Werewolf : Forging a Pack

[Keira Kelly]

Alrick listened carefully to both Veli's languid endorsement of the new Glass Walker and her own response. He was troubled however; this girl claimed to have no real ties to the Garou Nation and yet called herself a Glass Walker? Tribe was not truly a matter of heritage but of whom accepted you. It sounded as if Akane had never actually been accepted formally by a tribe and yet called herself one of them. For that matter, what auspice was the girl? She did not really display the typical personalities that accompanied being born under a particular phase of the moon. Of the two new women, Kate was easy enough to tell; her obviously companionable demeanour and the way she had told the story of the young pack's first real trial bespoke of her Galliard nature but this Akane was still a mystery to him. Something to figure out, he decided, as time went on.

"Welcome to the Sept of the Ghost Wolves, young Akane." he welcomed. "Tonight we celebrate the return and blooding of our young pups!" he called to everyone. "I must take my leave for a few hours but I will return." As he stood, he beckoned to Ingrid, talking to her quietly and they both left the cave.

Kate watched them go, wondering where they were headed. She'd wanted to speak to Ingrid but that would obviously have to wait now. Well.. Alrick had said he would be conversing with the Sept of the Green and Ingrid was the one who apparently could create Moon Bridges... Yeah, that seemed pretty likely, she decided. She smiled a big smile as she realized that. "If he is going back to talk to the other Sept... that could mean.. maybe our Rite isn't far off..." she said quietly, so only the other pups could hear. She chuckled at the thought of what they had accomplished being finally formalized and they could be recognized as adult Garou.

She turned, in good spirits and clapped Akane on the shoulder. "Welcome to the Pack." she said joyfully. Despite the fact that Kate and Akane's interactions were often somewhat strained, Kate felt like celebrating no matter the reason. She was feeling exuberant, wanting to go and do something like run through the woods or something to work off the excited energy she was feeling. Her food was gone, her drink was finished.. it would be some hours before Alrick returned.. and she really wasn't tired anymore. She got up, heading to the mouth of the cave and looking out into the night, wanting to go out but not really wanting to leave her brethren at the same time.

[Veli Alvar]

With all the perils he and his pack encountered and the struggles they have went through during their rite of passage... Veli was now fast asleep - right beside Benno who looked at him and could only shake his head. Alexi seemed to shift through a meditative state to a more "grounded" one in intervals. He was always dealing with spirits and maintaining spiritual harmony within the sept which made it a little difficult to balance his duties and socializing among the sept. He regained his senses for a quick moment as he looked towards Veli.

"The celebration for this wonderful milestone will be held in just a few hours and all he can do is sleep... I shouldn't be too surprised now should I?" he said jokingly so that everybody can hear. It seemed all Veli was good for was fighting, eating and sleeping; in no particular order. Alexi couldn't blame him anyway... he's had a rough week. After this, Alexi looked over Kate. "You should feel honoured that this fenrir had chose you to be his beta... he seemed so against giving somebody secondary leadership within his ranks but he did it with you and there was zero hassle involved. I know he's not the greatest but mark my words he is something special." he mentioned before slipping off into meditation again.

Alexi was Velis sponsor so of course he had bias towards him but whether or not his words held any weight was up for anyone else to interpret.

[Keira Kelly]

Kate was startled as Alexi came up to her; she really didn't know him at all.. yet anyways. She listened as he spoke, giving proper respect to her better but feeling slightly angered at the man's words. Of course she was honoured that she'd been picked, even without Veli having known her but on the same hand, Alexi's words implied that neither he nor the rest of the Sept shared in Veli's confidence of her. Perhaps even that she was not good enough except to be second to Veli, only an extension of him and no longer her own identity. He probably did not truly mean it in that way but that was the impression Kate got and it rankled her. The wolf side of her loved her Alpha and her packmates as only a Garou could but at the same time, being in a pack meant working alongside of your brothers, not melding into them and losing all individuality. "I am honoured to have been accepted by Veli." she responded slowly, trying her best to keep her bubbling anger in check. "And I think you will find, in the future, that Veli is not the only one who will make something of themselves. We are all strong and you will be seeing us rise on our own merits." she responded with passion.

She watched him walk away, still heated by the perceived slight against herself and the others. She'd heard such words enough times growing up in various foster homes. How one adult would talk about some child being incredibly gifted while another was right there to hear the lack of anything said about themselves. How often it had been her being that other child that just hadn't ever quite fit in among the human kids. She'd never known why she hadn't fit in but it had hurt so very badly never having her own strengths recognized by those with authority over her. By those who were supposed to care about her. She could feel all that coming back to her now, feel a tear in her eye at the memories.

She turned to the cave entranced and stalked outside into the cool air. It didn't feel quite as cold as she'd remembered it after being in the warm cave for a while. She could see her breath curl up in mist in the soft moonlight. She walked over to the side of the clearing, checking to make sure no one was around and quickly stripped, feeling the cold against her skin.

Shift to Lupus
Difficulty : 6
Roll : 6,5,5,5,1,10,8, (10)
Spend 1 Rage instead

She quickly grew fur and a tail, assuming a four legged stand until a red furred wolf stood where there had been a girl. Kate took another look back at the cave, feeling bad that she hadn't told anyone where she was going but she just needed a good run. She took off through the forest, dodging trees in the darkness, running flat out at her top speed until it felt like her lungs would burst with the effort. It was so much easier to travel in this form at night, she thought. The lupus form of her kind's eyesight was so much sharper and the night vision so much clearer than the human form; the payment for this clarity though was its almost complete lack of colour but at night it really wasn't noticeable.

She kept running until she felt she couldn't continue, stopping at the edge of a.. lake? She looked out over the dark waters, marvelling in the quiet beauty of pristine nature. There was a large rock that went from the shore and stuck out into the lake which she jumped up on and headed to the end of, looking down into the water. There were dark shapes of fish visible just beneath the surface. Kate sat down for a moment, getting her breath back as she studied the area. She wanted to come back here at some point when it was light out, she finally decided. It was probably beautiful with colour. She looked back up at the moon placement, realizing she must have been running for a while. Damn, she thought. She was tired out now but she had to get back.

She reluctantly pulled herself up and began to trot back the way she'd come. She never got lost on her way back despite not having paid attention to where she'd been going; she'd always been gifted with being able to remember directions easily. It was quite a bit later when she finally re-entered the area where the Sept's cave was located, changing back into her clothes and going back inside. She could see Alrick still had not yet returned which brought her great relief.

[rivaan]

„Well that seems to have caused some „dmg“ to her...“ Akane though as she watched the other woman go outside and running of to somewhere, but the albino couldn‘t really blame her. She herself had to hear such words quite a lot... usually followed by her, getting into quite a fight with the staff of the orphanage. They once even tried to ground her, well that didn‘t work well as she broke the widow of the room and descended by jumping on the tree, that was near her window, and then climbed down.
Well not seeing what much to do, the albino found a nice spot near the wall of the cave and quickly sat down in meditation position. If one isn‘t going to do anything, might as well have it be helpful. She quickly closed her eyes and startedo regulate her breathing, slowly calming herself down and shutting off external noises. She didn‘t even notice when Kate came back from her walk. She only noticed it a while later after she snapped out of meditating concentration cause she wanted to see what time it was. While taking a look at her phone, that shut down the moment she saw what time it was, she though that she had to go to work tomorrow. She was away for a week... „Gosh... a mountain of papers must have gathered by now...“ She said with annoyance. Perhaps she had to go to sleep now, so she didn‘t have any problems getting as early as possible tomorrow.

[Keira Kelly]

Kate was still somewhat bent out of shape as she re-entered the cave. She'd managed to put away most of the hurt from her past for now but she wasn't content either at that moment. She glanced around at the rest of the pups. Veli was still sleeping it seemed and most of the rest of the younger ones had joined him in that. Akane was.. sitting over near the wall... meditating? Kate frowned. While some Garou did so to regain Gnosis used for certain activities, she hadn't seen Akane doing anything that would require such expenditure. There was just something about that Urrah that rubbed Kate the wrong way; there was no sense of humour to that ragabash that Kate had come to except from those of that auspice. That made her uneasy and distrustful of the other woman.

Looking back to the other sleeping pups, Kate felt nothing but alone right at that moment, something that was was almost terrifying to a creature meant to be of a pack. She really did not know the Sept here and none of her pack seemed to have any kind of stamina to rejoice at what would soon be theirs. She was tired too but she fought against it, not wanting to miss a moment. Further back in the cave, she spied Arnold Toivonen, Arn if she remembered correctly from introductions over a week ago. She recalled he was the same as her, a Fianna Galliard... he was bound to have something better than just the beer they'd had with dinner. Not long after, she returned to where the pups were carrying a leather water-skin but it wasn't water it contained but rather one of the more potent brews made by the Fianna.

She sat down close to the fire near where Veli slumbered and took a swig from the skin, smiling at the strong taste. It would probably get any of them here so drunk they wouldn't be able to stand but like many of her tribe, she was gifted with something of a tougher constitution. She coughed as the alcoholic beverage hit the back of her throat. She'd had to promise Arn that she'd tell him as many stories of the Fianna of her homeland that she could recall at some point; he was of the same tribe but born of Germanic descent and so had never really been as close to the original stories as she had. She wondered if her packmates would end up sleeping the whole night away; there was no way she could sleep, the anticipation for Alrick to return was too great.

[Veli Alvar]

Alexi watched as Kate returned and sat beside the fire. He was quite anxious for Alrick to return so that the sept could celebrate their newly graduated protectors of gaia. She didn't look like she was exactly happy considering they were a while away from holding celebrations for her and the rest of the pack. Perhaps it was something more personal bothering her, he thought as he rested his stick right beside where he sat. He tried to make eye contact with her; his eyes were very intense, possibly a trait of his fenrir blood.

"Child, that drink is brutal. I can smell it from over here." he said, trying to gauge her disposition. "Something that strong is sure to cure personal wounds." he added, trying hard not to throw her off the edge. He witnessed her storm out after he had made comments about her and Veli but it confused him. "You seemed aggravated at my words earlier. I am curious as to why they upset you."

Alexi got in a more comfortable seating posture. He didn't want to be tense when speaking to Kate to not have her feel tense as well. "Look, Veli is my boy. I know him better than anybody in the world... yes, he is special, but obviously you are as well child. That boy was so against anybody sharing leadership. I don't know what you are capable of; he knows what I do not and so I could only speak about him. It is apparent through the way you carry yourself that your bloodline is strong. I hope you do not see yourself in a negative light because of my words." he told the Fianna. Alexi was the "spiritual" mediator... he didn't like trifles within the group and if he could fix relations, he would. The last thing he wanted was for Kate to feel inadequate.

[Keira Kelly]

Kate looked over at the older Garou who had left her in a bad moon to begin with. She shrugged. "After the first few drinks, it doesn't taste half bad." she replied. "Not that I can really taste anything now.... Cures personal wounds and helps start celebration; something the rest of my pack doesn't seem to be up to doing right now." she answered. She paused, thinking about how to reply to Alexi that would not be taken as disrespect. After a long quiet, she spoke softly. "Your words reminded me of my childhood back home in England." she said. "It was not happy times. I had no family, I could never seem to make friends... I was constantly being shifted between foster homes with no stability and no one to truly care for me." she answered. "I understand now why I was such an outcast back then but it doesn't make it hurt any less." She gave half a smile, holding up the water-skin. "This may not cure that all but at least it helps mend the symptoms a bit."

She looked over at Veli who was still fast asleep as she listened to Alexi speak. Big strong ahroun, she thought, who couldn't even stay awake. She brought her attention back to the older theurge. "He is lucky to have someone such as you to look out for him." she told Alexi. He was also lucky to have this Sept whom he knew well, she thought, meanwhile she was still a stranger to them. She fell quiet again, not knowing what else to say.

Suddenly two forms appeared in the entrance to the cave and as they entered the circle of the firelight, Kate recognized Alrick and Ingrid, back at last. Alrick took in all the sleeping pups but gave her a nod as he passed by, with the other Fianna in tow. On his way, he motioned for Alexi to join them and proceeded to collect all the highest ranking members of the Sept. Kate watched them retreat way back into the cave, knowing enough to know to stay where she was. She nudged an elbow at Veli. The alpha barely stirred. She nudged him again getting only a groan in response. She was about to try again when she had an idea.

Veli was lying on his side with arm cushioning his head but his face was angled upwards slightly and his mouth was open. Kate smiled devilishly and chuckled, bringing her skin of drink over and poured just a bit into Veli's open mouth. See how he liked that, she thought. It wasn't too much that it would choke him by any means but enough that he'd get a taste of the incredibly strong brew.

[Veli Alvar]

Veli sat up immediately from the position he was in and coughed while pounding his chest. The brew he had ingested was incredibly strong and the disgusted look on his face made that evident. The grogginess from his slumber quickly wore off as he looked around the room quickly. He only saw Kate. "You know.... if you wanted my opinion on the drink you could have asked!" he said, the scent still lingering as well as well the burn.

He stood up and stretched his arms upwards, wondering how long he had slept. He snooped around the cave in an attempt to find somebody else hanging around but no to avail. Finally he went back over to Kate who had the waterskin in her hand. He didn't know why she was drinking or why she had just shoved a drink down his throat, which was powerful to say the least. All these questions he had but he was more focused on the bigger question. "Are we the only ones here Kate? Where the fuck is everybody else?" he asked the possibly slightly intoxicated fianna.

[Keira Kelly]

Kate couldn't help but laugh at the look on the Fenrir's face; it was priceless. "I would have but I couldn't get you to wake up!" she chuckled. "When you're out, you're out... Probably could have started world war three in here and you wouldn't have noticed!" she added with a joking grin. She took another gulp from the skin herself, wincing at the strength of it but she was well used to it. "So what did you think of it?" she laughed again. She glanced around at the other pups; they hadn't been awakened by the commotion. She was feeling a bit buzzed from the drink but nothing she couldn't handle. She'd gotten used to the drunken parties of her tribemates back home and found she could easily hold her alcohol.

Her expression took on a bit more of a serious cast. "Alrick got back just a few minutes ago. He took all the bigwigs down somewhere in the back of the cave." she replied to Veli. She probably wouldn't have bothered waking him up for that except she knew he'd want to know. "I think they are discussing.. hell, I have no clue what they are discussion but bet you... uh.." she stopped, realizing she had nothing to bet with. She shrugged. "Bet you that it's something about us..."

[rivaan]

Akane was just about to fall asleep when Kate did something and Veli started coughing... something that made Akane lose all her sleepyness right away... As the two of them were talking she slowly sat, locking her sight on the two leading figures in her pack.“ For pates sake... you two are louder than my car's engine... I might as well go sleep on a tree branch, might be able to sleep wittout someone or something waking me up...“ She muttered while tieing her hair. She was seriously thinking over her idea...
„I hope there is some in for me too, cause it‘s annoying to have been denied sleep without reason...“ She said looking at the skin. Well if nothing else she was at least going to be sleeping better if she drank a little, that‘s in the event she actually was given something to drink that is.