Bring the Ducklings to the Nest

[Lesingnon]

The nice part of having a tablet, Chantay had quickly discovered, was that it allowed her simply to load all her legal documents onto it and read them anywhere without having to lug all the paper around. Which in turn meant she could get more of her reading done while out of the office and make her schedule a bit more flexible. And that was of immeasurable value to someone who had to balance the lives of a lawyer and Uratha. Even for an Elodoth that didn't come easy.

She'd have to make sure to let her mom know how much she appreciated the Christmas present.

The holiday had been wonderful. She hadn't seen enough of her mom ever since graduation. The hectic whirlwind of trying to settle into her new life and her new job had eased only after the duties of the Uratha had been forced upon her. And while San Francisco might not be far as the herd measured distance, it was a long way indeed for wolves that had to constantly mind their territory. And because of that she treasured every opportunity she had to spend time with her mom. Every time they got together she seemed older than Chantay remembered, but she was always fiercely proud of her little daughter who'd grown up to achieve her childhood dream. And for just a little while Chantay could be just that; a daughter, just a regular person, free from all the concerns of an Uratha that otherwise pressed her constantly. It was just an illusion of course, even if she could escape them for a short time the responsibilities never went away. But those hours when she could be relatively carefree, that she could enjoy with the only relative she knew, they were priceless.

But the life of a werewolf had advantages as well as perks. Her mother may have been her only relative, but she wasn't her only family. The bonds that tied a pack together were deep, complex, profound, and fulfilling in a way that the herd likely couldn't understand. And tonight their own strange little family, the Ascendant Crescent Brotherhood would grow. It was time to visit Mother Duck, as soon as the rest of the pack arrived.

[MethodofDestruction]

The beta wasnt far behind the Alpha. He arrived quietly, looking distant and thoughtful. He sat down next to Chantay, silent. The rahu stares at the ground between his feet, keenly feeling the hole Digger left, now more than when he had heard.

"Hey." He says, after a moments hesitation. Slick was always so much better with words.

[Dale Hunt]

Dale arrives at the location he had been told to go to by Chantay after the fight with the Magath. However, he is not alone. The Rahu is being followed by another Uratha he had met recently at the Tur on his way over. Upon seeing that the Alpha and the Beta are already there he gives each a respectful nod, starting with Chantay of course.

"Hey. Hope I'm not too late. Got a bit distracted on the way," he says as he nods in Nieves' direction ( Vassagon ). Dale doesn't bother introducing her. After all, she is a big girl and can do that for herself.

[Nieves Werra]

The woman, small, lithe, and buried in a faux leather jacket that was too big for her, strolled up alongside Dale. Her gaze was fierce and bold, but also distantly apathetic. She smelt unwashed and grimy, like she'd been living on the streets for the last few months. Even the jacket looked worn and torn in places. Nieves shifted her weight to her right and folded her arms expectantly. The woman must have been the alpha Dale mentioned. And hell if she didn't look all glammed up for something. And the other guy looked like he could rip a phone book in half and eat it like a sandwich. Still, it was just the three of them and she didn't feel particularly threatened by the group.

"Sup," she said crudely, lifting her chin slowly in a sign of acknowledgment.

[Lesingnon]

Chantay set the iPad aside as she heard Starflower, about to say something. She could recognize the tone, the body language, she could tell how he was feeling. And she knew how it felt; Casey, Bull Rush, Starseeker...she'd been through it before. She wasn't sure Starflower ever had, like this. He hadn't grown particularly close to Starseeker before his departure.

But Dale, and more relevantly the newcomer, arrived before she could do anything more than place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Time could simply move too quickly at times.

That head tilt from the woman...gave her pause. She doubted many mortals thought all that hard about it; but the origins of the respectful, downward, head nod weren't all that hard to trace. Eye contact was an almost universal sign of challenge or aggression in the animal kingdom, casting your gaze downwards there was a sign of submission. And had come to represent respect amidst people. That chin tilt was, in many ways, the opposite. The question was whether she was intentionally deciding to send that kind of message or not.

She's careful to keep those thoughts from showing as she regards the other woman. "I'm sure Dale's told you who we are already, so why don't you introduce yourself?"

[Nieves Werra]

When the woman looked at her Nieves felt as though she were being sized up by a predator. That was only natural, right? An Alpha was top dog, err...top wolf. Nieves did her best to seem unimpressed and cool-headed. Her eyes drifted to the side this time, answering the woman without actually looking at her. "My name is Nieves, NYAY-VESS," she repeated in harsh enunciated tones. She closed her eyes for a half-moment and opened them slowly again at the woman. "And your boy here did mention who you were. Chantay, right? Leader of the ACB?" Even though Dale had just told her what 'ACB' stood for a few minutes ago she couldn't rightly remember what it was so she used simply the acronym. She wondered if the others were Blood Talons too. Somehow she couldn't imagine the prim-looking woman who looked more like a model than anything would risk breaking a nail in a fistfight.

She didn't try to sound disrespectful, but then again she wasn't trying to sound respectful either. She was just here to meet people, so far that was going rather well, she even managed to introduce herself twice in a row without throwing a punch.

[Dale Hunt]

Dale just watches the interaction between both women with some amusement, without saying a word. He is curious to see how Nieves' defiant attitude will be received by Chantay. He can smell some of the tension in the air, but remains quiet throughout the exchange. After all, how Nieves handles herself in this situation is just a test in some way.

She had talked some pretty big game back at the Tur, but he hadn't gotten a chance to test out whether Nieves was all bark and no bite, and this is at least a good chance to observe how she handles herself under pressure. Dale is sure that she would have to prove herself in other ways as well; but if she wants to run with the best, she'd have to prove herself worthy of that as far as the Rahu is concerned.

This should be interesting...

[MethodofDestruction]

"First off, hes not 'our boy'. Hes Dale." The rahu stands up, bulk somewhat hidden beneath the leather biker jacket. "And i dont like your tone. Wise up - your talkin to the supreme bitch here. She'll pick you up and throttle a Jaggling with you if you keep acting like big shit. You're a small pup in a big town, and Chantay here is about as big as they come." He walks up to behind Chantay.

What? We just lost our Cahalith....

[Lesingnon]

Chantay doesn't really even try to hide her smile. Starflower might not have been the most subtle of people, but if there was one thing her Beta had shown her it was that she could depend on him more than perhaps any other Uratha she'd ever met. Which was simply priceless. "Now Starflower, let's not get carried away...there are much more effective ways of dealing with Jagglings if I have to resort to violence." She still needed to take that gift she'd learned upon receiving her most recent brand out for a whirl...

"Yes," she brought her steady gaze around to meet Nieves's, "I'm Chantay "Slick" Jones, Elodoth Meninna, Alpha of the Ascendant Crescent Brotherhood." And the way she said it certainly implied that she considered Auspice and Tribe to be important parts of a proper introduction between werewolves.

[Nieves Werra]

Huh, quite the chupamedias she's got for herself, thought Nieves testily referring to Starflower as he scolds her. But if he was even half right about this dama it meant Nieves wasn't wasting her time being here. Still, she didn't like his tone. All she'd done was cooperate by introducing herself. And yet it was kinda funny, so easy to get under the guy's skin, she lowered her head, but just enough to cover her suppressed giggle.

"Effective ways of dealing with me?" she said, ignoring her implied request. She raised her head again to face these brotherhood wolves. "I didn't realize your boy only brought me here to be dealt with. I came looking to join up with a strong pack, not play who's the bigger bitch." She tapped the toe of her right boot on the ground idly, as if knocking it back in place on her foot, seemingly unconcerned with the poor direction the conversation was headed. "You say you're the boss, fine you're the boss, but are you the boss of me?" she posed the question to Chantay rhetorically. It seemed that if any of them were going to get any answers out of Nieves they'd have to ask directly or ask through a different method.