Douglas: The First Questioning

Casper emerges between the two holly trees to the northwest.
Casper has arrived.

Dylan is lying on his back, holding a small wild apple in his fingers and turning it around absently as he stares up at the sky.

Currently on this breezy and chilly fall night in the general St. Claire area, it is 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 degrees Celsius). The wind is coming from the northwest at 7.55 mph. The ground is dry. Skies are overcast with a small chance of precipitation.

Casper ducks between a pair of tree trunks and squeezes his way into the secluded clearing. He straightens out his shirt and without looking where he's walking, he places both feet in the stream. Looking down, he sighs and lifts a dripping sneaker.

Dylan says, "Hello, Casper," without lifting his head or looking around. He does smile, though. "Sorry," he adds, perhaps on the stream's behalf.

Paul steps quietly through the screening holly trees, almost just appearing as members of Whispers are wont to do sometimes.

Casper leaps the rest of the stream and lands shakily on the other side. He sloshes over to Dylan, smiling ruefully. "Ah well... I suppose they needed a cleaning anyhow. I really should learn to look before I leap."

Dylan tosses the apple lightly into the woods and props himself up on his elbows, still smiling. "Or to come in by the main entrance," he says, not seeming to mind one way or the other. Then he sees Paul, and he rolls to his feet and holds out a hand. He looks from Strider to Gazer and back again. "Paul. It's good to have both of you in one place. How are you, either of you?"

Paul grins a little tiredly. "Getting good at sleeping up IN trees, old man. And glad to see you like, on offduty time." He walks right on up to Dylan and gives his packmate a hug. "Other than that, doing pretty well. Glad to be back."

Casper smiles quietly and cuts off an answer, not wanting to interrupt the two. He rubs at his nose and looks down.

Dylan hugs Paul, and then turns to Casper, wanting his answer, too.

Paul says, "Speak up, speak up. You aren't interrupting anything we can't sing around you if we /HAVE/ to," with a tetchy tone to his voice.

Paul's still smiling though.

Casper flicks a grin and chuckles, "Oh I'm well, and er I have been well too." He thinks and frowns, "Well besides the slug-leech things... they have me concerned." He waves his hand, "I'm going to start rambling..." He raises his finger and sighs quickly, then slaps his hand against his face, "Oh and Douglas was trying to stare down Arlen the other night... I believe, or so I hear... but you never know with him..."

Dylan tugs Paul's hair lightly in remonstrance - quite a show of affection, for the usually reserved Gazer.

Paul butts his head into the tug with a mock growl, then straightens and composes his expression. And a quiet sigh at the Douglas tidbit. "Well, he should heal quick enough I guess."

Dylan sighs softly. "Come. Let us go talk with Douglas." He seems to be speaking to Casper, but a flick of the eyes invites Paul if he wishes to come.

Paul nods to Dylan and trills a little whistle.

Casper scratches dust and pine needles out of his hair and nods, murmuring,
"Good... yes... good..."

Dylan clicks his tongue several times, and then repeats his answer in words his tribemate can understand: "Perhaps. Or perhaps he will not be a Stargazer. Tonight we start finding out."

Casper clears his throat and looks up at Dylan, seeming to be experiencing a moment of clarity. "Yes. Let's go. He should be at the church."

Paul fidgets a little. "I feel like a feral. The church it is. Driving, riding, running, what?"

"Walking," Dylan says firmly, and he bends down to remove the small knife from his calf and put it in his tent before he sets out. He doesn't seem to have similar plans regarding his bare feet or ragged appearance.

Paul smiles a little. "Good night for it, and good company for a few hours' hike."

Forgotten Church
The old church is dark, dimly lit by outside light coming in through
scum-encrusted windows during the day, and tomblike during the night. There
is a coatroom in the back of the nave, with separate doors leading off to
mens' and womens' restrooms, and two staircases, one going up to the
balcony and bell-tower, and the other leading down to the basement. The
double doors leading out to the street are at the back of the coatroom.
The hard wooden pews in the sanctuary are, for the most part, still
intact. There are even Bibles and hymnals left in the shelves along the
back of each row, although many of them look rather chewed on. The altar on
a dais at the front of the church is empty, and the lectern that once stood
next to it has been knocked over. Rotting red cloth hangs at the very front
of the church; there might once have been a design on it, but it has long
since faded or been eaten away.
Contents:
Paul
Casper
Julie
Douglas
Mutts!
Books
Gargoyle
Obvious exits:
Street Basement

Dylan knocks on the door to the church, as is his habit.

Douglas steps over to Julie and embraces her in a gentle hug. "I'm sorry... People around here can be moody... In time it may pass as soon as it has come."

Paul stands behind Dylan, looking a little pensive and worked up (but it IS a big moon), outside. Waiting a little impatiently for the door to open, or Casper to open it, or Dylan. Or for someone to come on over from the darkness about.

Julie shakes her head, about to speak, then, hearing the knocking, she nearly jumps out of her skin.

Douglas turns to look to the door and steps quickly over to it to open it up slightly. "Hello?"

Dylan stands on the doorstep, Paul and Casper behind him. "Hello, Douglas. May we come in?"

Casper opens the door for the pair, after catching up from a thoughtful lagging behind. He steps in, looks around, spots Douglas and then waves the pair outside in.

>> Casper pages to the room: Whoops.
>> You paged the room with 'Or Casper lets us in. Whatever. :)'.

Douglas steps back from the door as Casper and the rest step in. "Hey... guys? Umm... whats up?"

Casper waves to Julie and grins awkwardly to Douglas, "Teaching? Discussion? Something like that, I suppose. You are well and healed up now?"

Dylan smiles at Douglas to ease any worry his appearance may have caused. "Casper and I thought tonight might be a good time to come into the city; it has been some time since , at least, spoke with you. Paul simply came along for the walk, and perhaps to make sure we did not get lost." He steps inside, dipping his head to Julie.

Julie nervously eyes the group walking in, and leaning to try and peer past them, a bare smile given Casper, though it doesn't touch her eyes. She nods quickly to Dylan, and drops her gaze, fidgetting.

Douglas steps back and seems to move with a bit of agitation in his motion. "Ah... forgive me if I'm a bit edgy. The moon's cycle is seeming to hit me a bit harder then usual. I was meditating till Julie came in."

Paul is being Dylan's quiet shadow tonight. Philodox watcher, smiling a little despite the trouble of his mood, silent as his Tribe's name so far.

Julie glances up at the sound of her name, and blushes, guilt riding her features. "I guess I'd better go," she mutters and starts hedging for the door. "Tha' stuff's for the Church, Dougl's." A thin hand tinged with dirt waving indirectly at the pile of items on the pew.

Dylan eyes Julie soberly. "I beg your pardon," he says at last, his light voice gentle. "I have interrupted you."

Douglas nods to Julie. "Later Jules... It's ok ya know... we have a choice. JW will make up in time." he says this as if revisiting a past conversation.

Paul breaks his self imposed silence, "Speaking for others carries risks."

Douglas nods to Paul respectivly. "Yes, it may. As does allowing a friend to wallow in undeserved self-pity."

Julie manages to shake her head slightly towards Dylan, a sheepish grin on her thin lips. "I don' think so, a' leas' no' kindly, Dougl's. Later," she intones quietly to them all.

"Later," Dylan repeats gravely.

Casper takes a spot on the wall and slides down to lean against it. He grabs his knees and cranes his neck forward. He tosses a quick smile Julie's way before refocussing on Douglas.

Dylan stands aside to let Julie by, and then he, too, turns his attention to Douglas. "How have you been?"

Julie slips out the door with a faint creak of hinges, then carefully closes it behind her.
Julie has left.

Douglas continues steping back from the door but remains looking at the others, mainly Dylan with fleeting glances towards Casper and Paul. "I've been... well. Considering. I have been in another battle in the city, nasty rat wyrm-creatures used a poor dying dog as bait."

Casper removes wet sneakers and tosses them aside. He works wiggling toes with his fingers to warm them up. "Considering? What... what have you been considering?" He sounds sincere in his curiousity.

Douglas tilts his head a bit looking at Casper. "Considering the fights I've been in. The near-fatal one on halloween and the one that almost took my thumb the other night. Seems strange to think that I could be dead right now and not be here to talk to you."

Casper nods and lifts his head. He gazes upon Douglas calmly, and says slowly, carefully, "You've been in a number of struggles thus far Douglas, some big, some small... Tell me about your first one, the first one with us. You know which one I mean?"

Dylan listens thoughtfully to Casper and Douglas, and finds himself a place to sit on the floor, not far away, where he can listen without his presence being obtrusive.

Paul idly walks around the Church, looking here and there like the first time visitor he is. One might think he's not paying attention to the conversation in progress, but watching the man with any observational skills at all would prove that inattentiveness false.

Douglas straightens his head up and looks quickly to Paul and Dylen then back Casper to let his eyes rest on him. "I assume, and I've been tring not to assume too much... but I assume you mean the strugle with the bane that had it's grips on me? To tell /you/ of that seems like telling Gaia of her own struggle... what do I tell you that you don't already know? All there is left perhaps is my views. The 'struggle' as you called it didn't manifest itself to me for a long time so I didn't know about it while it was manipulating me."

Casper nods and gestures for Douglas to go on, "But you forget that I wasn't there to witness it... Yes, it's your views I want."

"Just tell it as well as you can," Dylan says quietly. "While you are working at not assuming, you may try not assuming that anyone knows what you think they know, or why they ask."

Douglas sighs and settles a bit, but not much. Rage is obviously boiling within him and his nervousness is not helping. "It started with an ancestor that did... something; I'm not sure what, but it must have been big, to the wyrm and had a curse placed upon him and his bloodline... apparently since he was so strong the curse was very weak. Well, the curse passed along to the Garou offspring of the bloodline and eventually hit me. I did not know consciously about the curse till much, much later... though it tormented me in my dreams whenever it could. It even started to hit me while I was awake when I finally arrived at the Caern."

Casper listens, only breaking his statue routine to nod a little.

Douglas takes a deep breath and prepares to continue, taking a second to think before he speaks. "The bane started strengthing it's hold on me by carring me into the Umbra in my sleep and scaring the hell out of my subconsciousness. Eventually the bane became anxious by being so close to it's goal that it presented itself and in it's cockyness threatened Dylan with me. Dylan however took imediate action by baning me from the bawn, and trying to figure a way to destroy, or at least defeat the bane that held me in it's grip. It's strange, I hear stories about greater people being killed immeadiatly for having such kind of taint, yet again I'm still alive when I could be dead."

Casper leans his head against the wall. He furrows his brow, "And why do you think you were spared?"

Douglas tilts his head to the side once again and ponders on this a moment. "Perhaps because Dylan saw that it was something that could be overcome without needless death. Perhaps he saw a worth within me... perhaps because the stargazers are dying and Dylan did not wish to contribute... I like to think that I just wasn't meant to die yet."

Casper nods again, "Go on... with you account of the event... please."

Arlen steps through the old double doors, closing them behind her.
Arlen has arrived.

Douglas nods and with another moment of thought and a breath continues. "Dylan had come to me with the great one Li Kao and he told me what to do, to prepare to defeat the bane. Cleansings, meditations, and ditching my leather jacket for a time. After a long while again Dylan came to me and I was brought to a place where the bane would be battled. I stood in the center while the bane was taunnted and tormented to show itself... it was battled with sticks of... of... I cannot remember. I was taught that the bane had been feeding on my fear the whole time and so I imeadiatly set to trying to ignore my fear of it. At first I could not, but I then remembered that I was being faught for, and would not be allowed to fail... I gained courage and the bane lost it's power over me. When it was so weak and fragle and small that it was no longer something to be feared I took pity on it and did not want to have to kill it."

Casper looks at Douglas more closely, "And that's your story?"

Dylan turns his head, as the story comes to his conclusions, and regards Casper and Douglas silently.

Douglas looks into Casper's eyes with a question in his own. "That is /the/ story... that is what happened. My story? I was to be a pawn of the wyrm to destroy the Caern and twist it in the wyrm's image. I was tainted by a curse of blood. Dylan however found some reason to save me and worked hard to do so... as well as I did, for I of course did not want to die. I wasn't prepared to die no matter the risk. Eventually I was through great help, able to defeat the curse and destroy it... I was reluctant at first to kill the bane, but eventually I relized that I had to kill it or I would be violating the litany... I had to combat the wyrm whereever it dwells. And I had to avenge my ancestors... and I had to do it for myself."

Arlen, at some point, has quietly pushed through the doors and is leaning on the wall near the back, listening.

Casper remains quiet a long moment and looks up at Dylan quietly.

Dylan shakes his head. "No," he says simply, and his eyes are dark.

Douglas looks at Dylan worriedly and his breathing increases in his chest as well as his pulse.

Arlen shifts the leg she's leaning on, as she watches the cub carefully.

Casper shifts his seating position and rubs the back of his neck. His tone has lightened and he asks Douglas, "Your injuries? They have been all healed?"

Douglas nods to Casper. "Yes, they have be thankfully healed."

Arlen grunts something under her breath.

Dylan unfolds himself from the floor, dips his head briefly to pack- and tribe-mates, and again to Arlen, and pads quietly toward the door.

Douglas dips his head a bit. "Though perhaps the last healing was not completly nessisary... I still thank you deeply Arlen."

Arlen murmurs, "Walk in light," to Dylan, and then gives the cub a shrug. "You asked, I delivered."

Casper looks after Dylan, saying nothing. He nods up to Arlen, "Thank you nonetheless."

Paul says, "One night. Another will come, I'm sure." and starts to follow his packmate out.

"Another will come," Dylan repeats, not looking back. "And another after that, if it is required." He lets the door close behind his packmate and himself.

Casper quickly traces a circle in the dust on the floor, as if in reflex to Dylan's comment. He murmurs something.

Paul opens one of the double doors at the back of the church, leaving for the streets.
Paul has left.

You open one of the double doors at the back of the church, leaving for the streets.