem's face tightens, but he gives her a curt nod. "On my honor as a
Philodox."

In the evening shadows, a form walks along the canopy of the trees as they
make their way towards the fountain. The shadow slowly reveals itself to be
the young Fianna, Aubrey. One hand is grasping the opposite elbow as she
walks along the path nearing the fountain. The woman isn't aware of the
other two present yet as she takes time to look up into the trees,
inspecting the birds that are chirping softly in their nests and perches.

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

Lyra nods too, slowly. "Because...you always seem unhappy," she says softly,
but bluntly. She watches Salem carefully, wondering what his reaction to the
observation will be. "Maybe it's because when I see you, I'm there. If that
makes sense. But I don't think I have ever seen you smiling happily. All the
stories I ever heard about nightingales, they brought people joy. So. I hope
it works, and makes you happy."

Kaz is wandering down by the river. This appears to be a regular jaunt, for
her. A patrol, one might almost say.

Some emotion twitches across Salem's face, repressed and masked before it
can be identified. He looks down at the nightengale charm again, then closes
his hand over it and clears his throat. "Hrmnh. I see." He pauses a beat,
then says, again, stiffly, "Thank you."

Aubrey squints her eyes as she finally turns towards the foutain and notices
two people gathered there. Then Kaz's appearance not far away from where she
had been wandering. Her hands drop loosely at her sides as she quickens her
stride to find Lyra and Salem gathered near one of the benches. "Greetings,"
she says as she comes within hearing range of them.

The voices catch Kaz's attention, and she blinks at Lyra and Salem. Then she
kicks a rock, and heads that way.

Lyra smiles at Salem, then blinks and turns around a bit to see Aubrey.
"Aubrey!" she chirps, smile widening. "I haven't seen you for a very long
time. How are you? Did you pass your test?"

Salem glances up, spotting Aubrey and then, beyond the Fianna, Kaz. He turns
away to face the river again, and falls to examining Lyra's gift to him once
more.

As Lyra pops the question, the Fianna smiles suddenly towards the Bone
Gnawer cub. "Hell yeah," she says with amusement. As she sees Salem, she
nods her head. "Good evening, Salem." Aubrey adds. "Tobin, Cameron, and I
passed with flying colors." She giggles at Lyra, "You now have to call me,
Aubrey-rhya. No, just kidding."

A slow grin creeps across Kaz's face, as she heads closer to the three. "She
done kicked /ass/. Heya, y'all."

Lyra's eyes light up. "Really?" she squeaks, very impressed. She flashes a
grin to Kaz as she approaches, and gives her a hug once she's close enough.
"Mama Kaz!" Lyra looks up at her elder's face with concern. "Laura told me
all about tomorrow. I have something for you- and Aubrey too, if she's
going." The Philocub glances over at Aubrey, chewing her lower lip. "Are you
going tomorrow too?"

Kaz snakes an arm around Lyra's shoulders. "Tomorrow... Ain't gonna be no
fun. But, like, you don' gotta get me nothin'..."

Aubrey takes a deep breath, "I still have to talk to Tobin, but I believe I
am." she says. "They'll need me somewhere. All the help..." Then she looks
to Lyra and arches her brow.

Lyra starts rooting through her plastic bag, slipping her hand inside the
red cloth bag and pulling out two charms- a monkey and a phoenix. She holds
them in her hand a moment, looking from elder to cliath, deciding who gets
who. She looks very serious now, concerned for their safety. She holds the
phoenix one out to Aubrey. "Golden-eyes, golden bird. These are charms my
mother brought from Beijing- well that one belonged to my aunt. They're for
good luck."

Aubrey gracefully accepts the gift from Lyra. The Fianna blushes lightly,
"Oh Lyra..." she says. "You shouldn't have, really." She inspects the gift
in her hand, turning it over slowly. "You are a wonderful friend, Lyra."

Salem abruptly slips the nightingale charm Lyra gave him into the
breastpocket of his t-shirt and focusses his attention on the new arrivals,
greeting them belatedly. "Good evening, Aubrey, Kaz."

Lyra smiles a bit, but watches Aubrey with very serious eyes. "Please stay
safe tomorrow. Oh, and I think Mama Kaz should get the monkey." The cub
holds the small charm up to her elder. "Monkeys are clever, and the Blue
Monkey God is the most clever of them all, a very trickstery fellow. I hope
you can trick the Dancers right out of our caern, Mama Kaz."

Kaz quirks a very small smile. "Lyra, you're... thanks. I... Yeah. I'll kick
some ass for you, hey?"

Aubrey nods her head to Lyra, "I will watch my feet." she tells the cub. She
unties the thong from her neck and ties the charm onto the lace with the
celtic cross. After, she places the necklace back around her neck.

Salem tilts a look over toward Lyra again, briefly, and then gives his head
a slight shake. He looks mildly bemused.

Kaz, for her part, stuffs it in her pocket. "Shit," she mutters.

Lyra blinks at Kaz, and tilts her head. "What's the matter?"

Aubrey gives Kaz a light blink of her eyes as she looks from the Gnawer cub
to the elder. "Hmm?"

Salem wordlessly lifts an eyebrow at the Galliard.

Kaz shrugs. "This thing's... fucked up. But you knew that already."

Aubrey plops down on the bench as she looks across to the Bone Gnawer. "For
awhile now, yeah." she says softly. She slouches back slightly as she looks
across to the fountain.

"Which part?" asks the Glass Walker, a wry tone creeping into his voice.

"The part," Kaz begins, slowly, speeding up as she goes along, "Where I
ain't given a shit about any fuckin' Caern practically my whole fuckin'
/life/, and fuckin' /Pete Barlow/ that ain't even /here/ anymore made me
promise to stay and clean things up, and I couldn't cut out on /him/,
because he was like fuckin' charisma on a stick or somethin', and then I
fuckin' fell in love with the fuckin' Sept, and /then/ the /Caern/, and
/then/ I got so I actually /gave/ a shit, about all of it. About the place,
about the people. It's a lot easier to be thinkin' about all this fuckin'
dyin' if I don't got anyone I give a shit about, but I got a pack, and
they're a /damn good/ crew, and I'm fuckin' Elder of a tribe that can
actually shoot straight, with people like /that/--" she gestures at Lyra --
"Mixing into things, and..." She trails off. Eventually, she says, "I'm a
little tense."

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

Lyra blinks a few times throughout the speech. And then just hugs Kaz again,
this time not letting go.

Salem doesn't say anything, though the expression on his face hints that he
understands exactly what Kaz is saying. Even has similar feelings. All he
does, though, is nod once.

Jamethon lurks outside the park for a while, looking in at Kaz and Salem and
those with them, an awkward and faroff thoughtful expression on his face. He
appears longful, perhaps saddened, though a touch of anxiety is obvious on
his features.

The metis puts both arms around Lyra, now, and buries her face in her hair.
It's a tight grip; she lets it up before Lyra does, though.

Even though Aubrey has only seen a small part of this life, she seems to get
a glimpse of what Kaz is talking about. The woman just nods her head in
agreement but has nothing really to respond to. At the corner of her eye she
spots Jamethon and waves towards him.

Lyra finally releases some of her hold on her elder- she keeps two arms
about the metis' waist loosely, resting her head on Kaz's shoulder, looking
like someone had just killed her pet kitten. She looks at Aubrey, smiling
when she sees where the charm is, but puzzled as to who or what she is
waving at.

Kaz glances toward Salem and manages a smile. "Anyways, it's a /good/ kinda
fucked up."

The gesture from Aubrey catches James' attention and suddenly, like snapping
awake from a daydream, he looks to her. At her. Through her. Finally he
starts walking forward, blank stare and wide eyes continuing to betray
nothing and everything about his thoughts.

Salem inhales a deep breath and then lets it out in a long, deliberate
exhale. "Indeed," he says to Kaz. Then his gaze turns toward the approaching
Get of Fenris.

Kaz now has just one arm around Lyra. After a pause, she calls, almost
cheerily, "Yo, Jame, you heard Aubrey's news?"

Aubrey looks to Kaz, then across to Jamethon as he steps towards the
gathered group. "I've been rited," she says with a broad smile. "So has
Tobin and Cameron." Then she looks shyly towards the fountain for a moment,
"Oh. I had met a cub of your tribe today, Adrian." Nice lad.

Jamethon stirs suddenly again, as if just opening the window and seeing the
light of day after a night of darkness. When he is close enough to not have
to raise his voice to speak, he responds sublimely. "Oh. Huh? No... no,
haven't heard. Good news I hope? I could use some of that right now." He
glances at Aubrey now, "Adrian. Yes. A cub of my tribe, but not yet tempered
to the sharpness and shine of the Get of Fenris. What is your news,
Golden-Eyes?"

Kaz says, as if Jamethon is slightly deaf, "She got Rited. Her and Tobin and
Cam."

Lyra watches Jamethon silently, canting her head as she debates something.

Jamethon shoots his glance quickly to Kaz, seeming in a daze, almost a bit
weak. "Oh? Excelent. Welcome to the other side, Aubrey. I'm sorry, I've been
so busy recently... oh so busy..." his gaze appears to become distant once
again.

Salem's eyes narrow at the Get. "Are you all right, James?"

Aubrey nods and understands. "That is quite alright." she answers softly.
She crosses her arms against her chest as she looks towards the fountain
just out of better things to stare at.

Kaz narrows her eyes slightly at Jamethon, then shakes her head. "Right,
whatever. /How/ many talens you made lately?"

Jamethon turns his head to Salem, lids half closed. "I'm tired Salem. Just
tired." Not exactly looking to Kaz, but a point between Kaz and Salem to
regard them both now he adds, "I've been working hard on whatever I can do.
Five talens... that is, well, its difficult Kaz. I need Sepdet or Andrea
or... someone with certain more powerful rituals then one of my rank is
expected to know. But we'll see. When it comes time, I may have some things
that are useful, and I may just be another combatant... or both. These are
confusing times Kaz. There is no guiding light, chaos is every where. All we
have is tomorrow night."

Lyra removes her arms from Kaz's middle and starts rooting through her
plastic bag slowly.

Kaz says, again, "Riiiiight. Go sleep, dude. But did any of these things
you're working on involve /light/?"

Aubrey listens to the Get Theurge and lightly sighs as he speaks about the
need for talens. She rubs the back of her neck idlishly as she turns her
attention onto Kaz.

Jamethon simply nods to Kaz, and gestures idly to a pouch on his hip that
looks to contain three large sphere shaped objects.

The hand Lyra has in the bag freezes, and she frowns at whatever she's
looking at. "Light," she mumbles, then starts sifting through things again.

Kaz's attention rivets on Jamethon's hip. "Could I... have one of them?"

Aubrey seems curious as she looks to Jamethon. "Thats intresting," she says
softly, "light talens - I mean." Then she lightly draws her lips together.

"To counteract their ability to summon darkness, obviously," Salem says,
folding his arms across his chest. "Good."

Jamethon looks to Kaz, awakening a bit with her sudden movement. "No bare
homid hands may touch them, the prints they leave are insulting to the
spirits." With this James reaches into his jacket and retrieves two leather
gloves. Putting one on and handing one to Kaz, he then pulls the bag open
carefully. Even more carefully he extracts one of the objects in the bag, a
sphere wrapped in a multicolored cloth. "They like the different colors." He
explains awkwardly. James then, with the non-gloved hand carefully unwraps
the object to reveal an expensive looking perfectly flawless and brightly
shined crystal ball, about the size of a softball. Once it is displayed and
Kaz has the glove on, he wraps the cloth about the crystal ball again and
hands it to Kaz. "Be kind and gentle. The light spirits are eager to fight
darkness, but are shy and easily frightened. Part of my agreement was to
keep them and their vessels absolutly safe till the moment of their use. You
too must make this agreement."

Kaz says, "No shit, I'll keep 'em safe." Without a trace of irony, she adds,
"Promise." She handles the orb very carefully indeed.

Lyra looks up and smiles. "If they like colors, they should like your charm
Mama Kaz," she says brightly, before taking out a panda charm from the bag.
She holds it in her hand a moment, then holds it out towards Jamethon.

Aubrey watches as Jamethon unfolds the talen and shows Kaz before handing it
to the Gnawer elder. In fact, the Fianna almost seems to be hanging off the
end of her seat.

Jamethon looks rueful at Kaz's comments until she promises, then he visibly
relaxes once again. He then looks to Lyra and her gift quite visibly
confused. "Wha... whats this? Aside from the physical representation of a
quite powerful creature?"

Lyra grins at the Get's comment. "It's a good luck charm," she says,
speaking a bit louder than usual. Just in case, well, he did have hearing
problems. "Auntie Mei said they made the gods smile on you. All the writing
on it is prayers to the gods. She's Buddhist. Please stay safe tomorrow."

Jamethon looks at the charm, at Lyra, then the charm again some internal
struggle occuring. "I am n... I... am honored to recieve the token, Lyra. I
can not promise I will survive the night, but I will promise not to die
stupidly or without purpose. Thank you." He takes the charm and thinking for
a moment where he should put it, he finally opens the light talen pouch
again and places it inside.

Aubrey stands slowly as she observes those here and checks the time on her
watch. "I believe I should be getting back to the Falcon's Rest to see if
there has been any news left for me." she responds. Looking to Lyra, she
smiles, "Thank you again, Lyra." Then to everyone else she bobs her head
towards. "Hopefully I will see one of you tomorrow."

"Most assuredly," Salem tells the Fianna.

Kaz says, a bit grimly, "I'll be here. Catch you later, Aubrey."

Lyra smiles shyly and gives the Fianna a quick hug. "Bye Aubrey."

Aubrey pats Lyra's head before she begins to head off. "C'ya." Aubrey has
left.

Jamethon just looks to Aubrey, nodding silently as she heads off.

Salem looks over at the Bone Gnawer Galliard. "Kaz," he says. "Which front
will you and your pack be on?"

Kaz blinks. "From the sounds of things, Realm. Since apparently, the spirits
want the Spirals not to go whomp on them, so they want the Spirals occupied
here."

Jamethon considers this and adds. "We are mounting in both realm and umbra
in two locations I believe. Sepdet is trying to get her totem to flood the
caern for us to disrupt their ritual. This will require her to be quite
close to the caern, so she'll need protection there as well as the combat on
the other front. Then after they finish the ritual they will join in the
battle the best they can."

Lyra takes Aubrey's place on the fountainledge. "I wouldn't want Dancers go
whomp on me either."

Salem nods to Kaz. "Synthesis as well." His eye drifts eastward, across the
river, frowning.

Kaz says, "Yeah, Sepdet's bunch and Andrea's bunch'll be over there, and
prolly folks like Tobin. 'Cause they got a Purity spirit to hopefully maybe
be able to deal a little with that black fucker." She stops, to regard
Salem. Eventually, she says, "Good."

Salem looks at Kaz and his lips twitch into a thin smile. Then he glances at
his watch. "I should be going. I have an early day tomorrow."

Jamethon looks to Salem and again wonders on something before the Walker
leaves. "You have that cockroach spirit totem... they have that weaver web
shield over our caern. Know if your totem can help with anything, given
Cockroache's knowledge of the weaver?"

A dark figure moves along the riverside from the direction of the bridge, a
couple of hundred feet away.

Lyra looks from cliath to elder to cliath, then notices the dark figure and
watches it, curious and cautious.

Salem hesitates a moment, then says, "I'll have John ask him. But he's an
information gatherer and manipulator, not a fighter."

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

Kaz peers at the figure, slightly warily.

Adrian walks into the park. He sees Lyra and smiles at her brightly. He sees
Jamethon and nods respectfully to his elder. He sees Salem and keeps his
distence from the large man. The Get Cub stays quiet but walks over and
stands next to Lyra.

Lyra was so intent at watching the other shadowy figure that she doesn't
notice Adrian till he's standing next to her. "Oh hey! You!" she says,
grinning, and tugging on the Get cub's arm so he sits next to her on the
fountainledge. "Out of prison, I see." She blinks, then glances up at
Jamethon, hoping he didn't hear that.

Jamethon regards his cub quickly with a responding nod, his expression
hardening from his tired and soft eyes to something a bit more eager, awake,
and concerned. "Adrian. Have you learned from your time confined?"

Salem is pretty much near Lyra as well, so Adrian finds himself, perhaps,
closer to the Walker halfmoon than he'd like. But luck's with the
Get-adopted cub, since Salem appears to be taking his leave of the group.
"James, Kaz." He pauses a beat, then adds, "Lyra." He eyes Adrian, but says
nothing to him directly before striding off.

Lyra blinks at Salem, then smiles to herself before looking up at the two
elders. The shadow figure is forgotten.

Adrian nods and sits down next to his packmate, cringing slightly as Salem
passes by. He smiles over at Jamethon, "Yes rhya. I can shift easier and can
get by with lupus conversations. I had a good teacher." He smiles at Lyra.