Werewolf Chapter 2: Tennesse Waltz

[rhoenix]

An outside observer would be somewhat surprised to see the subtle changes in the demeanor of the young Stargazer since the other Garou approached. It was if he'd suddenly gained years, by his now-motionless mannerisms, and how he spoke. For now, there was no trace of the younger pup, only a wolf with old eyes.

Once again, he spoke in a low voice that wouldn't echo in the afternoon air. "<We had interesting times, but we do not forget our promises.>"

[LadyTevar]

The scraggly lupus (had to be a BoneGnawer), straightened up at the sudden change, staring at SeesFaces warily. <... yeah... ok... well.. they're comin'. Shou'be 'bout 10minutes.>

[rhoenix]

Sees-Faces-In-Stars nodded once to show his understanding, returning to motionlessness afterward. There was no expression held by his body or his face other than quiet calm as he steadily regarded the other Garou without even blinking, as his star-like fur moved gently in the breeze.

[Cynical Cat]

"These are good wings," said Alex as he switched over to fries. "Dive in if you want some Sof."

[General Havoc]

Sophie was too busy devouring her hot turkey sandwich to bother with the wings, frankly, but once it was good and devoured, she sampled one absent-mindedly, while watching Jack Diamond play his guitar, and tried to figure out where the hell he'd come from.

He could not possibly have gotten here before them. They'd taken the fastest route and she'd floored it the entire way. Plus he didn't look quite right, as though he was a close relative of the one they had seen in Kentucky. The odds against that however were scarcely credible. Something was going on here.

She waited for Jack to finish his songs, and for a good moment to approach him. She had a question or two to ask.

[Cynical Cat]

Alex finished wolfing down the fries and took another sip of Coke. "So, cousin, twin brother, coincidence, or Silent Strider style cheating on travel time?" he said before taking another bite of the burger.

[LadyTevar]

BoneGnawers are not the highest on the Garou social scale. If the Silver Fangs are the natural Alphas, the BoneGnawers are the Omegas. Yet, they have their own sense of pride, surviving in the cities and the other places considered worthless by other Garou.

The rangy BoneGnawer slowly wilted under Sees Faces silence, unsure of what the Stargazer was doing. Ears fell, tail started to wag slightly in confusion, before his eyes once again fell on the leash tying Sees Faces to the bench for 'safety'. A sly look crossed his face. <Pity you won't be joinin' us when th' pack gets here,> he taunted, inching backwards into the alleyway. <I'll have Bobbie send out 'nother burger for ya.>

+++++++

Finishing the old Celtic song with the rockin' kick, Jack Diamond switched into a very familiar swingin' beat. Dun-da, dun-da, dun-da-ah-da. Dun-da, Dun-da, dun-da-ah-da
"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand," Jack drawled, grinning. "walkin through the streets of Soho in the rain. He was lookin for the place called Lee Ho Fooks, gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein. Aaahoooooooooooooooo! Werewolves of London. Ahrrrooooooooooroooooooo!"

The sad part is the particular tone and pitch of the second howl actually meant something in Garou. Something so hilariously improbable anyone who understood Garou wouldn't be able not to laugh at the mere image of a SilverFang in that position.

[rhoenix]

Still motionless, a very slight smile appeared on his face upon hearing the Bonegnawer's words, simply looking him in the eyes as the other Lupus slowly backed away.

Once the Bonegnawer had backed up deep within the alleyway, Sees-Faces-In-Stars barked once; a deep, loud bark meant for messaging, and one that would be loud enough to be heard by his pack inside. In Garou, its meaning was simple: "<They Arrive.>"

[Cynical Cat]

Alex chocked as Coke went down the wrong passageway when Jack started howling. Half gasping, half laughing he sputtered into a napkin. He drew in several deep breaths after the coughing fit was over. Then he heard the bark. "Company has arrived."

[General Havoc]

She couldn't help it. When the song reached the part where Jack began howling in Garou in imitation of (of all things) a Silver Fang, she did her own fair howl of laughter, fortunately without coughing up anything. Yet once the laughter passed, she found herself in just as much of a confusion as before concerning this unexpected appearance.

He had to be Garou. Sophie was more and more certain of it. He was a Garou who had used the Umbra or some other damn thing to follow them from Kentucky, and who was here now for some unknown purpose, though if she had to guess, it had to do with the fetish. She tried to recall out of the depths of her memory the salient characteristics of the other tribes of Garou, but nothing stuck out.

She might have gone on waiting, but a call from Sees-Faces sounded from outside, clear as a bell. Megan and the others were arriving. Reluctantly, she turned away from the would-be musician, and waited for the others to come in, so that they could finish this damn business.

[LadyTevar]

Arrive they did, pulling up in the two SUVs from the night before. Both large vehicles could carry a Garou in Crinos if needed, but the green "hybrid" sticker on the side showed that the owners were still lovers of Gaia.

Megan and her pack exited the vehicles, and she looked down at SeesFaces with a little half-smile. "Guarding the door?" she asked noting the leash that had him tied to the bench.

"Ain't he cute?" the comment came from the alleyway the BoneGnawer had slipped down. A thin, somewhat greasy-looking young man had slipped out to join Megan's pack, and the others gave silent greetings to him. The young man looked down at SeesFaces, and smirked. "No Animals inside." This was clearly the BoneGnawer in human form.

Megan frowned slightly, "No teasing, BackAlley." The BoneGnawer ducked his head slightly in rebuke. "Inside. Let's get this finished, so everyone can go home." Her second, Free, opened the door for her and the pack followed Megan in.

BackAlley the BoneGnawer, was the last as always. He paused to give Sees Faces one last smirk. "Learn to walk on two legs." He ducked inside before SeesFaces could answer.

++++++++
As the door opened into the restaurant, Jack Diamond segued seamlessly into another song.
"It was 1989, my thoughts were short my hair was long/ Caught somewhere between a boy and man.../ She was seventeen and she was far from in-between./ It was summertime in Northern Michigan...."

[Cynical Cat]

Alex waved Megan and her pack over.

[rhoenix]

After waiting for Megan and her pack to all walk inside, complete with the Bonegnawer, Sees-Faces-In-Stars looked his surroundings over carefully to try detecting anything else out of place.

It took a few moments, but eventually the young Stargazer was satisfied. Reaching over to the knot in his leash, Sees-Faces untied himself from the bench, and darted into the back seat of the large farting Weaver box he and his pack had arrived in.

Taking his time, Sees-Faces-In-Stars shifted his form into his homid one, the one he liked to call "Joe-Smith." After doing so and looking himself over once to make sure all was well, he got back out of the Jeep, and walked into the diner.

[General Havoc]

As the Knoxville group entered, Sophie returned to the table and waited for them to sit down, spotting Sees-Faces, or "Joe Smith" walking in after them. She took the documents out of her laptop case and placed them on the table, waiting to see what the others would do.

[LadyTevar]

Megan and "Free" walked over to Alex and Sophie, while the other three packmates took seats at the next table over. "May we join you?" Megan asked politely, before sliding into the booth beside Sophie. That left the Silverfang to take the seat next to the Shadowlord.

There was a brief break as the waitress came over, already bearing two full glasses. "The usual, Trey, Megan?" she asked brightly, obviously flirting with Free.

"Yes, that'll be fine," Free answered. "And put our friends here on my tab, will ya darlin'?"

"Of course, Trey!" she said, then turned to take the orders of the rest of the pack.

Megan waited fro her to move off before looking down to the document folder. "I would hope these are the items we agreed upon?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Should be," said Alex casually.

[General Havoc]

"All the files we could find," said Sophie, sliding them over to Megan. "We ransacked his office for them."

[LadyTevar]

"Yes, there was a fuss over at Smoky Mountain Futures this morning," Megan answered glibly, as she casually opened the file. "Several police cars were out front."

Free grinned wickedly. "Sterling was reportedly out front, ranting and raving about the 'lack of police protection'." He gave Alex a side-ways look. "Not bad for Jr. here."

Megan, on the other hand, was flipping studiously through the papers. Her excitement was clear. "Yes... yes... This is just what we were looking for!" She pulled out her blackberry, and held it out to Sophie. On screen was a neon-bright cochroach. "The contract has been fulfilled, as specified," she said formally, and the cochroach flashed twice. With a grin, Megan put the fetish away and shuffled the paperwork back into the folder. "Now... what was so important you'd need to drive back to see Hattie before you handed this over?"

[Cynical Cat]

"You didn't pay to see those cards," replied Alex.

[LadyTevar]

Free snorted in laughter. "Pay up, Megan. I told you it was the 'priceless artifact' Sterling was griping about."

[Cynical Cat]

Alex shrugged in a noncommittal manner.

[General Havoc]

Sophie shrugged and shook her head. Maybe it was more prudent to play poker the way Alex seemed to be doing, but that was the Shadowlord way of doing things. As a Random Interrupt Glasswalker, Sophie had a very different approach to the notion of 'information security'.

"We found what we were looking for," she said. "With any luck, whoever's after it won't be bothering you any further."

With the contract fulfilled, she felt considerably better. Pissing off her own clan's totem spirit would have been a wonderful way to start her career, wouldn't it?

She gestured at the files. "What are you going to do with that stuff?" she asked. "Sue Sterling into the dirt? Or take him out under the table?"

[LadyTevar]

Megan gave a very sly smile. "Let us simply say that the city elections this November will be quite entertaining." The Silver Fang beside Alex gave a snort of laughter, his eyes glittering with visible mischief. Sophie and Alex were left to deduce the answer on their own.

In the back, Jack Diamond finished KidRock's pean to youthful summer nights, and tapped his mick to get attention. "Hiya, Miz Alexander! I've gotta song I've been workin' on.. why don'cha give me your thoughts on it?" he called out as he placed a neck clamp on his guitar. "I heard the story up in Kentucky from a old man named Peebles."

Jack Diamond lowered his head to the guitar and gently started strumming slow minor chords, before his solid baritone rose up to carry the song, writ in the tradition of the mournful Appalachian ballad.

((Chord Pattern: Em Am / Em D Em))
"Oh dig my grave and let me sleep/ Where the mountains mourn and the winds do weep
And above my breast let the poppies grow/ and o'er my head let the cold winds blow
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

Many old ballads start this way, the dead or dying speaking from the grave to tell their tales. Something about Jack's voice lent a sad wistfulness to the plea, and gave the chorus a touch of the chill the winds would bring.

I had a love and he gave to me/ A treasure fine from his legacy
I made a vow by the moon above/ That his gift I'd keep in the name of love
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

Then the cold winds came and my love grew still/ And I laid him down 'neath the lonely hill
I turned my face to the western sky/ And I bid farewell to the days gone by
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

He left no fortune to call my own/ Just a pair of babes and a piece of bone
With a heavy heart and a dreary load/ I set my feet on the western road
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

Jack expertly tuned his voice to the tone of the verses, the first a joyful memory, the second pained as the woman's husband was taken away, leaving her lost and penniless. A stanza was played with no words, Jack showing off fine picking skills as he bridged to the next stanza.

'Kind sir, Kind sir, if you pity me/ Take this piece of bone from my legacy
It's a token rare and a treasure fine/ It is all I have of what once was mine'
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

"That worthless bone is no treasure rare/ But a pauper's dream borne upon the air!"
So I took my babes and I went back home/ Where the night bird sings and the winds do moan
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

The woman's plea was heartbreaking as Jack sung it; the reply haughty and in a very accurate Northern accent, dripping with scorn for the poor woman. As the poor woman turned back home, Jack followed her sad trek with another bridge of expert picking, which slowed and lowers into something dark and dangerous.

In the dark of night came a howling cry/ "Give us what you have or your babes will die!'
"By the moon that shines o'er yonder tree/ No treasure of mine will you take from me!'
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low/
Let the wind in the hollows sing low

The guitar solo here was wild and leaping, blazingly hot as Jack's fingers danced over the frets, weaving the threat from the night with the woman's defiance to infernal heights ... and then dropping back to near silence, back to the quiet, mournful chords of the beginning.

Now the cold winds blow o'er my lonely bed ...
... As I walk the lands of the restless dead
The chords were a quiet appellegio as Jack let each verse stand alone
Ne'er will my soul know the peace of sleep ...
... All for a vow I could not keep
The guitar cried with the woman's voice as the chorus ended the stanza
... Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low ...
... Let the wind in the hollows sing low
The guitar fell silent, as Jack sang alone, his voice a whisper that filled the room
Let the wind in the hollows sing high and low.............
Let the wind in the hollows sing low.......

Silence took over.

[Cynical Cat]

Was the song bullshit coincidence or something more? Roars-to-Thunder might have answered that question, but Alex couldn't. "Are we good?" the Shadow Lord asked.

[LadyTevar]

Megan had started applauding after the song, so she didn't answer. Free on the other hand, gave Alex a sideways glance as he also applauded. "We're good. You staying long in town?"