Fresh Start

[Mouse]

Homid

Carry couldn't sleep. She got like this sometimes. Days long stretches where laying in bed and staring at the ceiling was her most exciting option. It was either that or the back of her eyelids, and at least with her eyes open she didn't have to deal with haunting mental images playing like a macabre movie created for her own misery.

So instead of laying in bed tonight, she sat by the campfire in the caern. The fire crackled merrily, throwing long, haunting shadows onto the trees around her. The forest was alive with the sounds of crickets and owls, and occasionally a long, sad wolf howl could be heard in the distance. Carry longed to shift and join her brother in song, but she resisted, simply staring into the fire. She was oblivious to her surroundings, lost watching the embers shift between vibrant red and charcoal black.

[Happy]

Liam approaches, seeing Carrie he takes a second and prepares. He pulls his torches, as he approaches the fire nodding at Carrie he lights his torches and breathes a fireball into the air. He eats and the fire and places the torches back in his pack. "Hello Carry it's a pleasure to see you, how are you this evening?"

[Mouse]

Carry remains oblivious to Liam's approach, until he breaths fire into the air. The sudden sound and light cause her to jump, and a shudder runs down her spine, seeming to spread into her arms and legs, causing them to tremble and jerk. Carry grits her teeth and clenches her eyes shut, seeming to fight back against whatever is going on, and slowly, the jerking fades, and she falls still once more, her head slowly falling to rest on her lap, her face hidden by her arms.

"That was terrifying, though quite impressive..." she says, after taking a couple moments to gather herself. "How long have you been doing that?"

[Happy]

Liam sits down on the ground next to Carrie, and smiles. "I've been breathing for 5 years, eating for 2."

[Mouse]

Carry sits up a little straighter, and takes a deep breath. "It's quite the talent. Have you ever thought about using it in battle?" she asks, stretching first her arms, and then her legs. She sighs slightly, rubbing sore muscles.

[Happy]

Liam pulls his torches out and spins them between his fingers. "Yeah, I have breathed in combat before. It's quite flashy and distracting, but a little tricky to aim at times. So your a galliard right, can I hear a story?"

[Mouse]

Carry nods slightly, and then at the mention of a story, sighs a little. "I'm so very bad at telling stories. I'm the worst galliard ever." she says with a forced smile, and then falls silent for a moment.

"I could tell you about...another wolf from my old sept in Cincinnati. A lesson in what happens when you don't realize that every auspice has its place and its purpose..."

[Happy]

Liam grins widely. "Brilliant! Let's hear it."

[Mouse]

Carry nods slightly, and then turns to stare into the fire. She remains silent for few moments, and then begins her story.

"Her name was Gnaws the Pipe, and she was a brilliant and strong Ahroun in my sept. An Adren, well on her way to carving a place for herself in the stories of the ancestors. Her claws always struck true, and she fought the Wyrm with a fury and passion unmatched by her septmates."

Carry leans over and grabs a stick, using it to stir up the coals in the fire, making sparks fly into the air. "However, Gnaws the Pipe was often blinded by her anger, and thought that she was more worthy in Luna's eyes because she was an Ahroun. She had an especially low tolerance for the hippie Child of Gaia Galliards that oozed from every corner of her sept. So one day, she teamed up with a conniving and manipulative Ragabash, and lured two Galliards into the umbra. Then, using a gift, she called a bane spirit to the location, and it attacked the Galliards. They fought bravely, but they were no match for the spirit. Even once Gnaws the Pipe jumped in, they still lost."

Carry shakes her head. "When Gnaws the Pipe came to, she found herself surrounded by her elders. They told her what had happened. That the bane spirit had ripped the two Galliards to shreds, and would have taken her out as well, if they hadn't arrived. They told her that the Ragabash had told them everything. How she had lured two unsuspecting Galliards into trouble, and that he had tried to stop her, but had been told off by the high ranked Garou. Gnaws the Pipe fumed with anger. Not only had she been the cause of two of her septmates deaths, but now the Ragabash was setting her up too! She begged and pleaded with the elders, who at first thought that death was the only reasonable punishment. She finally was told she would be allowed to live, but was forced to go through the Rite of Renunciation, to take the place of the Galliards that had died because of her hubris. She was stripped of Luna's rage, her auspice, and her rank, and was forced to start over as a Galliard cub."

Carry looked over to Liam. "So never forget that every auspice has its place, and plays an important part in the fight against the Wyem. The conniving Ragabash, the spacey Theurge, the grim Philodox, the hippie Galliard, and the overly prideful Ahroun...they're all crucial to our survival."

[Happy]

{So that's how Carry lost her rank}

Liam looks at the fire a moment before returning his glance to Carry. He pulls his dreads back and ties two of them around the rest. "Wow, that is a tragedy. Such senseless loss, I wonder what ever came of her? Thank you for the story, you are a good galliard Carry."

[Mouse]

"I often wonder myself. As soon as she hit Cliath again she left the sept, and never came back again." Carry says simply. "I like to imagine she is still wandering around out there somewhere. Maybe she's gained rank again." Carry chuckles.

"I'm much better with my guitar than I am telling stories. I like to use songs to tell my stories. These guys hear me say all the time that I believe that someone has already said what you are trying to say, and probably said it better, so why not use their words?"

[Happy]

He looks at the fire for a minute. "Indeed no matter what you say someone has said it better. The world is a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed." He smiles for a second before pulling out a flask and a couple of shot glasses. "Would you like a drink, Carry?"

[Mouse]

Carry chuckles. "A drink would be lovely." she says, taking a moment to stand up and walk over to the firewood pile. She grabs a few good sized logs and throws them on the fire, before sitting back down again.

"How about you Liam? You seem awfully artistically inclined for a Ragabash. Do you have any stories?"

[Happy]

He stares at the fire for a moment..."a story, I have many stories. Stories of cunning and ferocity. Though which story would you like to hear. Ah, I know." Liam stands and takes a long drink from his flask before placing it back in his vest.
"It starts with a wise nuwisha from the vast deserts of Nevada. She was a beautiful native american woman with the humor of Coyote. Her name was Omma "Ducks the Bar Tab", she wondered the deserts of the southwest forever trying to find that thing she could call home. She found it in a place called Black Rock City, it was very powerful and magical. All the shenanigans coyote could ask for. On the night of the "big burn" she met an Irish gentleman named Kellen O'Connor, a man she would later know as "Chexs the Fire", Bastet. He took her into the outskirts and told her he could show her the universe. She of course followed. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and riped it in half, before shifting into feline. Before her sat this noble lynx and it picked the paper up in its mouth and laid down. She smiled for a second, before shifting into latrani, and joining him . They spent the night laying under the stars and doing that thing people like to do with those they care for." Liam blushes slightly. "She joined him in Ireland and gave birth to a beautiful coyote pup...and that Carry is the story of how Silver Slinger was born."

[Mouse]

Carry stares at Liam for a moment, her jaw working up and down. Her brows furrowed slightly as she worked over the contents of the story. "But that means...isn't your rite name..." she stops talking and just shakes her head.

"I don't know what it is with you guys and trying to pose as Garou. You aren't the first to come through here and do that. You should find the Elder Ragabash at some point and talk to her. Her name is Teela. I think you two would get along."

Then, Carry's face grows firm. "You know, as an Adren, I really should tell the others. However, I'm going to leave that to you. There's no reason to keep it a secret here. We are a caern of unity for a reason Liam."

[Happy]

"It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of keeping things interesting. I will tell them in due time, I promise." Liam grabs the flask and takes a couple big gulps. "So Carry, could you tell me a little more about the city?"

[Mouse]

"About Louisville? I mean, it's not very exciting. Though, there are plenty of alleyways and warm places to sleep, and if you know the right places to look, you can nearly always find whatever you are looking for. There are leeches here, like any other city, though there are also mages here too, which the Garou normally call namebreakers. Louisville swarms with the supernatural."

[Happy]

"Ah well that is all great information thank you...though I was more referring to are there any good pubs in town?" He smiles before taking another drink.

[Mouse]

Carry oohs slightly, and chuckles. "That I can't answer for you. I neve rhave the money to go to a pub or anything like that."

[Happy]

He takes a drink before poking the fire a little. "Well when I find a pub you will have to come drink with me."

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