It is currently 09:33 Pacific Time on Tue Mar 2 2004. Currently in Saint Claire, it is foggy. The temperature is 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degrees Celsius). The wind is calm today. The barometric pressure reading is 30.23 and rising, and the relative humidity is 100 percent. The dewpoint is 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degrees Celsius.) Currently the moon is in the waxing Gibbous Moon phase (73% full). Cockroach Mansion -- Downstairs The heavy, dark opulence to this mansion known as Dominion is perfectly exemplified by the room vistors first enter, this front hall. Dark-stained wood serves as paneling on the walls, gleams with high gloss in the hardwood floor, and supports a semi-circular balcony in carved pillars. The heavy double doors, made of oak, open into the hall from the south, opposite the huge, hourglass-shaped staircase composed of red and black gneiss which soars up to the balcony; both are fenced in with a wooden railing of simple spiraled posts. Several doorways can be made out on the second floor, nearly blending in discreetly with the back wall. The wall to the left of the front doors is composed entirely of windows which run from the forty-foot-tall domed dark wood ceiling to the floor; if drawn, the heavy velvet drapes of deep red would completely mask them from view, but when parted, as they often are, one has a marvelous view of the grounds outside. A doorway to the right of the front doors leads to a parlor, and towards the back are the kitchens, the large dining room, and Salem's office. Natalie's at the foot of the stairs, one hand on the bannister, and looking up. She opens her mouth as if to call again, then apparently thinks better of it and turns away, shaking her head. She hasn't yet noticed the wolf in the parlor door. Wolf-Heart tilts his head from his position between the doors, still watching the unusual Galliard. His nose wrinkles slightly as he tries to puzzle this out. Salem apparantly has the day off -- unlike yesterday, where he was gone all day and most of the night. Still, despite probably having gotten damned little sleep (the darkness under his eyes being more obvious than usual), he looks quite brisk and awake as he emerges from the back of the house. "Gotta find out where he hides the spades," Nat says to herself as she heads back toward the front door. It's not until she's even with the parlor that she even notices, with a doubletake, the wolf standing there. "Jeez Louise! Damn, Josh, something wrong with two feet now?" Wolf-Heart blinks, looking back to Nat with now just a confused look. There is something wrong with four? He has not broken any of the rules around here... "Something wrong?" says Salem as he comes into view -- drawn by the sound of Nat's voice, most likely. He looks from her to the wolf-formed Joshua and lifts an eyebrow a bit, but that's all. Nat explains, "Only time I see you you're on four, even in town." She doesn't sound nor act upset, merely puzzled. At the sound of Salem's voice she turns, a grin sliding onto her face. "Oh, hey, morning! You're just in time - they just delievered the greenhouse!" As if several pending days of heavy labor were a treat to be savored. Wolf-Heart tilts his head once again, before walking his butt forward into a sit. A moment later, Homid formed Josh stands up. "Ta-da?" He mumbles, before noting the Elder. "Good morning, Salem-Rhya." He calls over, a small grin touching his face. As if he's actually happy to see the Elder. "Morning," Salem replies amiably, to both of them. To the young Ahroun, he adds, "My apologies for last evening. Things... kept me away longer than I thought they would." He shrugs faintly. And it's odd -- despite the waxing gibbous moon, he seems to be quite at ease today, relatively speaking. As if there's a weight off his shoulders. "Once again," Natalie observes, idly flicking the zipper pull on her coat, "You look like utter crap. Don't you sleep, Salem?" Josh's announcement earns him a small, distracted smile. "You're lucky the delivery truck left already." It's a mild reproof, made even milder by her ebullient mood. "No problem, Rhya." Josh answers, brow furrowing for a bare moment. "Cat and I spent some time talking instead." The Ahroun seems a little confused by Salem's ease, and he's doing a pretty poor job of hiding it. He doesn't, however, comment on Nat's remark. "Occasionally," is Salem's reply. He glances at Josh as if to indicate he _does_ have business with him, then turns back to Natalie. "When did you want to get started?" "Get started?" The Galliard's eyes flick toward the Ahroun, then back to Salem. "Uh, any time, I guess. I didn't realize you wanted to help. You any good with a shovel?" Joshua, knowing nothing about any of this, leans against the door slightly as he half listens to the two. Salem shrugs. "I've wielded one once or twice. But, first, I want to hear Joshua tell me about his Rite." His eye turns again to the former cub. "I can get Cat's side later." Natalie says "It's not going anywhere. Uh..." Again she looks between the two, fingers tugging at the zipper pull. "You mind if I listen in?" Joshua shrugs carefully, head jerking back to the Parlor after a moments hesitation. "Sure. I don't care..." He looks to Salem, letting him have the final say on that. "Sit down, maybe? Might take a few." "You're a Galliard, aren't you?" Salem gives Natalie a meaningful look, then turns and heads into the parlor toward his usual chair. "Besides, as tribe elder, you should hear this." Joshua stops midstride as he heads into the parlor, like someone just grabbed the collar of his shirt. His head swivles to face Salem, a brow arched. "... who and that what happened?!" Natalie protests, "Not until you leave!" Of course she isn't thinking of tying Salem to a chair. Bite thy tongue. "Then the position is open." Salem settles into the armchair and stretches his legs out, regarding the two with that steady, intent gaze of his. The good eye has a bit of a hard glint in it. "Because as of this morning, I have stepped down." He focusses on Natalie. "You're going to be elder, or you aren't... and you may as well start _now_, while I'm here to advise you." Joshua looks at Salem with stunned disbelief, before looking to Natalie, and back again. "... you're stepping down? Why on earth are you doing that, Rhya?" He eyes Natalie again, sizing her up for a moment. Natalie has nothing to say - can say nothing - for several stunned heartbeats. "I... But you..." Her teeth snap closed on any other nuggests of wisdom and she wordlessly makes her way into the parlor, settling into one of the other chairs. "Because he wants to, Josh. Because he can. Because he has things to do that aren't here." She shoots the ex-Elder an indescribably look, then gestures toward the Ahroun. "Well, you might as well start." "Because he has to," Salem adds to Natalie's litany, some of his affability leeching away. He leans back in the chair, elbows propped on the arms and fingers laced together. Josh carefully sits down in the Chair that he was napping on, crossing his boots on the floor as he chews on his lip for a moment. He shakes his head, trying to press the news out of his mind. He clears his throat and begins: "Things really started in the morning. I went to the Barn to work out some more and clear my head, so I climbed up into the loft. That's about when I ran into Emma and Trevor, who where doing some of that Crazy Galliard thing where you screw with someone's mind. I'm not sure if it was intentional... and it sounds like it is, but Emma flipped and frenzied. We beat her down... and thank god for Theurges to patch people up. Still, quite the way to start the day." Natalie starts frowning faintly right around the time Josh starts talking about 'crazy Galliards', but doesn't interrupt. Salem says nothing. He simply keeps his attention focussed on the former cub, listening. "Signe-Rhya hunted me down from my place on the Bawn, Salem-Rhya did the start of the Rite..." He continues, mostly for Natalie's sake. "Then, Signe-Rhya led us off to Farmhouse. There was no fight over Alpha, since we worked that out far in advance: Emma took us over the fence, where there where two Famor dogs. We went to Hispo and took them down, but Cat and Emma got big pieces taken out of them. That's what's with Cat's arm... from what I understand, that's Cat's first wound to the wyrm." Josh casually adds the last bit, but a keen mind might pick up a hinted suggestion behind it. "So we went around back. Took a peek inside, and we saw someone's Grams serving dinner, someone's gramps dozing. I took point, booted open the door to take Gramps, Emma and Cat took Grams. Except Gramps was a corpse, and apparently -was- dinner. Grams was Famor, and the two others struggled with her. God awful mess everywhere, maggots, worms, beetles... she was full of them, he was full of them. Really nasty. But Emma and Cat took her out. That's when things started getting Crazy." Natalie looks as though she might ask a question, but shakes her head and settles back. "I took point, and we headed up stairs. Just about then, we all started flipping out. I started hearing Emma and Cat talking behind my back. I'm not sure what Cat saw, but it freaked him. So I hear the two talking, snickering behind my back. Okay, so I boot open the door and did a quick sweep. Nothing. And all the while I'm hearing Emma and Cat talking behind my back, about how you sent them to cull me." Salem, frowning, lifts an eyebrow. "I told them no such thing." Joshua nods. "I know. I said things got weird, didn't I? Just bear with me for a little..." Josh clears his throat again: "Guides decided he head enough and oh-so casually booted me out. He got in a pissing contest with the fantom Emma, before I kicked his ass six ways to sunday and -made- him submit. I'm the goddamn alpha of the two of us, and now he knows it. I should have done that a long time ago. As soon as I got that back in order... for once and forever... I started realizing that something was up. Emma started saying that I should be culled, since the lung makes me useless as an Ahroun. I asked her who the hell told her that, and she said you did, when you sent her to kill me. Right about then, Guides pointed out -I- told Emma about the lung myself." Natalie lifts a finger. "Who is 'Guides'? And what is this 'phantom Emma'?" "Phantom was what I was hallucinating. Everyone saw something else." Josh answers carefully... "And Guides... is a long story. A very long story." "I'm not going anywhere," Natalie promises direly. "But if it doesn't relate - directly - to your Rite..." Joshua sighs, looking up to the ceiling for a moment. "Well... it does. And better you hear it from me than someone else. Guides is not an Ancestor Spirit. He was born in me as the wolf is born in every Garou of Human blood. But for one of human blood, he is very strong. Incredibly strong. We never 'split', like Cat said we might... but he was born in me with his own will the moment I had my first change. Valoran-Rhya says this is unusual, but not unheard of. Apparently, there have been other with my situation in the sept before. He is, more or less, my innerwolf. Except he has a will of his own, and I share space with him." He shrugs once. "Sounds crazy, but there you go." Natalie picks her words carefully. "And he and you have been... fighting for control of this body?" Joshua glances at Salem for a moment. "He's part of me, so I will always be stronger than him." Josh answers carefully. "So yeah, we fought over it before... but I can win every time now. And with him submissive, we're pretty much on good terms. Hasn't called me 'pup' since. And he won't." Salem listens to this silently, his lips thinned. He simply nods, though, offering no comment. Natalie lets that sink, then nods. "All right. So all of you were hallucinating...? Were they hallucinations, or were your bodies acting as well? I mean, were they happening only in your heads, or what?" "Yeah. Anyhow, back to the Rite. We where actually moving. If things got hairy, we would have killed each other." Josh squirms slightly in the seat, trying to get comfortable again. "Things got even weirder. I saw Guides... actually saw him, in front of me, and I saw Emma get ready to kill him. So I rushed her. We where just about ready to tear into each other when I saw the phantom Guides slink off... it was all fake. It simply had to be, because Guides -is- me. We took a step back and started calling out to each other, trying to coordinate things again. The Illusions dropped after we where all sure it wasn't real. Cat did a once over the room, and we found a boy." "The Kid looked normal, except One, there was no delirium, two, he was in a festering wyrm hole, and three, he was the only thing on the floor. Cat was insistent that we not kill him... and he kind of surprised me, how he stood up for himself. So we held off, for then. The Plan -was- to clear the basement and then check the Shadow, see if the kid was dirty, or if it was a spirit screwing with us... but..." Salem smiles faintly upon hearing of Cat's backbone. Joshua doesn't miss the gesture from Salem. He nods minutely, the corner of his mouth smirking. "Yeah. My thoughts exactly." "Basement. We headed down there. I took point, and when I got down there, and we got the lights on... that's one thing: if there is anything I learned as a Cub, it's to bring a bloody flash light." Josh grins at his own joke, carrying on quickly enough. "Anyhow. Yeah, so I saw this... thing. Worms, Insects, Mulch. Freaked the heck out of me. I'm not too clear on what happened next, but as I was trying to figure out how to kill the thing with Emma... fire being the most popular way, it started talking to Cat's head. Before we could start in on it, He got us to stop, and told us that it was a Gaian spirit, and the kid was Ikthya. Just then, the kid tried to make a break for it, by screwing with our minds more... Cat took care of it. From there, we took the Famori, and let the Gaian spirit purify them and recycle them back. Someone needs to cleanse the rest of the house... we kind of told the spirit we would pass on the request, but that's all we could do. So... we went back." Josh sighs, slocuhing forward in the seat as he finishes. "And that... was my trippy Rite of Passage. Just when we thought things couldn't get any weirder, they did. But we stuck together, saw through the illusion, and did the job. Does the class have any questions?" Natalie says "You said Cat 'took care' of the boy. What is that, without euphemisms?" "Snapped his neck with his own, homid hands. No apologies to the Famor, for once, or anything." Josh replies flat, an approving note edging behind his voice. Natalie huhs. "Good for him." Salem steeples his fingers. "A manifested Gaian spirit. A Kami? I wonder if Signe knew..." Joshua gives a sharp nod, although he doesn't add anything at this point. "Signe-Rhya? Wouldn't put it past her." Josh smirks again, sitting strait in the chair. "If she didn't, then Emma probably told her by now." Natalie turns sharply to Salem. "A what what?" Salem looks at Natalie. "A Kami. The joining of a Gaian spirit and something physical. The way a fomor is the joining of a Bane and something... human, a dog, whatever. They're quite rare... likely because, unlike Banes, Gaian spirits don't go maliciously possessing people." Joshua nods as Salem explains, not adding anything to what he said. Natalie nibbles on the inside of her cheek. "Perhaps, more important, is does /Megan/ know. And what happened to it, anyway? Is it - the Kami - still around?" She tosses the last question toward Josh. "When we left it," Josh responds to Natalie. "It was happily recycling the Famori. Since I've been here, and Cat's been here, Neither of us have told Megan-Rhya. I dunno if Signe-Rhya or Emma have, though." Natalie snorts as she settles back into her chair again, muttering something about Galliards. She eyes Joshua for a moment, then Salem. "Anything else you want to hear? I figure -you- sent him on this Rite, so -you- get to finish wrapping it up." Salem grunts. "I'm sure she'll learn. It's good news, anyway." He looks at Joshua. "It's customary to choose a new deed-name when you've finished your Rite, to symbolize your passage from childhood to adulthood." Joshua grimaces. "Yeah. Know. And I'm no good at this stuff too." The Ahroun muses, shifting his jaw slightly. "I once named my fish 'fish...' I'm terrible with names." Salem purses his lips. "What lessons did you take away from the experience?" Joshua remains silent for a bit, and you can almost see the gears turning in his head. "Guides is me. Even if he has his own will, it's still my will. And if I'm going to live and work with him, I need to act like I'm in charge." He starts slowly. "That sometimes, I need to slow down, and let wisdom work it's course. If I went with my gut, I would have attacked the Kami. That sometimes, what you see is not what really is, and you need to think with your whole mind, not with just your senses. If it wasn't for the fact that I mentally saw my way through with Guides, then Emma and I would have gone at it, and quite possibly killed each other." A faint grin returns, looking up to the two. "And sometimes, you would trade almost anything for a good Remington Pump Action and a flashlight." Natalie keeps quiet, her attention about evenly split between the two. After a silence that stretches on long enough - at least, long enough for Natalie - she breaks it by saying, "We'll think about it." Clearly a dismissal. Joshua nods, rising from his chair and heading out. Boot falls stop for a moment, before he can be heard making his way down the hall, in Lupus once again. Anyone who looks would find him curled up over a heat vent yet again, off in an mostly empty room.