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Sacramento, an interesting town. Some locales are wonderful, some less so.
This bus station is one of the later. Years past its prime it still stands due to social inertia and no care to take it down. Cheaper bus lines drop off passengers at this stop. It's a great way to get to town cheap..and maybe get something along the way.
It had been a long drive to Sacramento, and the walk around the city had felt even longer. Matthew had parked his car in a random spot on the other side of the city and hoofed it the rest of the way to the spot he'd been told of: some random bus station that should've been shut down years ago. He'd return to his vehicle every few days to move it to a new spot to keep his "base's" location unknown, and catch a few winks if he could. Maybe it was a bit paranoid, but paranoid was better than dead.
Hands shoved firmly in his pockets, the Cahalith strode down the sidewalk, keeping his eyes forward and never looking any one of the dozens of people constantly passing him in the eye. The news he'd heard about Sacramento's Uratha community from his Iron Master tribemates was everything but good, and the Pure could be anywhere. The thought made him antsy, but he knew what he came to Sacramento to do. Matthew had reached the ancient bus station, which looked worse up close, and sat himself on a bench, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.
... this smell... It didn΄t change so much... but it changed. Well, some people says one knows a city by its smell. Let΄s see whether it is true or not...
Johan had just arrived at Sacramento. Is had been a long while since the last time he was there. The only contact he had from that time was of someone he already knew had left the city too, the alpha of his former pack. True, the ghost wolf was not so lonely and hermit as it may seems.
He sits on a bench right in front the bus΄s stop and holds his modest backpack at his side. There would be no reason for that besides waiting for someone.
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An oppressive cloud, or even a stench seemed to have settled over the city since Alison had been gone and she didn't seem to like the implications of this. It was bad enough when she caught whiff of the smell during the battle for tur at the fixing of the hisil when the pure pushed into the city. It needed confirmation and she would need to get some information from someone in tur, if there was still friendlies there.
A red jeep wrangler pulled around the corner and drove down the street with the top down. Alternative rock could be heard coming from the vehicle, but anyone who knew the blonde knew that the volume was far lower than it would be usually. She wanted to hear her surroundings, but didn't wanna sacrifice her entertainment completely. It was warm out today and she wore her protective motorcycle riding leathers which was kind of odd and her seat-belt. Alison would be sweating her balls off if she had any, but the extra protection from the dedicated clothing helped reassure her that she wasn't completely vulnerable.
She parked near were the wolf was waiting on the bench and turned off the vehicle before she hopped out. She grinned broadly at the other wolf as she approached, "Hey boy, how's it hangin'? I hope I'm not too late." She paused for a moment before she added. "Is it just me or this place smell like a shitter to you too?"
The Cahalith sat stone still, just sitting and watching people board and depart from buses and otherwise hurriedly go about their business. It was strange, really; a secret war millennia old raging right underneath these people's noses and rarely had they an inkling of its existence. Before Matthew could think on it further, the familiar scent of another Uratha reached his nose through the stinking aroma that seemed to cover Sacramento. Instinctively, his whole body tensed, a barley noticeable motion, and his eyes darted around someone frantically as they searched for the other wolf. A few moments later, Matthew's eyes settled on another young man, clinging to a backpack, taking a seat at another bench several meters away. Matthew nodded to himself, figuring that since the other man wasn't currently trying to kill him he was unlikely to be Anshega. Satisfied for the moment, he settled back into his bench, deciding to wait a bit longer for others to arrive.
The wait didn't last long. The red jeep parking in front of the bus station was hard to miss, as was the woman at its wheel and the distinctive scent of another werewolf. Matthew looked at her from the corner of his eye as she hopped out of the vehicle and strode over to the other wolf, all smiles and words. Either she was very forward or the two had a history. The Cahalith stood from his claimed bench, jammed his hands back in his pockets, and made his way over to the other two wolves.
"Not at all", Johan smiles friendly while approaches respectufully to Alison. The brazilian is used to a more "warm" social contact, but he doesn΄t know whether it is apropriate with these fellows, maybe a hug or a kiss in the cheek. So he wavers for a brief moment and give another sincere smile and a sympathetic look to the bottom of her eyes for just a milesecond, "I΄m going. We are always "busy" as you know"..
There are just few moments to smile about, speacially for a Uratha and specially for Johan. However, meeting again a friend and ex packmate in an ever unfamiliar place is one of these moments. Also there would be no reason trying to "read" her, he was just curious and concerned to what she might have been through.
Libra is used to a very harsh environment, harsh even for humans. His life story isn΄t a beautiful one for sure. "Shit and trouble always come together... It looks like we are all shit sniffing dogs", slightly grins with the ironic sentence. He did while notes briefly a man getting closer. It stoped him to continue the chat. The scent was familiar, he is a son of the Father Wolf. The question is whether he is coming for "shit" or not. Then, Johan gives a discrete nod to Alison pointing to the man.
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When Johan hesitates about a proper greeting Alison grabs him and gives him a powerful bear hug amongst old companions. It was clearly not meant to imply anything other than friendship. Then pulling away she gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"It's good to see you again man," she said with her ever present grin. She nodded sagely at the wolf's words "...truer words have never been spoken. But maybe we can rub their noses in their mess and teach them a lesson for once."
She notice the other wolf approach too and caught the scent over the stink of the city as he approached. She nodded to Johan to know she had seen him, but kept her cool. "Keep your eyes peeled to make sure others don't get a jump on us," she whispered through smiling teeth. No sense bein' inhospitable if there wasn't a need to be, besides if they were pure around they would likely be attacking first and talking, never.
"Hey dog, how's it hangin'?" She called out in welcome to the other as he approached. When he got closer she added more quietly so only the three of them could hear, "I'm Alison, so do you live here or are you new to town, and are you moon touched?"
Any werewolf would know that she was asking if he was pure or a forsaken touched by Luna.
He couldn't really blame them for their suspicion; a random guy walking up to him who smelled of wolf in a town full of Pure would've caused his hackles to rise, too. The woman turned to speak to him, still all smiles, and offered a greeting. Matthew shrugged in response. "It's hangin'." He said in reply. As he neared the duo, the woman offered her name and a question of where his loyalties lied among the People. The Cahalith let a little smirk play over his face for a moment before speaking.
"Matthew. Born under the Gibbous moon and child of the Red Wolf." There was a hint of pride in his voice when he mentioned the patron of the Iron Masters. Being accepted into the tribe of Sagrim-Ur had been been one of the few personal victories he'd been able to manage since his First Change. "I drove in last night. News from my tribemates all over Cali about this place is everything but good. Figured I'd help out where could."
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Alison stared intently at the newcomer for some time with no indication what she was looking for and looked thoughtful. Then smiling she replied, "Good, Redwolf huh? He's got some good peeps, adaptability is always a plus in warfare."
She looked to Johan giving him the indication to still be on watch, but that this new arrival didn't appear to be a threat for now. She turned to Matthew again and continued with a smile and held out her hand to shake his while she kept her eyes peeled too.
"I'll start over, I'm Alison Yates," she looked around ensuring no one was close enough to hear but the three of them and when she was sure of this she continued, "Blood Talon Rahu, I left town for a while, but I've recently returned. Things look far worse then when I left them. This guy here is an old friend of mine back when I ran as a local alpha, his name is Libra among the people. As much as I love fighting I think it would probably be wise to get off the streets and or maybe look around for the friendlier locals. I don't like running around uninformed, intel keeps people alive and wins war so we need to make contact and then find somewhere to bed down." she thought for a brief moments and glanced at Libra and shrugged. "Shit, I can't just leave someone by himself, you wanna join us? I think this side of the barrier we should be reasonably safe risking a Tur trip, especially with transportation and with things being public. What do you guys think?"
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