[Marrick Fisher] Where to even begin?
Marrick was at the caern, if for no other reason than it was easier to make talens were than it was in her bathroom. Lord knows how often she had sat in the bathtub and damned near bled out to make healing talens. Which, of course, did her very little good if she left all the damned things at home. That, however, was neither here nor there. Because now, whether they wanted to or not, the Fury was sitting in one of those old, rusted ships that drifted and stayed harbored here. There was a subtle rock back and forth; she focused as she dyed things rust red with clay and earth from home.
Something that was built to endure. Something that bled from the dust bowl and the trail of tears.
It might have been odd that Marrick kept dirt from home, even worse? She used it as some sort of ritual component. Home was where the heart was, and at her core, home was still at Winds’ Meeting. Maybe that was part of the problem.
Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Marrick was sitting on her ass, getting muddy and thinking. She liked thinking. And she thought a lot. Maybe that was the problem…
[Joss Lehrer] There was never a problem that didn’t have a solution – even if one didn’t like the solution presented. Thought, however, was never truly a problem, unless it kept one from actions, kept them from doing what needed to be done.
But that’s neither here, nor there. What is here, not there, is a certain Godi, wandering through the shipyard. Her skirts slide about her calves, swishing as she walks in a lazy zigzag, exploring for reasons of her own.
Soon, she comes upon a certain Fury, sitting on her ass getting muddy and thinking, and Joss does the expected – she smiles, and heads over that way. “Hey there, Marrick.”
[Marrick Fisher] “Hola Joss, como esta usted?”
She didn’t speak Spanish often, but she seemed to speak it fairly well. Usted, though. Like she was being respectful rather than conversational. She stripped some of the mud off of what used to be a white piece of yarn. It was starting to turn red, she seemed pleased with this. Quietly pleased with her own work.
“What’s up?” she said. All formalities of the spanish language dropped in favor of the informalities of English.
[Joss Lehrer] Joss doesn’t speak any other language than – well, that of the spirits. The phrasing is common enough, though, that she recognizes it, and grins. “I’m fine, you?”
She watches her check the string, then go back to her work. “Nothing much, just out for a walk. I like it here, this time of night. Especially so soon after a moot – you can still feel the energies, the renewed excitement of the spirits that were close enough to hear the howls, to follow the revel…”
She shrugs, and tucks her hands into her pocket. “It’s a good place to let your mind wander. Whatcha doin?”
[Marrick Fisher] “I like it here,” she said, “it’s… it’s kinda quiet, y’know? Right now if I stay home Ah’m gonna freak Wendy out so… yeah, figured I should come out an’ make talens here instead of at home.”
She looked at the string, then back at Joss. Marrick stopped what she was doing for now and continued on with her thought, “needed earth that was strong, so I figured th’ kind that’ll hold crops an’ bite back after droughts was the kind I needed.”
Marrick inhaled, then sighed, “got a lotta shit to prepare for, y’know?”
[Joss Lehrer] She nods, and chuckles softly. “I can understand that. Wendy wasn’t too comfortable around me either. She’s a little skittish. But sweet. May I?”
Assuming Marrick gives permission, Joss climbs aboard and sinks to a crouch, easily and gracefully, wrapping her arms around her knees as she watches Marrick work. She seems comfortable enough to simply watch for a while, until the curiosity is too much. “What kinda shit?”
[Marrick Fisher] “Go for it,” she tells Joss.
She is no theurge, but the ahroun is methodical. She is focused and she is determined to get this right. Everything is treated with attention and loving care. She goes through the motions like she’s seen this done before, like she’s working through quiet memories and nostalgia. the moon is bright. And she is unhinged.
Making talens was cathartic. Relaxing. Odd, but relaxing.
“I don’t know,” she says. Each word is punctuated… but then she sighs and continues. “Few nights ago Wyrmbreaker gave me an’ ultimatum, either my pack gets its shit together or he’s challengin’ Boy for leadership. Which, if it’s best for the sept, it’s best for the sept… but I will be damned if I’m submittin’ to the leadership of a stranger an’ I sure as shit ain’t doin’ it laying down.”
She stopped.
“He’s honorable, but… I ain’t followin’ Perun. He’s seen me at my worst. Twice. Had bested me in battle. Had bested me in a lot of things an’ I cant’. stand. it.”
A pause.
“Gawd, I’m actin’ like a damned brat.”
[Marrick Fisher] Silence.
“But I will not be the only indicator for my pack’s ability to defend and endure.”
[Joss Lehrer] She says she doesn’t know, but than goes on to explain some of the things she does know. Joss listens. It’s something she’s very good at, having learned at an early age to give her all to the one she is listening too – even her body language is one of someone fully invested in the conversation, even as she rests her chin on her arm, atop her knee.
“You’re not a brat.”
It’s all she says for a long moment, and then she nods, slightly. “Wyrmbreaker is honorable, but what grounds does he have to challenge for leadership of your pack? It has been a rough month for you, but I do not see that the Unbroken Circle is having any better. How many packmembers have they lost in the past months? What does that say of his leadership…”
She lifts a shoulder, slightly. “And I seem to recall that in the battle for Elder, you bested him.
[Marrick Fisher] “He believes that we’re unable to defend our territory,” she states. The Fury goes back to working on whatever talen she had been working on. Whatever the earth said, Marrick did not understand, but she was very… very careful with whatever she did with her dirt and mud. Joss tells her that she’s not a brat, and something about that made her smile.
She seems ready to refute but then?
Then, she didn’t Marrick looked at Joss. She seems to reflect for a moment, “think he’s burned about that?”
[Joss Lehrer] “Because of the other night?!” She’s incredulous. She replays the battle over in her mind, and then shakes her head. “Is he going to come after my spot next, or the Eagles, because I was unable to bite effectively during the same battle? What was he doing giving orders in your territory to begin with? I do believe the litany is VERY clear on that kind of respect.”
She snorts, and shakes her head slightly. Joss is watching, but she is not listening to the earth that Marrick is using, or eavesdropping on anything she is making or doing. She simply watches, and listens instead to Marrick, finding that the more important of the two activities. Her ability to separate the two, and choose correctly, is part of what makes her a good Fostern, a good Elder.
“I expect he will challenge again at the next moot, and part of his reasoning may be rooted in the fact that he lost. He does not strike me as the type who loses easily. Gracefully, and respectfully yes – easily? no.” She grins and reaches to nudge Marricks shoulder. “Kind of like another Ahroun I know.”
She tips her head slightly, and then questions… “And for an Alpha who claims no territory of his own… what right has he to tell you that you cannot defend yours? He cannot even carve out anything for himself. He does not even actively defend where he lives, nor does any other Garou at the Brotherhood. They wait for us to build their defenses for them – so tell me, how does that make him more worthy to lead than you?”
[Marrick Fisher] “What as he doing in my territory to begin with?” She inhaled sharply, and the mud made an unhappy sound. it made her blink, and calm; Marrick wasn’t a theurge, but she was smart enough to know what was a good sound and an uncomfortable one.
“Me an’ Boy are gonna have to define our boundaries a little better, mark the shit outta that place,” she states, “gonna have to get better at graffiti or somethin’, because seriously, that is the second time that he’s shown up in my territory during a battle. It’s startin’ t’make me wonder if folks are just waiting for us to mess up.”
A break
“Which brings up a whole different set of issues, what the Hell, man!”
Joss nudged her shoulder, and something about that made Marrick laugh a little, calm, and get back to her work. “Yeah, yeah fair point… fair load of points, actually.”
“Are all y’all Godis this wise, or is it just you?”
[Joss Lehrer] “Just me.” she says, primly, and tosses her dreads back.
Then she laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t think I’m that wise. Sometimes it just takes an outside party to see what you’ve missed. I find talking things out always helps, even if it doesn’t result in you choosing the path you were determined to walk, but another. When it furthers your belief in your current path, though, that’s always nice.”
She rests her chin on her arm that’s draped across her knee again, comfortable. “And when you prove him wrong – and I’ve no doubt you will? Make sure it is in such a way that he cannot say it was his leadership that caused it. Remember his own downfalls, and ask who will challenge him to be a better Alpha. You know how they say, those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. While he may be stronger and more experience, don’t ever believe he is better than you. You are different, but that does not make his ways more effective than yours.”
[Marrick Fisher] “Aight, I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a grin.
Yep. Just like that. A-ight. Not alright. There was a distinct twang to her voice. Then? Another question.
“What does it take to lead Fenrir?”
[Joss Lehrer] It’s a good question, a solid question, and not one that has an easy answer. “The most obvious answer is strength. You have seen Silence. When Laughs in the Face of Death overstepped, when she made the exact same mistake she’d seen War-Handed make last moot, the punishment was swift and brutal. Some would say extreme – but those are the ones that only see that part, the brutality, the strength, the determination to best all and lead. What they do not see is that Silence is also wise and honorable. He dealt the punishment, but once it is over, it is over. There is no lingering discussion for months, endless debates. The strongest leads – not only in battle, but also in the ability to demand respect, and hold it.”
She tips her head, slightly, and reaches up to tug on a dread, playing with the feather woven on the end absently. “It’s not something that can be explained easily? Just something known. Respect is of the highest order to all Fenrir. It’s often earned by Glory, by the ability to destroy all that lay in your path that keeps you from an objective, but it is tempered by the wisdom to know when brute strength is not enough. Does that make any sense?”
[Marrick Fisher] “Well,” she starts, “this is gonna be hard.”
Something about that makes her grin. Something about that made the Fury openly and overtly pleased with this thought. This was going to be difficult. This was going to be something she would have to work at, and something she would have to work hard at. She ran her fingers across a rust red piece of yarn, now obviously pleased with the results in front of her.
“That kinda makes sense,” she said, “I mean. I can follow that, an’ I can respect th’ logic there.”
[Joss Lehrer] “The harder it is, the more satisfying when you accomplish it.”
She winks, and then unfolds to stand, her arms stretching skyward as she does so, before she hops out of the boat and then faces the Fury again. “It’s hard to explain something you’ve always just known. The most important thing is that trying and failing is not necessarily considered a weakness. Failing to try is.”
She tips her head, listening to something that only she can hear. She nods, and then reaches out to touch Marrick’s shoulder again. “I’ve patrols to do. Evan’s back and I’d best be on the job before he discovers what I did to his shampoo…” That grin? pure mischief. Poor Evan.
“G’night, Marrick. If you need anything, call me anytime.”
[Joss Lehrer] (aaaaaaaaand fade. thank yew mindy! :) )