What page are we on?

[trace_logs]

30 May, 2016
The moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (38% full).

It's a sunny afternoon, and the sunlight filters down into the caern in dappled hues. The fire is a little bit above embers, and a distance off from the fire pit, Trace is sitting fairly still, in lotus-pose. For anyone watching, he's been sitting like that a while, although the meditation or thinking or whatever he is doing doesn't seem to stop him from being attentive to his surroundings, and it doesn't seem to have done very much for the tension set into his posture. Different than usual, though, is the slight smile that has settled into his expression.

Thane is busy as usual, finishing up a round of the eastern section of the bawn and coming back in center to swing by the caern for a check. The Lord isn't in a hurry as evident by currently being in his Homid form versus a swifter four legged one. He spies the Glass Walker sitting at the caern but he doesn't say anything save a nod of acknowledgement if the other Ahroun happens to be looking.

It is clear that Trace sees the Alpha enter the caern, but the nod of acknowledgement in return takes somewhat more time to come, some minutes where Trace's attention is clearly on something else. "Anything out there?" It's not an unusual question from the Glass Walker, either. "It's been... too quiet, on my patrols."

"Nothing that I saw," Thane remarks as he moves towards the pile of wood, gathering some of the drier twigs and logs in order to bring them to Aahn's firepit and rekindle the spirit's symbolic flames. "There's things going on out there but just not in this area. Which is both a good and bad thing. At this rate I'd just as soon have them come rushing in just to get this shit over with but we're not prepared."

Trace rolls his head in a circle and then does the same with his shoulders, coming out of the pose slowly. "Yeah. That pretty much sums it up," he agrees. "I've been thinking about taking some people and my sniper rifle and going to go pick off any outliers or any of theirs that get too far away from their buddies," he says. "But I'm also not sure if that would simply prompt them to action sooner. And if so, if it would be a bad thing." He sighs, and then offers, "We won't ever be fully prepared. It doesn't exist. But," there's a continuation, "I did find a pack to join. Justin and Felix and Watcher, under Coyote."

Once again, the sound of someone whistling a cheerful, if aimless tune can be heard approaching the caern.

"Good to hear," Thane remarks as he hears the news of the pack. "For all that totem can be trouble, they've at least seemed to learn reasonable boundaries. Most of the time," the Lord says with the edge of a growl to his words, no doubt recalling the last prank that threw everyone's personalities on their heads. "And no. We'll never be one hundred percent but a few more percentage points away from 'thumbs in our asses' would be better." The whistle serves to draw his focus away from the Glass Walker and towards the sound.

The Walker seems to recognise the whistling by now, since aside from a slight tilt of his head, he neither moves, nor gets up. He's now simply seated with his knees up in front of him, though. "My first pack," Trace says, and there's a hint of tightness to his voice, "in Steel Angel, was under Coyote." There's a long pause that follows, before a slight grin returns to his expression. "And for right now, it seems it's still the right place for me."

It's not too long after the whistle becomes audible that Nolan comes into view. His stride slows, ever so slightly, when he spots the pair by the fire, but he doesn't stop. His hand lifts in a wave as the whistling fades away.

Thane waits until Nolan shows himself before settling himself down to sit next to the fire, steadily feeding it wood to bring the flames back up. "Good afternoon, Nolan," he says to the Fianna before glancing back towards Trace. "Cuckoo was mine, followed by Fox. Now, Hummingbird. Cunning totems aren't well regarded by most but they can be very effective."

Rabbit steps out from the treeline, cautious (as usual) as she approaches the firepit, studying the Garou and gauging the general mood.

Trace lifts a hand in a wave in return, and then nods, silent and thoughtful for a while. "Now that I did, I realise and it feels so much more like it has been too long since I had pack," he eventually says. Rabbit as well gets a slight wave, the Walker taking a purposeful and steadying breath. "Hi Nolan, hi, Rabbit."

Nolan glances back over his shoulder, acknowledging Rabbit with a wave and a grin as he, too, makes his way to the fire. The grin falters when Trace speaks, but by the time the Fianna reaches the spiral of stone, it's back again. "Talking about packs?"

Thane turns his eye on Rabbit as the youngling Kitsune makes her appearance. "Hello, Rabbit. Out exploring by yourself?" he inquires as logs are added to the refueled flames to keep them going long term.

Rabbit stops a reserved distance away. "Explore, yes," she says politely. "Hello." She looks at Trace and Nolan as well, her greeting obviously intended for them, too.

Trace gets up and moves to continue tending the fire as the Alpha moves off to deal with whatever business it is takes tending to. "More or less," the Walker adds. "Packs, things in general, the state of things on patrols so we're all on the same page." Another large stick, or perhaps it's a small log, gets added to the fire, before Trace stands up. "Which is to say that it's been quiet for everything that's happened recently."

Nolan watches the alpha leave, and then turns his attention back to Trace. "What page are we on? 58? 75?" He steps up onto the raised stone, arms out to the side as though for balance.

Rabbit tips her head to one side, looking quizzical.

Trace lets out a breath and gives Nolan a look that, while not hostile, is a little bit frustrated. "It's a figure of speech," he says, accent colouring his words a little more than usual. "Forty-two."

Pack> Trace grumbles, mentally. "Fucking ragabash."

Pack> Felix says, "'s goin' on?"

Pack> Trace says, "Nolan is." It's tinged with frustration. "Taking everything literally."

Nolan laughs and steps down again. "I know," he says with a shake of his head. "I was hoping for more information about what might be on the page, such as it is."

Pack> Felix says, "Is he just bein' annoyin' on purpose or what?"

Pack> Trace says, "If he wants more information, then he should just say so. No me preguntes qué página que se es cuando utilizo una figura de expresión ni siquiera tengo seguro." The rapid-fire Spanish is followed by, "Yeah."

Pack> Felix says, "...I got next to no idea what you just said but I'm gonna agree anyhow, just on the principle of the thing."

Trace gives Nolan a bit of a quizzical look of his own. "Then say so?" he says. "The first time?" There's a huff, and Trace sits down on the log nearest him. "I haven't seen anything on my patrols, and neither Thane nor the rest of the guardians have run into anything either. Whatever's going on isn't in these areas, and that's either good, or bad, depending upon how you look at it."

Rabbit makes a little thoughtful 'mmm' sound and hunkers down, squatting on her heels.

Pack> Trace sounds sheepish. "Yeaaaah-uh. More of the same, pretty much."

"You only ever speak exactly what you mean?" Nolan asks Trace with a smirk, circling around, following the path of the stone bench. He winks over at Rabbit and then turns back to the Glass Walker. "Never use a figure of speech? Never say things in a roundabout way?"

Trace shakes his head, and thinks for a moment, and then answers, speaking significantly faster than he usually does as well. "No. Pero," he says, "frecuentemente malinterpreten las figuras del discurso el uso de otras personas." After the rapid Spanish, he looks up at the ragabash, and lifts his shoulders in a shrug.

Pack> Trace says, "One of these times, he is going to ask a question, and I am going to answer it with my fist."

Pack> Felix says "Well, ain't like that ain't exactly an occupational hazard of bein' a Ragabash."

Rabbit hugs her knees and rests her chin on them, watching the two Garou quietly.

Nolan laughs again, coming to a stop between two rows of stone. "Well. As long as we're all on the same page," he says, repeating the smirk.

Trace drums his fingers on his knees and then shrugs his shoulders one more time. "Something like that," he agrees with a hint of a smile. His attention turns to Rabbit with a glance, though, and he says, "It was neat that Turtle let Brings-the-Pack and myself listen, last night." One stick gets picked up, and he pokes at the fire.

"Wolves learn and know about Foxes, Foxes learn and know about Wolves," Rabbit says after a bit of thought.

"Nothing wrong with learning," Nolan agrees with a nod toward Rabbit. He climbs over the stone bench between himself and the fire, and takes up a seat. "So what did you all learn?"

Trace nods. "Yeah," Trace says. "Foxes... the closest thing to our auspices that they have, they call Paths. And they choose them rather than..." a moment passes and the Walker continues, "predestination like most Garou tend to think of auspices as. It's interesting."

Pack> Trace says, "Yeah, but Rabbit, the fox-kit is here. You know that phrase, not in front of the children? Her dad is kind of intimidating."

Pack> Felix says, "Ain't talked to him a lot yet, but he seemed okay. Ain't met her yet at all."

Pack> Trace says, "Yeah, he's pretty okay. Still wouldn't want to cross him."

Rabbit peers at Trace. "Predestination." She repeats the word slowly. "Do not know that word."

"Predestination? The idea that our fates are determined before we're born," Nolan says with a grin toward Rabbit. I don't know, though. Maybe the soul chooses!" He runs a hand back through his hair. "And don't forget, a wolf can always change auspices later on, too."

Pack> Felix says, "Well, at least it ain't his kit you wanna punch."

Pack> Trace says, "Nah, she's nice. Seems like a good kid."

Pack> Trace says, "Curious."

"Maybe it does," Trace says with a shrug, "but this is why I'm an ahroun— a full moon," the explanation is directed towards Rabbit, "and not a theurge— who are born under the crescent moon and are often the most connected to the spirits and the spirit world." He chuckles, slightly. "And while that's true, changing auspices is pretty uncommon overall."

Pack> Felix says, "'bout everythin'?"

Pack> Trace says, "Yeah. And us. Which is good, if she's going to be around here and such."

"Why?" asks Rabbit.

Pack> Felix says, "'s true, safer if she knows what's goin' on, I reckon."

Trace ponders this for a long minute, eventually tossing the stick he's using to prod the fire into the fire and lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "More traditional wolves would tell you that they see it as questioning Gaia's intent for us." He shakes his head. "I don't believe in that sort of thing, though I've never felt any need to question my auspice and feel like it fits."

"You don't believe it?" Nolan prods. "Why do you think it's considered inappropriate by so many, then?"

Trace looks up at Nolan. "I don't. Do you believe that old-fashioned bullcrap?" the question is fired back in return. "As I said. I think that many feel like you're insulting what you were meant for. They think that it can't ever be wrong and so that turning your back on what you did as your former auspice makes you untrustworthy. But I'm sure that there are, in fact, good reasons for renouncing."

"What do you suppose a good reason would be?" Nolan asks, scooting forward on the bench until he's just barely letting it support his weight.

Rabbit gives her nose a few more finger-squishes, then shifts her weight, sitting down on the ground with her legs stretched out before her.

Trace shrugs, and there's a hint of frustration in the look the ragabash gets once again. "Like I said. I've never been drawn down that path," the Walker says, and there's a long moment of consideration. "But sometimes, someone might have the desire to start over, and leave their past behind. Maybe someone just doesn't feel they do any of the roles of their auspice well."

Pack> Trace says, "Ragabash. His answer to every single thing is a question."

Pack> Felix says, "He's pretty damn tight with the information when the shoe's on the other foot, that's for fuckin' sure."

"Shouldn't they just try harder? I mean, just because you can't ride a bike the first time you try, doesn't mean you shouldn't try again, right?" The tip of Nolan's tongue touches one of his canines and there's a gleam in his eye as he presses on. "Do we just give up, because it's hard to fight against the apocalypse?"

Trace has gotten to outright glaring at Nolan, clearly done with the questions, well before the ragabash finishes speaking. But at the end, something turns from glaring to hostile and violent intent, and the ahroun doesn't say anything at all, simply grabs his jacket from where it sits near the log, gets up, and walks out of the caern. There's a hint of shaking to the iron control, evident rage in his overall manner as he leaves.

"Well, all right, then," Nolan says, offering a two fingered salute as the ahroun walks away. "Talk to you later!"

Rabbit has been listening to this conversation with rapt attention and keen interest— until Trace starts getting angry. Then she goes very still.

Trace spins on one heel to look at Nolan, and there's one word offered before he resumes walking away. "Enough." It's almost a growl, and it's a definite warning.

Nolan doesn't say a word, though the snerk isn't exactly silent. He waves again, as Trace walks away.

Rabbit doesn't move until Trace is quite gone, and then it's only to carefully, slowly, shift herself back to a squatting position. Her expression is quite solemn.

Nolan lets out a breath as Trace disappears through the trees, and the grin he wore, previously, fades. He glances across to the young kit. "Well, that was that."

Pack> Trace takes a few deep breaths and mutters. "I'm going to fucking strangle Nolan."

Trace walks off into the forest, not really looking as he picks a path around the trees and some distance into the bawn, jacket slung over his shoulder. Both hands slowly unclench from fists. Slowly.

Pack> Felix says, "Bare hands or some kinda garrote?"

Pack> Trace doesn't quite radiate rage into the pack link, but it's close. "Whatever I happen to have at the time." A pause. "I walked off, though."

Pack> Felix gives the definite impression of a nod. "Wise, I reckon."

Pack> Trace seems more or less to be screwing his eyes shut, for a long minute. "Seems to be typical of the ragabash around here, that they don't know when to stop."

Pack> Felix considers this for a moment or two. "...you met Winter an' Slug yet? They generally ain't bad, I'd say. Easier t' be around'n some others." He probably has at least one in mind.

Pack> Trace gives a slight mental shake of his head. "Slug is your tribemate that challenged the Gaian at moot, right?"

Pack> Felix says, "Yeah, an' Winter's my tribemate I challenged, though that was 'fore you got here, 'course."

Pack> Trace says, "Maybe one of them should talk to the other ragabash. About survival skills."