Irina nods and then goes back to her soft melody.
Brightspot's ears shift in confusion, but she lays down to listen nonetheless. Soon enough, though, she's up and pacing restlessly again.
Clouded Sky enters from the forest.
Brightspot is moving restlessly, pacing, just a bit aways from the tree itself.
Talks to Ghosts pads in and looks around at who else is in the clearing before shifting up to homid.
John approaches the clearing, looking around at the others gathered here.
Anne wanders out of the woods at last, having stood in the shelter of the trees for a long time. She has a pleased smile on her face as she crosses over to sit beneath the story tree itself. "Good evening, everyone." Irina stops playing as more and more people arrive. She settles back to observe.
Laughs trots out of the forest, and her tail waves happily as she sees others already here.
Brightspot's restless pacing halts as Anne arrives. The cub sits, still not totally out of the underbrush surrounding the area.
John lifts a hand in greeting, settling down several feet from the tree to listen.
Alexander nods quietly as he steps out of the trees from the direction of the Caern.
Anne glances over the other Galliards quickly, giving Brightspot an encouraging smile; she turns her attention to Laughs. ~Would you be willing to start?~
Laughs gives a happy bark. She would be delighted to! She takes a moment to look around at the group, and choose a good spot, under the branches of the tree itself. There, she sits, and looks up at the moon. One has a story about a time long ago, about an ancestor one has. One will tell it as this one learnt it.
It was a full moon, under a winter sky. The Impergium had ended only three winters before, but already the apes were growing bolder. They no longer cowered about their fires, but carried fire about with them. They no longer used the ways of the true hunter, stalking and catching their prey at the length of their arms, but struck from afar with their Weaver weapons. Worse, they snared other creatures with their Weaver ways, binding them into the web and killing the Wyld in them. The first creature they did this to was Wolf; then Horse, and Cow, and Sheep followed.
Laughs looks at Brightspot for a moment, who has heard the story before, then continues. The worst thing, the very worst, was this. Their Weaver-caught animals were weak, and soft, and silly. They wondered into the forest or the deep snow, and were lost. They sickened and died, and their bodies eaten by the eaters-of-dead-flesh. They were killed by the Weaver-caught wolf, who was called Dog. The apes blamed Wolf for this. Garou had culled apes, to keep them in balance with Gaia. Now the apes killed wolves, but there was no thought of balance. The apes killed every wolf they saw.
Robert enters from the forest.
Laughs grows grave as she tells the story, her tail still. Her growl takes on a deeper tone, her manner almost becoming that of another, older Garou. The Red Talon, NeverTurnsBack, had seen this. He had foretold it, when talk of ending the Impergium first began. He had fought many battles when peaceful words failed. Now he was proved right, and as the Elder in his lands, he defied the other tribes. In his own lands, he kept the Impergium alive. He and his packmates culled the apes, and where the apes grew too bold, he Raged, the taste of ape blood and flesh sharp in his mouth. (Laughs-at-Sunbeams shivers, involuntarily).
The Lupus Half-moon Eagle-Sees-All, of the Children of Gaia, came to judge NeverTurnsBack for his crimes: for culling the apes, and eating their flesh, a traitor to the Litany and the Garou. NeverTurnsBack was stripped of rank and tribe, named Eater-of-Apes, and Hunted from his land; but he escaped the Hunt. He returned. For every wolf-skin he saw, he took the life of an ape, and left the skin for the other apes to find.
Laughs pauses to run her gaze around the group, then looks back up at the moon. The Homid Full-moon, Silver-Bites-Deep, came to kill the ronin, Eater-of-Apes. Eater-of-Apes showed himself, and Silver-Bites-Deep gave chase. Eater-of-Apes ran past the piles of wolf-furs, heaped among the apes' dens, but Silver-Bites-Deep still gave chase. Eater-of-Apes ran past wolf-cubs, starving to death because their mother had been killed, but Silver-Bites-Deep still gave chase. Eater-of-Apes ran on into the Umbra, running through the blackness inside the Weaver's webs, that grew with each new ape born. Silver-Bites-Deep still gave chase.
Anne watches and listens, no reaction other than curiousity on her face.
Brightspot, though she knows the story, still listens closely, her ears cocked forward.
Clouded Sky's ears turn outward, one at a time, and then return forward as she watches the cub's telling.
John listens silently, thoughtful expression on his face.
Irina taps her fingers on her lips as she listens.
Laughs-at-Sunbeams' words, mostly body-language in the wolf-form, take on a speed and rhythm that make the story something that is almost a dance. The pace quickens as she describes the chase. Eater-of-Apes returned to the Realm, to the land where he had been born. He turned to face his pursuer, and both prepared to fight with honor, for Eater-of-Apes had once been an Elder. They each called on everything they had: every skill, every Gift, every sense and muscle and bone. Neither could seem to gain an advantage over the other. Luna grew red, and the blood of both warriors soaked the ground.
Laughs-at-Sunbeams' story-dance slows. The cub's head droops, as she nears the end. Luna sank into sleep, and Helios awoke to light the land. Both were lying exhausted, weak as newborn cubs, trapped in the form of their birth. As they lay there, an ape found them, side by side. The ape killed the lupus where he lay, and tended the homid's wounds. That was the death of the ronin, Eater-of-Apes, who had been the Red Talon Elder NeverTurnsBack.
Robert still stands on the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree, watching with interest.
Brian slips into the clearing inobtrusively, and claims another outlying tree against which to lean.
Laughs lifts her head once more, the story over. With a shake of her head, she settles her fur and seats herself, as she looks curiously about her for the reaction to her tale.
Anne stirs herself and nods. "A good," she pauses, then starts over, face contorting a little in pain. ~A good story, a good warning. Thank you.~
Alexander takes a deep breath as the story concludes, but doesn't offer any comment.
Clouded Sky shifts her weight a little. The question clear in her movement, she wonders if Silver-Bites-Deep learned anything from his part in the tale.
Anne tilts her head, slanting a curious look at Laughs.
Laughs makes no direct answer; she does not know Silver-Bites-Deep's thoughts. She knows only that the full moon is a fitting time to tell the story, and the story is one that gives something to think on. One can be both right and wrong at the same time. The opinion can be right, but the deed wrong, and... oh, well, it's a lot to go over. Can we have another story?
Brian stiffens, slightly, and rubs absently at his shoulder.
Anne turns to Brightspot, eyebrows quirking upwards. "Are you willing to tell us a story tonight?"
Scott enters from the forest.
Laughs cocks her ears towards Brightspot, tail thumping an encouragement.
Brightspot emerges from her place just within the underbrush, indicating with no great certainty that she is. Her steps slow as she heads for the spot Laughs had used to tell her story from, and she shifts up as she goes, smoothing her clothing nervously as they reappear.
Casper and Elan enter from the forest.
Mark waves to Scott and turns his attention to the next storyteller.
Kasie takes a deep breath, her eyes fixed on the ground half way between herself and her audience, and her hands tightly clasped before her. "My dad," she starts, but her voice isn't loud enough to carry. The girl licks her lips and takes a a fleeting glance up at those watching before dropping her eyes to start again, louder this time, "My dad used to tell me stories whenever he came back from his business trips, each time he would tell me the next part, it never really seemed to have an ending. Erik said I could tell any kind of a story, it didn't have to be a Garou one or anything, just one I liked, so I thought maybe I'd tell you part of that one. It's about a dog named Meg."
Elan brings Casper into the area of the tree and goes to sit next to John.
Scott moves over to settle down near Mark before giving a general nod of greeting.
Kasie continues, a tremble in her voice, "Meg is a collie, and she lived on a farm where they raised horses, you know, show horses and jumpers and stuff. She hadn't lived there too long because she was young and before this she lived at a different farm with an older dog, Cory." Though Kasie isn't holding index cards or notes of any sort, she sounds as if she was reading the story word for word , "Cory taught her a lot, everything she knew... even though the people were the ones who thought they had trained her, it was really him." She pauses to take a breath, even that seeming to come at a pre-arranged time. "He told her about her jobs, you know, protecting her owners' farm and animals and stuff. Once she was old enough, she was sent to her new place, the farm she was working at now."
John nods to Elan and Casper, still listening to the Fianna cub speak.
Casper looks weary and red-eyed. He follows Elan to John and sits down.
Kasie says "When spring came the mares started having their foals, and at first the horses had to stay in the barn most of the time." As she gets caught up in the thread of her own story, Kasie relaxes slightly, occasionally even making some small hand gesture to help illustrate a point. "Later, once the babies were a little older and the weather was warmer, they were kept outside, even at night. Meg was very busy guarding them, and she tried to remember everything that Cory had taught her."
Clouded Sky tilts her head, her right ear twitching as she tries to follow the story with it's strange concepts and words.
Kasie says "Meg kept watch over them, and protected them when she needed to... though never from anything bigger or more dangerous than a fox. Then one day she found a scent. Meg had never smelled it before, but she knew just what it was. It smelled like herself, but different, wild. It was the scent of an animal Cory had warned her over and over about. It was a wolf."
Laughs walks her forepaws forwards until she can lower her chest to the ground. Then she rests her head on the ground, turned towards Kasie. Her ears twitch slightly as she listens, appearing to follow the homid language, at least for the most part.
Elan smiles at a Dog story, and lays on his stomach to listen.
Kasie says "She kept finding his smell all around her owner's land and she increased her patrols. She didn't go inside to sleep anymore, and she hardly even stopped to eat. She spent all night with the horses, circling around them and listening to the soft sounds the mares and foals made. Always she watched, she wasn't about to let him attack /her/ herd!" Kasie stands a bit taller, her voice growing stronger as it mirrors her story's emotion, "Even though she was always watching for him, she never actually saw the wolf. She only smelled him, everywhere. This made her mad and she was even more careful to watch for him, but she never found more than his scent. She decided to follow his trail, she wasn't about to wait for him to try something! Once she found him she was going to tell him... Well, she wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, but she was going to make him leave before he could hurt one of her charges!"
Kasie says "Meg followed his scent for a long time and got further and further away from the horses she was supposed to be protecting, but she was mad and was determined to find him! After a while, though, she thought about what she was doing. She was getting awfully far away, what if he was back there right now? Meg turned and ran for home as fast as she could."
Kasie says "As she got closer she heard the horses neighing and the humans yelling, and she knew she had made a big mistake. She ran as fast as she could, but it was too late. There was blood all over one corner of the field, and there was a foal, all ripped up and dead. Meg hung her head as the humans noticed her. She didn't need to hear them yelling to know it was her fault. Hers, and /his/."
Kasie's voice drops once more, but this time to lend to the story's atmosphere, "A few nights later, long after her owners were in bed, Meg caught the wolf's scent, stronger than ever before. Her hackles raised as the wind blew it right into her face. She started to growl, but this time she stood her ground and didn't try to follow it. She searched the shadows, looking for him, waiting. At first she saw only darkness, then one shadow moved within the others as he stepped into view. Meg tensed, her ears laid back as she snarled at him. The wolf only looked at her," Kasie raises her head, her expression calm and her eyes peaceful. "This only made Meg madder and she stepped towards him and accused, 'You killed the foal!' Again, he did nothing but look at her. The young dog sneered at him, 'Not even going to say you didn't do it? You're a wolf, go ahead and lie!' This time he answered her, his voice as calm as hers was angry, 'If I said I didn't do it, would you believe me? No. You don't trust me, but do you trust your own nose? Was my scent there?' "
Kasie says "Now Meg's humans had dragged her away before she could even check for a scent, so Meg didn't answer him. Besides, she didn't need to. He was a wolf, who else would have done such a thing? She growled at him. The wolf watched her and again told her to go and check, to go check now, that the scent would still be there. This made the dog growl even more. She didn't /want/ to go back! She didn't want to see the place where her owners lost a foal because she hadn't done her job! She couldn't tell him this, though, so instead she snarled at him, 'You just want me to go so you can kill another horse!' Now his expression changed," Kasie looks disgusted as she tells what the wolf said, " 'You will believe what you wish," he told her, then he turned and left."
Kasie says "Meg kept guarding all that night and the next. She ran hard, trying not to think of his words. Cory told her wolves were bad, and he knew everything! Why had she even listened to that wolf, she should of just jumped him! She ran and ran, but she couldn't stop thinking. Finally, panting, she looked in the direction of the field where it had happened. Before she knew it, she was walking in that direction. But she was getting slower and slower as she went, until she was creeping up on the spot. Meg lowered her nose, searching for the scent she knew had to be there. She searched and searched, but there was no smell of wolf anywhere near there, just the smell of a dog she didn't know. That couldn't be right, she thought and tried again, but found the same thing. She didn't understand it, but the wolf had been telling the truth. She went back to the herd, and when the wolf returned the next night, they talked and Meg learned that maybe Cory hadn't known everything after all."
The young Fianna pauses a moment, glancing up at her listeners as if she forgot they had been there. Looking down as she raises a hand to push the hair back from her face, she quietly says, "That's it, that's where this part had ended." She pauses, then adds, "Erik helped me practice, lots." Without hardly a glance around, Kasie moves away from the 'stage' of the Story Tree, shifting back down into lupus as she goes.
Anne says, quietly, "Thank you, Kasie. That was well-told, and a good story." She glances around at the listeners again.
Elan smiles at the tale.
Irina smiles encouragingly.
Robert gives the young Fianna a smile and a nod. "Nicely told."
Brightspot's tail wags a few times at the comments and she seems to relax a bit as she gets out of the spotlight.
Moon Otter slips in silently as the Fianna's tale draws to a conclusion. As usual, he stays well clear of the crowd, settling for a place in the shadows where he can remain mostly undisturbed and unnoticed.
Anne purses her lips thoughtfully, then glances at Clouded Sky. "And you? I believe you had a story?" Her voice turns upwards on the last, a slightly hopeful note to it.
Clouded Sky seemed still to be thinking about Brightspot's story, but she turns to Anne and whuffs an affirmative. I do.
Anne spreads her hands and tilts her head again, this in an invitational gesture, as she continues looking at Clouded Sky.
Clouded Sky stretches, tail curling tightly over her back as she makes her way to the place from which the others had spoken. There was, in the time long past, a warrior among the garou. He followed the way of the full moon and Luna shone in his eyes and in his heart. Many songs were sung of his victories over the Wyrm, of his honor and valor.
The young galliard continues with her story, an ear turning as she glances out over the listeners. Gaia's warrior knew also the way of the half moon. As brave and clever as he was at war, he was better still at leading his people. He led them in battle against the Wyrm, and against the Weaver where she grew too strong. He kept peace within his pack, following the ways. Yet, as the days grew darker and the strength of the enemy grew, the warrior became troubled. He saw difficulty among his people. Everywhere he looked, he found arguments and treachery. Garou spent more effort and blood fighting garou than Wyrm. The worst was between tribes. Blood was shed and warriors died fighting for the right to defend Gaia. This is not the Way, he thought. Gaia has more need of us than this selfishness allows. Luna does not strengthen our days and nights so that we can waste ourselves this way.
Clouded Sky stands still for a long moment. She breathes deeply, half closing her eyes and then goes on. He began speaking more to his tribe, and when a great moot was called, he took the bones and his turn to speak. He told his tribe his thoughts. He told all the tribes his thoughts. He said, We are more than simple rage! We are the protectors of Gaia. We can not afford to waste our strength fighting and dying here. Gaia can not afford for us to do so! As we moot, more of the wyld succumbs to the weaver; more of the land turns to scab. And, amongst all that, the Wyrm grows in power and we do not do half what we are able.
Clouded Sky drops her gaze after repeating the warriors tirade. The warrior was shouted down. They were silent enough while he held the bones, but once passed on they turned on him. Fool, they called him, faceless and craven.
Anne nods a little as Clouded Sky mentions the response; once again, there is no judgement on her face, just curiousity and attentiveness.
Clouded Sky lifts a forepaw, momentarily seeming to consider something, and then replaces it. He tried more than once. Each moot he spoke, until the alpha would no longer give him the bones. Each moon he noticed the wyrm grow in strength, and Gaia's suffering rose. When finally the alpha would not hear his words any longer, he left his tribe and place.
Robert smiles a small, wry smile at the wolf as she continues.
Clouded Sky turns her gaze heavenward, ears laying flat against her head. Ronin, alone, he journeyed far into the umbra. Through many days he traveled, reaching at last the penumbra where he rested. A lone wanderer found him there. A seeker, come looking for the wisdom of the warrior gone. The ronin turned his ears back and his lips curled from his teeth. ~Trying to get them to understand... Atempting to get the different tribes to act together is as useless as biting water.~ he said. And thus he was named.
Irina smiles a little sadly.
Clouded Sky licks her nose as she sits back on her haunches.
Elan gives a nod to the lupus, and looks around to see who's next.
Touch Deer walks quietly into the clearing that surrounds the Story Tree from the west, stopping once he's within sight of the crowd and looking over everyone present.
Anne looks around again, after murmured thanks to Clouded Sky. After a pause on Scott, she says to the others, "Scott also had a story, but his will be longer, and we've decided it would be best done next month, at or near Moot. But if any of the rest of you want to tell a story, you would be welcome. I know Brian tells good stories; I've never heard most of the rest of you, and I never intended for _only_ Galliards to tell stories at this." She gives a quick grin. "Just mostly them."
Touch Deer moves to a vacant spot and sits down to listen.
Clouded Sky quirks an ear back, promising to someday tell the story of Anubis's journey to find Biting Water, and how Desert Also Dances Who Was Hatched From An Egg returned to the Wheel Renewed. Clouded Sky then moves to the side of her packmate.
Elan stands up, and clears his throat. He walks over to the tree. Elan turns to the audience. "My packmate Gabriel told me this story, and I thought it was cool. So I'd like to tell it to you. It's, uh, not very long at all. But it kinda makes you think."
Brightspot lowers her head down to her paws, her eyes on Elan as she listens.
Elan clears his throat again, and starts, his voice melodic and calm. 'A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous Zen temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another, smaller temple where there lived a very old Zen master. One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
'When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master. "Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you."
After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden. "There," said the old man, "you can put me back now."'
Elan looks out at the gathering. "Um, like I said, I thought it kinda made you think."
Touch Deer liked that story, judging by his smile.
John's lips quirk upward in a slight smile.
Elan nods to Anne, and goes to sit down again.
Irina chuckles softly.
Brightspot's tail wags as she tells Elan she liked his story.
Casper smiles to Elan.
Clouded Sky looks to Moon Otter to see if the story made more sense to his more experienced ears.
Alexander murmurs something about 'fucking Zen masters,' but even he seems to have enjoyed the story.
Anne chuckles slightly. She looks around again, expression and posture inviting. "Anyone else? Galliards, feel free to also tell another one if you want."
Moon Otter doesn't seem to lean one way or the other. Sounds like a Stargazer thing.
Still rubbing his shoulder as if in pain, Brian slips out of the clearing as inobtrusively as he entered.
Irina shifts slightly where she sits, her eyes on the ground. "I have another one, though it is more of a general fable."
Anne nods at Irina in indication.
Irina smiles gently and stands, her eyes still on the ground. "Well once upon a time, when all creatures lived in the water, there was a group of frogs. They were happy in their pond, living together and arguing with other frog clans over food, and who had the best swimming currents. All except a bright yellow one with a restless heart, the hundreth egg of five hundred. One day she struck out into the deep waters in search of meaning, and swam farther than any of her siblings or cousins or parents or grandparents ever had."
Irina says "She met all sorts of strange fish, and new insects. The latter were very tasty, so she went even further in search of more. One day, when she had a nice juicy bug in her tongue, she heard a voice. 'Don't eat me, please.' It said. 'I haven't ever harmed another creature, and my family would miss me.' The little yellow frog might not have hesitated, except for that last. She too had a family, and though she had left them, she still missed them and cared for them. So she held out her tongue to where she could peer at the little fly. 'Little one, I am hungry, and it is the way of frogs to eat flies. And I am tired and hungry from swimming all day.'"
Irina says "Well the little fly was frantic to save its own life, and it was also crafty and had seen many things from the air that the little frog could not have seen from the water. It gathered its dignity around it, such as it could stuck to the tongue of a frog and said. 'What if I could show you a place where you would not need to swim to catch your food, where there where new adventures, and new creatures to meet? I can you know. It is the gift that I was given when things were made, just as you were given the gift to live both in water and in air. Otherwise, how could we be talking?'
The little frog pondered this for so long, her tongue got dry, her survival impulse fighting with the spirit of adventure that led her this far. Finally, her curiousity won, and she said to the little fly. 'Show me this place where one can eat without having to swim.' So the little fly on the end of her tongue directed the frog to the sand beach at the edge of the water."
Irina says "The little fly urged the frog up onto the beach. 'Here we are. Just walk up on that which does not move.' The frog stared at it for a moment and said to the fly. 'I have never seen anything like that. Is it safe?' The little fly laughed. 'Nothing is safe, but I have done what I said I would do. Let me go.' The frog stared at this strange unmoving water for a little longer, then released the fly. It flew up and away, out of the reach of her tongue. Since she just lost her dinner, and no other flies came to where she sat in the water, she took all her courage and put her feet into motion. When she hit the sand, her feet would not swim properly and so she fell. The heaviness of the land without water weighed on her, but the feeling of the dry sand under her feet intrigued her, so she pushed herself further up the beach."
Irina says "Finally, exhausted, she stopped trying to swim up the beach. She feared that without swimming she would fall, as she always had before. This time, though, she stayed right where she was. A curious sandfly saw this strange thing on the beach and flew toward her. She had just enough energy to catch it, and this time she ate it before it could talk her out of her meal like the last fly had. It tasted very good, and she realized that the first fly had told her true, she had not had to swim to catch this fly.
However, she was very tired from getting out of the water, so she slept for a whole turning of the day and night. When she woke up again, she realized that her family would worry about her. She also wanted to show them this new, strange, marvellous place. So with effort, she pushed herself back into the water and swam home. She arrived with a light heart, and sparkling eyes."
Irina says "The village elders, however, did not believe her story, and thought that the idea of water that did not move and was hard to swim was ludicrous. They laughed at her and ran her out of their meeting saying that she was too young and had out-swam her senses. Several of the younger frogs, however, were intrigued by her story, and asked her to tell it again. Then they wanted her to show them this marvellous place. So with the boldest of the young frogs, the yellow frog went back to land. This time they took some of the strange out-of-water leaves. These they brought back to the elders.
With such evidence of a new place, the older frogs could not say that it did not exist or was a sun-dream. They went with the young frogs for the next trip and found the new place very strange indeed, but not bad. However, the elders realized what the young frogs did not. That though the land was very interesting and had a lot of food, the water still had a lot of things that were good and were necessary to frog-kind. So they decreed that frogs should live in both. And that is the way things became and are to this very day."
Irina bows a little. "I thank my listeners for their attention to my humble story." Then she settles down out of the circle.
Elan nods and smiles. "That was cool," he says.
Robert nods appreciatively. "A nice little tale."
Brightspot chuffs softly, I like stories like that.
Irina looks up and smiles again. "Thank you."