Summer Trash

[Hector]

Now Hector frowned and scratched his shaggy head.

"Gift?"

"Well. Guile is a cat spirit. I guess a few rats or mice would be nice. I'd say offer him a bell - he has called us 'his bells' enough times but I have a feeling our Totem is actually commenting on our lack of stealth. Or our habit of blundering into things all sound and fury, like."

The Alpha ran a hand under his stubbled chin.

"Guile likes quiet. He likes sticking to shadows. Maybe impress him with your silence and skill at stalking in the shadows. I think he'd appreciate that considering how badly we manage that."

[Bird]

Bird laughs, it comes out rough and short.

"Can manage that. Maybe I can get y'all to move a little more quiet too. Bet Guile'd like that."

Fa-ninna looks thoughtful. Smokes in silence.

"So you been here a while." He leans forward. "You the Alpha now." Dark eyes consider Hector closely.

"But where'd you come from? How'd you get down here?"

Bird doesn't talk story like a Cahalith. But he knows how to listen. And he knows its importance.

[Hector]

"Where do I come from? Lots of places. Back east."

Hector rolls his shoulders into a shrug.

"The important one is Denver, Colorado. That was where I Changed. That was where the Silver Syndicate found me. They found me. Max Roman initiated me into the Farsil Luhal. I had to dodge a number of other packs hunting me for a couple of days across the city. If you've seen my brands, you know I made it."

He locked eyes with the Irakka.

"You kinda know the rest. The Silver Syndicate organised things so I could teach and learn. I was part of their 'build a warewolf nation' plan - just a small one. You know, learn some stories; spread some stories around. Who knew - maybe they thought I could settle in with one of the packs out in the Rockies. Didn't happen. Not even the newer packs were interested in little old me. Maybe they were getting tired of Max's dreams..."

"Anyway. I hears me stories from beyond the Rockies. Usual things - pack conflicts; lone packs against the Anshega; the terrible tale of a great pack's end... And then there was Sacramento. Now those one's got my ears pricked, if you follow my meaning. Heres the thing: I picked up a number of different tales - all from trusted sources... Different tales about the same place and the same time. I mean... You listen to our People's stories enough you know they have a habit of twisting and changing on the wind, what with us being few and scattered and all. But this... This was something else!"

He leaned in, conspiratorially and checked his sight lines as he did.

"I got a rough outline of the city's story: how an Idigam had been bought down here; I got some notion of there being packs out this way. Three of them, at least... Holding the southern side of the city. I got a name - Firebringer. A powerful elder of our kind. I hunted for those tales, I did, hoping to make sense of them. But they slipped and slid all over the place with each telling and I could never quite find the truth of it. Like the city itself was an enigma or a mystery."

He leaned back.

"Sure. The Silver Syndicate probably thinks I'm spreading the gospel according to Max Roman out this way and maybe I am - or will, one day - but my curiosity was piqued. I had to find the source of the contradicting stories and so I struck out for this place... I found a city empty of Uratha and Anshega. I found a blasted and wild Hisil. I did not find the tomb or cairn or whatever of a slain ancient spirit. Nor did I find a trace of any Firebringer. I did find three other travellers and we decided to stick it out and build a pack. I've already told you the story of our first successful hunt."

[Bird]

"Yeah, I seen 'em," Bird replies. As usual, he's terse. But his tone says respect. "You made it."

Bird's heard bits and pieces of Max Roman's dream out in the Rockies. Everyone has. He's never thought much of it, given his experience with his first pack. The People are the People. Doesn't mean they get along. Doesn't mean all the People want to be in one place. Together. Still, it's fascinating to meet a wolf who's come out of all that. So, Bird keeps his ears open and absorbs.

When Hector gets to Sacramento, things get really interesting. Bird reaches down, grabs his pack of smokes, pulls one out and light it off his old one. When Hector finishes, he's silent for a long time. He looks up at the overpass above their head, as if searching for answers there.

Then: "So what you figured happened? Here, I mean. Where'd they all go?" Not a city in the country with no wolves, Uratha or Anshega, running around. Odd shit.

[Hector]

Hector looks up at the overpass and exhales. He actually smiles briefly, a wan smile that folds away into a flicker of concern.

"To be honest, I don't know. I. Don't. Fucking. Know."

He drops his gaze to Bird - honesty is called for on this particular subject.

"See. I did have a theory... There were fragments of rumour; garbled stories and the like; a tale that the Anshega had come in force to this city. They had been united by a 'great leader' among their kind. So for a while, I figured that the Urdaga had been hammered by this guy and whatever packs had flocked to his banner. That would account for our brothers being wiped out... Even the hints of their territories swept away. So the Anshega win and then something happens - either the last Forsaken manage to take out this 'great leader' or else the old dog loses control or else dies and his followers turn on each other. And us four founders of the Nameless Pack - later become Clarion Call - wander in much later when the remaining Anshega split and move on..."

He huffed.

"Not much of a theory. Emily says she was the last Forsaken in town who was native born and she lived through this time. By her accounting she hung out on the fringes of town, surviving by the skin of her teeth and her wits edge, when her old pack vanished. I'm not going to challenge her memory and I don't think she ventured too far into Sacramento... So it's just weird."

He raked a hand through his hair.

"If I was a thinking wolf I might try and explain it all away as some kind of time effect or consequence of slaying an Idigam. Those things are Elder Things, you know what I'm saying. No telling what one of things can do - even if it is dead. But I'm not a thinking wolf and I'm just spit balling because I got no clue and no evidence."

He frowned, irked at the paucity of his own reply.

[Bird]

Bird returns Hector's frown, clearly pondering the mystery in his own, silent way.

What could've happened? Will it happen again? How would they stop it if they don't even know what went down the first time?

Too many questions. Disturbing questions.

There's one wolf who may have a little more detail. Bird makes a mental note to track down Emily and put the question to her directly.

Finally, he speaks: "That's fucked up, boss..." A simple summation of an obscure and complicated problem. "So, Emily's from here, huh?" Given what Hector's just said, that's a rare thing. "How'd she find y'all, once you came to town?" Bird's interested, especially since she'd spent so much time running and hiding. What convinced her to reach out?

[Hector]

"Simple enough, really. She encountered one of the Clarion Call - a Bone Shadow Elodoth called Tristan. He directed her to the railyards... She turns up, unannounced and gets some of us jittery. Yeah, we had a young Rahu - of your Tribe, I reckon... Yeah! - and she took defending our territory quite seriously. We all needed some talking down but after that - yeah - Emily settled in. Became a fixture of the pack. She owns her own garage and the place has become something of a second meeting place."

[Bird]

So other Meninna had been in town? Good to know... Bird would keep an eye out for their old marks and signs. See if they'd left anything behind for him.

He nods, "Yeah. Been to the garage." That's where he'll find her then. For his next conversation.

"OK, so we talked the past. What about the future? You're Alpha. What do you want to see Clarion Call do down the road?" Implicit in his question: what would you like to see me do?

[Hector]

Hector chuckled and looked up at the freeway.

"Ah... I would like to drive out the Anshega. They were not here when our pack first formed and to be honest I enjoyed the freedom to roam that we had back then. Failing that... I'd like them to fear us. I want them jumping at shadows when they even think of Clarion Call. I want them to know that Sacramento is ours. We were here first. They are here on sufferance only."

Anger was starting to burn in his voice.

"We can start by taking out the Ivory Claws to our north. I think we got more wolves than they do, now. And we've been through their front door; and their back door - me and Bleeds Well snook in once and they didn't even scent us. Its time to take out that fucking club."

He had never spoken about his immediate plans to anyone other than his beta Bleeds Well. Bird was shaking things up in a good way.

"And yeah. I want us to get a new centre point. World's changing and the rail yards might not be the best place for us. We'll need a new Locus."

Calling out to Kelreth for possible plot stuff / focus going forward

[Bird]

Hector's intensity is good. Makes Bird's blood sing. After the confusion of the past as the Cahalith has told it, the future comes sharply into focus.

They have a job to do. Same job as always. Hunt.

The Alpha's anger when discussing the Ivory Claws finds its mirror in the small, cruel smile that twists Fa-ninna's lips.

"Y'all been in their business and they didn't even twitch. Weak. We'll root them out." A long drag off his smoke. "Maybe I'll keep an eye for now. Find out how many exactly. When they come and go." It's clear he's asking Hectors blessing on that. The way the Irraka sees it, the more information they have, the easier the final strike. Bird wants to be ready.

A nod. Another locus. Check. "I'm all up and down our territory. Further even. Walking it out. Learning it. I'll keep my nose to the ground." Word is bond.

There's a long pause now. Like Fa-ninna's weighing whether to say something or not. Something important.

"Listen, boss... I ain't been able to say it. But I wanted to thank you. For taking me in. Letting me run with y'all. It means... a lot." This is clearly hard for the Irraka: speaking direct about what he feels. But it's also important that he gets it out there. "Been a while. Since I felt like this." He makes a circle with a finger in the air, then closes his fist. All together. Pack.