2018.09.29: Fianna Rite of Passage
| Fianna Rite of Passage | |
|---|---|
| Lleutrim and his fellow cubs are put to the Stag's challenges. Some don't make it. | |
| IC Date | Friday, Sept 28th |
| IC Time | 16:51:33 2018, PDT. |
| Players | Sully/Jes, Lleutrim, Isla, and Iris as ST. |
| Location | Caern, then Umbra |
| Spheres | Shifter Gaian Garou |
It's a gang of about a dozen cubs ready to rock their rite of passage, including Sully, Isla, Jett, and Lleutrim. Half these cubs come from the Redwood, and half come from the Enduring Spirit, so there was a little bit of contention about where all this was to be done and held. Naturally, this was settled in the Old Way. Several elders engaged in drinking contests, arm wrestling, and log tossing, and while it was a close game, it ended up falling in favor of 'do it in Prospect'. This works though, since our heroes are from this city.
A portion of caern space has been overrun by Fianna! All day we've been back to drinking, feasting, wrasslin, pounding drums, dancing and howling. Everything but the drinking is open to our cubs, of course, gotta keep their heads straight for the tests to come! As the moon rises though, someone goes picking through the crowd looking for our various cubs, plucking them out of fun and conversations to lead them towards the middle of the festivities where a clear space awaits them.
Our Fianna elder with his big fuckoff red beard makes a speech but it's nigh impossible to understand unless you *really* have a knack for the accent, it's all whiskey slur and old baroke. The jist of it is getting people's attention and extoling the importance of the day, that these young warriors will go now to face their destiny, themselves, and, Gaia willing, Stag himself. While he makes this speech, he tells our dozen cubs, "Get ye old scraps off'n ye and wear yer proper skins!" In short, get nekkid.
Isla cracks her neck and stretches her arms. She howls out, "WOOOOO!!!!!!!" and then strips right there. Her long flaming red tangled mess of hair swirls around her pale white skin. She looks to the boys with a look of pride and yet 'touch me and die'. "Let's do this!" Excited and wound up, Isla cannot wait to bring it to it finally.
Sullivan Queenan has been tossing back energy drinks all day like they're bottled water, telling anyone who will listen about how Full Throttle tastes just like gummi bears or how Rock Star is better for hangovers than Red Bull. The scruffy little punk is enjoying himself despite a caber having destroyed the table he was sitting at, and when Redbeard begins talking he leans over and asks Isla, "Are... are those words that guy's saying?"
The last part is clear enough, however, and the young man blushes, which means he turns beet red with dark splotches for his freckles, shucking his clothes as told to reveal a fairly scrawny frame with its own share of freckles to boot. He catches a look of shameless Isla and just turns redder, the blush running practically down to his shoulders.
Wait, what? Naked? Er, why? That's the look on Lleutrim's face when he hears that part and then he's looking to the other cubs all gathered around to see if that order is to be taken literally. Damn, all these kids are half his age! Donnachaidh would feel the old man out but he's in his prime so what the hell. Lleu pulls off his shirt, baring the Black Spiral Dancer scars cut deeply across his chest. As his clothes are dedicated, he shakes them out and folds them before laying them neatly into a pile. Off go the boots, then he drops his pants and athletic shorts. Nice and tan mostly, except for his lily white ass and his USMC tat on his upper left arm.
So much partying. The older Galliard has been quiet and very moderate compared to most of them, watching, listening. Though surely they have coaxed a few laughs and maybe a story out of him. Booze would totally help, but off limits. Now naked as the rest of them he eyes Isla dancing around with nothing more to cloth her than her flaming red hair. Pretty enough. Let's not be having the typical male reaction to pretty young naked girls, doing the third arm salute.
No one is even remotely shy about wolf whistling, cat calling, and otherwise making a big production of watching the cubs strip down to their skins and getting sky clad. Sure, maybe for some it's a little embarrassing, but it's all good natured and jovial, more about shedding an old skin in favor of a new skin, bearing soul and body not for lust, but for Gaia, for ritual, for Tribe Fianna. Their elder explains in that slurred, hard to understand way that they shall take nothing but themselves, armored only in their faith, covered only in what their mother goddess gave them at birth. But also paint, apparently, because what good is it rushing off to battle if you don't look fucking awesome, right? Theurges come forward and begin painting the cubs bodies in woad designs that harken back to their oldest days as a tribe. Knots, slashes, fierce beasts, from hairline to toes, front and back each cub is marked as a warrior and painted in blessings.
Those Theurges not painting the cubs bring around wooden cups with a steaming tea that frankly tastes like boiled jock strap and shoe leather, but they're incouraged to drink deeply. Kinfolk steal away their clothing, shoes, jewelry, whatever else ends up shed by our hero cubs, and hopefully stashes all this stuff somewhere safe rather than chucking it into a bonfire or something.
As the last cub drinks, the drums pick up again, thundering throughout the forest and making the air vibrate. Massive drums, small drums, everything in between, you can practically feel your organs jiggling to the storm of sound waves crashing into your bodies, and under it all is the rhythm of a huge heartbeat. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. The air itself seems to vibrate and quiver, the elder's words drowned out by the cacophany, the Theurges dancing wildly around the herd of cubs as they channel and direct the energy and the spirits into a singular, wriggling point in the air.
A rift opens in the air before the cubs, spilling out an emerald hued light. The rift widens to allow the gaggle of garou to pass through as a group, the surrounding tribemates sending their cubs off with fierce howls from wolf and homid mouths alike.
"Oh, shit, buddy, someone got you good!" Sully says aside to Lleu when the man takes his shirt off, momentarily forgetting his own state of undress. "That's a huge fucking scar, that is! What kind of...?" But he stops as the Elder half-speaks again and the Theurges start slapping woad on the cubs. In the Devil's coin flip between 'frightened turtle' and 'completely inappropriate boner' Sully manages to stick with the marginally-better Option A despite being obviously ticklish and once again noticing that Isla seems to have an exceptionally pert butt.
Catching himself, he reaches up and takes out an earring, dropping that on his pile of clothes just before being handed his cup. He drinks, then makes the kind of exaggerated gagging face one only sees in cartoons, hacking loudly but managing not to throw the fluid right back up. "Oh, fuck, that's... that's AWFUL!" he shouts, holding up both hands. But whoa, here comes the acid trip, and that big old rift in the air, and Sully looks around nervously before giving his elders a smile and heading on forward.
Isla blinks a bit at the emerald light, but as her eyes adjust she looks to the others. She takes the drink and wrinkles her nose. "Seriously? You couldn't make it any better than this??" She sticks out her tongue and then grudgingly drinks it. She downs it like a shot, and tosses the cup over her shoulder. "I've had worse." She looks to the other guys, and grins. "C'mon, who's ready for some fun!" She is ready to rock this!
Standing there naked, even his leather bracelet removed and tucked deeply inside the toe of his left boot, Lleutrim stands still when a Theurge comes up to start painting his bare skin. A brow arches, "Woad ... nice touch." He then stands quietly watching everything else going on around him with the others, starting to get into the mood with the drums getting going. That nasty ass drink comes his way and Donnachaidh makes a face. Nope, doesn't like it, but if he's ordered to drink it, and the other cubs are, then he'll suck it up and gun it down. Lleu makes a nasty face and hands the shell or cup, whatever it is to the woman who brought to him, "Thanks. I think."
His head turns to the skinny kid, Sully. "Black Spiral Dancer in Crinos nailed me. But I got him." The drums throbbing, Lleu closes his eyes for a long moment as his body is painted, /FEELING/ the drums. His own heart beat adjusts it's timing to those drums, starting to really feel it riling his blood. Howling and a change in the air opens his pale grey eyes to see the spirit rift opening up into the Umbra before them.
The emerald light is beautiful. Lleu watches Isla and the other cubs being encouraged to proceed through and so feeling ever more virile by the moment, the Galliard goes with them!
"No fuckin' way!" Sully replies to Lleutrim as they walk together into the rift, laughing and giving the man a push on the arm. "No fuckin' way! I mean, you're an old-ass bastard to be a cub, no offense, but I've never heard of a cub taking out a Spiral. That's legendary! I'm Sully, by the way, Sullivan Queenan, no-moon and shit. Oh, man, are you /hearing/ colors right now? I've got some serious purple in my skull. Whatever was in that bog vomit soup they gave us is no joke!"
The dozen cubs move through the firelit night and into the portal of light...
And step out into quite possibly the most lovely spring day you can imagine. A deep depression in the earth somewhere in a thick, tangled forest, the temperature is fair, there's a light breeze, the sky a gorgeous blue with only a few fluffy white clouds and the sun is shining. Up above the trees, each cub can see the moon up there in the sky, pale but visible, and to each cub's eyes it appears as their auspice. A full moon for the Ahrouns, a gibbous for Lleu and any other Galliards, although Sully would have to search hard to find the pale, nearly hidden shape of slightly-off-blue new moon up there.
In the center of the depression is a very old, very weathered stone statue of a stag that's half over grown with vines and flowers, its base etched in old garou glyphs that are sort of hidden in the foliage. At the far end of the depression, there is a tunnel bored into the earth under the trees, and it appears to be the only pathway available out of this lovely little deep forest bowl of meddow.
"Maybe he was a cub too for all I know. Fucker was trying to burn out our Sept with a corrupted fire spirit, him and the other two Black Spirals with him." Possibly not so legendary. Man, what the hell was in that tea? Lleutrim feels like he can fucking rip the arms out of a Gondar or a Wookie! Then fuck them! A nod as they run or walk on through, "I'm Lleu Donnachaidh, born on two legs, Galliard." Sully gets the short version because shit's happening!
Donnachaidh looks around the glade and up at the moon above, taking everything in. It's as if he can still feel the drums pounding but it may only be his heart beating and the strange drugs in his system making him imagine he can still hear them. Then they are standing in the glade, the natural hollow with the stone statue. Lleu moves a little forward to check out the statue of the stage cut into the rock and the many glyphs. He reaches out a hand to move some of the ivy to try and see them better. That is when his pale silvery eyes notice the tunnel. "Ah shit." Tunnels in the earth. Not his favorite.
Then he's turned his head to look for that red headed girl, and study the other cubs. The Marine glances down at his naked self, looking at the woad designs, the scars over his chest. To Isla he asks, "Who are you? What are you called?"
Isla dances, skips, and really enjoys herself as well, the excitement and drugs take over. She sings out, "Ooohh la, la la, la la la la la la laaaaahh!!!" Her arms outstretches as she twirls. "Keep up with us, old man!" She blows a kiss up to the full moon, and walks up to the statue of stag. "Ooohh, stag! We come before you, ready to show you we are ready to be Cliaths!!" She blinks a few more times, trying to get her mind back in order for this - not sure it will work!
Isla looks to the others, "We are going to need to trust each other at least to succeed." She turns to face them all, her hands on her hips, "I am Isla Ennes. Full moon Fianna, and the best archer of the County of DunBroch." She is brave and fearless it appears. "She looks over Sully and over Lleu. "You certainly had a late change. Kudos for you for facing a Spiral! Nice SCAR." She looks quite impressed by it. "I cannot wait to get my Rite of Wounding!"
Well, Isla sure seems like a take-charge sort. Sully, for his part, is more of a talker; he smirks at Isla's brazen pride and says, "Yeah, Sully Queenan, no-moon, two-legs, but only because it's a little chilly!"
The young Ragabash sidles over to the Stag Monument, looking it over and saying, "Okay, buddy, you're gonna have to help me out here for a second, because I've had three Full Throttles, a NOs, and a Rock Star, and some baggage you can't strip off just anywhere. So... here we are, old friend." He puts one arm out, steadying himself on Ol' Antlers, and proceeds to take a very long, very thorough piss in the grass, careful not to get a drop on the Totem or, you know... anyone.
She's firery, this Isla. Lleu twists his mouth wryly, "Careful what you wish for ... if you live through today, you may well get that Rite. Post humously." He looses that hint of smile, "I hope we all make it through alive." Here in the Umbra some places upon Lleu's body glow with marks even through the woad, for his three Glory, his two Honor, and three Wisdom. Not much yet. Still, the Galliard's not noticed the marks before so he's curious about them. Then looks to the others to see if they have glowy marks as well.
After his good look, Lleutrim slips from homid into wolf form. Nobody said he /has/ to stand around naked. He becomes a large gray wolf with a thick, healthy pelt. Dark shaded on top, creamy underneath with a hint of russet hues to his sides. No red-head here. The gray wolf begins to move through the other cubs to sniff at them, to try and remember their scents. Silvery eyes look to that tunnel. Lleupine then is smelling around the glade and the mouth of that opening in the earth.
The other cubs make their greetings to all and sundry, mostly all homid, though there's a couple lupus and only one other metis besides Jett. MOST of these guys are your average sort of people for their range of auspices, although one of them is, to put it nicely, a total fucking coward, and that just sort of radiates off them. And of course you also have a couple Super Assholes. You know the type, entitled and egotistical alpha purebred sorts that probbaly always just assume they're in charge of all the things.
The garou glyphs, by the by, spell out the first saga of Stag, which I will not type out because frankly I'm Fianna deficient, but god damn it it's there and it's all super epic and stuff. Trust me.
"How the fuck you get a posthumous Rite if you live through the other Rite?" Sully asks with a snort, finishing his piss and shaking his dick eight or eighteen times, the latter half of those shakes crassly aimed at a couple of staring girl cubs snickering at him. When he's done, he flips them both a double bird and says, "Don't get giggly because you're jealous, you may still grow one of these if you're lucky."
Sully's woad glows a little with his own Renown, showing equal parts Glory, Honor, and Wisdom, though in the small amounts one might expect of a cub. He even has some bullet wounds in his abdomen and a jagged scar on his back that could be from a knife or a claw. He sidles up to Isla, a smile dimpling his apple cheeks, and says, "Okay, so we've got Peach Bottom, Super Grandpa Junior, the Dick-Watching Twins, Shit-Himself-Already, some dogs, Big Fucking Weirdo, Antler-Up-the-Ass, Nobody Loves Me... don't worry, I'll have all your names straight by the time there's five of us left."
Isla awws, "Sully, I did not realize you thought or yourself as a Weirdo. I'm sure not anymore strange than the rest of them." She gestures to the others. Her woad glow as well telling the tale of so much Glory she has brought, and Honor. Granted, there isn't but a tiny speck of Wisdom, but hey - she's a brash red headed, prideful teenager. Wise? Ha! "Hey you, Galliard. Just be sure when you tell the tale of our GLORIOUS success, that you be sure you tell them how I did it without my precious bow." The expert archer will find another way without it.
The gray wolf turns his head back to Sully and Isla. Lleupine hikes a leg and pisses on a tree at the top of the steep slope but it's a tight fit even for a wolf. >> Because it might happen later. << The lupus Galliard still sticks his nose in there here and there to check it out but it's pretty dense and seems intentionally so, to him. The wolf comes back down and goes to the tunnel. Though he doesn't much like being underground, he looks back to the others once more, << Hope to see you on the other side. Gaia be with you. >> And all that fluffy Gaia stuff.
The old man Galliard is the first to head into the earth, sniffing and moving in cautiously. It's going to get dark in there fast and he has no light so the wolf is going to have to rely on his other senses. Which, at the moment, have glowy butterlies and fairies zipping around in is drugged up state. They aren't even usefully providing illumination in his hallucination. << Fucking Tinkerbells. >>
Fratboy McFianna NPC kicks Coward McWolf to get him moving, and clearly thinks you're all fucking idiots and are gonna die. This is the kind of guy who gets killed while getting laid in a horror movie. The coward whimpers and skulks in the direction he was booted, towards the tunnel, as the cubs sort of herd themselves towards that pathway where Lleu is checking things out.
Now, the tunnel ain't the worst place in the world, it's pretty large, all rouch and earthen with nothing in the realm of man made support beams or anything, traveling downwards at a gentle slope. Sounds take on an echoing quality and the light dims down of course, but it's a pretty decent walk, all things considered.
"And make sure you add in the part about how she's got an ass that would make a stripper jealous," Sully adds as an aside before pinching his nostrils shut and blowing his eardrums out.
"Phew, that's been bugging me. And I'm obviously not Big Fucking Weirdo, Peach Bottom; that's for that guy right there," he says, gesturing at Jett. "I'm gonna go ahead and be Freckle Butt because I know you're all thinking it anyway like none of you are ALSO Irish. Like her over there -- I'm pretty sure that if I connect those dots that's a picture of a pony, so you're Cutie Mark."
Lleupine's paws pad softly as he goes deeper into the tunnel, his tail disappearing from the view of the others. He's gone.
From the wolf's standpoint it sure gets dark fast. Earthy smelling, but that's all right. Lleu quietly keeps going forward and as the light behind him fades away, he lifts his head - sure seems like the walls got awfully close and the ceiling a LOT lower. Nope, not liking this at all. The Galliard sniffs, ears erect and listening as he contiues to press onwards, following the tunnel slowly, cautiously. As long as he can keep moving and isn't trapped, Lleupine keeps walking, listening. Soon he can see nothing at all in the tunnel, but it seems like he can /feel/ his pelt brushing against the narrowing walls.
It makes the Galliard Marine's heart rate pick up faster. Focus, focus on breathing like Shaderunner-rhya taught him to do. Don't let the fear of the confinement take root.
Sully makes his way into the cave near the end of the group for no better reason than because he's too busy talking to walk. He seems to have gotten over his shyness completely -- drugs help -- and as he enters the tunnel, he posits, "Is anyone else worried this is just gonna collapse behind us and we'll be all Goonies for the rest of our lives? Because if that's so I'm Mouth, the big guy's Sloth, that fat kid is Chunk, the old guy is Brandon...." He's just listing off characters from the Goonies as he goes, though he does stop to kick the cowardly dog in the butt and say, "We're all going, Scared Shitless, you're not gonna die during the opening credits!"
The mouthy Ragabash just passes anyone who slows down in front of him, not particularly interested in the cave walls, and snarks, "Have fun outrunning that boulder they rolled in after us." He hops over a root, doing a dumb little spin, and says "Footloose!" like his dick's not hanging out.
Isla grins to Sully and as he walks past her, she smacks his ass, "Peach Bottom. You can be ... Sprinkles." She follows along, and stops. She sniffs, and looks around - her eyes widen. She shifts to Lupus, looking like a bit of concern has entered her. >>Think anyone lives here? This someone's den?<< She is looking for claw marks all over.
The paranoia factor does seem to be ramping up quite a bit through all the cubs present, each one of them feeling or even voicing something terrible that comes to mind about the tunnel. Someone else just comes right out and says it, Mr Coward, "We're all gonna die in here!" Yeah, he just cuts right to the chase. Which is silly, because the tunnel's surely just *fine*, and it's been a pleasant little fifteen or so minute walk.
One of the super arrogant cubs catches up to Lleutrim in the front and frankly just sort of muscles his way into the forefront, snapping at the Galliard's flank and all. The old guy shouldn't be leading, GAWD. And then like two seconds later yelps in surprise when the ground under him just crumbles away and there's a horrible, wet, ripping sound... Those that might choose to investigate discover his now homid corpse splayed out on a bed of sharpened wooden spikes that'd been hidden under ground and yep, yep he is *really* fucking dead.
Out ahead of the group, the tunnel, just baaaaaarely lit by the last vestiges of light, is marked with drawings of animals on large square tiles, one of which the dead guy fell through.
Sully takes the ass-slap like a champ, laughing heartily and saying, "Sprinkles! Oh, that's way better than Freckle Butt. Peach Bottom, you shoulda been a Ragabash!" But when she asks her question, the goof-off stops, shifting into lupus himself and becoming a dappled red wolf with black circles around his eyes. << Probably. It's not a tunnel to nowhere. >> Decent logic, that.
And then Alpha Dick pushes himself all the way into an early retirement, and Sully pads on up to look down at the corpse, tail drooping. << Here lies Dumb Fucking Luck. He was an asshole, but that was a bad way to go. Anyone else notice these tiles all have Totem broods on them? >>
Lleupine is rudely shoved aside, his wolf body pressed against the wall of the cave as the asshole forces his way past. The Galliard lays his ears back and snaps at the other cub with a snarl, >> Asshole. << yet Lleu doesn't do anything to stop anyone who wants to force their way past. Indeed, he stops and looks back, silvery eyes reflecting the last traces of light so that his eyes glow, >> Anyone else? Be my guest. << /That/ even before the noise of the yelp and the awful sounds of the tunnel floor ahead giving way. The gray wolf's pelt bristles and Lleu crouches, ears pressed back. He waits, listening ... through the darkness ahead the smell of fresh blood as the sounds subside.
Then, because there is no where else to /go/ but forward, Lleupine very, very cautiously eases ahead, sniffing and trying the footing with a paw because he can see little. He stops at the edge of the brink and takes in what his senses can tell him.
After a long moment, the lupus tries to convey to the others behind him. >> The floor collapsed. << They too can probably smell the blood and urine. >> Into a pit trap. Tiles ahead, set into floor. Big. Animal shapes on them. Hard to see. << Best he's able, Lleu presses himself against one side so another can come up for a look. Lleupine blinks his silvery eyes, >> What is totem brood? << The older cub has to think about this, try to understand what he's looking at.
Isla has her eyes and head clear enough in this danger she perceives to chuff out >>Spike Beds. More of them ahead. What.. do you see Dead Lion..Goat..Dragon? Thingy?<< They may have fallen into Wonderland Horrors, but wow!
<< You know, spirit broods, >> Sully replies unhelpfully, sniffing around and looking at the tiles. << See? This is Pegasus and its brood, and that's our Stag right there and the spirits bound to him, and that's Grandfather Thunder and his dickheads, and over here is Fenris and all of the spirits you don't fuck with. >> He points with nose, paw, tail, et cetera, making his point. << Is it a puzzle? It's a puzzle, isn't it? Which one of you crotch-sniffers is a Theurge? >>
>> I am no Theurge, but I think I see. << Cautiously, the Galliard moves along the edge of the collapsed part of the floor. Though he can barely see anything, Lleupine puts a paw out to the tile with the deer and stag, and related forest animals upon it, and then if it seems like it may bear his weight, the gray wolf older cub tries to leap across and follow through the path to what Lleu hopes is safer, firmer footing. Quick and light as he can move - at least he's in his smallest, lightest, fastest form!
Lleupine almost gets across but a tile breaks and he slips, paws and claws scrambling! He halfway falls, then freezes with one back leg barely clinging to the edge. He looks to need help to get out. That or he'll have to hope to Gaiah changing forms can help him if the others don't! There's a snarl but he doesn't dare move, feeling how fragile the earth and tile his claws cling to try to slip.
The Theurge turns out to be the Super Coward, who is so, SO not happy with being a Theurge right now. DAMN IT! He does not WANT to come to the front, but no one's willing to coddle cowardice and he ends up at the front whether he wants to be there or not (he does not), and then he immediately throws up on the dead guy the second he sees him. Super dignified. SO much lupus whining right now! But, he takes in the information from the others as they've gathered it and um.. Crap. He starts out, tail tucked between his legs, sniffing at the tiles and checking their markings as he sloooooowly skulks along. >>Alright um, um... Follow all the ones that look like different kinds of deer, and um, sunrise, or a stream, or a squirrel. Or a fishhorse.<< He hates his job right now, but he's following a path that's not collapsing by sticking strictly to Stag's family of spirits. A paw accidentally touches a tile with a big scary wolf and it crumbles into a spike trap. Coward immediately pees all over the tile he's standing on.
Just as Sully suspected. Sort of. Mostly. Like half. He treads /very carefully/ across the tiles, talking to himself as he goes. << Stag, deer, squirrel, peaceful stream, buck, sunrise, hart, unicOOOOH no I didn't! Squirrel again, weird-ass water horse....>> It's slow going, but he manages to get by.
Isla goes next after this fakey Theurge. >>C'mon! It ain't that hard! You got the explanation, now do the foot work!<< She taps a paw...yes, a paw! Finally he is clear enough and the lupus with bright red fur dances along, hitting just where she needs, totally like she is playing the ultimate game of Dance Dance Revolution.
As Isla is going through, all fancy pants dancing, she swings her head down, and BITES the scruff of Lleupine's neck. Like a Mama Cat would, she drags him up and just tosses him up and he slides quickly across to the other side. There is strength in this young one, and she ain't afraid to show off. Skipping a few tiles, she lands with a TA DA on the other side!! >>AAWWHHOO!!!! C'mon it ain't that hard!! Follow what I did!<< she chuffs to the other cubs left. She looks then to Lleupine, >>You can thank me later. Now you ok? Ready for the next one??<< Her tail is wagging, the Ahroun all proud of herself.
Sully makes it to the end after a couple of close calls, one due to his assumption that Crow counted as theirs and the other because he thought Uktena was a fucked-up deer. When he makes it over, he rolls onto his back and scoot-scoot-scoots his butt to scratch his back, howling out in glee. << SPRINKLES SURVIVES! >>
The big gray wolf gets up and then shakes himself to rid his pelt of dirt. >> Thank you, Isla. I am all right. << Lleupine goes ahead and thanks her now, giving a sneeze to clear his nostrils of dirt and dust. He looks back to see if any of the others need help because the Marine will help every last one of them he can to get through, if they need it. >> I want to be sure the others get across before we continue. << She and Sully don't have to wait if they don't want to.
Isla pads over to take the lead. She noses the fakey Theurge out of the lead, and checks out the next section to go through. >>This time, follow what I do - not scaredy cat here.<<
<< Oh, good idea! >> Sully agrees with Lleutrim, rolling back to his feet and noting the Dick-Gazing Twins following the path he did. << It's hart-squirrel-stream-doe-squirrel-stag-squirrel from there! >> he calls out, pointing his paw at the proper path.
The rest of the cubs survive thanks to some help from their pals, although now their number is 11. Still, perhaps the message of this test is clear, team work and a knowledge of Stag will get you through this. One tried this the lone wolf way, and now he is lost and not but an undignified, slightly puked on corpse with a pointy stick through his head.
Now, once everyone's safely acrossed, the tunnel continues on, broadening out again, that super scant, teeny bit of light coming back as their path takes them upwards at a gentle slope. As the light grows stronger, the walls of the cavern turn from packed earth to stone, and etched all along this stone by some master sculpter who knows how long ago, is another saga of the Stag. Garou glyphs spell out the story, while freizes are carved to show an epic battle, the ground littered with Gaian and Wyrmspawn alike, mighty kilted and naked warriors, and vicious war stags glazed in black.
>> Shouldn't we .. do something for him? Is there a Rite, or ... we can't just leave him there. Or someone will have to come back for him. << Lleupine is looking back to the pit he can't even see clearly where the first cub has died. The space is tight for carrying out a body. If the other cubs agree, they can work together to pull him out of the pit trap and bring the body up out of the tunnel. But if they insist on leaving him behind to be fetched later, the Galliard will leave him - for now. Lleu's not pleased to leave the body disrespected unless they must.
As they come to the glyphs, Lleupine studies them to learn the story better. The gray wolf is pleased to see the light and eager to get out of the tunnel, yet Lleu approaches it cautiously, >> Watch for more traps before rushing out. <<
Isla presses ahead, >>Get later. Nothing we can do without hurting ourselves. Let's go!<< She grins that toothy fanged grin seeing the glyphs. >>Stag had to be an Ahroun.<< She is smart and keeps her eyes searching for traps and will point out whatever she sees along the way.
When Lleu asks about Dead Dumbass, Sully remarks, "This /is/ the Rite, Super Grandpa Junior. They'll remember him right when it's done. We gotta keep going."
Sully is PAYING ATTENTION this time, taking a slower pace and examining the glyphs and carvings. He says, almost reverently, << Our honored ancestors, >> reaching up to paw at a particular warrior driving a spear through a fomor. Of course, the Ragabash can't let that stand, and adds, << Fucking up the Wyrm with those spears and waggling big old cocks around like badasses. Awesome. >>
He does finally step out into the daylight, shifting back into his bare-ass Homid form and brushing some of the dirt off of himself. He puts his hands on his hips, looking around to see what the next challenge is going to be, and says, "Well, I'm awake. Still high as a fucking satellite, but a bit clearer. Wish I had a NOs, though; that was some thirsty tapdancing."
The sounds of battle can be heard as the team approaches the end of the tunnel. Stepping out into the daylight again, there is a battle here in full swing. The grass of the hollow is stained ruby red with blood and corpses of the slain are piled high in mounds. The battle is a work of chaos and noise, painted warriors wearing gold and jewels and trophies fight tooth and claw or with spears or cudgels against <enemy will be inserted in pages>
Some of these fighting Fianna look exactly like people you know and love, as do some of the dead, their blank eyes staring at you as you enter this scene of carnage. Fighting with the Fianna are jet black stags with fire in their eyes and blood staining their golden antlers and black claws, screaming with fury and rage. It's a terrifying sound, but even with the help of their totem's war aspect, the Fianna seem to be being pushed back, they're losing this engagement. Good thing reinforcements just arrived!
As if to infuriate the cubs, or maybe to intimidate them, <person inserted in page> is suddenly murdered by a <enemy inserted in page> (cause this shit's all hallucinatory, everyone's getting something kinda different.)
Lleupine comes out of the tunnel and hears the noise! Such noise! The wolf clears the way for the others and stops, staring at what is going on! The Galliard shifts up into Hispo even as Lleu is watching, getting ready at once for a fight just in case, even as he takes in the details. The huge dire wolf bristles as what he sees, and then steps back suddenly looking at something that happens /right/ in front of him that maybe the others don't see?! Eyes wide, the older cub has witnessing something horrible! Shocking! He begins to snarl the most horrible of sounds, jaws gaping!
This may or may not be real, yet the Galliard leaps into the fray! It could all be a trick. It could be a riddle to figure out, but Lleupine doesn't see it if it is. What he sees fires up his blood and he goes in for the attack, charging one of the enemies he thinks is the very Black Spiral Dancer that just decapitated the woman he loves!
Isla growls and snarls watching the battle. Then as she sees another red head out there, and his head snapped off his body, she howls out, >>NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! HAAAMMMIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<< She is beside herself, but has her rage in check... for now. That flaming red fur is up on end as she feels the loss of her brother. She rushes forward into the battle! She will go after whomever killed her brother, and protect his body with every last ounce of fight she has in her!
Sully watches the battle with interest, shouting out "Give 'em hell, Fianna! AYOO!", and actually jumps in the air pumping his fist with excitement when he notes his own Grandmother in the fray, kicking copious amounts of ass and looking like a war goddess doing it. But his enthusiasm turns to horror as her head is sliced clean off her body, rolling to a stop at his feet. "No no no no no," he repeats, shifting from one foot to the other. Real or not, it's right under his skin, and the Ragabash feels his hackles raising as he shifts into his War Form. charging into the fray with abandon. << FIAAAAAANNAAAAAA! >>
The reactions are nearly the same with every other cub, they're seeing some horrifying enemy they 'know', they're seeing their loved ones, they're seeing their most important person murdered right in front of them, that person's head rolling towards them, staring at them. There's greiving, angry shouts and howls as sense leaves the cubs that shout for their prospective mates, their sibling, mother or father. Even the coward lupus, who's shaking uncontrolably with his tail tucked cant help but find his fire in this moment, hackles rising as he shifts to hispo. As a wave, the cubs rush into battle.
Considering this is apparently all a hallucination and everyone is seeing something different in terms of an enemy, it sure as shit FEELS real! You can feel the sweat, smell the blood, the piss and the shit, the hot breath of the enemy and the press of your tribemates. Claws/swords stab and they FUCKING HURT, they draw real blood, but there's just as much satisfaction when you can feel THEIR blood as well, feel their skin/armor tear, sever organs.
The Black Stag presides over this blood bath, and to each and every cub it looks like the Black Stag looked right at them, right in the eyes, screaming that horrifying sound of approval and rage. Fight, my children, defend the earth, defend your family, fight and slay the enemy, that voice seems to say.
Every cub seems to have the same thing on their mind; KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKER! Whoever this poor son of a bitch REALLY is, be it BSD, Bear Fomori, Soldier Fomori or who knows what else is being seen, it ends up with a god damned dog pile of wolves attacking it. One after another strikes are made, all roughly at the same part, and each of you sees it just a touch differently; Lleu sees a BSD's side being ripped open bit by bit, Isla sees a bear's rotting flank being ripped open and exposed, and Sully sees the shield and armor of a cop-ish looking soldier being torn away piece by piece until there's soft, pink skin exposed.
The cubs might be focusing their efforts on a single foe, but since not one of them, not even the Great Pansy, backed down to the challenge, the tide seems to have turned. The Fianna push back harder, and now it's the enemy that's falling back, losing ground.
The ground is slick with bloody mud, the air filled with roars and screams, from your various periphrial visions you see BSDs/Soldiers/Bears falling to the ground, swarmed by your tribemates and viciously executed.
Success! Lleupine makes the first strike against their foe and rips his side open! It's not a large gap but it's enough for the others to have something to aim for!
Very quickly the flesh exposed is ripped open to gore and bone and the enemy falls before their teeth and claws! The snarling Lleupine in hispo keeps charging into the frey of battle, sinking his teeth into the back of a foe's leg and ripping it out from under the Black Spiral Dancer that was fighting one of his old Marine Corps buddies! The Galliard fights furiously, ripping flesh or rotting gore, doing his fair share! He likely gets stabbed, clawed, and there's gifts and magic sizzling the air. Silver eyes flash, keeping tabs on his fellow cubs and that great black stag!
As the tide of battle shifts, Lleupine keeps going. Breathing hard, he backs up Isla when she looks to be in need, and then he's fighting side by side with Sully to bring down a great awful beast. It's exhausting, messy work as the battle begins to wide down in the vale.
Isla goes right to it, ripping, tearing, kicking, clawing - whatever at this enemy. Once Lleupine leads the way on the beast they all want to get, she charges teeth first and RRRIIIPPPSSSS even more into him, taking her own prize. He killed her brother, he's going to DDDDIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
When Isla charges in, Sully is right on her heels, but the old fart on four legs outpaces them and opens a weak spot for the duo to exploit. The dappled Crinos uses his momentum to powerslide on his knees, bringing his claws around for a wicked uppercut on the Fomor Soldier Acid Trip Bear Spiral Tweaker Whateverand tearing a big old fucking chunk out of him. The mouthy Ragabash halts his slide, whipping back around, and snarls, << FUCK YOU, YOU WYRM-SUCKING DRUG INDUCED DICKHEAD! >>. He spins around with claws out to kill two warriors on either side of him, taking a sword slash to the back and answering it by biting off the offending arm. Wherever he goes, Lleutrim and Isla are always less than a heartbeat away, and he comes to keeping them at his back or sides to ward off anyone who'd try for a cheap shot. When the huge hydra with boy band faces attacks, he's side by side with Lleu in hacking them off, howling, << BACKSTREET'S HACKED, ALL RIGHT! >>
This is a battle, so of course no one is exempt from the violence, pain, and even death involved with such things. A roaring howl explodes from a cub that just got herself shanked/clawed, and a whirlwind of destruction errupts when hse loses her fucking mind and frenzies, breaking away from the 'pack' and wading mindlessly into the melee, her huge crinosed body soon lost to the crashing waves of death. A yelp of pain from nearby comes from our group's designated coward, but for once, being a total pussy has its advantages, and soon there's an injured lupus squished into the group where the bad guys mostly cant get him.
But soon, the last bad guy stands, the largest and worst of the BSD/Bear fomori/Soldier fomori. Huge of size, with pointy spears sticking out of it and claw gashes galore that hardly seem to do more than piss it off, it lunges at the cub pack. Yeah, there's still the rest of those fighting Fianna stumbling over the dead and waging war, but just like in the movies, all the extras just sort of fuck off in the background and are entirely unhelpful and non interfering to the main characters.
God damn, that's a hoary looking mother fucker that's left standing! Reeking evil, bloodied with many wounds already but like some ancient beast right out of Tolkien's worst, deepest, darkest crevasse! It's a little scary for the cubs, even Lleupine, to be going up against that son of a bitch! It even SMELLS bad, like the worst rotting corpse that ever gagged your throat with stench.
An yet, they must bring it down. Lleu-wolf snarls, eyes flashing and fangs gleaming against the maw of his jaws. The dire wolf should probably have tried to stealthfully get around and attack from behind, but things are happening fast and his fellow cubs are moving in. The Galliard feels the hard beating his heart as if still beating to the drums, the drugs in his blood making him savage! He leaps in, going right for the beast's face if he can! Give all new imagry to 'Bite your Face Off Fucker' as the huge gray wolf lands on the towering Black Spiral Dancer! Make it hard to throw gifts at then if Lleu can sink his fangs into it's face and maul the eyes!
The weight of the dire wolf is great, hitting the foe! Lleupine does his best to bring down the enemy and then to lock his jaws to hold on to the head or throat so the others can get in and attack! Something hits Lleu hard in the side and shoulder, staggering him! It rips his jaws loose, stumbling and snarling as more blood begins to soak his pelt. The others are on the beast, ripping it apart as the battle rages on!
Pain like liquid fire, acidic, burns him. The Galliard salivates, pants and circles, limping and favouring that shoulder as Isla, Sully and the others do their damage.
Isla gets hit pretty hard, but the red furred Ahroun will shake it off and looks at the clawing she took will make a BADASS scar! Isla looks around and spies something she has dreamed of - and ONLY IN HER drugged out state of MIND right now would it make since for this to be here! She pulls a large Crinos sized bow from a body, and pulls from the quiver a batch of arrow. They fall right into place and she pulls it back and these massive Patriot Arrows are unleashed on the body! Granted, it may only be one, but she is seeing 5 right now! (https://youtu.be/5xIU6_w6ohg?t=116 ) They fly out and DRILL RIGHT INTO the beast they ARE GOING TO SLAY! With hits to the eyes, the throat, the torso, and the privates, she nails the thing. >>DIE WYRM SCUM!!<< She should be singing, but not until the last guy is dead and she can do so while dancing in her drugged out state around the body.
As a natural trickster and a warrior of Gaia, Sully approaches the Big Bad Barbarian Dad head on, charging forward before tumbling aside from his feint and ripping claws through the LSDemon's leg to hobble him for the rest of the crew. He takes a deep goughe in his shoulder, but laughs it off, snapping, << YOU HIT LIKE A FUCKING MORMON! >> and spinning to bury claws in its hamstring before yanking back and pulling viscera along with it. << HAVE FUN LIMPING TO HELL, YOU FUCK! >>
It takes the combined effort of the pack to take the damned thing down, covered in wolves and pointy sticks both large and small. When it loses its legs and tumbles to the ground, you're all able to look up a moment and take stock and see that the battle is ending. A few stragglers left to kill, the Fianna have won the day, though the hollow is stained by the terrible aftermath. Small fires burn the dead and scent the already nasty air with the smell of burning ham.
Three of the cubs are no longer standing, scattered out there on the battlefield amidst the dead, but those that stuck together still stand, nursing various injuries. "Holy shit, that guy's still alive!" one cub says with a (totally reasonably) surprised look to their pack's super coward. He actually seems pretty surprised too, and immediately pees.
Our extras, the other surviving Fianna are gone from one blink to the next, leaving the cubs alone with the remnants of their passed test.
The thing is down, the dead lay over the battle field. Badly wounded, Lleupine the dire wolf limps and drags his left front leg as he has to, leaving the slayn foe. He looks at the carnage, looks for the great black Stag that encouraged them, but mostly he looks for the body of Faith whom he saw struck down when they'd come from the tunnel and out of the earth. The Galliard is a gorey mess, his fur no longer hued like faded blood on his side but infact soaked with it. His own. Panting heavily, tongue lolling from his jaws, he comes to where he saw her fall. Whether there is a body still there or vanished along with their allies, Lleupine lies down there, hurting. Such grief. His silvery eyes watch the others in their various beraggled states or doing their victory dances.
Isla shifts back down to lupus, dropping the awesome bow, and finds the body of her brother. She lays next to him, nursing her wounds, but mostly weeping over him. Her paw on his chest, the headless body rather gruesome, she whines and cries there for him. She has avenged his death, but her heart aches as she will have to tell her parents and brothers.
"Aaaaaand the holodeck shuts down," states Sully when the battlefield empties, having shifted back to his homid form after healing a bit. He takes a look at the gouge on his shoulder, now scarred up, and laughs. "Oh, shit, it looks like a smiley face! Peach Bottom, check this out, that dude's claws told me to have a nice day!" He meanders over to Isla, indeed showing off his cool new scar, and looks around at who's left. "Okay, looks like we lost a few, and maybe not the ones I thought we were gonna. That's two of two for us, though; just remember to keep your eyes on the prize and remember that /you lived/, all right? Time to dwell on the other dumb shit when we're back home getting drunk and stoned on some other kind of shit." No mourning or weeping for the Ragabash; he's trying to keep spirits /up/, damn it!
The bodies of those each cub loved and saw die are still there, still dead, not dissapearing as one might hope, lending a haunting realism to what is, surely(?), just an incredible drug trip. A couple of the cubs break down entirely over their losses, a couple others issue a mornful howl, one much like Sully and disbelieving and rationalizing, if somewhat numbly. Weirdly, that's the McCoward.
This all groups our survivors up together again, more or less, near the tunnel they'd entered from. It's no longer a tunnel sloping gently downwards with the glyphs and scuplting depicting an important moment in their tribe's history, but a closed off depression only a few feet deep.
For the most part, there seems to be majority favor for 'sit here and hurt a little while I heal', and fortunately not a damned thing happens during that time. Luck of the Irish! Soon, people are pulling themselves together though, and someone says, "Great Gaia's Tits..." in an awed and horrified voice. None too far away, this cub is standing at the edge of a cliff and looking out at something that seems to stagger him.
Isla reluctantly stands up and pads over to where this cub is looking at to see what the hell has him in that state. She looks back to her brother a few times, and chuffs >>You fought heroicly, Hamish. I will be sure the Galliards tell your tale.<< Her fur is still up on end, wondering what could be next here.
Lleupine lies by Faith's body, her beautiful face marred by death while her decapitated head lies in the tall grass. Anguish silently weighs him, wishing fervently that this part must be dream. The Galliard lies there a good long while, the deep wound through his back and shoulder slowly ceasing to bleed. After a while the shout eventually rouses him. Emotionally drained, the gray wolf too makes himself get up. Lleupine licks Faith's dead face, >> If this is real, I will come back for you. I promise. << Tear tracks have wet his wolf's face as he turns away from the body to start limping to go and see what the others see. One must continue.
It takes him a little time to get over there, to the cliff's edge. By the time Lleu gets there, he's walking a little better. The blood in his coat is starting to dry, sticky and dark, matting his fur. He lifts his head up, pale eyes desolate try to search, ears to listen, nose to catch at scents.
Things aren't over yet.
Freckled-ass Sully walks over to the cliff as well, calling back, "Off your tails, Fianna! You gonna cry all day in Neverland or you gonna come be grown-ups! For fuck's sake, we're all tripping balls in the Umbra! That shit was faker than Pamela Lee's tits! Jesus, it's like playing peek-a-boo, you infants." He peers over the edge, eager to get on with it and maybe -- just a little bit -- trying to put what he saw behind him rather than think about it.
From the top of a sheer cliff face, the cubs are presented with a commanding view, but it isn't pretty. Distant mountain ranges rise at the very edge of sight, with low, rolling hills and expansive plains spread out for leagues inpanoramic awesomeness. Nearly all of what should be scenic beauty, however, is marred by war. Armies of unbelievable size are spread as far as the eye can see, copses of trees burn or even move across the battlefield to fight. Blasts of lightning bolts from the clear sky, tracers of fire, gusts of powerful wind and suddenly upjutting spears of rock mingle with garou and direwolves, hiddeous fomori creatures. Banes and elementals rip through their foes with savagery, elementals burn and freeze, and everywhere there is the distant sounds of screams and howls. Over them all comes a horrible, warbling wail that makes your DNA hurt and quiver with dread. Way out there, distant on the battlefield are huge monsters stomping ponderously through the fight, and where they step the world is unmade. (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iYEBQJoz1_c/maxresdefault.jpg)
Your obvious paths are directly off the cliff's edge, or down this little path and into a small cavern with sunlight leaking through the roof, shining down on... something.
"I vote cavern," Sully says flatly, never taking his eyes off the horrid battlefield below. "Like five times I vote cavern. Everyone who died votes cavern, too. Fuckin' make it unanimous, I don't want /any/ of that shit after what we just did." He sighs, reaching up to scratch his chest, and finally looks aside at the other cubs. "For fuck's sake tell me we're not going down there. That seems so fucking stupid I have brain damage from saying it out loud."
Oh boy. Lleupine eyes the morbid and strange tableau that spreads out before their eyes, as well as the strange giants that tromp the earth. The wail is like an icy claw down his bloodied spine. Never has the Galliard seen or ever imagined what it must be like to see the world being unmade, unless his vision encompassed nuclear devastation.
The Gray wolf shakes himself, >> Trail to cavern. There first. We can not combat that ... but we may be able to find something that can. << His cold nose nudges at Isla with her bow and quiver, then he starts down the trail still limping but doing better as Lleu makes his way.
Isla shakes her head at this sight. >>This .. terrible. Let's check the Cavern, see if we can find more help. This is more than what we can handle. There are too few of us.<<
"Good. /Fuck/ me. Good. I feel like I'm gonna die /watching/ that Lord of the Rings of Hell shit down there," Sully replies, shaking his head to clear it and making for the path to the cavern. He keeps swatting grit and dirt off of his bare-ass skin until finally just giving up and shifting back to lupus, heading to the cavern at a trotting lope.
YEP, everyone agrees with 'holy shit not that!' and is fiiiiiine with going to the cavern. Especially the coward, who is SO thankful, that he pees a little. But just a little, because this is like the third time and he's only got so much in the tank.
The path is just and smooth as the last, nice and short, with a beautiful painted mural along some rock along the way which, of course, spells out a little bit of Important Moments In Fianna History. Which again wont be typed out here due to the ST being fairly Fianna deficient, but trust me, it's cool, and it's way better to look at than what's below.
Inside, the cavern has a sweet, low key clover scent, its floor carpeted in soft moss, shamrocks and clover. In the middle is a rough stone with a flat top, also a bit mossy. Sitting on this rock, bathed in gentle sunlight is a plain white ceramic plate with a sandwich sitting on it. It is a glorious sandwich, stacked high while being of appropriate white-bread size, the sort of thing given camera time for a commercial ad. Is there a point to the sandwich? Let's hope so.
After the battle they just fought? Surely they area all fuck'n hungry wolves. Lleupine comes into the cavern, his huge paws treading the moss. It isn't food that he's looking for at first, but water. Cool water to lap up and quench his thirst. Though /if/ they are in the Umbra... the tired Galliard stops and eyes the white ceramic platter and the /sandwich/. Cautiously he moves a little closer to sniff at it but doesn't touch it. He looks back at the murals painted on the walls. Was there anything about food in the stories depicted there? No? Though Lleu can recall Fionn mac Cumhaill's Salmon of Knowledge, there is no well here, no hazelnuts, no salmon.
Sully takes the time to look over the Fianna history on display, but doesn't linger; there's still a huge battle waging out there, and this tunnel goes /somewhere/. He does not, however, simply charge ahead; there could be /traps/. There could be /monsters/. There could be /other trippy shit/. Instead, there's...
<< A /sandwich/? >> the Ragabash asks incredulously, tilting his hound head to one side before looking back at the other cubs. << Anyone else get the significance of a sandwich? Is Dagwood Bumstead coming? Is that pervert Jared dude responsible for the fucked-up shit outside? >>
The painted mural was more about 'The Balad of Something Unrelated to Lunch'.
There's no water, but that sammich smells *juicy* good! And real, as far as anyone can tell. It sits there, being a sandwich. A totally innocent sandwich that's totally not sitting on a weight sensitive Indiana Jones style trap mechanism.
Isla pads along, and is not hungry and cares nothing for the sandwich. >>Do not trust it. Could be another test.<< She is not one of many words, she just looks around for what else could be in here. (re)
Very well then. Lleupine shifts up from Hispo to Glabro, which is fugly, naked, covered in muscles and blood, as well as scars now and lots of woad designs still painted all over him and his naked butt cheeks. Is /that/ a smilie face on the right cheek? Why yes, yes it is. Lleutrim eyes the sandwich, his baritone deep and gravely and almost a bass rumble, "I'm going to pick it up. We need help and ... I don't know what else to do. If it is to aid us, then perhaps each of us should take a bite of it. I'll go first."
One large hand, his right, reaches out to see if he can pick up the food but leave the plate. His left shoulder and back still ache from his wound. If nothing happens once it's in his hand, Lleu takes a single bite of it. Gods, he's hungry enough to wolf the whole damn thing but first, just one bite.
Isla is not sure about this, but will shift herself to Glabro, wild mane of hair even more untamed! She waits to see a reaction and whether Lleu's idea pand out or meets with death by sandwich!
Well, in for a penny. Sully also shifts up to Glabro, looking like a curly-haired troll and watching the sandwich lifted from the plate with a wince. "Right... if we don't all die immediately, I guess... we take a bite. Gaia, this is so fucking stupid. We're all terrified of a po' boy."
The sandwich is picked up... Nothing happens... That's better than something happening though. Maybe.
The sandwich makes it to Lleu's mouth... He bites it... Nothing happens... And then something happens. Leutrim vanishes in an unremarkable blink and the sandwich falls to the ground with a bite missing. And that is all.
The sandwich is still pretty much fine, its structure only shifted a little bit and there's always the five second rule. The other cubs are freaking out to various degrees over the dissapearance.
Isla blinks, "What the.. What??" She shakes her head and blurts out, "He'll never get back on his own. This is like an Alice freakin' wonderland sandwich. I'm going in." She picks it up and and takes a bite herself, just after saying, "I'm coming for you OLD MAN!" All loving and all in the way only the brash Ahroun could say!
After Isla's go-round with the Haunted Hoagie, Sully steps right up with no hesitation and tears off a chunk, winking at the other cubs before cramming it into his bit mouth and throwing up the horns with both hands. Then, *poof* -- on with the Magical Mystery Tour.
Poof indeed! Isla dissapears, Sully picks up the sammy and he dissapears, the other cubs freak out a little bit and the most cowardly coward snaps at it and dissapears, and so on.
One by one, Lleu's compadres blink into existance with him into what is essentially the same damned cavern. However, instead of a small flat rock with a sandwich and sunshine, there is instead a picture perfect slanty stone with the most majestic example of a Stag that ever stagged before standing atop it, sunlight cascading down through the crack in the ceiling. All we're missing is the angelic choir in the background.
"Welcome, my children." the spirit says in a language any can understand. Pause for reactions...
Lleutrim stands there as though surprised, hand held up as if he'd just taken a bite of food though there is nothing in his hand now. His silver-grey eyes look up at the rock and the most /magnificent/ stag standing on top of it, looming over him. Mind you, Donnachaidh is as naked as they started, painted in woad, covered in his blood as well as the gore and filth of their enemies, and no fig leaf. He otherwise looks like a statue of David by Michaelangelo but with a really fugly Glabro face and a lot more hair and broader shoulders.
The hand is lowered. Lleutrim eyes the great stag with some awe, and then decides maybe this is the moment where he should take a knee and bow his head in a gesture of deep respect.
Isla stands next to her fellow cubs and when she sees Stag, she shifts down to lupus and humbles herself in front of him. Her head to the ground in an 'I am not worthy' pose before him. >>Great and Mighty Stag. We are humbled by your presence to us Cubs.<< She knows when it is best to respect the spirit, and THIS IS IT.
Smart-mouthed little shit that he is, even Sully knows something about respect and awe. The Ragabash drops to one knee, bowing his head deeply, and says /nothing/. Not a quip, not a bon mot, not a peep. He is fucking /awed/, kids. This is some deeply religious shit.
Stag's good with the prostrations, radiating that majestic king of the forest vibe onto the cubs. "You've faced your fears and your failings on your journey to find me. You've bared yourself body and soul to make it this far, but I expect more than just strength from those I would lead. Tell me, what did you learn from the Weaver's trap tunnel?"
Stag looks at each of the cubs while he's asking wanting to know the answer from all. "What did you learn from the Wyrm's battleground?" And then a third question, "What did you learn from the Wyld caver?"
"That the safest path is trusting in you, Great Stag," Sully replies, keeping his eyes on the ground while he replies. "That battles are won and lost by the pack, not by the Garou. That things are often not what they seem, and not everything you find strange is automatically dangerous."
Isla replies, staying prostrated in front of Stag, >>Learned to work together. On all accounts. We all have something to give in each place. Knowledge. Strength. Wisdom. Heroism. Inspiration.<< She knows she can be arrogant and prideful, but without the others, she would not necessarily be here either.
Lleutrim stays kneeling before the great stag, his head bowed. All around him he listens to the others taking their turns to answer. Then it is his turn. /Weaver/ tunnel? "In the tunnel we learned we must work together, Great Stag. To share our knowledge, to lend assistance to one another, lest we fall one by one." Skully might come to mind to him just then. Lleu thins his mouth and thinks, "At the battle, we lent aid where it was needed, even when the battle looked lost. Again, working together we were able to turn the tide and win the fight." Wyld Cave ... The Galliard lifts his gaze, "Maybe the last was about trusting in you, having faith and hope when all else seems despair?"
The stag is still and contemplative as the cubs tell what they have learned, and seems pretty pleased with the answers, bowing his head and flicking his ears. "The lone wolf will always be at a disadvantage, but family makes you stronger, they help you to survive, to find your path and to walk it with you." Stag agrees. "Who you are and what you do matters. Though the battles you fight may seem thankless, they make the difference. What we're fighting for, the earth herself, depends on you to fight and win together, not seperate." Another nod, "Expect the unexpected." It's the Wyld, what more is there to say?
With another bow of his great head, the Stag says, "I welcome you all as children of stag, sons and daughters of the Fianna." As he finishes speaking and raises his head, his antlers cut the air and open that emerald hued rift again. Naturally, stepping through takes you home again. The bodies of the cubs lost along the way are neatly laid out on the ground, and the party is both one of celebration and mourning all at once. But you know them irish, they party the same way either way.
Once everyone is back to reality, Sully wastes no time hesitating; he grabs the still very naked Isla around the waist and neck and dips her in a /very/ deep kiss, because FUCK EVERYTHING WE SURVIVED and also SHE IS SUPER HOT YOU GUYS AND IT'S JUST A KISS! Once he's done with the ten-second spit-swap, he he pulls his head back, takes a deep breath, and hollars, "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", knowing it'll probably be the last thing out of his mouth before all of his teeth.
Isla has shifted back to homid, and when they appeared back to reality, she is shocked by the grab and kiss and waits until he lets go of her to give him a knock out punch to the jaw, and a swift knee to the dick. "FUCKER!" She licks her lips, not all that disappointed in the kiss, but you know, she has a reputation to uphold! She struts off back to her family and grabs a drink!
By the time they step though the emerald light and find themselves back in the Caern, Lleutrim's terrible wound has closed over, leaving a nasty scar across his back and left shoulder. In Glabro he looks extra regal, muscled, and still oblivious of the smilie face painted on his ass. Ah! FINALLY, someone shoves a drink into his hand! Whatever else is going on all around him, the other cubs freaking out and making merry, the dead cubs laid out, Lleu can finally take a good long drink of rich, dark beer.
Your dead people are of course alive, don't worry Lleu!
Sully goes down like Frasier, both hands snapping to his exposed nuts as a bruise starts growing on his jaw. "Worth it," he whines out breathlessly, taking deep, steadying gasps before moaning, "Fuck, I can't concentrate enough to Change, this is excruciating, fuck my life, WORTH IT!" The last is a shout, hoping Isla can hear it.
Isla hears Sully, and turns around and laughs, her red hair now soaking wet as someone poured a celebratory beer over her head! "Oh yeah, Worth it." She may mean the beating she gave him, but who knows? He'll find out later.
