Chapter 2: Into a Starlit Skay

I look around to see where there are rocks and stones nearby, and a few bushes are also quite handy to jump behind if I get shot at.

Human beings are sometimes overly aggressive when they see a wolf, but I like to stay in this form; it is so much more stable and agile than that of the two-legged creatures.

So I sit down for now and let the others come closer, yawn, scratch my head with my hind leg.

"The old world? Funny. I assume we share the world, even though we managed to capture the wyrm's servants in our part, especially the Great Brother."

He scratched behind his ear again.

"That's why you're called the Wyrmcomers, you brought more wyrm servants with you. But that's hard work, which is good against laziness."

The various shades of gray of the timberwolf evoke memories of clouds and snow.

"I'm Speaking Death, philodox of the Wendigo, wolf-born. Gawonii Catawnee for the pale-faces."

"So, what brought you here, Speaking-with-land? The fight, the land, the joy?"

Another wolf walks out of the shadows as Lan and Speaking Death exchange introductions. "Old world or not. A wolf is to be trusted. Unlike a man." The new wolf turns his attention to Connor, sniffing the air to assert his breed. This one might be too at ease with the tools of men.

"Why are we here? Why else if not brought here to serve the spirits of Gaia?" he stop soft a moment. "And I belie that will start with those Wyrm-tainted murders. You have heard of them haven't you? I say a dead human is a good human, but these... these murders, they smell of something else. They are the harbingers of something darker..."

Before he gets lost in memories of long gone days when the Garou still stood a change against the Wyrm, the days before they let the humans take over and bring unbalance to the Triat, he stops to introduce himself. "My human herd calls me Spirit Walker, for that is what I do. My human prey fears me as the Stalker in the Night, for that is how I hunt. Ragabash of Red Talons, I walk the hidden paths of this land."

From the treeline broke a shadow, approaching downwind. As the Garou toke note of it, they saw it was a wolf... a massive monster of a wolf. Perhaps the largest they had ever seen. Its fur was red and its enormous muscles flowed under it like corded cables. There was an aura of animosity around it as it seemed to radiate its inner rage. All who saw it would mark it as an Ahroun. And by its perfect, immaculate red fur, a textbook Red Talon.

He didn’t trot into the gathering; he stalked, head low, tail held high in unmistakable dominance. His golden eyes fixed on the assembled Garou with feral intensity. Red Talons were Garou first and wolves second, but never human. Monkey etiquette did not matter to them, they were wolves and acted like wolves. Massive paws spread as he advanced, claws seemingly leaving twigs undisturbed that wouldn't have supported a normal wolf. It seemed to be a master at stalking.

It did not do as humans did. It did not walk up and introduce itself. It did as a wolf did and circled the group following instincts; reading scents, postures, and unspoken hierarchies. His ears pivoted, tracking every motion and heartbeat. His nose picked up the most minute detail of their scent which told the tale of who they were and where they came from.

Only once the Red Talon had taken the full measure of the other garou did he stop his pacing. His broad chest expanded as he rose slightly on his forelimbs, lifting enough to display the true enormity of his frame. His lips parted—not in threat, but in the Red Talons’ feral tribal approximation of a formal greeting among Garou, baring fangs in dominance. And when he spoke the Garou tongue it came out as a deep, resonating growl.

"I am Breaks-the-Iron-Horse. I am Ahroun. I am Red Talon. I hunt the great iron monkey machines that spread poison to the wyld… and kill them."

He seemed ready to meet a challenge..

"Jaysis, I never thought I'd see a Dire Wolf!" Connor stared up at the enormous wolf. He could sense the Rage coming off of Breaks-The-Iron-Horse. If they were all here for the same reason the Red Talon was most likely going to make things far more complicated.

Without stopping to think much about what this human might be running away from, Spirit Walker turns to the giant red furred wolf. "Brother, the prey has shown it self. It is time to hunt. That is the will of the spirits"

"KILL!"
The Red Talon leaped forward in a fast run expecting to be followed. That ape had spied on them and would do nothing but ill on Garou if he got away. It had to die! With snarls he bounded forwards, foam beginning to froth at his maw, his massive paws eating the distance...

The horse goes too fast! How? Wyrm-thing? WYRM-THING!

The Wendigo follows, rroughly at the same height as Speaking-with-Lands

Edit: Seems he stumbles in a foxhole...

"Don't kill him, we need to make him talk! He screamed after the wolf who's name he'd forgotten, but it was no good, He shifted into his wolf form to follow after the others but they'd probably get there first, and the others didn't seem like question asking types.

ANGER! RAGE! WYRM-THING! IT MUST DIE!

Breaks the Iron Horse catches up and immediately bites down on the horse's gaskin. Holding firm, he allowed his rage to transform him into the warrior-form. Immediately he dug in his claws, attempting to rip the entire leg off the unfortunate animal.

But as he did, he lost himself in the red haze...

Connor continued the chase.

Spirit Walker stops as he notices sparks coming out of the horse. Now that cannot be natural! He gets distracted for a moment and looses ground, but quickly tries to catch up.

"What is that thing"? he asks the others as he re-starts the chase, in case they have seen it before

Speaking Death would frown should he be in the man-form, so he's gathering himself up and tries to follow the others, after his fall not being able to catch the horse anymore. As he sees one of them catching the horse, it's a moment of joy, but the behaviour seems - less than controlled...

He eyes warily the postion the rider came from while following the others not so hasty as he could.

Noticing the unnatural glowing from the human, Spirit Walker stops, letting the other wolves take care of the man.

What sort of Wyrm spirits manipulate this man from the Umbra?

He steps sideways, attempting to pierce the gauntlet.

There was no thought in the Ahroun any more. He had become a behemoth of destruction. The bullet punching into him didn't even begin to slow him down. With ruthless savagery he launched himself at the man, his claws striking to rend and tear flesh with crazed savagery.

Connor dashes at the horse, looking to finish it off so the chase doesn't begin again.

Coming finally near, Speaking Death approaches with pricked ears and looks around to see how he can help here or if anything is odd.

Spirit Walker is surprised with the emptiness of the Umbra. How can this human not have an echo of some sort? He steps back, still confused, only to face the fact that the other Red Talon is lost in his frenzy.


"Stay away from him!" Spirit Walker barks at lupus-pan as he prepares to be chased by the lost Garou

Breaks-The-Iron-Horse bellows a maddened howl as blood and viscera coats his fur. His head snapped around, looking for more things to rend and tear. The first thing he sees is Lan dragging up what remained of the gunman to him. He did not comprehend what he was seeing. All his mind wanted was to tear into it, to feel blood fill his maw and his claws rend flesh. The enormous Crinos launched himself at Lan, massive paws grabbing tight, and his maw opening to bite the unfortunate Talon's head of... when a spark of instinct and reason broke through. The red haze lifted and some sort of comprehension came into his eyes. Seeing what he was doing, Breaks-the-Iron-Horse let go of Lan and simply stood there, panting, coated in sweat and blood. He did not remember what happened. But the wyrm-things are dead. Did he do that?..

"This is strange" Spirit Walker leaning to investigate. "I sensed no spiritual influence of this human. His powers are not reflect in the Umbra". He turns to Lan and notices the note. "What does it say? Do we know what's in that place?"

As he waits for the others to figure that out, one idea comes to his mind and he starts ritually preparing the grounds ...

Breaks-The-Iron-Horse snapped his head towards Lan, who had dared to claim power over him like a monkey would.
"My rage is not your concern. We are not a pack, and if we were, I would be your alpha! Know your place!" He growled ferally, his massive crinos form practically gnawing as he formed the crude words of the garou tongue. The rage that had so shortly taken over the Ahroun was still very much present, just simmering below the surface and ready to erupt once more. And as the wolves had not established a pecking order between them while he was still giving off the body language of dominance which remained unchallenged, the Ahroun seemed unwilling to submit to anything or anyone..

Speaking Death trots over, his head tilted to one side.

"Alpha? Are you absolutely sure? If we were a pack and it was on the warpath, that might be the case.

But in a normal situation, even in a short-term fight, the alpha is more of a philodox, so as to be prepared for more situations than just combat. Or don't you have that custom where you come from?"

The grey wolf stands there with his chest out and his ears and tail erect. Not a challenge, more like advice to someone higher up.

Breaks-The-Iron-Horse's lips peeled back, revealing his massive fangs as he growled. He stepped to the side, to the body of the fallen Wyrm-monkey, reached down to pick up the corpse, then smacked its pitiful remains down in front of Speaking Death.

"Wyrm does not care for your waiting."

Speaking Death ignores the corpse before his feet.

"But Gaia is concerned with infight and bad judgement. So we have to avoid it.

Killing this one makes sense.
Combat the Wyrm Wherever It Dwells and Whenever It Breeds

Threatening other Garou when you are no longer in a frenzy does not.
Respect Those Beneath Ye - All Are of Gaia

Of course, I don't need to recite the entire litany to you; you're not a cub anymore, so you know the details. But I am happy to offer you detailed discussions on this topic when we have time and peace and quiet.

For now, I propose that we now all counsel together as independent Garou who pursue the same goal — to strengthen Gaia and fight the Wyrm."

He stands before the greater one, yet striving for calm and clarity.

"Monkey talk." Breaks-the-Iron-Horse dismissed Speaking Death's yapping for the meaningless drawn-out human sentiment it was. Red Talons never cared for the human perspective and Breaks-The-Iron-Horse was no exception. Then he looked around, growled once again, and returned to his birth-form. He padded over to the horse, licked it a few times, and then repeated it for the mangled remains of the bane-monkey. In moments, the wounds on the slain pair changed, removing any indication Garou or wolf had a part in the slaying. Instead, it seemed now that they had been hacked apart with axes, a monkey tool...

"Monkey talk, monkey do" Spirit Walker retorts. "Monkey also survives while wolf dies." he adds, with a mischievous grin. "They are prey. But the hunter must learn to think like prey to catch the prey" he looks at the other Garou, and picking up the discussion about who would be the alpha finishes adding "And monkey is weak alone, but strong together"

The grey wolf sits down on the ground as the other leaves and scratches behind his ear with his hind leg. He has learned that there is no point in talking behind someone's back. And he knows the wolfish point of view very well.

He wonders whether this Garou would follow the litany if it came down to it, but it would be premature to judge him based on a first encounter. When the next one addresses this topic, he listens attentively at first. He nods his ears in agreement, but takes his words in a different direction:

"All creatures of this world are of Gaia, but more than a few are corrupted. But how this came about, a wordsmith and singer will be able to explain better than I can.

We are among the few who serve her, and there is a reason why we are here. Only the blind speak of coincidences."

Connor looked down at the corpse. Of course the Red Talon would ruin everything, that's what they did. "No point in asking questions now..."

"Not of the Wyrm and not of the Weaver?" Spirit Walker asks, surprised as Lan mentions the spirits' lack of insight. "I wonder its dead will stop the murders or will it return and continue to haunt the land?"

He walks up to Breaks-The-Iron-Horse passing what is left of the horse-rider without giving it a single glance. "They are perhaps right, and we were brought here by Gaia to find out what this creature is. We must look for the spirit animal that is watching over us. There will be a sign if we are to be a pack and serve the land." He looks around, searching the skies and the land for any sign. Spirit walker places his hand on the Breaks shoulder. "We are of the same tribe, and I feel your rage, but this seems to be a spiritual quest we must undertake." Turning to the others, he adds "Perhaps, the Theurge can guide us as a pack. Perhaps that is the will of the land. But for now, we must find the sign"

Breaks-The-Iron-Horse looked up as well, following Lan's gaze. He saw the bright star. He knew nothing of planets. Only the moon and sun mattered much to him.
"So? Does it have meaning?"

Speaking Death looks up, too.

"Yes, thy have meanings. You can see them as spirits of the heaven, great ones, Incarnae. They have influence, sometimes down to here. But I don't know enough of this."

He looks around.

"Does any medicine man or teller of tales here know more about this?"

"Heavenly Incarnea you say..." Spirit Walker asks still looking up as if measuring the planet. "Yes, that is clearly a sign, an omen we should listen. Is it good or bad, I cannot tell. But if that is mars indeed..." He looks at Breaks-The-Iron-Horse "It's light will fall on the fearless warriors. Maybe we are meant to be a pack under its protection."

"Mars is War-totem?" The massive Lupus replied with curiosity as he cocked his head but failing to get a meaningful angle from the planet.
"Then we go to Umbra, and go to Mars."