2018.07.25: Wolfing Around

Wolfing Around
Thanks to Dragomir and his pack, Lleu survived his First Change. Halona teaches him about how to shift and Donnachaidh gets to wolf around for the first time.
IC Date	Wednesday, July 201825th,
IC Time	20:12:00.269719 2018.
Players	Lleutrim, Halona, Iris
Location	Caves - Natural Cavern - and Deep Forest
Spheres	Shifter Gaian Garou

Caves - Living Quarters(#13672RAMU)

This deep underground cave is built off the natural cavern. The walls are made of solid rock, and the entire area is lit by bioluminescent moss lights which grow naturally off the moisture and in the cracks in the wall. This main living area has some natural faces and rock groupings which have been arranged in furniture of some kind. What amounts to smooth rock couches and even a stone coffee table of a kind. Bookshelves have been ca25thrved into the walls and all the amenities you might expect in the perfect little underground cave home. A natural water source trickles down through the cracks in the wall into a stone basin which overflows into a drain groove carved in the floors and off and away it goes.

Some wooden furniture has also been arranged down here, including chairs and a table - some loose cabinetry and other amenities which make it look more like a natural living location. --

Cub! Yay! Halona is wandering around, cleaning up human stuff. They're so gross in general. Not that anyone here is a slob, mind you, but still. Little things. And smells. Good lord. And you need THUMBS to clean up after them. So she's just about got all that done and is just settling in to flop down and rest for a while

It is possible that Lleu was a bit torn up after his First Change, though Dragomir pinned him down for the most part until his wild thrashing about abated and Lleu had passed out, exhausted beyound measure. Still, he's mostly rested up and now healed. The great climatic ejaculation of all his building rage seems to have purged him of a good deal of his 'insanity' and left him clearer headed. Even if he still needs to learn how to control the shapechange and .. doesn't actually remember what happened Sunday night. Except the lead up to it.

Donnachaidh comes up stairs carrying his ruck pack and heads over to the stream that runs through the cave, "Like-the-Wind-rhya, I finished cleaning everything up in the training area. Raked and swept." Now he looks ready to wash up some clothes.

Halona nods to Lleutrim and gives him a smile. She watches him moving toward the stream and shakes her head. "Before you bathe..." She grins, beaming him the BIGGEST smile possible. It's one of THOSE smiles that says 'Oh, you're not done yet'. "You need to shift. You'll heal faster, you'll feel better"

The ruck pack is dropped by the water. Lleu turns his head and eyes Halona. "Shift?" He hasn't, not since Sunday night's fiasco. He brushes some dirt from the knees of his khaki pants and walks over a little closer. "I was told ... that it happened. But I don't remember it, Like-the-Wind-Rya. I don't know how to do it again."

Halona nods, beaming the brightest smile IN THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD at Lleutrim. "Right. So it's time. You don't want to be stinky human butt forever, right? Come on. Come here."

Whoa. Halona looks kind of evil smiling like /that/. Lleu eyes her suspiciously, "If it's true that I can change into a wolf, that could be interesting. I'm not so sure about the rest of it." He arches a brow at her, "Do I really stink to you?" He bathes! Though soap may not be given to him to do it with, I dunno. He comes on back to where she is waiting. "Should I ... remove my boots? What about my clothes? I think what I was wearing was ruined, Sunday."

Halona nods to Lleu, still smiling. "Mmmmmm... stink? No. But your scent is strong. You're sweaty and a little dirty and somewhere along the way, you got into some...." She leans in and sniiiiffs deeply. "Pine. I don't like pine." She nods, motioning in his direction. "Strip down or you'll mess up your clothes and you don't have very many." She does the same thing. NeKkId! Wooooot!

Lleutrim frowns and adds, "Come to think of it, when I have seen Howling-Wind-Rhya change, nothing bad happened to /his/ clothes." Aye, he worked up a sweat working in the lower cavern. Whatever else he is, Donnachaidh doesn't shirk doing his chores. Both of his brows rise, "Everyone likes the smell of ..." Strip. Man, this /is/ just like bootcamp. Next thing you know she'll stick her hands into rubber gloves, make them ice cold and tell him it's time for his hernia test. Turn your head and cough, soldier!

Lleu grimaces, "Sort of inconvient to turn up naked every time you change into a wolf and back, isn't it?" He takes a seat and removes his boots, then stands and pulls off his shirt. He probably has some injuries left over and bruises, but no serious scars yet. Cub. Not liking very much to strip completely naked in front of Halona, Lleu glances around to make damn sure Faith isn't around before he goes dropping his pants.

Halona nods. "THere are ways around it. Let's teach you to shift, then we'll find someone to dedicate some clothes for you, then you don't tear them every time you go rawrface." She's all nekkid too and she sits down, folding her legs under her. She's au naturale. Razors? Fuck those things. Pretty girl, lots of scars. "Alright. Sit down and close your eyes."

Well, you know, he is male so he's looking. No, not bad at all and a better view this time than when she was bathing before. Donnachaidh sits himself down across from her and you know what? He doesn't shave either! Not except his head and face, sometimes. Au naturale, hairy legs and all. They match! Except he lacks the scars and might be a little fascinated by Halona's.

Until he's told to close his eyes. Lleu does so, seated crosslegged with his hands laying lightly over his ankles. He tries to relax, listening.

There's a long one that goes down the inside of her thigh, a few more shallow ones that crisscross her lower leg, a few more on her belly, and one that bisects her left breast, just above the nipple and it's darker, almost like a tattoo and she wears it with pride. Her posture is absolutely perfect and she doesn't even seem to mind the dirt going into uncomfy places. "Okay. So you've spent all your life as a human. You've never thought of yourself as anything BUT human. And now, if what you said the other day is true, you consider yourself a monster. That also isn't true and I'm really sorry we didn't get to our lesson before all that."

Lleutrim doesn't open his eyes, "I used to dream of shapeshifting into a wolf. When I was young. But it was only dreams." And nightmares, sometimes but he doesn't mention them. "My uncle always made me think of monsters. I don't think he really was one though." Maybe. Donnachaidh quiets, focuses on his breathing to try and relax, receptive to listening to what Halona might teach him.

Boop! Iris appears from the umbra right beside the pair, settled down on the ground already like she'd been there the whole time. No sound from her though, she's not interrupting or instigating anyone opening their eyes and noticing her at all.

Halona nods, giving Lleutrim a smile. Her eyes only closed briefly, and now she watches the new cub. She scoots closer and gives Iris a little smile. She lowers her voice to speak to Lleutrim, moving closer. "Okay, so take that feeling that you had. The wind in your fur, running, just running and running right? Take that and hold it into your mind. Remember what that felt like. Call upon those memories - not the ones of your uncle, but those times when you were free and running with the grass under your paws and all the exciting smells and tastes in the air and on the ground."

His eyes open a little when Halona scoots closer. Lleu is surprised to see Iris seated /right/ there too! But he's ... much calmer now. He closes his eyes and tries to think about sitting here naked while these women gather around him. None of them are Faith.

Dreams, lots of dreams. Memories of ... past lives? Couldn't be. But they /feel/ like memories. They are easy for Lleu to remember, ingrained now. So he sits there quietly and thinks about how it feels to /be/ a wolf in those dreams, in those memories. Running, bounding, strong and fast, fleet of foot. Ripping through the trees, the smell of pines...

Halona nods, leaning in a little bit, over her folded legs, her voice soft and almost crooning. "Feel it? Doesn't it feel nice? Normal? Like you were meant to be a wolf?" She takes in a breath and lets it out slowly. "There is something inside of you. Power. Something bestoyed to you by Gaia herself, a thing that you can call upon to help you along. Find that thing," she whispers, just loud enough for her voice to carry.

If it makes anyone feel better, Iris has zero curiosity about the human form. You seen one dick, you seen 'em all, you know? Still no interrupting, of course, this is important business and figuring out how to control your shifting can be weird and awkward at first. Nope, she just chills out, being quiet and mentally documenting progress while also lording her supreme mastery and abundance of pants over everyone silently.

Lleutrim only sits there crosslegged and tries to do what Halona bids him to do. His breathing shifts and picks up a little, feeling /something/ but whether it is this power she speaks of, who knows?

Halona thinks human dicks look weird ANYWAY and she's not REAL crazy about woofy ones EITHER, but that's another story. "There you go," she murmurs, easing just a teensy bit closer. "You're feeling it. I can see the way you're breathing a little faster. Find that, hold onto it. Hold tight," she orders softly. She's just a few inches away from Lleutrim. "Feel the wolf inside you. It wants out. It needs out. It's a part of you, just like your arms or your legs. Feel it and bring that to the front."

How to hold to it tightly? How to bring it /forward/? Lleu has no idea but he tries to focus on it, tries to FEEL it and encourage the wolf within - if he really has any inner such wolf. There might still be doubts even after all that has happened around him and to him. He breathes a little harder, trying but he only sits there and nothing happens.

Halona watches the new Cub, watches him struggle. "Don't get frustrated with it. Maybe you're trying too hard. Step back a little," she murmurs encouragingly. "Go back and remember that feeling. You're doing fine. You're doing a great job. It takes practice."

Iris doesn't interrupt! One teacher at a time, stay away from too many cooks in the kitchen, and all that.

Lleutrim grimaces. Aye, probably trying too hard - and not knowing what he's doing. He peeks a glance at Iris but she's being so good, sitting there quietly. Expectant, maybe. Eyes closed once more, Donnachaidh tries to slowly recollect the memories, that feeling of being a wolf. What it seemed to feel like i his dreams when he was someone else and slippped his man form for that of the wolf, frolicing in snow, hunting after a stag with packmates.... he's real quiet sitting there with his eyes closed and tries again.

Halona nods her encouragement, giving Lleutrim a smile. "Good. Good. Can you feel it?" she whispers. "Now, reach out and take hold of it. Remember what that was and make it real."

And then before Halona's and Iris's eyes, Lleutrim manages it! It's awkward, a little jerky and slow and ... it looks rather painful. He bares his teeth even as his strives to push through... BUT, his form does change! His body distorts through the forms, growing larger and more forward onto his hands which then become paws! Until finally, he's on all fours and there is a large grey wolf with ruddy tints to his flanks!

Lleu-wolf's thick tail sticks out stiffly behind him in surprise! Silvery grey eyes blink and he sniffs the air, tense and tingly.

---

Lleu-wolf

This is a large grey wolf that is notably taller and heavier boned than many, weighing around 160 lbs. Standing more than three feet high at the shoulders and nearly six feet long in the head and body, without counting the tail, this male lupus would make a human hunter a fine trophy.

A warm grey color over all, the thickly pelted wolf has dark, black agouti tipped hair around the face, down the back, through the shoulder bar, and a smoky black tipped tail. The grey gives way to a ruddier cinnamon or almost blood stained hue down the sides around the flanks and haunches. Pale, nearly white-cream markings contrast and define the face with darker grey, nearly black, over and between the eyes and down the cheeks. Pale silvery grey eyes are watchful, ears erect and alert. The tail is bushy, thick, and full of health.

http://coh.spork.com/index.php?title=Lleutrim

---

"Yay! You did it!" Halona slips forward and BAMWOOF just an inch or two from Lleutrim's face and she headbutts him happily. <<You did it!>> ANd he can UNDERSTAND IT. That's gotta be weird as fuck. SHe noses him in the shoulder and then frolicks around in a little circle, poking him in the butt with her nose. >>Did it! Good job!<<

"Heeeeeey, way to go!" Iris says, and whips out a treat for Lleu! It's a sugar cube, she's giving him one of the treats she gives her horse, but you know. Whatever!

Whoa! Not only does he see Halona shift right before his face and get head butted, but he DOES understand her! Next thing he knows, Lleu-wolf's getting a cold nose poked into his butt! He leaps foward, tail suddenly tucked with surprise, and then turns quickly. His eyes are bright and less startled than looking HAPPY! He did it!

The male wolf bounds back closer to Like-the-Wind-rhya and sticks his nose against her fur to sniff at her. Instinct, it's a strange thing. The male rubs his face against her shoulder and holding his tail up, he then bounces over to bump Iris! Lleu-wolf stops and licks her ear but he's not interested in the sweet treat.

Like the Wind tips back her head and lets out a hooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwl that ... it's in a CAVE, Halona. And it echoes. A LOT. The sound bounces around the cavern, taunting eardrums and making toofs vibrate, but she does it anyway. <<HE DIIIIIIID IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!>> A WOOOOOOOOOO! She's poked and she hops around in the big room, and her tail spins a little and she actually.. takes... to the air? What?

"Ahhhhhhh! My ear balls!" Iris complains about the howling, but still laughs and scritches at some new-wolf. "Welcome to the club, buddy! It's all peeing on bushes and rolling on smelly things from here on out!"

Lleu-wolf flicks his ears back at the rather loud howl in close proximity within the cave! He backs off a step and has the urge to howl as well but it'd only be noise. He has enough sense not to embarass himself trying that, yet. Then he backs up another step or two as Like-the-Wind-rhya starts propellering her tail and ... flying in place a bit off of the cave floor! WTF? He backs up almost into Iris, <<What ...du?>> Nope, not good with wolf-speak, making a startled wuffle sound.

Oh boy, then Iris rubs at his pelt and that's surprisingly nice. He wolf smiles.

Like the Wind plops back to the ground and bouncy hops like a woofbunny all over the place before she noses at Lleutrim woofy. <<NOW bath. You'll love it! Get in and get all clean and then SHAAAAAAAAAAAKESHAKESHAKE!>> She makes the motion and then bounds around toward the water.

Wow, wet dogs are bad enough when they come in and shake smelly water all over the place - all over your things! Lleu-wolf watches Like-the-Wind-rhya bouncing around like an idiot and then go off to splash in the stream. He turns his head to sniff over Iris first, then he trots over to sniff at the water and his ruck pack. Everything smells so much richer, STRONGER, and many layered with so many subtleties. He gets distracted checking things out with his nose, then comes over to smell the water.

Flop! He hops into the water akwardly.

Iris snerks with amusement at Halona and says, "We fly, it's a... It's just a thing we do, because of our totem, Merlin." And then Halona is encouraging very bad boy behavior! "Ugh crap, I'll go get a towel." she says with a laugh. For herself, thank you very much, NOT for soggy wolves! She gets up to go do that very thing.

Like the Wind howls again, though half under water, so it really comes out as 'blupbluboooo!' as she remembers to lift her head up. She frolicks around and tries to drown Lleuwolf in the friendliest of ways and nips at his butt before she's clambering out of the water. <<WATCH!>> she yips and does the head to toe shakeshakeshake all over the goddamn place. Tongue lolls, head tips, water drips. Once she's SURE that Lleutrim can copy her action, she... jumps back into the water. SPLISH!

What a mess. And guess who's probably going to get told to clean it up all up when they are done? Lleu-wolf hops and jumps at the nipping at his backside, splashing around to evade her teeth! Or trying to. He's not nearly as graceful at this as Like-the-Wind-rhya. He does manage to get soaked and scrambles back out, having some trouble with the wet stone and getting purchase with his paws. Then he's up, sopping wet. Lleu-wolf tries this shaking himself ALL OVER to fling water out of his thick coat it it's HARDER THAN IT LOOKS! His legs go out from under him and he stumbles and falls back into the water, ass first!

Like the Wind snorts and gets a butt to the face! Oh well! She doesn't care! This is great! She nearly drowns and flails her way out from under Lleu wolf and plops back to the surface for air. >>Try again!<< And she hops out .. and shakes again, this time trying to do it in slow motion, which looks really awkward and doesn't work very well at all

It takes some effort just getting himself hauled back out of the water. Lleu-wolf makes sure to get away from it but also away from his ruck pack. Not /too/ close to where Iris is watching their silly antics either. She might not appreciate getting soaked. The male wolf tries really hard to shake water from his pelt again! Wow, that's hilarious! He -sort- of keeps his feet this time though it's hard and his back end slips out from under him! He sits on his tail and his tongue lolls as if he's laughing! Still pretty wet though.

Like the Wind speedshifts up to homid when Lleutrim shifts again and she bounds out of the water to tackle him in a hug. Glomp. Boobface. That means nothing to Halona, of course. She's ALWAYS a little woofy. "YOU DID IT!" And she bites him lightly on the nose. Chormp. Then she's rolling and springing up to her feet with all the happy. If she had a tail, it'd be wagging for sure. "See? You GOT it, yo!"

"Oh my God, that's so fucked up." Lleu says, both amazed and delighted. Until Halona leaps up and tackles him! Boob in the eye and everything! He is knocked ass over tea kettle and is more surprised by her playful naked attack and nose biting than he is that he could actually change into a wolf! He lies there and stares at the cave's ceiling for a moment before he sits up and rubs his face, "I ... have never seen you so enthusiastic, Like-the-Wing-Rhya. Thank you for the lesson."

Where's a towel? Lleu gets himself up and hops back into the water to wash dirt off his arse and back before gets back out. He walks over to find the shirt he'd taken off and use it to start rubbing himself dry.

"You should see her when she's trying to ruin everyone's fun." Iris says, and hurls a towel at Lleu. "Don't worry, when things are settled down a bit, I'll work with you and your clothes so you don't have to take them off every time you shift, or bust out of them like the Hulk."

Like the Wind is still dripping. And dirty. But she's HAPPY! "Because I don't have to be a rudey ruderpants. You're a GAROU now. I mean, I still outrank you and I might have to be a Jerk sometimes, but you did a GOOD job and I don't have to be an ass!" She flings herself at Iris. "You love it when I ruin your fun!"

"Thanks." Iris's towel fling is grabbed for and appreciated. Lleu drops the shirt that's not nearly enough to dry himself with and uses the towel. Halona's exurberance actually makes Lleutrim laugh. That's probably the first time they've ever gotten to hear him laugh. "You haven't been an ass to me, Like-the-Wind-rhya. None of you have been ... well, except Dragomir. I've probably deserved that ... sometimes." Maybe not /all/ of it including getting his head bashed into a stone floor. Lleu scowls remembering that part, and promptly makes himself think of something more pleasant so his anger doesn't get riled back up.

Soon as he gets dry enough, Donnachaidh grabs his pants and steps into them, making himself at least half decent again.

Lleutrim adds after he's got his pants on, "Thanks, eh ... Mercy's Messenger-rhya. I'd really appreciate that."

"OHGAWDSOGGYBOOBLADY" Iris blurts, but she takes it in good sport with a grin. "Oh no, that's just, like, a Silver Fang thing." Iris assures Lleu with a cheeky grin. "But, you're welcome. What are um. Weird.. pseudo.. pack.. sister.. things.. for, right? Whatever I am."

"Dirty hippie!" Halona supplies helpfully and wanders over to get her clothes and tugs on the top, at least. It's dirty, but SOMEONE does laundry around here.

Yep, and someone will do laundry, and clean up all the water spilled about. Lleu doesn't bother to put on his shirt. He drops it to soak up water, and tosses the towel down on the floor too. Where there's enough stone and not sand to soak up the water. He starts working on cleaning up, wringing out the towel over the stream. Cleaning up the mess doesn't seem to bother him so he gets to work on it. "I'm looking forward to getting outside and exploring. Might I do that soon?"

"Hey girl, I just like to get myself all up in Gaea's earthy goodness, you know what I'm sayin?" Iris says in defense of her dirty hippy status, while at the same time totally not denying said status. She knows she does not smell pleasant in the summer heat! But that's just some good ol' natural earth stank, is what that is. She answers Lleu with an easy shrug and a, "Yeah, prolly! I mean like, you're way less of a crazy liability now, having finally changed, but just for safety's sake, you should take someone with you when you go out and about for a while yet. Till you've gotten the hang of tracking so you don't get lost, figure out the warning signs of danger and stuff like that. Stuff's gonna get *way* more awesome and fun for you. Halona can get your mind right about being a wolf, Sergei can teach you all the fine points of being a wolf, Dragomir's got how to be a garou down real well, and Brooke's great at teaching you our history and lore, and I'll settle for teaching you all the weird shit that doesn't make a lot of sense. You'll get a real good education and be out there on your own before you know it."

Lleutrim sticks a finger into his ear to wiggle it around and break water tension so it can drain out. "I'm ... actually not eager to leave you guys." Which clearly sounds odd to his own ears, "But I am very sick of being stuck in the caves. I /really/ do not like caves. Fresh air and sun, that's what I'm eager to get more of. I am aware there must be a lot more to learn, and .. I know nothing really about being a 'Galliard' yet either."

He gets the rest of the mess cleaned up and then dumps the towel, shirt, and the contents of his ruck pack so he can squat down on his hams and get to washing them. Probably better not to let his gaze follow the naked Halona still bouncing around with her bare bottom.

"Holy shit, you and me both. That's why I actually live outside the cave." Iris says with a super emphatic nod, "I start getting claustrophobic and paranoid when I can't see the sky. Spent WAY too long not able to see the sky, I just can't even handle it now. So did you get a talk about the auspices?" she asks, wandering over to sit down and lean against a glyph marked rock, "Like the whole, what's a Ragabash, what's a Galliard, blah blah blah?"

Donnachaidh shifts his position along the stream to sit down. Lleu nods to Iris, "Faith was assigned to help me deciper and learn the glyphs on the blocks Shaderunner-Rhya brought me to study. The glyphs on them are mostly the names of the tribes, auspices, breeds, and a number of other things. She's been explaining and having me repeat them back to her, while I copied the marks. I can remember most of them now, I think."

"Okay, cool." Iris says with a nod of her head, "Well, this pack has one of each auspice within it, so if you ever want to know more about what one does and how they work, you just go ask 'em. Halona's a Ragabash, I'm a Theurge, Dragomir's a Philodox, Brooke's a Galliard, and Sergei's an Ahroun, so we've got you covered when you want to learn that kinda stuff. Oh oh oh, total side note but super important so I don't have to smash you into a mountain. Outside the cave but still on our territory, there's a horse. Cant miss it, she's white and super feisty. Don't eat my horse, dude. She'll instinctively run away from you because you're a murder beast, so just don't chase after her and scare her out of the protection of Merlin's turf, okay? If you see her, jut angle off in a different direction and ignore her, please and thank you."

Iris gets an arched brow, "A white horse. No, I wouldn't eat a horse." Though, come to think of it, Lleu's been hungry enough lately to wish he had a horse to eat instead of porridge. "I like horses but only rode a little when I was a kid. I don't think they liked me." With patience, he works his way through scrubbing clothing and rising the things, then wringing them out to make ready to hang to dry. Inside of a living cave isn't ideal for drying laundry. "Merlin's ... turf. The pack's totem?" Lleu's heard that said, even if he doesn't really have a clue what it /means/. "Merlin ... like the Welsh wizard. Seriously?"

Iris snorts a laugh and says, "That's what I thought too! No, no though, it's a type of hawk. They're small, sharp beaks, real fast, and they're native around here. You've probably seen them before and just didn't know what they were called. When you reach Cliath, you may or may not have the instinct to start looking for a pack. That'll come on you whenever it comes on you, we're wolves after all so packing's in our nature for the most part. Any how, a pack of Garou is more than just a collection of wolves. There's a firm goal, a thing that pack strives to do, and they have a spiritual patron, a totem spirit. That spirit guides them towards their goals, watches out for them and helps them out while the Garou do the same for it. It bestows gifts on them as long as they follow the rules, and it brings the pack closer together as a family."

"Oh." Lleu finishes the clothes and rests his hands. Washing laundry by hand is harder work than one might expect until you do it. He listens to Iris and thinks about that, "I think ... having others to learn from and work with would be good. I'd hate to ... become this thing I don't hardly understand and then just ... be alone. It's been made clear by Dragomir that there will be no going back to my life. Being a Cop." He frowns and it's almost a scowl, "I'm not sure what I am going to do with myself. I mean, for housing and food, things like that." Lleu sits there a long moment thinking about packs and totems and gets quiet.

Then he gets up and takes the wet laundry, "I better go get this hung up. Thanks, both of you." Much to think upon.