[Cassidy Malone] Not too many hours ago, Cassidy Malone had been accosting one of Fenris’ kin in Grant Park. She was still there, point in fact, despite the late hour. Likely, she’d be there all night. She liked to watch the goings on. Earlier, she’d been perched in a tree, silently looking on as a couple shared the beginnings of an intimate moment. That had been quite amusing to watch, but ultimately they’d moved indoors… leaving the tiny blond alone and slightly disappointed.
Now she was leaning back against the trunk of the tree and gazing up at the dark sky through the branches. Most of the leaves had fallen, by now, but a few of the trees retained some cover yet, which was the case here. She was mostly hidden from view, provided she held very still. Cassidy was good at holding still. She did it with some regularity, when she was people-watching.
[Joss Lehrer] Joss does not hold still very well. She is a bundle of energy on a normal basis, and earlier she had eaten a cinnamon bun the size of her head – add to that she is still slightly drained from last night’s festivities with the dreamer, and she is a bundle if impulse – and a desire to walk, to move, to breathe the cold air.
It’s nearing three am, and the park is virtually empty, silent, surrounded by the sounds of the city that barely sleeps – and laughter.
The laughter is her’s of course, as she bursts trough the trees in a dead run, stopping suddenly and spinning, ducking and weaving, before she takes off in another direction – skirts and dreads flying, flaring about her with movement, with the wind, with the sheer freedom of her game.
…that she possibly, apparently.. plays by herself. It looks, for all the world, like she’s playing a rousing game of tag, all by herself.
[Cassidy Malone] [Perception+PU base diff 8-2]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)
[Cassidy Malone] [aaand, let’s see how quiet she is when she lands. Dex+Stealth]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 5, 5, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)
[Cassidy Malone] Well now. What have we here?
Someone was laughing. Running. Playing a game seemingly all by herself. Cassidy looked down through the leaves with intense curiosity shining in her eyes. For a few moments she observed the theurge, but this game was far too interesting not to take part in herself, so without further ado, she dropped down to the ground from her high-up perch, landing silently on her feet in the cold grass. Like a delicate little spectre that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
She was dressed in a long, multi-colored, flowing gypsy skirt, and a white peasant’s blouse topped with a denim jacket to keep out the cold. As Drew had put it… a very bohemian outfit. And, oddly, her small feet were decked out only in a pair of colorful socks. These were new. The kinfolk had given them to her upon discovering Cassidy’s lack of footwear. (What kind of insane person went without shoes in this weather, anyway?)
“Hello!” she called out rather suddenly. Excitedly. “Can I play, too?”
[Joss Lehrer] Someone falls from the tree, and calls out – and Joss whips her head around suddenly, falling to a sudden crouch. Feral. Animalistic. Perceptive. Alert… her skirts flare about her to settle at her feet, and then, just as suddenly as the rage spiked, it’s brought into control again, as the other woman asks if she can play.
The smile widens, delight, as someone FINALLY wants to play with her. She tips her head, and flips her dreads back over her shoulder with a push of her hand. “Depends… can you hear them?”
….crazy. The woman is batshit nuts.
[Cassidy Malone] [Spirits’ Sight. -1 gnosis, Perception+… shit, she doesn’t have Awareness. Just perception then! +1 diff, usin’ WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 3, 5, 9 (Success x 1 at target 8) [WP]
[Cassidy Malone] Cassidy saw, and heard… quite a lot of things. Many of those things weren’t really there. Somedays, her mind was fairly clear, and others…. it was a clouded, chaotic mess. Tonight, she was pretty lucid, but sometimes it was good to see things. Sometimes she wanted to see them. And when the stranger asked if she heard whatever it was that was there to hear, the elfin girl couldn’t help her curiosity. She focused herself and pushed her senses past the gauntlet.
For a moment, her eyes took on a faraway look. As if she were sleeping with her lids open. They clouded. And then… she laughed with delight. The sound was almost musical. Like bells. “Can’t hear, but I see them! I do! Oh, aren’t they lovely!” There was a wistful quality to her voice then, as if she wanted very much to get closer. To do more than simply watch from afar. Cassidy ran forward to where Joss was playing with the wind spirits, moving into their midst. She spun around in a circle, twirling like a delicate, graceful dancer.
[Joss Lehrer] She watches, curiously, her eyes clear and bright, the smile along her lips lingering and warming the blue in her eyes – which so easily could be ice cold, when she’s angry, when she’s focused, when she’s working. But now, now her eyes are alive and bright and shining with mischief and delight as Cassidy can see what she sees, and knows what she’s doing. Cassidy joins and spins and the Spirits sigh in contentment, delight, wrapping themselves about her form in a gust of wind that lifts her skirts and tangles her hair.
And then the chase is on… “That one’s it! Watch him!”
And Joss takes off like a shot again, keeping their game in the open area now that there is more than one of them, and freeing herself to the spirit of play….
[Cassidy Malone] As short as she was, Cassidy had a slight disadvantage in a game of chase. But she was agile, and very sure on her feet, and as she ran, she moved in a zig-zag pattern across the grass, deftly attempting to lose the chasing wind-spirit through tricky faints. Her pale blond hair, loose as it was, blew wildly around her head as the wind played with her, like a halo of golden fire. And oh, how beautiful she looked like that. Like an angel. Or some kind of faerie. Neither of these things were accurate, but there was definitely something unique about the girl. Some quality that made her seem somehow more than human.
But she could see the spirits too, and that already meant that she was something more than human. If the Gods were looking down on Chicago at this moment, they might be quite amused at what they saw. For a few brief, happy moments… two strangers played with the wind, without bothering to stop and insist upon formal introductions. Without bringing up the barriers of prejudice and suspicion. They simply existed in the moment.
A whoosh of wind caught Cassidy full on, and she laughed like a child as she fell to the ground, rolling in the grass. Then she was on her feet again, leaping up and glaring wickedly out at Joss and the dancing spirits. “My turn!” And with that, she was running headlong towards the Godi.
[Joss Lehrer] Cassidy fell into the game with wild abandon, and nothing could have warmed Joss’ heart more. Her smile is nothing short of beautiful in it’s delight, innocence, and pure enjoyment of the sport she usually participates in alone. The Spirits laugh and play as well, thrilled to have another join their game, and they make sure they catch and surround Cassidy with the same delight they do Joss.
And then it’s her turn. Joss lets out a squeal of delight as she turns tail and starts to run, zigging, zagging, and twisting through the open area in an effort to get away, that was far more in play than in any form of training. It reminds her of home, or warmth, of her papa who started these games with her when she was barely able to walk. Not many can say they had spirit friends in the crib – Joss can. Joss can say a great many things that other’s haven’t even dreamed up yet.
There are no barriors, no suspicion. There is simply the delight of the chase – and being chased…
[Cassidy Malone] Oh, but if the Godi only knew…
There were secrets about Cassidy Malone. Secrets she kept to herself even now, for to not keep them would be anathema to her nature, and an insult to her duties. Truth was a mercurial thing in the eyes and hands of someone like her. Even her own name had changed a handful of times. Cassidy had told Drew that she didn’t remember her family, but this wasn’t entirely the truth either. It was just that those memories belonged to someone who wasn’t named Cassidy. Someone who didn’t exist anymore.
And yet, none of that mattered right now. She was happy, she was in the moment, and she was alive. Her senses were dancing with the thrill of the cold breeze on her skin, and the pattern of scents in the air – crisp leaves, dirt, water, Joss -, and the sound of the wind laughing and whistling past her ears. If one thing could be stated with resounding truth right now, it was that Cassidy was happy. For the first time since coming to Chicago. Really, truly happy. There was nothing left to interpretation on that count.
Cassidy ran, but she couldn’t catch the larger, faster Fenrir, who was built for battle and able to take longer strides. The girl laughed and called out after her new friend… “Slow down! I can’t catch you!” So she turned around and lunged after one of the spirits instead, reaching out to touch the breeze. “You’re it!” She declared gleefully, then turned and bolted in the other direction.
[Joss Lehrer] Slow down, she cries, I can’t catch you, and Joss all but doubles over in a sudden fit of breathless laughter. “That’s kinda the POINT!”
Even as Cassidy changes targets, and embraces the wind, Joss knows she’s done for – the spirits are sprinting and the sudden gust catches her and lifts her skirts, baring strong legs to the thigh, the glimpse of wicked scars seen before she pushes the material back down, laughingly protesting. “That’s CHEATING! I can’t run with my skirt in front of my face!”
But the spirits don’t care, and there’s the echo of laughter in her ears as she finally settles to a crouch, holding her hands over her head in surrender “I give, I give! You win, again!”
Should see her play with electricity.
The Chicago Breeze settles around them and she grins at Cassidy, and watches as she runs and plays and thrills in the happy making moment. Joss is many things. And right now? She’s content.
[Cassidy Malone] Cassidy was built for agility and acrobatics. But her stamina wasn’t even close to that of the Godi. After awhile, she simply gave up and plunked down in the grass, giggling as if she were being tickled by invisible fingers. Her skirt and hair splayed out on the ground beneath her, and she gazed up at the muted stars, watching the wind spirits dance around in the air.
Content.
The world had so much magic in it. So much to be fascinated by. So much to discover. It was endless. So many of Gaia’s children had forgotten that. They’d lost their sense of wonder. Crushed by the bitter realities of their violent lives. Cassidy hadn’t become bitter yet, but then… she was very young. So was Joss. You’d hardly think it, look at the pair of them together, that they were the same age. But then, Cassidy had a young face. (It didn’t help that she was only five feet tall, either.)
“Thank you for letting me play,” she crooned softly. Almost a purr. “People so rarely want to play, anymore.”
[Joss Lehrer] Cassidy plops down nearby, and Joss looks up as the Spirits twist around them, around her, and give their excited stories to the Godi’s ear. She closes her eyes, and listens and then smiles as she murmurs. “Tomorrow.” They take it as it is – truth, and soon it is simply the breeze that washes over the two girls in the park.
Joss settles to sit on the grass, ignoring the chill. Minnesota is often colder than this – it is finally starting to feel like home. She smooths her skirts over her things, tugs her sweater back into place, and works about smoothing her dreads into something resembling order again.
“They have forgotten what it’s like to play. I do it as often as possible. Sometimes we dance, sometimes tag, sometimes we simply walk and talk. If you don’t form a relationship with them, how can anyone expect their aid?” It’s no mistake that the elementals of Chicago flock to aid the godi whenever she has need…
She smiles at Cassidy then, and tips her head. “I’m Joss.”
[Cassidy Malone] This one wasn’t the same as the boy she’d met a few days ago. The boy named Boy. He’d been stuffy and suspicious, but, rather ironically, had proved quite useful. He’d shown her things. Things she wasn’t supposed to know.
Joss had shown her different things, and Cassidy was equally grateful. The young woman carried herself with a powerful air, despite being so carefree and friendly. There was an instinctual awareness that here was not someone that should be angered. That in a sense… she was playing with fire. (This was a practice that Cassidy was rather a bit too fond of, actually.) The Godi approached, and she sat down beside the petite blond, who was stretched out and humming something entirely made up in the back of her throat. It was something she did when she was happy. Humming.
“Nice to meet you, Joss. I’m Cassidy.” She didn’t raise her head, but rather rolled it to one side and looked upwards to meet Joss’ gaze.
[Joss Lehrer] Cassidy hums in the back of her throat, and Joss grins, her fingers automatically tapping a counterpoint across her thighs, though it sounds different than it should – deeper, resonating in a more… spiritual way, despite the fact that it’s a mere light tap across her thighs. She stops after a few beats and slides her hands along the ridges of scars she feels under the material, before she stretches out her legs and crosses them at the ankle, leaning back on her hands, then just falling back to lay in the grass next to Cassidy.
She grins as Cassidy provides her name, and then studies the sky. Her breath is content, her body relaxed as she simply lays there for several long moments. The silence is not one that’s uncomfortable by any means. It just is. Until finally, she rolls her head to the side in a mimic of Cassidy’s movement to look over at her. “You’re new here…”
Almost a question. Not quite.
[Cassidy Malone] “Yes,” she answered softly. She was new here. Very new. New enough yet that no one thought to question that she might not be precisely what she seemed. She ought to be hiding, perhaps. Slinking along in the shadows and giving the locals a very, very wide berth. She might survive longer, that way.
There was a saying about curiosity.
“What about you? Have you been here long?” She rolled onto her side and rested an elbow in the grass, propping the side of her head up in the palm of an upturned hand. Like a teenager talking to a friend, rather than two of Gaia’s chosen feeling each other out.
[Joss Lehrer] She looks up at Cassidy as she rolls to her side, not seeming to mind that the other girl is now higher than her. It’s a quiet confidence that joss has, one that doesn’t get upset when someone towers above her, one that doesn’t insist on knocking others down just to prove herself worthy, better. Joss simply is better, or works her ass off to become so when needed. She doesn’t lord it over any, she simply exudes a content sort of confident happiness that is refreshing to be around.
“The bigger part of a year. Came to Chicago in April or May, something like that.” A beat, and a pierced brow arches slightly. “Where ya from?”
[Cassidy Malone] [pause!]
[Cassidy] “Oh, a little bit of everywhere,” Cassidy answered with a soft smile. She didn’t seem to have much of an accent, so it was rather difficult to place her as being from any particular part of the country. “I’ve been on the road for awhile. Saw Niagara Falls a few weeks ago. That was nice. A lot of tourists, though. Where are you from?”
Curious. Always curious. If she could, Cassidy would ever-so-carefully peel back the skulls of every person that she met and root around in their minds until she’d pieced them together like a jigsaw puzzle.
[Joss] It’s not often that she gets to have a conversation about something other than the war, the spirits, the packs, the sept – something as simple as where are you from, what do you like, hey, look at the stars. She’s often ridiculed for being happy, for being content – but it’s moments like these that lend to that, that make it possible.
She grins up at Cassidy. “Minnesota. Born and raised. Came here to join with a group that needed someone of my particular talents. Ya know, like playing tag with the wind.” It’s hard not to return her smile, hard not to like the personable Godi.
It’s only when she no longer smiles that one has to worry, after all…
[Cassidy] Cassidy liked the way that Joss smiled. She liked a lot about her, not least of which the fact that she played tag with the wind. She even liked her hair. Reaching out with her free hand, Cassidy ran her fingers along the splay of dreads on the ground, feeling them curiously. The touch might have been considered too familiar, to some. Garou generally liked their personal space. But just as it was difficult to dislike Joss, so too was it difficult not to warm a little to the presence of the strange, elfin girl.
“I bet you prove quite useful to them, then,” she mused. “Did you have a family, back in Minnesota? What was your life like?”
[Joss] Where many garou like their space, and at times Joss is certainly one of them, she is also as friendly as a puppy, and sometimes as cuddly as one, though none here have had the chance to discover that. One wonders if they ever will..
She doesn’t pull away from the play of fingers in her dreads. She’s an oddity herself, and holds a curiosity that’s almost on par with the strange girl she shares the grass with. She lets her touch the dreads, examine an find the beads and feathers and colorful strips of cloth wound through them. She simply lets her do as she will with them.
What was her life like? She smiles, content. “I was loved.” And while it seems like it doesn’t say much, in the world of Fenrir, it says everything. “Mama and Papa are still there, working at home. They trained me from the time I could walk and talk – so that when I came here I was ready and confident. A lot of love, a lot of smiles, a lot of fun.” Content.
“You?”
[Cassidy] “That sounds nice,” Cassidy responded in a wistful voice. Joss asked her the same question, and she took a moment to contemplate her answer. This was always the tricky part about getting to know people. They wanted to know you in return. She could have just as easily lied or attempted to dodge her way around the question, as she so often did. Instead she continued to play with the Godi’s hair, as if it were a fascinating new toy.
“No, I’ve never had a family. Just the trees and the moon and the butterflies.” Beat. “And the wind,” she added, as a playful afterthought.
“And what about love? Does Joss the wind-whisperer have any sweethearts?” Cassidy’s wide eyes sparkled a little as she asked this, like a fourteen year old girl who was just discovering how delicious and fascinating the business of love and sex could really be.
[Joss] She arches a brow, slightly. “Butterflies?” She sighs, softly, that another she has met had grown without a family. Her own upbringing was ridiculed by others, though they had to adjust their thinking when her strengths as a Godi, as Fenrir began to manifest faster, stronger than any other Godi’s her age. Perhaps there is something to say about the love of family after all.
Cassidy plays with her hair, and her lashes fall partially as she simply enjoys the moment, and then her eyes snap open as the question is asked, and she does the unthinkable – she blushes. “No, no sweethearts.”
[Cassidy] “Well that’s a shame. I highly recommend the practice. Touching, and being touched… is a lovely thing.” Evidently, she wasn’t quite so innocent as she behaved most of the time. Cassidy rolled onto her stomach, bending her knees and crossing her feet in the air as she played with a dead maple leaf and glanced over at her present company.
“Absolutely delicious.” She bit her lower lip gently, rolling it back with her teeth, and ladies and gentlemen… this was a picture that would make most men go weak in the knees. Cassidy had the kind of mouth that fantasies were based on. And for all her wild playfulness and eccentricity… she did seem to know how to use it.
“What about… before? Have you ever had a boyfriend? Girlfriend?”
[Joss] Her curiosity about the butterflies is not to be answered, not yet, slid away fr the more interesting topic of sweethearts and love, of touching and being touched. Cassidy claims it absolutely delicious, and Joss glances at her. The other girl bites her lower lip, and Joss’ gaze drops to watch, and then lets her eyes fall closed again as she blushes, deeper.
She doesn’t answer straight away, either. Maybe lost in memories, maybe debating how to answer that, maybe wondering why she asked about boyfriends AND girlfriends… she doesn’t let her thoughts translate across her face though, aside from that tattle-tale splash of color.
“Once.” she finally admits. “But it was a long time ago.” It couldn’t have been too long ago, as she doesn’t look a day older than her age – though sometimes she can look so much younger than one would think.
[Joss] [pause. again!]
[Cassidy] Cassidy hadn’t elaborated about the butterflies. One might wonder if she’d simply plucked the image out of thin air for some poetic fancy. Sometimes talking to her wasn’t all that different from talking to one of the capricious spirits that Joss often dealt with. (Maybe that was why the two young women seemed to get on so well.)
It was cold. And dark. No one was about but them. No one else was that crazy. And yet, here they were, lounging in the cold grass as if it were a pleasant summer afternoon.
“Tell me about it,” the girl asked quietly, blue eyes shining with gentle curiosity. She genuinely wanted to know. These kinds of details were fascinating to her. The particulars of a person’s life. Who they were. What they’d experienced.
“And… if you promise not to laugh, I may tell you about the butterflies afterward.”
[Joss] She turns to look up at Cassidy again, as she names the promise at the end of the tale, and Joss just chuckles softly, before returning her gaze to the sky above. The lights of the city block so much of the sky from them, stealing the glitter of stars, stealing the hang of the moon unless it’s perfectly clear. Tonight it’s not clear, even though she can feel the tug of her moon anyway.
She can also feel the tremor of rage in her companion, clashing with hers in a way that’s subtle yet exists anyway. And she can see the spirits. There is something there, though they haven’t spoken of it, at all.
When she starts, her voice is soft, lost in the memory of another night, another sky. “His name was Justin. He was tall and strong, everything my family wanted for me. Everything I wanted for me. He made me laugh, he didn’t laugh at me, and he had a love of poetry – and show tunes. He always smiled, his skin was always warm and smelled of fresh air, outside, of strength. He would work in the barn, and I’d sit on the edge of the loft and just watch him – pitching hay, tending the animals, singing and reciting poems and telling stories, and talking about.. everything. And nothing. And everything in between.”
She smiles, softly, lost in the memory. “It was 2 years ago, and I can still smell him sometimes, still feel him. He was my first.” she blushes, and laughs softly. “My only, despite my tendency to be an incorrigible flirt. But then…”
She just trails off, and finally brings her eyes back to Cassidy, her shoulder lifting in a shrug. “He changed.” no. not just that… “He changed, and we had to end it.”
[Cassidy] For all that she was such an open person, this particular tale was difficult for the Godi. Cassidy watched, and listened… and her keen perceptions noticed a great deal. More than just what was spoken. She saw the hesitance, the wistfulness, the regret.
So she listened, and she was quiet. Her fingers busied themselves tracing along the veins of the maple leaf in her hand, subconsciously memorizing them.
“That is a sad story,” she mused quietly, after the silence had settled in once more. “He sounds like a lovely boy. I’m sorry you had to stop seeing him. That must have been very difficult for you.” Heartbreaking, perhaps. There was something in Cassidy’s eyes as she thought about this. Empathy, first and foremost, but also… a slight confusion. As if the idea of turning your back on something that made you so happy was simply unheard of, to her. “It’s… very sad, these rules.”
And although they were not her rules, she had an inside perspective on the matter that Joss did not have.
“I see things, sometimes. Things that no one else can see. Sometimes those things are butterflies. They flutter around my head and inside of it, shining with all their beautiful colors. And sometimes, if I’m lucky… they tell me things. Soft little whispers. But… I suppose they aren’t real. I mean, I know they aren’t. Not really. But they are to me.” She reached up and tapped the side of her head gently.
“I’m a little broken, up there.”
[Joss] (…not who’s rules? You are just like me, aren’t you?)
(per+emp)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)
[Cassidy] [Oh no you don’t. I am an island of mystery! Man+Subterfuge]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 3 (Botch x 2 at target 6)
[Cassidy] [REALLY Dice? Seriously. Gah. I’m never speaking to you again.]
[Joss] It’s very sad, these rules. “Maybe. But they exist for a reason.” She returns her gaze to the pretty girl beside her, who acts as if they are not.. her rules, somehow. Blue eyes are clear, windows to the soul, and her’s are always so open – letting Cassidy see just about anything she wants too. There’s also an intelligence in her gaze, and the knowledge and openness that sometimes.. sometimes she sees too much.
“Don’t you think?”
(You’re just like me… I can feel it… aren’t you?)
She doesn’t say anything right off, then. She listens to the story of the butterflies, and then she smiles softly. Her laugh is easy, content, and not at all making fun of her companion. “You are talking to the girl who was just playing tag with the wind in the park, at night, in Chicago. I would believe that you’re butterflies are real, before I would believe that you are broken.”
And maybe she won’t ask… but then, she is just as curious as Cassidy… “You’re not really like me, are you?” There’s no judgment there, none at all, just a genuine curiosity. She has heard the stories that others exist – and has met a Hfarn or two while growing up – but she can’t quite place Cassidy…
[Cassidy] [Oh yes, that’s right…I need to roll WP now. *cringes*]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 (Success x 1 at target 8)
[Cassidy] For a few moments, all was right with the world. Joss cracked a small joke about the nature of sanity, and Cassidy smiled, grateful in spite of herself that her admission was taken without judgment. Joss had asked her what she thought of the rules, but she seemed a little hesitant to respond. Perhaps she didn’t agree. Perhaps she had a slightly unusual perspective on the matter.
You’re not really like me, are you?
The question rang like alarm bells in Cassidy’s head. DangerDangerDangerDanger. And the effect – the change that came over her – was instantaneous. Rolling up quickly, she began to back away in a crouched position, hands touching the ground as if she had forgotten momentarily which form she was in. There was an effortless grace and fluidity to the way she moved. A predator. Like Joss, and yet not like her. One could practically imagine the fur standing up on her back, but Cassidy didn’t growl or bare her teeth. She simply stared with wide blue eyes and tensed her muscles, like an animal who was prepared to bolt at the slightest sign of provocation.
Like she very much expected to be attacked.
And then she shivered violently, and something passed over her eyes. They went from crystal clear to something a bit more opaque. Glazed over. Unfocused. They weren’t butterflies this time. Whatever it was she was seeing or hearing… it frightened her.
“Stay away from the wolves, they say, they say. What great big teeth they have. And when they howl at night, they call for our blood. For our brothers and our kittens. They swallow them whole. They bark and they bray and they tear tea tear us to pieces. Maybe some are good. I don’t know. I hope, but I don’t know. Are you good? I think you are, but the ghosts say differently. They’re angry. They’re always angry.”
“We do not forgive…” she hissed, very softly, in a voice that was not her own.
Then she shook again, and a tear traced its way down her cheek, and when she whispered, it was Cassidy again. “…Are you going to hurt me? Please… please don’t tell. Don’t tell.”
[Joss] She suddenly moves, Cassidy does, backing up in a crouch with grace and fluidity, and as she does, Joss falls completely still. It’s the reaction of one that expects to be attacked, flight or fight mode clearly leaning toward the former, as she starts to shiver, and see something that Joss can’t see, listening to the ghosts that tell her that Joss is dangerous, and that they’re angry and will tear her to pieces.
They’re angry… they’re always angry… they will not forgive.
Cassidy shakes again, and it’s the tear that has Joss slowly sitting up, her belly muscles crunching, tightening as she lifts her torso, bracing on her hands, very much the movements of one who is trying not to startle the already frightened girl with any sudden movements…
(…wait… kittens?! hooooolllllyyyyy…)
She lifts her hands, and finally says, softly… “Shhh… I’m not going to hurt you… please, I swear it.” She shifts her hand, and reaches toward Cassidy, her palm up, without grabbing, simply a gesture that encourages the girl to come closer, to trust her. “I won’t tell… I promise… I just wanna talk some more. Can we do that? Can we talk some more?”
[Cassidy] [Per+Empathy – Do you mean it?]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 10 (Failure at target 6)
[Cassidy] […seriously? Pfft. Lame.]
[Cassidy] This, clearly, was not the reaction that Cassidy was expecting. If she’d had dealings with garou in the past, they must not have been terribly pleasant ones. Then, of course… there were the stories. Everyone knew the stories. Bastet and Garou alike. The War of Rage may have been over in theory… but it never ended. Not really.
Likely, Cassidy may have heard a rather different version of history than Joss had. Such was the case with war. Another garou might just as easily have attacked. But then, another Bastet might have done so as well. Some could prove quite ferocious. Quite dangerous.
Maybe it was lucky for the both of them, then… that neither desired such an outcome. The voices in Cassidy’s head quieted. They would not be silenced so quickly, but there was something more of herself when she looked at Joss, then… and down to the outstretched hand. Her eyes were still murky, but they were able to focus. Her nostrils flared as she sucked in a tight breath.
“No one can know. Understand? Not even your pack. The war never ended, they say. Only it goes on in the shadows, now.”
Cassidy crawled forward a few feet, but she could not bring herself to take the hand that Joss offered to her. Wary, still. Not angry, but prepared for any outcome. It was a very foolish cat indeed who trusted at the first sign of kindness. She blinked thoughtfully, and twisted her head around to one side, watching the garou. She couldn’t quite decide if Joss was trying to trick her or not. By all accounts she seemed honest. But a good liar could fool nearly anyone, and Cassidy’s nerves were too rattled for her to focus clearly.
“We can talk. But no closer. Don’t be offended. I just… have to be sure.”
[Joss] She nods, slightly, and lets her hand fall, rolling up to a crouch, her hand wrapping about her knee along with the other arm too. She makes no other movement, giving Cassidy the decision to come closer or not, refusing to force anything on the clearly frightened girl…
…no, not girl. “…I won’t tell anyone. You…” a pause.. “..you did say kittens, didn’t you?” She seems openly curious, non-judgmental, nothing but a belief that there is so much more to Cassidy, just as there is to herself – if different.
“I’ve jus… I didn’t know any still existed! Never seen.. I mean, a raven or two, but…”
She tips her head, slightly, watching her, and smiles. “Amazing… amazingly cool! I have so many questions…”
[Joss] (Le paws, again!)
[Cassidy] Cassidy’s demeanor went through wild changes, at times. Her moods were abrupt, and sudden. But they could just as easily switch back again, and now it seemed that this was precisely what was happening. Joss’ behavior did much to calm the cat’s fears, and gradually her tense body seemed to relax – to not be so ever-ready to bolt. Garou were always up for a fight, but a bastet knew better. They knew when to fight, and when to run. Cassidy was no warrior, by the looks of her. She was a clever creature, but put her up against even a single garou and she was usually outmatched. Physically, at least.
I have so many questions, Joss said, and Cassidy laughed gently. “I can imagine that you do.” She tilted her head first to one side, then slowly to the other, as if attempting to puzzle out what the theurge’s motives were. It seemed fairly self-evident, but one could never be too careful.
Then she began to quote, rather enigmatically, a passage from Alice in Wonderland:
““`But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
`Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: `we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’
`How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.
`You must be,’ said the Cat, `or you wouldn’t have come here.’
Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on `And how do you know that you’re mad?’
`To begin with,’ said the Cat, `a dog’s not mad. You grant that?’
`I suppose so,’ said Alice.
`Well, then,’ the Cat went on, `you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.'” ”
Odd that she knew it by heart, but then… maybe not so odd. She smiled, and her teeth showed in a wide grin, as if to mimic the Cheshire Cat. “You can ask anything you please.”
[Joss] She listens to the recitation, and smiles softly, wrapping her arms around her knees and hugging them close. “Alice in Wonderland… one of my favorites.”
Cassidy says she can ask whatever she likes, and she – unlike some – give it a moment’s thought, perhaps even two. Other’s would rush in, but not Joss. Her curiosity nearly brims over, but at least she tries to keep it under some sort of control. Even if she’s near vibrating with the delight of discovery.
“You DID say kittens, didn’t you… you’re.. what’s it called? Bastet? then? Does it work the same way it does for us?”
May as well start at the beginning….
[Cassidy] “I’m sure I must have, if you remember me saying it. You may call me Bastet if you like. It is as good a name as any.” Cassidy pondered the next part of the question, smoothing out the fabric of her skirt over her knees.
“I don’t know. How does it work for you? I’m afraid I don’t have much to compare with. I’m rather young, yet. So much of the world left to see.”
Well, she’d said Joss could ask. She didn’t say she’d give terribly useful answers. Perhaps she truly was mad. The game seemed to have drawn her back in, though. Nothing like a bit of curiosity to keep a cat hanging around. She hummed gently in the back of her throat, as she had done once before: a signal of contentment, perhaps.
[Joss] She did promise answers – and did not promise what kind, and somehow, that delights Joss even more. She laughs, softly, and nods.
“Do you shift into different forms? HAve a war form? Make people scream and flee when you take it? Do you have the same rules, the Litany, as we do? Tribes? Meetings? Caerns? Auspices that follow the moon?”
A bunch of questions spill forth before she can stop them…
[Cassidy] “You sure you’re not a raven?” she asked with some amusement. The questions came almost too quickly to contemplate. One right after the other. Cassidy could relate, though. Here were two like-minded souls, both ever-hungry for knowledge.
“We are the same, and yet we are not the same. I was born in a form different than this one you see now. I can take many forms, as I’m sure you can.” She pondered this next one thoughtfully before answering. “Men will run screaming from anything that they do not understand.”
“Rules?” She actually laughed at this one, though it wasn’t a cruel laugh. There was no judgment in it, only pure amusement. “Have you ever met a cat who followed rules? We live as we are meant to. We listen. We see. We experience. What use have we for rules?”
She picked up another leaf and tossed it into the air, blowing on it gently so that it circled and spun before finally coming to rest back on the ground. “S… ” but no, she corrected herself. “…Luna watches over us. She watches over us all, does she not? But I suspect we are different in many small ways. As you know, I am sure… cats do not work well with others.” She winked mischievously. “We go our own way. Without packs, there is no reason to have roles. We must be everything all at once. Warrior. Mystic. Trickster. We have tribes, but they do not matter so much as yours do, I think. We’re alone so often anyway.”
She took a breath before continuing. “Garou follow spirits, do they not?” Beat. “Which do you follow?”
[Joss] She laughs in absolutely delight when Cassidy mentions the rules. “This is why you said it was hard for me, about Justin. You don’t have use for such rules…” that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Just that she won’t tell her, specifically.
Joss pushes back her dreads, and listens, and then nods with a soft smile. “We do. I am born of the great Fenris, and my pack follow the Mighty Eagle. In my auspice, however, Ideal with a great many spirits. It’s why I play with them, so they know me well when I call on their aid.”
She studies Cassidy again. “Do you – follow spirits, I mean?”
[Cassidy] “We don’t follow anything,” she stated with another little grin. Prideful. Almost taunting. What an odd life the cats must have. No wonder the wolves don’t understand them. It seemed there was much that the garou held in great reverence that the bastet simply… did not bother with. Or at least, took less seriously. “I talk to spirits, sometimes. Play with them. I like spirits. They make for better company than most, but then… I’m a bit odd, so perhaps that’s why I think so.”
She hesitated, then, as if trying to decide just how honest of an answer she wanted to give here. “Sometimes we befriend them. But we’re a bit capricious, and so are they.” Cassidy chuckled softly. “I can’t imagine Fenris would wish to have dealings with me. So-great warrior wolf. Nor Eagle. But there are others.”
“I imagine you know many rites… being what you are. I’ll admit to being quite curious about these, but… rare indeed is a garou who would teach a cat much of anything. I suppose, almost as rare as a cat who would give a garou the time of day.”
[Joss] They don’t follow anything. She tips her head, slightly, and absorbs what she is told, what she says, much as a sponge water, a Theurge wisdom. She grins, brightly. “I like spirits too. And everyone thinks I’m crazy.”
She rubs her nose, briefly, and then rests her chin on her hands atop her knees. “I do know many rites. It’s part of my job – I can call the spirits, and use them for various things, though I don’t like to do so often. I wouldn’t like being trapped in a box subject to someone elses whim, so I don’t do it to them unless we have need, and then I reward them as much as I can afterwards.”
She claims how rare it is for a cat to give Garou the time of day, and laughs softly. “You knew what I was all along though – yet you still played with me…”
[Cassidy] “Well, I wasn’t certain… but I knew you weren’t like me, and frankly there’s rather a lot more of you than there is anything else so… logical conclusion and all that.” Cassidy grinned lop-sidedly. Seemed she was back into full-on-adorable mode once again.
“But yes, I did. One should never let one’s prejudices get in the way of knowledge and experience. True, I could have stayed hidden and simply watched. But I had an impulse and I took it. Life is more fun, that way. And see… now I’ve made an unexpected acquaintance.”
For a moment her expression shifted to something more somber. “There is a great difficulty in this, true. Even for someone like myself. I can’t look at you without feeling the tremors of ghosts. Understand that. Understand that we hate you. You would be in danger with another who was more of a slave to bitterness than I. But maybe you are different. Perhaps you’re worth knowing.”
After all, they were both still alive and unscathed. And they’d laughed, and shared intimate thoughts. That had to count for something.
Cassidy contemplated this, then stood up, brushing stray bits of grass and twigs from her skirt. “I’ll be leaving you now. But thank you for the game, and the conversation. I’ve no doubt we may run into each other again.” She smiled knowingly, then turned and began to walk back towards the city, calling over her shoulder as she did so…
“Do not forget your promise.”
[Joss] She listens, sobers, and nods slightly, understanding what she says, whatshe means, and somewhat, what she feels too.
Perhaps she is different.
Perhaps she is worth knowing.
“I hope so.” Is all that Joss replies, until after the farewell. “And I won’t forget.”
She remains crouched until the girl (cat) moves away, and then she stands and brushes her skirts free of leaves and debris. Only after Cassidy is out of sight does she turn and move the other way, and home.