IC Werewolf:TA-Chicago

[CowMasterTrojan]

As she leaps out to follow, well before she can speak, the red wolf takes off with a trot. The wolf moves about 150 ft away from the house, and stops, turning to wait for soft paws. As she approaches, the wolf turns into a man. She recognizes him immediately. It is Raven Running-joke.
"Hello Soft Paws. I doubt you expected to see me again. I did not expect to return so soon, but Raven has asked I come back."

[NotScaryBats]

Softpaws saw a wolf, not a raven, and is thoroughly unprepared to talk to the sexy Corax. She facepaws.

"You don't speak Garou," she growls, trying not to be too loud. Of course he doesn't. Gaia, this sucks.

Softpaws shifts to Homid form to continue the discussion, thinking that this had better be good.

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[rollv]8d10[/roll]

[CowMasterTrojan]

He smiles and turns his head sideways, giving Soft Paws a odd look. "Of course I understand Garou silly girl. Can't speak it in this form though. I guess I shouldn't have changed so quickly."

He patiently waits as she takes the time to change back to homid form. "I wish to take you to see someone. And after I take you there, I have a gift for you. Will you come with me? I should have you home before morning." He says, extending his hand to her with a warm smile.

[NotScaryBats]

Softpaws tries really hard to say "no" and find a reason to get out of there, but since she's cone this far...
"Y-yeah, okay..." she says demurely.

[CowMasterTrojan]

After taking his hand, he gives Softpaws one more smile. Then, despite being no where near a mirror or water, she feels the two of them shift into the umbra. It feels more like a diving than stepping.

When the process is complete, she looks around to find they are not in spiritual location of her neighborhood. The place looks more like a desert wasteland. The only thing that she can make out are spiritual birds circling high above them, and a motorcycle. The motorcycle is supposed to be a Harley, but it looks odd. The tires appear to be made out of dirt, the steel glows with a light blue tint, and the handles appear to be large black bird wings.

He lets go of softpaws hand, and walks over to the bike. Taking off his vest so he is now completely shirtless, he stuffs in in a bag, and jumps on the bike. Starting the bike, a howling sound of the wind blares up rather than a engine. Turning, he looks at her confused face and says "Get on. It will take us where we need to go."

[NotScaryBats]

Softpaws shrugs, this would be fun. Throwing caution to the wind, she gets on the elemental motorcycle and hugs the driver, as she's seen it done in movies. "Okay. I trust you..." she lies.

[CowMasterTrojan]

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Based on her reaction, I had to share the following. The obvious distrust is making me laugh.

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She hops on, and he wastes no time taking off. The bike quickly gets going with only the sound of the wind as a indication of being on. Speeding along, the bike feels like it's going 100mph. Emily isn't sure if that's true or a side effect of the bike. The umbra continues to change as they move through it. The brightness from Luna's light seems to slowly diminish as time passes, and the sky begins shifting through different spectrum's of light.

After about 40 minutes or so, he slows the bike down. The terrain has yet to change, but as he slows it the ride begins to feel more and more bumpy. After only a minute or two the bike goes over a ridge and suddenly drops down into a valley she never saw. However he navigates it well and even though she sometimes feels the bike is going to wipe out, it never does.

Finally he brings the bike to a stop near the bottom, and Soft Paws almost overlooks a hidden cave right next to them. The entrance protrudes out and to the side, making it hard to see unless you were right next to it. "The one inside this cave taught me everything I know. If it were not for him, I may have gone insane after my first change. He told me that I must wait outside while you speak... But I can see you are frightened. Would you like me to walk you inside?"

[NotScaryBats]

"I'm not afraid," Softpaws puts on a brave face, feeling this must be some sort of test, "b-but just what kind of Spirit is hiding in this cave?" She can't help but ask.
Although a bit timid, the Metis is trying her best to not appear afraid.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I never said it was a spirit. He is called 'Many Names, Many Faces, Many Places'. I call him Many for short when he's not around."

[NotScaryBats]

"Oh, ha ha, there I g-go, assuming..." Softpaws says a bit awkwardly. "W-well, I don't know what it w-would want from me, b-but." Her stuttering grows fiercer as her cheeks grow more flushed.

With some trepidation, Softpaws makes her way into the cave.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Entering the cave, Soft paws approaches a open fire in a wide cave chamber. The fire is burned down however, leaving the chamber shadowy in most areas. Standing just out of the reach of the good light stands a woman with long jet black hair. Her back is to Soft Paws and the door. After a moment she realizes that the woman is not wearing any clothes. Without turning, she greets Soft Paws.
"Thank you for meeting me child. I didn't think you would come, but Raven insisted he try. Perhaps he had a better sense of you."

In the dark edge of the room, Soft Paws sharp eyes notice a spirit. It is coyote.

[NotScaryBats]

"Wh-who are you?" the Metis says bluntly. She realizes her rudeness and backpedals, "Uh, um, I m-mean, you know who I am, so do I call you Many..." she mumbles a few things after 'Many' having forgotten all the names this entity goes by.

Softpaws hugs herself with her nailless hands, scratching her arms and feels utterly tiny and wishes she hadn't come here.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"I have good hearing dear. I heard what he said. If it's simpler, you may call me anything you like."
And then she pauses for a moment, turning to look at Soft Paws. A certain amount of her studying to see if she looks away.
"Now there's no reason to be frightened child. I'm not going to hurt you. If I were, that would have been done long ago when you were first pulled into the deep umbra. Would you like some tea? It would help calm your nerves."

[NotScaryBats]

"Yeah, that would be nice." Softpaws says quietly. It's like she can read my thoughts...

[CowMasterTrojan]

She moves to the back of the cave, in the shadows and fiddles around with things. Returning with a iron kettle, she places it carefully over the fire before returning to her place on the edge of the shadows. The brief time next to the fire allows soft paws to see tattoos of various animals all over her body. Once she is finished with her task, she begins to talk once more while pacing slightly.
"I can understand your discomfort. You're wondering why I asked you here. I don't even know you, and you don't think yourself much of importance. Spirits were watching your pack tonight, we do indeed know you are no longer Beta. But that doesn't matter to me. You see, what we've been watching for is..."
She then pauses for a moment, and then asks "How much do you know about the Umbra child?"

[NotScaryBats]

"I fell into the Umbra once when iI was A cub, and haven't really liked it since -that was really scary," Softpaws begins, "then, just recently, I thought my pack could destroy a couple of Pattern Spiders who were Webbing the park. No one wanted to do it, and I ended up getting tied up in the Web and I just had to sit there and watch those idiots as they failed around. I hate the Umbra, and they don't even know how to fight and that's why I'm not Beta anymore." Tears threaten to fall from her red eyes, but Softpaws doesn't notice.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"Tsk Tsk, don't cry child" She says in a comforting voice "Everyone fails. You have to fall a few times before you learn to walk. It's part of life."

When Soft Paws calms down some, she begins to talk more. "Well if you don't know much about the Umbra, let me explain a few things. When most call something the Umbra, they really mean the Penumbra. That's the world you usually go to when you... step sideways. It's a shadow of the physical world."

"When you get away from that Shadow, you get into what we call the deep umbra. Layers of the Umbra that are much more different. Layers where the laws of the universe don't apply. Some places are very strange. For instance, there's this one realm we call the Null Zone. The place exists outside of time and space. There you can find a portal to anywhere. You can see through it, or even go through it. If you're good enough at navigating the place, and few are, then you can even travel back in time. That's how bizarre the place is."

"There is another realm, called the Dream realm. The dream realm is much easier to reach. There you do many things you could do in your dreams. But the useful thing of them, is that you can much more easily go on a vision quest. I have done such countless times. And through the aid of Raven, your friend Jason also went on one." She then pauses for questions, and to give soft paws the tea that is finally ready.

[NotScaryBats]

Softpaws burns her tongue on the tea.

"S-so is it true what you see in the dreams, or not? He said we were all gonna die if we stuck with my... um. With Deep Fang."

[CowMasterTrojan]

Coyote, long silent, speaks up. "Incorrect. He did not interpret what he saw correctly. What Jason & I saw was that the Path Deep Fang will lead to many deaths. However, among them will be your death."

[NotScaryBats]

"I'm, um, not very good at that," Softpaws says, referring to dream interpretation. "I don't, like, you're not gonna send me t-to dream, are you?" the Metis hides behind her cup, holding it like a crux.

[CowMasterTrojan]

"We would never do such to one who is unwilling." The woman says soothingly.

"Does that mean that you do not believe in visions from dreams?" Coyote asks.

[NotScaryBats]

"I'm not a Homid," Softpaws says defensively, "I know the Umbra is real and dreams can tell us stuff, and that we have a duty to Gaia.

"It's just... I don't think I'd be very good at dreaming because I can't make good decisions -- that's why I'm not the Beta anymore, because I'm too rash and can't 'be objective.'" Ashamed at her position, Softpaws tries using a veneer of bitterness to deflect attention from her insecurities.

[CowMasterTrojan]

Coyote begins walking out. To the woman he says "She doesn't want my help. She doesn't believe in herself. You've told her enough. Let her make her choice. If she chooses wrong, it's her death."

The woman looks angry and flustered at Coyote "If you've given up just as easily on her, then begone. You're not helping." The coyote's response is to stick it's tongue out at her before running out of the cave. The woman sighs and sits back down. After a moment she asks "Do you understand everything I... we have said so far?"

[NotScaryBats]

Softpaws looks confused, "B-but, all you've told me is that there is a place in the umbra you can dream about the future. A-and that Jason had a dream, but was wrong and I'm gonna die..."

[CowMasterTrojan]

"No, Jason's dream indicated that if Deep Fang continues to lead people will die, and yourself will be among them. Your death is not set in stone. There is more that we could discuss, if you like, but I think you understanding that is the most important thing."

[NotScaryBats]

"O-okay..." Softpaws says, defeated. "I didn't want to believe it, but... but... why? He's a good leader! He's always been a good Alpha!"

[CowMasterTrojan]

"That is a answer I do not have. If I had to guess, his loss of a arm. Or perhaps the influence of new pack mates. Or the loss of you as a beta. We don't know the why, just the who."She says cryptically.

[NotScaryBats]

"Is that what you wanted to tell me? Leave my pack just like Hour Tales?" Softpaws grasps for something to invalidate the mysterious woman's very valid point. "J-just who are you and why do you care what I do -- if I die?"

[CowMasterTrojan]

Her friendly tone disappears at Soft Paws persecution. "Hour Tales never had to leave his pack. That was his choice. My personal advice would have been to challenge Deep Fang. But I am not he. My interest in this is simply the knowledge that he must do something very important for everyone, very soon. It will involve defeating the wyrm when it is stronger than ever. And I know that if you stand with Deep Fang, you will die. So better to tell you this in hopes you join with him somehow, than just let you die."

[NotScaryBats]

"O-oh. Um, thanks. I believe you," Softpaws feels queasy, but knows that she needs to somehow get Deep Fang to ... well, she's not sure. But something must be done.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"