A subtle undulation of the land forms an curious, natural spiral in the open ground. One side of the formation rises to create a half-circle or crescent of earth surrounding and encompassing the spiral. The ground is littered with rock and flagstones, both large and small. Someone has carefully gathered up a trove of these and erected a clear fire pit. Flagstones with smooth surfaces have been laid along the upper lip of half circle of earth around the fire pit, turning it into a nice seating area. All debris and flammable material's been removed from within the spiral, and a fire has been laid. Just beyond the spiral's edge, wood has been collected and piled for future use. Surrounding this, the rugged walls of the canyon have been half buried by the Wyld surge, making the upper slope of the valley more gentle than it was before. Stands of Douglas fir and white pines mix with hemlock, lodgepole pines, and western larch trees to fill much of the open space, but the trees here are not nearly as dense as they are in the surrounding forests of the bawn. The sparse woods allows a partial view of the sky, and both sun and moonlight filter down to create enigmatic and beautiful shadow patterns on the forest floor. That floor is blanketed with a thick, soft rug of shed pine needles, lichen and leaf debris. The moss-covered relics of old, dead trees occasionally mark a place where once great sentinels loomed above.
The caern expands in two directions from here. The escarpment wall and raised dais form one point of the new triangle, while the center of the caern and its gigantic, Wyld-influenced tree marks the other. The only obvious way out of the caern is the valley slope that leads to the central bawn.
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mien and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in a well-worn biker jacket of the traditional sort, all fairly closely fit black leather and silvery zippers and snaps. Beneath it, he's got nicely-fitting dark indigo jeans with a plain white tank, its ribbed cotton skimming close enough to hint at the musculature beneath. Over that, he's wearing a long-sleeved, navy blue shirt, unbuttoned; judging by the white-on-red number patches on the left arm, the flag patch on the right shoulder, and the round fleur-de-lis patch to the left of the collar, it was once part of someone's Scout uniform... probably not his. Okay, the 'Boy Scouts of the USA' patch over the right pocket's a hint, too. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Shaggy brown hair and darker brown eyes frames this man's face. Justin has a slightly tanned complexion with a hint of Puerto Rican from his mother's side, Caucasian from his father's. He has a fairly lanky build, but underneath his clothes is a body fitted with new muscle. He wears loose fitted 'destroyed' blue jeans, simple tank tops, and worn down sneakers that are about five months in need of replacement. During the cold, a thick green military jacket from his Grandpa. After a mishap with a monster, he was aged roughly five years forward and now looks like a young man in his early 20's. Now at 6'2, he has finally hit the rest of his growth spurt.
Linnaea is a petite young woman, just under five feet in height when she stands fully straight. Medium-dark hair with auburn and even lighter blond highlights hangs in many small braids that are all gathered into one braid at the moment, with stray hairs and one stray braid that escape to form bangs and frame her face, and hazel brown eyes. Her skin is fair but tanned, with freckles across her cheeks, and features that are not delicate so much as they are strong and simply there.
The most noticeable part, however, is the rainbow leggings that she has taken to wearing, today being visible underneath heavily ripped light denim jeans, and a white babydoll teeshirt with a smiling panda bear on it. Practical, slip-on shoes complete the matter.
This three-year-old, arctic wolf's thick white coat stretches over an equally thick and stocky frame. She's about two and a quarter feet tall at the shoulder and four from tip to tail, significantly shorter, more stout, and much more bulky than your run of the mill wolf. Copious muscles can be seen sliding along when she moves, even under her heavy coat. Like the rest of her subspecies, her paws seem almost too large for her body. She often favours her left hind leg just so slightly. Among her coat are about as many scars as one would expect for a wolf of her age.
This is a North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar), which is not an uncommon animal in Washington State, although they are rarely seen by humans. Typical of the species, it has a slender, muscled body with a round head and pointed ears. Like most cougars, this particular specimen is substantially longer, taller, and heavier than the average wolf. He likely tips the scales at about 160lbs and measures nearly 8' from nose to tail: Much of that is certainly tail. This cougar's pelt is slightly more reddish-orange than usual, although not unusually so. Lithe, powerful, sinuous musculature is readily visible beneath the cat's short fur, giving some indication as to the power and speed available to this apex predator should it choose to use it. The black "moustache" marking around his nose and mouth is more pronounced than usual, giving the feline's already-handsome face an even more suave--almost debonaire--appearance.
Thane isn't a man who's appearance stands out much. He's caucasian of skin tone with a faint swarthiness should he stay out in the sun long enough to catch a tan. His bones are pronounced, giving him the appearance of leanness despite having a solid, even musculature that speaks of someone who's gained his athleticism through rounded activity versus focused weight training. His hair is a tawny brown in most lights and usually kept in a short style. Often, there's a good day's growth of beard on his face which seems to hide small nicks and old scars. His eyes are a mid-tone blue, often held under pensive brows.
There is a look to him, the weight of something undefined. It's like looking into the eyes of a man who has seen terrible things and was never quite was the same after. It's even more haunting considering his blind right eye is couched in scars like an attack from a bear.
Usually, he's casually dressed but cleans up when the need calls. He's never seen among the normal public in anything but long sleeves regardless of the weather, underneath showing massive scarring on on his forearms. They don't seem to restrict movement, but the oddly darkened scars are numerous like lightning bolts across his skin. Another deep slice runs at the upper portion of his abdomen.
It's only seven thirty in the morning and it's cloudy and damp. It may warm up later but it's just cool right now. Early and drab weather doesn't matter to Thane, though, and he has the Bone Gnawer up and at it early. Neither is he a kind teacher. Bum rushing someone in Crinos while they're still asleep is just harsh. He didn't make him spar too terribly long, only since the sun's come up, and now Thane's turned to business as usual. He's in Homid as he comes into view, headed for the firepit with a bottle of water in hand.
Felix isn't too fussed about the weather, but the early thing, now that's just cruel! Also the manner of the wake-up call, although one can't deny it's a) effective and b) also a good way to definitely get the fighting started right away. The Galliard is stretching a bit, making a face at the way one twist of his shoulder goes, and heads over to the firepit as well, flopping down bonelessly on one of the logs and starting to check his pockets. "I gotta start makin' sure I got a decent breakfast on me, or somethin'."
Having been woken up by a bum rushing Crinos that is Thane, Justin laughed and laughed, then eventually joined in with their workout for a bit. Friends suffer together, right? "I got granola bars." He says as he digs around in his backpack. His own hair is a sweaty mess of tangles as he roots out a few peanutbutter and chocolate bars.
"At least being a Guardian teaches you to run on low fuel." Thane says with a stretch of his arms. "Or a lot of cold pizza. Now I normally wouln't come dragging you out of bed, but some mornings I may. It's good to keep on your toes and be ready but that isn't the goal of these lessons. Everything been okay with your kinfolk since things have been going on?"
Brings-the-Pack exits the treeline with a level of silence that seemingly only cats and ghosts are capable of achieving. "Good morning," he offers to those near the firepit. "Am I intruding?"
"Hey," Felix greets the cougar, giving him a grin and an interested look-over -- he's seen him before, but it's still interesting, apparently. "An' nah, not as far as I'm concerned, anyhow. How's it goin'?" He makes a grabby-hands gesture at Justin, for granola bars, and says to Thane, "Ain't nothin' wrong with cold pizza. Breakfast of champions. Also lunch, dinner, an' snacks. An'... yeah, I reckon things've been okay. Called her a few times. She's been tryin' to stay away from places we usually are, an' places she usually is, which means she's off work, an' from us, so... well, she's pretty safe prolly. Sucks though. Really hopin' we finish this shit soon." Whether that's that he is or she is isn't clear, although it's probably both either way.
Lobbing over a bar to Felix, Justin tears his own open and takes a bite. "Hey B to P." He says as he waves to the cougar, then pops his joints in his chest and shoulders. "Yeah, Bella and Andrea are hanging out with 'er. Girls club and all that good stuff. Must be fun talking about shoes all day." He says in amusement.
"You're fine." Thane says over to the cat as the Alpha finds himself a seat near the fire pit, adding wood from the nearby pile to stoke the flames. "Well, it'll be best for us all the sooner we get this Tower sorted and we need to move before she does. The Theurges have their assignment already to make use of the wraith remains to make talens to fight against the Queen. Then we just need to decide on a plan of action to make our run."
Brings-the-Pack pads closer and, rather than being slightly standoffish like he has been in the past, keeps coming closer and takes a seat around the fire with the garou--just out of arm's reach to those near him, but otherwise a fairly vulnerable position to be in around a trio of werewolves. "I would very much like to see the remains of these wraiths, if that is permissable. They are not fomori, as I initially suspected." He inquires, "Has anyone probed the Tower's umbral perimeter now that the Queen's warper is no more?"
Felix snorts at his packmate. "You really think so, ain't like we can't. For starters, yours are shit an' you really oughta get some that only got the holes they came with," he teases, opening the granola bar and taking a bite. "Oh, hey, about the Theurges an' makin' talens outta wraith bits. What kind are they makin'? Like, that thing I was talkin' to you about the other day, givin' 'em some kinda mind-virus-thought thing so they'd pass it on to all the others, an' even the Queen, turn their strength into their weakness an' all that shit. Are they thinkin' about that any, or is it impossible? 'cause it would be REALLY cool. An' it did seem that usin' the dead ones' brains or somethin'd be a place to start." He slides a hand to his jacket pocket for a soda bottle that isn't there, and looks briefly annoyed at it for betraying him so.
Blinking, Justin wrinkles his nose. "Ain't nothing wrong with my shoes. I like these. I got sweet kicks on, yo." He says as he leans back against a tree, then inspects his shoes. "And, uh ... yah, the magical stuff around the tower is gone. Now we need to plan an attack."
"I haven't spoken to them." Thane says aside to Felix. "It sounds workable in theory, granted we don't understand how the Queen herself works. The shield around the Tower is down though and she is getting frantic and vulnerable. He was her only mage ally. The main thing she seems to be afraid of is Renegade's power. She /really/ hates him, enough her wraiths aren't even allowed to say his name. She's also unlikely to leave that Tower. She'd need flushed out or, more likely, we have to go in after her. I'd be inclined to plant the idea in her head Renegade is coming for her, see if we can distract her and her forces enough to go after her. If it's even possible."
Brings-the-Pack makes a suggestion. "One of the Spirals tipped us off to when the mage was leaving the Tower, allowing the garou to kill him. If that information were leaked back to the Queen, it might cause a tremendous amount of infighting, further weakening them."
"And they know of Blue." Thane says to Brings-the-Pack. "That's the only information they got out of me while they were doing the time warp with my biology under a dogpile of Spirals." He says and turns his head, head cocked slightly as if hearing something. Scowling, he gets to his feet and points to Justin. "...you, come along. Pack's saying they smell something funny. It's old so likely nothing to worry about but need to check it out. We'll be back if it's nothing." Says the Ahroun before he takes to his lupus form and takes off through the trees.
"Mayyyybe he an' his pack's workin' for Renegade," Felix suggests 'innocently', "Secret infiltrators. Who knows how many there could be? Maybe all the Spirals are actually against here an' just bidin' their time, waitin' to prepare her for when he's ready to make that attack..." He shrugs and says more normally, "'course I dunno how you'd get that in her head, exactly." He breaks off when Thane's head-cock moves into scowl territory, tensing, and opens his mouth to say something when the Shadow Lord shanghais just his packmate, but snaps it shut again as they're already heading off. He ends up with a scowl of his very own, and the next bite of the granola bar is particularly aggressive. "Whatever," he mutters, and then glances upward, considering the sky, and shrugs. And quite suddenly it's like nothing had happened at all. "So, hey," he says, looking to the mage, "do =you= know anythin' about ways to mess with their telepathy, like the virusy thing or just listenin' in even? I reckon y'all work different'n us, so..."
Brings-the-Pack watches as Thane heads off, looking briefly as if he might offer to assist as he starts to get up, but then he sits back down as he hadn't been invited and the Alpha/Warder didn't deem it to be anything serious. He cocks his head at Felix's question, hesitates a moment, and then responds. "Telepathy? Which of them has telepathy?"
Felix finishes off the granola bar and checks his pockets again, ending up with the inner jacket one which manages to produce a smallish flask. "The Queen an' her wraith-things," he answers, "They're all telepathically linked, 'pparently, anything any of them knows or sees, she knows or sees. 's why I reckon if we could use that as a, whatsit, vector, we could really fuck them up." He takes a drink, washing down the granola. Gnawer breakfasts are weird.
Brings-the-Pack offers up an electronically modulated, drawn out 'hmmm' before he speaks. "I might be able to interfere with that means of communication. Interacting with it? That might leave whoever does that exposed, their own mind open to assault by the collective psyches of those within the Queen's network. And some of the things they work with, merely thinking about them can cause corruption. I've already experienced it myself, and it had an even worse affect on a garou who attempted to comprehend the same thing." He suggests, "Perhaps a spirit of some kind might have better luck?"
"Well, interferin' with it would be a real good start, that's mostly what I was thinkin' about when Alicia first mentioned it," Felix says, "...an' I kinda think, okay, so maybe these three Queens are as competitive with each other as I hear, but they're still supposedly sisters, an' if they each got a whole whack of telepathically controlled minions, seems to me, why wouldn't they be in touch with each other, too? An' might be we don't really want this one givin' the others a heads up when we get her, 'specially if it'd warn 'em what we might do to them next. Alicia was thinkin' of listenin' in, which'd definitely help with intel an' shit, but you maybe got a point on the corruptin' thing, I guess. The kinda virus idea I don't reckon we'd hafta look at what they're thinkin', but... we would actually hafta figure out how you'd make one. So. What're you thinkin', spiritwise? Like, to listen in or to interfere or any or all? I'd hafta find a Theurge to ask, really. Ain't my area of expertise."
Brings-the-Pack seems to be distracted with his own thoughts. "You have the bodies of one or more wraiths? I might be able to do something to interfere with their communications--or better understand how their telepathy works--if I have access to one of those bodies. Preferably with an intact brain." He adds, "Your idea with the virus might have merit, but I fear that that may not be a one-way street. Whoever taps in to their collective psyche and makes it known that they are there might be attacked by dozens, hundreds, or thousands of minds attacking back--like white blood cells expelling a small bit of infection. If you want to try that route, it may be better to sacrifice a spirit instead of one of your own."
"'s what I hear," Felix says, nodding. He has another drink from the flask, then closes it and slips it back into the jacket. "I dunno where they're bein' kept, but I don't see why none of 'em would have a pretty intact brain." He stretches, and leans back on the log, hands settling to either side. "I guess I was imaginin' like, just havin' to drop it into one brain an' then it goes on from there, but I s'pose with them all interlinked maybe it would be basically touchin' all of 'em. Huh. 's weird shit."
Brings-the-Pack offers perhaps a little perspective. "No weirder than how packs of garou communicate with one another through their pack totem's assistance."
Felix grins a bit. "Yeah, well, sometimes that's pretty weird too," he says. "...wish there was somethin' I could actually be doin' about this shit. 's restless-makin', waitin' an' tryin' to think of things to do."
"You did assist in killing the Queen's warper," the cougar-mage points out. "A good thing, too. Had he escaped, there would have easily been numerous dead garou by now. But you are assisting. Thinking outside of the box is helpful; even if something is beyond the reach of the garou, it might give me ideas I could act upon. Generating telepathic interference could, for instance, be entirely feasible. And might make for a tremendous tactical advantage in a future battle."
"Yup," Felix confirms, "Shot him, 'cause he was doin' some kinda thing that didn't let us get close. That was weird, we were definitely movin', just didn't get any closer somehow. An' we killed shit when they came to the caern, too. That kinda thing, always definitely feels like I'm gettin' somethin' done. This, well. It'd be cool if somethin' I was bringin' up actually worked. But it don't =feel= like doin' shit, if you get what I mean."
"A marathon is accomplished by taking tens of thousands of substantially shorter steps," Brings-the-Pack replies. "And every step is important." He adds, "The Queen's warper was altering space. Space as you understand it. He very nearly teleported away, but I managed to thwart his attempt. But I was not able to fully stop him from making it so that you and Salem couldn't physically get to him. The bullet was just one thing too many for him to handle."
The bawn has stayed quiet this whole time and in due course Thane is making his way back, looking a bit sweatier for the effort of running in a thick fur coat. The black wolf resumes his human form at the edge of the caern before descending down the path leading to the fire pit. "Old smells near the western edge but something had been snooping. No signs of anything wrong though and nothing at all fresh."
"Well, thanks for that," Felix says to the mage, with a quick grin, "Like you say, woulda been a big problem if he escaped. Teamwork for the win, huh? ...can you teleport? Seems like that'd be awful handy." He glances over at the sound of returning wolves, and nods to the update. "So somethin' snoopin' a while back, then? Wonder what."
Following after the Shadow Lord, the large dog shifts upwards into his homid form as well, letting out a loud yawn as he rubs the back of his neck. "But, at least I got another work out in! My legs are gonna be freaking huge."
"Yes. Teamwork, indeed," the cougar replies before turning to address the Shadow Lord. "I heard there had been an attack on the caern--Spirals and wraiths--somewhat recently. Had I been at the moot, I would have assisted in the caern's defense, but a full moon moot sounds like an event where outsiders might not be welcome. Or act as a hinderance to spiritual matters. Fascinating as it might be to witness such an event." The mage doesn't press the issue. Instead, he looks to the trio of garou present and asks. "Do any of you recall where one of the wraiths materialized? And approximately what time it was when the attack occurred?"
Nodding his head in agreement, Thane says, "I am sure whatever help you could have provided would have been welcomed. But, the full moon brings out the worst in us." He draws in a deep breath, then wipes the sweat from his face with a lift of his shirt. "The scents we found were not recognizable. Probably weeks old." As far as the last question, he glances over to Justin.
Justin rubs the back of his neck some as he thinks. "Uhh ... definitely after dark was when they came. About two spirals that we took out very easily from one direction, then the spiral and his three white fomoris from the other. They were on the higher ground with silver filled rifles." He looks to the sky to study it for a moment, then says, "Maybe about ten at night? You want to see where it happened? Can you do some kinda magical tracking with it?"
Felix shrugs, "Yeah, I remember where they appeared. I could show you easy enough. An' it was..." He pauses, tilting his head as he considers, then nods at Justin's guess, "Could be. I would've guessed a li'l earlier, but it was plenty dark, for sure. The spiral up top showed up first, playin' dramatic messenger, an' his wraith buddies faded in either side of him with their guns. Shot at us, then the other two spirals came runnin' in to get slaughtered. Which was cooperative of 'em. Another wraith showed up up top later, an' I think one was actually down with us bein' invisible to start, the one Slug dropped on, but it was kinda hard to keep track what exactly was goin' down 'round that point."
Brings-the-Pack listens, looks to the place indicated, and replies, "I'm curious as to whether the wraiths were invisible but in the realm, came in from the umbra, telported in from elsewhere or emerged from folded space or another dimension. I might be able to ascertain that information, which in turn might give the garou a better idea how to defend against them and detect them. Maybe."
"No idea. We didn't get into metaphysics in my school." Thane remarks dryly as he glances to the cat. "But yes, some were invisible if not all to start. The Spirals weren't. Whippoorwill followers, beyond just being their tribal totem, save one jumped the shark from what I could discern and got a bit too battle hungry. The one, if I recall, was over by the dais near the cliffs. The other two were on top the cliffs to either side. The other Spirals came down the path in Hispo but were pretty easily taken care of. None of them were of any significant rank. All in all, minus the silver all of them died easily save the one wraith that escaped."
"You can figure that kinda thing out without havin' been there, huh? That's pretty cool too," Felix says to the cat. He closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them and points to a spot on the cliffs in the dais area. "'bout there's where the spokes-Spiral showed up. After he got cut off by the biggest birdshit ever, his wraith buddies showed up either side, there an' there. The one Slug got was..." He pauses, then points in the caern itself, but a similar part of it, "there. Watcher went up to pull down one of the wraiths, an' a third -- well, fourth really -- took the place where the spokes spiral'd been." A vaguer gesture, "The other two Spirals were over there, like he said, but I don't reckon you care that much 'bout how they got there." He stretches out his legs, looking to Thane. "They did die pretty easy, considerin' how many she prolly coulda sent."
Brings-the-Pack looks to the various areas being pointed out. He replies to Felix, "I have a knack for sensing things. Usually." He directs his attention towards Thane and asks, "Would it be okay to use some subtle magicks within the caern? I would prefer the ledge as that is not so close to the heart of it. I sincerely doubt anything would be affected. And I would not draw any energies from it. I have my own reserves I can tap."
Thane gives his fingers a snap as a thought reoccurs to him. "Something went wrong with the wraiths, that's right. They'd freeze up or act like they were in pain. We kept the one Spiral alive long enough to get some details as to why they were there before he just started gibbering and laughing, but he had no idea what occurred with the wraiths. More I think about it, I wonder if something went wrong in their connection. For all we know some of the spirits could have been fighting back but they definitely failed in some manner." The question from the mage draws his attentions back. There's a faint frown of consideration before he nods his head. "Go ahead. I'm sure the totems will inform us if something is going awry and they have spoken for you already."
Felix moves the toe of one boot in the dirt, making a sort of doodle, brow furrowed. "...I ain't sure it was just them," he says slowly, "Weren't those two Spirals actin' kinda off too? The one we got, I could swear it was screamin' before we even got goin'..." He looks up then, to Justin, as if checking whether his packmate remembers the same thing, and to Thane, in case the other did the same, but the prospect of watching some mage-magic draws his attention back to the cougar fairly swiftly.
Brings-the-Pack pushes to all fours and begins walking slowly towards where the Spiral-speaker that Val'd unloaded upon had been--along with the two wraiths. "It seems to be an odd move for the Queen to have made. Send in just a few Spirals and wraiths against a caern during a full moon when the most garou defenders would be present and her forces were almost sure to be slaughtered. That was either a tremendous tactical error or she was sacrificing pawns. There's very little logic to it," the cat claims as he moves away from the fire pit. "Very little indeed. Unless they were up to something. Something potentially overlooked."
Thane watches the cat's path and nods slowly in agreement. "Which is why we tried to get information out of them. From what the messenger claimed, they were scouting, testing our numbers and reactions. Seems there's more effective ways of investigation than a suicide run, but we don't know the mind of this Queen. That may be perfectly acceptable to someone who doesn't care about the Spirals, their goals, and can just remake her own forces. Or something went wrong and she cut them off or something interfered. Or they were up to something we haven't determined or seen evidence of. The Queen seems to be claiming she'll take everything from us."
"That's what I've been sayin'," Felix agrees, "It don't make a lot of sense. Like, sendin' a message, well, obviously, but with a li'l group like that..." He nods to Thane's remarks as well, adding, "An' "maybe a distraction" came up but if they KNEW we'd be here an' focusin' on the MOOT already, what the fuck more distraction would they need? Unless it was somethin' here, in which case, distractin' us somewhere else some other time'd be more useful, you'd think. So yeah, maybe she just don't give a shit 'bout spendin' 'em..."
Brings-the-Pack heads up the escarpment, settling back onto his haunches approximately where the Spiral messenger had been during the last full moon. His eyes close. If there's magick happening, it's spectacularly unimpressive to observers.
Thane leaves the mage to his business though he does keep a watch on him. "I just wager if they did something else, we'd have discovered it by now. At least in this immediate area. But we don't know what all these things can do."
Aw. How disappointing. No fireballs or anything! Felix keeps watching anyway, though, 'cause you never know. "Yeah, 's true," he says, a bit thoughtful. "...then the other question's how come it's better for her to basically just go nyah nyah rather than send a shitload of 'em to try an' really go at us? 'cause from what everyone says, 'specially folks comin' from where the other Queens're at, sounds like she oughta have plenty to at least've given it a full-on try..."
Brings-the-Pack stays motionless atop the edge of the escarpment, seemingly almost in a meditative state. Fireballs persist in not happening. Not even electric sparks or psychadelic colors. It's almost as if mages could be doing magick in plain view of people and no one might ever realize it.
Thane gives a shrug of his shoulders as he looks aside to Felix. "It doesn't make sense to me but we're clearly missing details. We can gather this is the least Queen, smallest forces. The other two were able to topple major cities but this one was routed by Renegade's forces in Seattle and she only came here to bide her time nearby till she could make a move on it. She doesn't care about us or the city, but we made it personal."
Well, that's just unfair. The world just keeps insisting on this ridiculous dearth of special effects! Felix stops watching quite as intently after a while, though he still keeps an eye on the cougar just in case. "S'pose that's handy for us, sorta."
Brings-the-Pack remains seated on his haunches. His head slowly cants to one side, as if perhaps trying to catch some barely heard whisper. Other than that? Nothing seems to be happening up on the escarpment.
"Maybe so." Thane says to Felix. "The trick is can we turn it to our advantage. It would be nice to let her and Renegade murder one another but I'd rather not give either the chance to get more powerful for it."
Felix shifts his position on the log, pulling his knees up and leaning on them. "Well. When y'all ran off to check on the maybe-problem, after you were sayin' about plantin' the idea he was after her an' the cougar was suggestin' leakin' to 'em about Blue, I was suggestin', maybe try an' make her think he an' his pack's workin' for Renegade, secret infiltrators, bidin' their time an' secretly weakenin' her for when he makes his move. Maybe all the Spirals are actually workin' for him. Maybe she can't trust none of 'em. Dunno how we'd be able to get her that thought train an' level of paranoid, but it'd sure make things interestin'."
Brings-the-Pack slowly cants his head the other direction as the garou speak--maybe he's listening to them?--and then opens his eyes, blinking a few times. "The wraiths were invisible, but they are also able to step sidewise." He adds, "When the wraiths and Spirals were here, they did not do anything to affect the caern in the realm nor the spirit world." He pushes to all fours and stretches, as if finished and preparing to leave. In fact, he looks to be about ready to do precisely that, taking a couple steps towards the treeline before stopping abruptly and looking towards the Shadow Lord. "Thane. May I have a brief word with you in private before I leave? I have a small favor to ask." The mage-cat wants something. Uh oh.
"Could be true, at least for some. Not all of them have love for her. Others are all but brainwashed." Thane looks up as the cougar speaks. "Well, that much is a relief at least." He says and sounds like he means it. The request does make his brows furrow but the Ahroun nods his head and leaves the fireside to make his way towards the cliff edge the mage occupies.
Linnaea can be heard before she can be seen, making her way into the Caern in homid, with a wooden hiking staff that seems to have replaced the cane she usually uses. The Gaian looks about, a brief nod and grin given to those present as she approaches.
Felix nods. "Anythin' close to true for it'd only help, I reckon. But, still the real tricky part." He listens to the cougar's remarks, nodding again, and lifts a hand in a small farewell as the cat seems about to leave. The private talk thing though, that inevitably gets a curious look, and he watches, possibly hoping to hear something. Nosily. It doesn't prevent him giving Linnaea a grin when she arrives, though, or a "Hey, Lin."
Brings-the-Pack meets the Shadow Lord partway there, but he moves slower so Thane is further up the escarpment, further away from the firepit, before the cougar-mage moves close to have an extremely quiet conversation with the Shadow Lord. One that's clearly not intended for any other ears.
Thane has his back to the caern and as the discussion goes, the Lord's arms cross in front of his chest. He talks but whatever he's saying is spoken low enough to not be heard by anyone not right there.
Linnaea moves over towards Felix, slowly but surely, and waves. "Hiya Felix," she offers in return, turning her head to watch as the other two move off to their private conversation. She's clearly somewhat curious, but shrugs it off easily enough.
Felix seems to shrug off the curiosity himself once the pair wander off, though he can probably still see them somewhat when he turns to the Theurge. "How's it goin'? Get any more practice in on your runnin', yet?"
Brings-the-Pack carries on having a very quiet conversation with the sept's Alpha.
Thane gives a visible not of his head to Brings-the-Pack, saying more audible, "Thank you. You know where to find me." And that said, he leaves the cat to his business and moves to come back down to the caern.
Linnaea nods. "Yeah, some this morning while I was out on patrol near the office," she says. "It's getting easier... or more that I feel more confident doing it. So that's good." The theurge offers a nod of greeting as Thane returns. "Hiya. Linnaea Imogen Griffin-Macey. Rises-Like-the-Dawn-From-Night, cliath theurge of the Children and packed under Otter in Otter Space. I don't think we've met properly, before."
"Nice," Felix says to the report, with an approving nod, and he glances briefly toward the cougar at the movement of Thane starting back to them, then to the Alpha himself.
Brings-the-Pack stays where he is for a moment, giving Thane a headstart in returning, considers the treeline momentarily, and then follows Thane towards the fire pit where a newcomer has arrived. His ears twist to catch her introduction as it's given.
Thane looks towards Linnaea as she provides her introduction. "Good to meet you properly. I'd heard of you but never got to meet you. Forgive me, but I need to go find some folks to take to. I'll see those at moot who will be attention. Thank you again, Brings-the-Pack." And this being said, the Alpha is moving off.
Linnaea lifts a hand in parting and grins, before she sits down right where she is, somewhat sprawling out. The cougar, however, gets a more thoroughly curious look. "Beautiful day out, today," she remarks.
"Lot nicer'n it was when he," Felix gestures toward the retreating Alpha, "woke me up with Crinos to the face before dawn." He doesn't sounds nearly as miffed about it as one might expect, but the thought of it does make him yawn. "You met our resident mage-cat friend yet?" Though the words are to her, the questioning glance goes to them both.
The cougar speaks, in English, with a voice that sounds like a helmet-wearing Kylo Ren from the latest Star Wars movie. "Indeed," he electronically purrs about the weather. "I am Brings-the-Pack, a warper allied with the sept. It is a pleasure to meet you, and regretable that I have things to attend to elsewhere. Otherwise, I would linger and be sociable. Perhaps tomorrow at the new moon moot."
Linnaea blinks a few times at Brings-the-Pack, and furrows her brows a bit at the cat. Speaking English. "I should be here," she notes, with a nod. "Unless, of course, I'm not. That's always a possibility." She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Not until just now," she tells Felix. "And no, that's not exactly how one wants to be woken up."
Felix nods to Brings-the-Pack. "Later," he says, and then adds, "Hey. Do you eat things when you're a cougar? Meat an' stuff?"
"Not really," the mage-cat replies with a peculiar hint of ambiguity as he begins heading towards the treeline. "But thank you for being thoughtful." And then he's disappearing into the forest. "Farewell," comes a voice through the trees.
Linnaea tilts her head to one side. "Huh," she murmurs to herself, watching the cat leave. "That's..." She pauses, thinking for a long moment. "Interesting. Never met a mage, before, let alone a mage-cat. Is he always so...?" She lifts her shoulders in a shrug.
"So... which?" Felix asks, glancing back from the departing feline to his companion. "Furry? I think just 'round us. As far as I know I've only ever met two mages, an' I was killin' the other one, so I dunno if that counts as 'met' really. This one seems cool, though. Does a lot of shit to help us." A slight pause. "The other one wasn't a cat. At the time, at least. 'spose I can't speak to his general habits."
Linnaea lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't think that really counts as 'met', no," she agrees. "And well. As long as he's helping us, and on the same side, I don't really care if people are Garou, mages, or outer-space-aliens. I mean, all are of Gaia." She grins. "Unless, of course, they're not."
Felix laughs. "Yeah, unless they ain't. The other one wasn't. This one, impression I got is he's been helpin' out here a long time, but only a couple people knew 'til the changin' of the guard." He pauses slightly, tilting his head. "I dunno WHY he is. Maybe mages got jobs from Gaia too?"
"I mean, it's possible. Or he has a conscience and such. Or both." Linnaea shrugs one more time. "Why'd you get woken up like that?" she says, going back to what was mentioned a little while ago. "What'd you do, Felix-rhya?" Funny, that she assumes Felix did something.
"Nothin'!" Felix protests, quite possibly automatically, given the fact that it comes out before the flicker of startlement, the following brief narrow-eyed look, and the airy gesture and declaration, "...I'm feelin' magnanimous today; just Felix'll do." A brief pause and more normally, "That's the first time someone called me that. Weird. But genuinely, I didn't do nothin' this time. Unless you count askin' him a week or so back what they did now they were Guardians an' didn't have access to their gym an' shit, an' endin' up in fight club. Not that I'm complainin'."
Linnaea grins a little bit at Felix. "First time for everything," she says, "Felix-rhya." It's clear that the second time is /entirely/ intended to tweak the Galliard a little bit. "But well, not so bad. And yeah. I don't envy them the entire being out here, /all the time/," she admits. "All day, every day, and being so... away from things." She shakes her head.
"Hey, what'd I just say?" Felix says sternly, narrow-eyed again and giving her the emphatic finger-point, "...listen to your elders." Your slightly younger elders. "Somethin' somethin' higher station, whatever." He grins again, then. "Yeah. I mean, the caern is awesome. Amazin'. ...alucinante, apparently. But bein' out here this much gets me antsy already, an' I been back into town a handful. All the time? I'd lose my damn mind."
The Gaian outright giggles-- not a particularly frequently heard sound-- when Felix points at her. And then sticks her tongue out, briefly. "Spanish?" she asks. "And yeah." And then Linnaea pulls one knee to her chest, and rests her chin on it, looking over at Felix. When she speaks again, her tone is a little more serious. "So... hypothetically and theoretically speaking," the Brit queries, "what'd you do if I were to challenge you for Fostern, somewhen? Not until term is over, but... sooner than later."
Felix looks rather pleased with the giggle, truth be told. "Yeah, or possibly si. That's about half of what I know so far," he slightly exaggerates. There's that flicker of startlement again at the query, not quite entirely hidden, and he goes a bit thoughtful, and quiet for a second as well. She gets a sidelong, considering look. "We-ell," he says, "hypotheoretically speakin', I reckon I'd hafta start thinkin' of a good kinda challenge for a Theurge."
Linnaea continues to sit with her chin on her knee, and raises one hand to push her hair out of her face before wrapping her arms around her leg. Without much moving, she manages to nod, chewing on her lower lip with her teeth for a long moment. "Well then, that's rather better than most..." She trails off, and sticks her tongue out briefly one more time. "I suppose you ought to, yes. It... feels like something I need to do, at some point. And I figure that at some point I'll know precisely when."
"I reckon some point's a decent time to do this shit," Felix agrees, "That's always when I had it planned for. An' look how well that worked out!" He taps a toe absently, briefly looking thoughtful again, and then suspicious. "You ain't doin' this just to make me hafta pretend like I'm a responsible adult in front of folks, are you? 'cause there's still rainbow leggin's in the world an' I've still got fuckin' fantastic legs."
"The thought had occurred," Linnaea offers, "but no. At least, not wholly!" She grins once more. "I mean. Who else could I challenge? Who else, that is Fostern, do I know well enough and respect that they would, in fact, give me a fair challenge?" She lets the question linger in the air, and then continues. "Realistically... Charlene's my packmate. My tribemates are adren. Maddie is gone, wherever she ended up. Briari's my packmate." She shakes her head and shrugs.
Felix nods, glancing briefly upward with about half a smile, at the listing of the not-quite-possibilities. "Yeah, that was about the size of it for me, too. Different people, maybe slightly different categories, but yeah. After takin' out people who weren't Fostern, people I never really got to talk with much, an' packmates, it was pretty much down to Briari or Winter. Both Ragabash, but he's in my tribe, so." A pause, and he adds with a small upward turn of the hands and glance, and a tilt of the head, "...an' Briari an' me's like... oil an' vinegar."
Linnaea snickers a bit at the last part that Felix says. "Yeah well, I'm packed with her and I still don't always get on with her, and certainly not all the time," Lin points out. "It takes... a good bit of doing." The theurge shakes her head and sighs, almost wistfully. "She doesn't make it easy to get on with her."
"I pretty much hated her when we met," Felix says, "...don't hate her no more. Now an' then we even work okay together. But I ain't entirely sure we come from the same planet." He considers the Gaian's last comment for a moment before saying, "Don't reckon she does it on purpose. But she seems a lot better with computers'n people. ...I ain't all that great with computers, myself."
Linnaea lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "She's used to things going a certain way. When they don't, or when other people tell her that's not how life is," Lin says, "it gets... interesting. At least," she adds, "for a certain definition of interesting." She grins. "Then again. I'm better with spirits than people most of the time, myself."
Felix smiles crookedly for a moment. "People I'm pretty okay at, when I wanna be," he says, "...not so much spirits. Though maybe if I learned to speak their language it'd help. But I mean things like... well, there ain't that many people I've asked if they know the shit they just said's creepy." A shrug of his own. "Anyway, the point bein', I get the feelin' might be a lot of our challenges get worked out that way."
Linnaea grins and nods once again, her attention drifting to look around the caern, and her free hand resting on the ground. "I aced the test this morning, by the way," she offers cheerfully. "Hadn't realised that it was going to be that easy or maybe I would have tried to get it waved off."
"Nice!" Felix exclaims, and offers a fistbump. "No new shit hidden in that one, then? An' that leaves, what, tomorrow mornin' an' the one you gotta email, right? Then summer. Though, did you say you were gonna be takin' summer school?"
It takes Lin a fraction of a second to catch on to the fistbump, but she does, and then looks up and over into the branches of the tree for a long moment. "I didn't," she responds, and shrugs. "I'm not sure. If I do, it's only going to be one course, and such. This term was a lot and I don't really think I want to do that again. So if I take something over the summer it's just to keep the fall from being bloody ridiculous."
Felix nods and leans back a bit, stretching out his legs. "Well, good, 'cause summer school's a fuckin' waste of a good vacation. I wasn't sure, 'cause I remember you mentioned maybe havin' to use the new test stuff in the summer." A grin, "Plannin' on buildin' a bridge?"
Linnaea hmms, and lifts her shoulders. "Dunno," she responds. "I mean, I know /how/ to build a bridge, theoretically. I've built models, even! But where would I put a bridge, anyhow?"
"Over troubled water," Felix replies promptly, "We gotta have some of that around here somewhere. Oh, shit, you know what'd be fun when it gets hotter? River tubin'. Bet there's some decent tubes somewhere in Justin's junkyard."
Linnaea blinks a few times and makes a bit of an 'oh' shape. "No no," she retorts, and then grins at the Gnawer. "I can do one better than that." Her free hand idly traces patterns in the dirt, and she says, "To Terabithia."
Felix tilts his head, considering a moment before admitting, "I dunno that one, I don't think. But I reckon if it's to there AND over troubled water, that oughta narrow down the placement right quick."
The Gaian gives an easy grin. "It's a book. I think they made it into a movie, like..." Linnaea pauses, and counts backwards on her fingers. "Nine years ago now." She pauses and shakes her head. "Geez. It seems like /forever/ ago," she says.
"Well," Felix says, "nine years ago, I was nine. That does kinda seem like forever ago, yeah." He shifts position again, this time crossing his legs and balancing that way on the log. "So what's the book about?"
"I was eleven?" Lin says, with a slight grin. "It's a good book, though. It's about these kids that become friends when one loses a race to the other. They make a secret, imaginary place in the woods..." The theurge trails off. "One of them dies, though. But the other kid keeps the memory of his friend alive, by continuing to make the place they imagined together."
Felix's return grin is less slight and more mischievous, "My ID says I was 13?" He listens to the answer, watching her, and his brows go up a bit at the part just after she trails off. "One of 'em dies? That's pretty hardcore for a book about kids playin' make believe."
"Your ID lies," Lin points out, and there's a quiet nod. "One of them tries to go to Terabithia on their own, when they had always gone together, and falls into the creek. It's kind of about learning to take the good things and the memories, out of bad things that happen, I guess." A little less quietly, she says, "Apparently, it's one of the most frequently banned books over here. Which in my opinion, makes it worth reading for that alone, though really-- it's quite good."
"To your face an' with a smile," Felix agrees cheerfully, which is entirely true -- if you can pick the photo, why not make it a good one? -- "It knows its job an' it does what it's gotta do." He nods more seriously to her quiet explanation, and the bit about the banning gets a 'heh'. "What'd they ban it for, exposin' kids to death or somethin' else?"
Linnaea grins a bit at Felix's first statement, and then lifts her shoulders. "Supposedly. And because the imaginary kingdom of Terabithia includes magic and such, and gives kids power. I know there's a lot of places that treat anything having to do with magic as though it's the ultimate evil that people need 'protecting'," at this, the Gaian uses air quotes around the word, "from. Also," she adds, "it's got swear words. Such as damn. And hell."
"Well Jesus fuck we can't be lettin' kids get influenced by filth like that!" Felix exclaims, wide-eyed, "Next thing they'll be smokin' pot, sacrificin' chickens, an' takin' the good lord's name in vain!" This possibly puts a thought in his head, since he slides a hand in his pocket and comes out with the Altoids tin that generally holds his cigarettes. He doesn't open it as yet, though, instead just turning it in his hand. He's sitting crosslegged on one of the firepit logs, chatting with Linnaea, who's on the log beside him. "...people overreact to a lot of shit, for sure. Anyway, magic's awesome."
Linnaea starts laughing. Not just the slight bit that had happened earlier, but outright laughing, resting her forehead on her knee that is drawn up most of the way to her chest. "Next thing you know, they'll be playing dungeons and dragons," she informs Felix, mock-gravely. "And yeah. It is. You'll get no argument from me on that point."
Little Silvertip arrives from the north, the small white wolf skulking her way in like a pale ghost. Pausing on the rim, she sniffs at the air a few times, eyes narrowing just so-slightly.
Felix grins again, wider, at the laughter. "Well now you're just bein' silly," he accuses. "That was definitely one of the best parts of this whole thing, though, when it started up," he says, with a vague gesture of the tin toward the caern, bawn, or possibly world at large, "the magic thing." There's a tiny furrow of a brow and a glance toward the rim as if he thinks he might have caught a glimpse of movement, but he doesn't appear to immediately spot the wolf there.
"And so what if I am," Lin points out to Felix. "Sometimes, silly is good, though." The Gaian doesn't seem to spot Little Silvertip's arrival either, but she sees Felix looking in the direction and glances that way herself, head tilting to one side. "You should have seen me, the first time I went to the Umbra. It was like... birthdays and Christmas and Disneyland all run into one thing."
Little Silvertip peers down at the pair of teens for a moment, still sniffing at the air all the while. Then, once she seems satisfied that they aren't horrible monsters (or whatever she was peering at them to see), she resumes lurking her way down the trail into the Caern proper. She doesn't really announce her arrival, just arriving.
"I'm never silly. Coyote's way too strict for that. What would people think?" Felix says, and should probably be nominated for this year's Oscar in the category of Most Sincere and Convincing Delivery of Most Unbelievably Blatant Lie for the performance. He even manages a good two seconds more before the grin escapes, and he shrugs. "It was pretty amazing," he agrees, "an' Gifts, an' Rites. I went 'round for a while talkin' everyone I could into teachin' me those. Might start again if it got less busy." Around the time Little Silvertip actually enters the caern, he catches the movement again, and this time she's just near enough that he catches the cause as well, calling over, "Mornin'!"
"Hiya," Lin adds, following the Gnawer's line of sight to catch sight of the newly arriving Uktena. Felix just gets a grin and a small shaking of her head. "Methinks," she points out, in her best stating-the-obvious voice, "that he would /encourage/ you."
Little Silvertip slows for a moment, looking up and over from Felix, gaze lingering on Linnaea after she greets her. She continues on her way, though, heading near the Escarpment. She stops there, but continues to openly gawk at Linnaea.
"Do you? Well, accordin' to Lilah, I'm entirely encouragable," Felix replies, "so I dunno, might be your theory got somethin' to it." He taps a fingertip on the lid of the metal tin, idly, and watches the Uktena continue wandering. And... staring? He glances to Linnaea to work out why. The leggings do, admittedly, get the first filing as a possibility.
"Are you sure she wasn't saying that yer /incorrigible/?" Linnaea asks Felix, a bit of her regional accent slipping into the words. It takes her a moment to notice she's being stared at, and then she looks back at Little Silvertip, head tilted to one side. "Yes?" she asks, a slightly questioning tone.
Little Silvertip blinks owlishly at the question from Linnaea, like the question doesn't make any sense. She cocks her head the opposite direction, one ear going out to the side as she whines out a wordless question - not unlike a 'huh?'
"'s what I said, ain't it?" Felix replies, not doing quite as well with the deadpan this time. Still, A for effort! The tin in his hand rotates a couple times, opens once, releasing a faint scent of tobacco, and closes again, without anything being removed as yet. Just toying with it, idly, while he watches the interaction between the others.
Linnaea shakes her head at Felix, and there's a moment, before the cliath looks a long moment at Little Silvertip, and then stands, and then shifts to lupus with a soft 'whuff'. She is Rises-Like-the-Dawn-From-Night, first-ranked theurge of the Children of Gaia. There is a moment of pause following the introduction, and then a question. Why staring?
Little Silvertip trots forward, making her way over to go directly sniff at the Gaian. Little regard is given to the other's personal space; her tail raises, in case the other wants to recipricate. When she's satisfied, she backs up a few steps. This one is Little Silvertip Mauls the Horned Serpent, she introduces herself. Also, Little Silvertip who Slays Carnage-Ikthya and his mate, Eclipse-Ikthya and Little Silvertip who Brings Back Light's Gift to the Wolf People. Fourth ranked warrior of Uktena's tribe, alpha of Deep Waters under the same totem. Member of the Sept of the Three. Adopted pup of Driftwood Dances and his mate, Sister of Tempest's Wake, cousin of Storm of the North. The wolf's introduction goes fairly swifty for its length, Little Silvertip communicating it effortlessly. All that done, she adds that at her home sept, she is glad strangers introduce themselves most of the time.
Felix blinks at the introductions, glancing from one to the other. "Oh. You ain't met? I keep figurin' everyone who got here before me knows each other already," he says, "But I reckon I oughta know by now sometimes it takes a while before folks run into each other."
Rising-Dawn doesn't seem bothered by the sniffing, though she doesn't entirely reciprocate, a more general sniffing at the other before the Gaian momentarily lays down and looks up at Little Silvertip, ears perked in curiosity. Not, she affirms to Felix, before continuing. Rising-Dawn was cub here, at this Sept. Many, many moons ago. But most of her time is in two-leg places, now. That seems almost like an afterthought.
Little Silvertip wrinkles her nose, eyes wandering on up as she seems to try and thing of something. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to come to her, though. Cub here, the Uktena repeats. A few moments pass, before she shakes that off like dust on her coat. She turns and looks over towards Felix. Hadn't met, she affirms. Maybe saw at a moot. But Little Silvertip gets distracted some times.
"There's a lotta shit distractin'," Felix agrees, extending his legs to stretch them, "I never did manage to catch you an' ask what it was you were bindin' that Fetiling for, few months back."
Rising-Dawn gives a slow wag of her tail as she settles where she was, now laying down. Very many things, the theurge agrees, which is followed by a large lupine yawn.
Little Silvertip binds things to other things sometimes, the white wolf tells Felix, barely looking over his direction. And sometimes she doesn't but should have. The arctic wolf stretches out long, mirroring Rising-Dawn's yawn like it's infectious. Little Silvertip has other things that distract her. Other things at moots.
"Well, you said to ask in a couple days," Felix says, with a small shrug, and, "...I think it threw shit at me when I was leavin'." For once that sounds literal, though he currently sounds more thoughtful about it than bothered. He pops up to his feet, and stretches thoroughly.
Rising-Dawn twists one ear somewhat towards the conversation, and lolls her tongue. Rising-Dawn gets distracted too, the Gaian notes. Otter asks her pack to explore. So she explores. Sometimes time passes different. Sometimes time only seems to pass different.
Little Silvertip's head cocks to the side, looking from the Gaian towards Felix. Maybe it hasn't been a couple of days then? She suggests, like Linnaea's comments might apply to the world in general. Maybe it's the same day. Just very very long.
Felix cocks his head in return, as if considering this. "Does feel that way sometimes," he says, "...hm. Well, if it is, reckon I better go get me some lunch, 'cause it might be a hell of a long time 'til dinner. If y'all'll excuse me?" He shifts his weight, preparatory to walking but not quite taking the step yet.
The Gaian halfway nods, which doesn't quite look right in her current form, and then huffs, quietly. Maybe it is, Rising-Dawn agrees. Day. The moon rises, sets, the sun rises, sets. But what if we do not see it happen? It happens, or does it? Her head settles down on her front paws. Rising-Dawn is going to rest, before returning to two-leg places.
Little Silvertip edges away from Linnaea, giving her a bit of a leery look. The Uktena doesn't reply to either of them taking time to depart, instead edging away and watching the theurge as she leaves.
"Catch you later, Lin," Felix says to the Gaian, and to the Uktena, "I'll ask you again next time it seems like we mighta had a few days go by." He lifts a hand -- the one with the tin -- in a sort of wave to the pair of them, and heads off toward the treeline.
Rising-Dawn simply settles where she is, ears twisting a little bit towards the sound, and there's one more lupine yawn that follows. The Gaian is clearly making good on her intention to take a nap. Starting now.