Werewolf Chapter 2: Tennesse Waltz

[Cynical Cat]

"Yeah," said Alex. "We've got to go." He reached into his wallet and dropped enough dollars to cover the bill and leave a good tip.

[rhoenix]

Just as "Joe-Smith" was about to protest about his "fried chicken parts," the waitress arrived with his plate, setting it down with a tired smile. "There y'go, honey - don't eat 'em all too fast, now," she chuckled, turning away to attend another customer.

"Joe-Smith" was now in a dilemma. An instant later, he brightened, right before hitching up his t-shirt, making a shallow bag out of it by exposing his stomach, and dumping all of the chicken strips into his shirt. For good measure, he grabbed a few containers of sauces and threw them into his shirt before getting up, and marching purposefully out the door.

[LadyTevar]

Megan stood, giving Sophie an honest smile. "Anytime you want to get out of the woods for a bit, feel free to drop in," the Glasswalker told her. "It can get a little ... primitive ... at times."

Trey also stood, letting Alex stand up. The SilverFang had what was more of a smirk than a smile, but the hand he held out to Alex was honest and open. "I can take you to my favorite huntin' ground, anytime you feel like it," he offered, not mentioning exactly what they'd be hunting in front of the waitresses.


Jack Diamond was nowhere to be seen.

[Cynical Cat]

Alex took Trey's hand. He was a Shadow Lord and son of a Shadow Lord. He knew this game.

He didn't go in for any of that hand crushing bullshit that small dicked weasels did to overcompensate. "Hunting or fishing?" he asked with a smile. "I'm game for anything that involves sharpened metal and a Wyrm."

[LadyTevar]

Trey didn't go for the hand-squeezing either, just a big toothy grin from one hunter to another. "I know where there's some big fish hiding," the SilverFang said. "I'm sure you'll enjoy the chance to get out and play a bit. Just get hold of Megan."

[Cynical Cat]

"I'll keep it in mind," said Alex. "Catch you later."

[General Havoc]

Somehow, Sophie was not surprised that Jack Diamond had vanished. It was precisely what she would have done had she the capacity.

Despite everything though, she smiled at Megan's offer, even as "Joe-Smith" dumped all the food from his order into his shirt and walked out the door. At this stage, she didn't even bat an eye, but it served to illustrate Megan's point nicely.

"Thanks," she said. This place wasn't Chicago, but it wasn't the backwoods of some Tennessee sludge den either. "Look me up if you ever come up to Chicago," she said. Regarded as lunatic weaver-kin by most of the other tribes, Glasswalkers had to stick together whatever else might have happened."

Nodding and waving in turn to the other sept members, she followed Sees-Faces out the door and tried to decide how she was going to explain the chicken thing to him...

[LadyTevar]

Jack Diamond hadn't gone far at all. Somehow, he had gotten outside without their notice, and now leaned lazily against the grill of the Jeep. "Ya'll goin' back to Kentucky, are ya?"

[General Havoc]

Sophie stopped short as she spotted the singer lounging against their car.

"... maybe," she said, choosing not to think about how in the hell he had gotten out here without their noticing. She tried to keep the edge out of her voice.

"Why? You need a lift?"

[rhoenix]

Holding the bottom hem of his t-shirt carefully and with a bit more suspicion now as he stopped to look at the man leaning against the Jeep, "Joe-Smith" regarded Jack Diamond for a moment before speaking at the same time as Sophie, with a grin. "Maaaaaybe."

(edited for continuity)

[Cynical Cat]

"Hey Soph," said Alex softly, not taking his eyes off of Jack Diamond. "You ever watch Justified?"

[LadyTevar]

Jack Diamond gave a big grin. "I ain't Marshall Givens, and yer too much Yankee to get the real joke of that show." Jack pushed himself off the end of the Jeep and let his empty hands fall to his sides, showing he was unarmed and meaning no harm. "Now, Ah know yer not fond of me right now, but if ya'll are a bit curious 'bout the song, ya might wanna check out an' old friend o' mine. He knows where Moriah's property was."

[Cynical Cat]

Alex hadn't thought he had spoken loud enough to be overheard a laughed. He had gotten real tired of the wise old country boy act. Fact is, the locals weren't that smart, they just knew the area and they played on that by dropping hints and half truths. It was fucking tiring. And annoying.

So he laughed. "I think there might be a level or two you've missed Johnny Reb. But let's leave that aside. You want to continue the game of mess with the out of towners or do you actually want to help? I'm sure we can go a couple more rounds of jerking us around and you'll all have some good laughs."

[LadyTevar]

"I just gave you all I could," Jack Diamond replied, shaking his head sadly. City Slickers thought they were so smart at times, and had no appreciation for the Old Ways.

"The woman in the song's named Moriah. Peeble told me the legend, an' I've a friend in Caroline knows where she lived. If you wanna know the rest o the story, go to him. Iffen not, get back ta Kentucky with yer tails hangin'."

[Cynical Cat]

"Tails between our legs?" Alex growled. "Tails between our legs." Alex stepped forward and the light in his eyes was now the lightning of the storm. He was a Shadow Lord, Ahroun, a Child of Rage and Thunder. Ever since coming down here he had been treated with disdain and contempt. He took another step. "Tail between your legs is for failures and cowards and I haven't failed at any task the elders have asked of me. You use those words with a Shadow Lord and you better be ready to back them up."

[General Havoc]

They had gotten the fetish, and not without a degree of effort. Failing to follow up with some insane waltz through the boondocks in search of a legend spouted by a mystery man of the hills was hardly the same thing as returning with their tails dragging. Whatever these countrified wolves thought, Sophie was damn sure that her own elders would call this one a win. They had been sent out to retrieve a fetish. The fetish had been retrieved. Ipso Facto.

Then again...

She didn't get a chance to consider the "then again" of the matter, as Alex took the notion of tails between legs significantly worse than she had. Given that Alex was the Ahroun with the absurdly large weapon, this was a "very bad thing".

She acted instantly.

Nothing overtly changed around Sophie, no flashing lights, no thunder or halos or lights shining from the sky, and yet there was something different, plainly. When she turned to Alex and spoke, her voice was no different than it had been, and yet her words were imbued with a meaning and a credibility that they had not previously been, a subconscious twinge to the words that commanded, if not obedience, then at least rapt attention from those who would disagree.

"He doesn't understand," she said to Alex. "He's not one of us." She forbore from saying exactly what "one of us" meant, though Alex had already identified himself as a Shadow Lord. It wasn't because of the Veil, it was an extrapolation. Whatever Jack Diamond was, he was not Garou. Taunting an armed Shadow Lord with such manifest insult was not something even the craziest Ragabash would consider doing, not unless they had a death wish, and she preferred to believe that she wasn't dealing with a lunatic here. She had no idea what Diamond was, a spirit or kinfolk or some other thrice-damned thing conjured up by Gaia's febrile imagination, but he couldn't be Garou. He clearly knew that they were. He knew many things. But be he creature of spirit, kinfolk, or something else, he wasn't Garou.

And if he wasn't Garou, then he couldn't know what would result from this.

"Not this, not here, not now," she said. "Don't even think about it. We got what we came for and we won. It doesn't matter what he thinks and it never will. This can't help us. Leave him be."

Alex was bigger than she was, but she did not look fearful or intimidated. Nor did she look overtly challenging or hostile. She rode a careful middle ground, her gift granting her words power and the appearance of perfect, incontrovertible reason, hopefully enough to punch through the red haze she was sure was already descending over the Shadow Lord Ahroun.

And then, without turning her head, she addressed Jack Diamond.

"We got what we came here for," she said, her voice still wrapped in an intangible cloak of authority, still staring right at Alex, to ensure that he didn't interrupt her with some martial display of rage. "We got what we were asked for, and with no small bit of fighting. Nobody would look twice if we went back to Kentucky now."

She considered the matter one final time, and said what she had to say.

"Tell me where the man in Carolina is," she said. "And then tell me something else. The people who killed Peebles are dead. Why do you want us to go chasing this legend down? You wouldn't even be offering if you didn't have a reason."

"Answer me that, and I'll think about going to Carolina," she said. It was the best she could do. She couldn't speak for the others anyway.

[Cynical Cat]

Sophie was right. Fuck them all. Fuck the practical jokes, the pointless tests as if they were unblooded children, the constant insults. They had won. Victory came first, before even pride and honour and face and reputation and they had been victorious. A leader, a real leader, was prepared to make those kind of sacrifices.

Alex turned around. He briefly put a hand on Sofie's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance. Then he walked away. His Rage was too close to the surface. It was better to let Sophie and others handle this one with clear judgment. Let them say what they wished. He had already eaten a belly full of their disdain and their condescension and he could do so again. It wasn't now or next week or even next year that mattered. Only the end.

[LadyTevar]

Jack relaxed as Alex turned and walked away. Just what he thought he might have done to the raging Ahroun had a fight broke out...?

His voice was soft and sorrowful as he answered Sophie. "You know what the Bone is. Moriah was the last to hold it, as a legacy. I've given ya'll all her story I can. Now, it's up to ya'll to decide what to do to finish the story. I can't tell what I don't know." With that, Jack also turned away, walking away from Alex like a duelist pacing off.

"You still might see my friend. I've left the address inside the Jeep," Jack said over his shoulder. "He's been sick, and ..." Jack hesitated, then went on. "... and I think somethin's stalkin' him, but I can't do nothin' 'bout it. I'm hopin' ya'll can."

With that the closest to an apology they'd yet heard from any 'local', Jack Diamond shimmered like a heat wave and vanished in front of Sophie's eyes, proving her right on one thing.

[rhoenix]

Unable to help himself after he had run through all the word-talk through his mind again, "Joe-Smith" burst into laughter. After he laughed for a few moments, he looked at Diamond with a smile. "I have a story too. Perhaps one day long ago a daring wolf stole a piece of the moon and a piece of the sky, and hid them both in a cave, chasing them into circles until they spun faster and faster, becoming a wolf. I heard if you find that wolf, Diamond, it'll make you not stupid."

Chuckling again to himself, "Joe-Smith" got into the back seat of the Jeep, careful not to let any of his fried chicken parts or the sauce packets fall. After he got settled, he chuckled again to himself. "We even got chicken. He's dumb."

[General Havoc]

Sophie didn't say anything for a long time, relatively speaking, after Alex (blessings to Gaia) walked away. Sees-Faces threw in a comment or two in his inimitable fashion, but Sophie said nothing, turning and watching Jack Diamond as he said his piece, and then up and vanished.

She said nothing, didn't move, simply stood there in the parking lot, watching after the space he had vanished into, giving no sign of what she was thinking. His words turned over in her head, along with the song from before, and the dream...

Fire and screaming.

Finally, slowly, she turned away and walked back to the car, where Sees-Faces was still carrying his food and sauce packets. She shuddered to think about what the hell he was going to do with them. Carefully, she climbed into the automobile, closed the door, and simply sat there, staring off into space for what might have been ten seconds or twenty. Finally she took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and sighed, as if already anticipating the reaction she was going to get with this one.

"So," she said. "Anyone feel like coming with me to Carolina?"

She was really starting to hate this place.

[Cynical Cat]

Whatever Jack was, spirit, fey, or Garou, Stormtalon and the spirits residing within it could be the end of him. He took in a deep breath. That wasn't the smart move. That wasn't the right move. That was the frustration and the lack of sleep speaking. He was on foreign territory, among Garou who only knew Shadow Lords from story and rumour. Unkind rumour and stories at that. And, underneath it all, there was fear fueling their disquiet and disrespect. Fear of the Shadow Lord of the stories, fear of his ambitions, fear of clever city dweller masked by disdain. Fear was a Shadow Lord's due from those who did not give respect.

He clenched his fist and relaxed. Let the Silver Fangs obssess over exterior perceptions. Dark truths were a Shadow Lords domain. He turned on his heel and walked back to the car.

"You did good Sophie," he said as got in. "You want to go to South Carolina, I'll back your play."

[rhoenix]

Looking at the others suspiciously, "Joe-Smith" used his human paws to open one of the sauce containers, and dipped his chicken parts in it before munching. He did this a few times before replying to Alex and Sophie with a sigh. "Fine. But I want hamburgers after."

[Cynical Cat]

"Jesus, we just ate," replied Alex. "Are you trying to become the fattest wolf this side of the Mississippi? Sure, we'll go for burgers after."

[rhoenix]

"I know I'll want hamburgers after messing with spirits," replied "Joe-Smith" with a grin. "Good good," he said as he went back to eating his chicken strips, dipping them in a different sauce each time.

[General Havoc]

Did she want to go to Carolina? No. No, she did not want to be within three states of the place. She wanted to go home, to the urban forest of Chicago, to get some Deep Dish pizza, go to Pitchfork, catch a Cubs game, or just plug in and visit the weaver-spun halls of the net for a while. But instead...

Sees-Faces continued to eat his chicken strips with all appearance of satisfaction, demanding as his price hamburgers. Would that everyone's requirements could be so low.

Shaking her head, Sophie turned the car on, pulled out of the parking lot, and headed for Carolina.