It is currently 15:51 Pacific Time on Tue Jun 15 2004. Currently the moon is in the waning No Moon phase (14% full). The day was quiet, for the most part - Alpha'd delivered the recorder earlier in the morning and stayed with Chaney until nearly noon, showing her how to play it and assisting with the blocks. A few minutes ago is when things got interesting. There was yelling, then thumping and the sound of someone thundering up the stairs. Then /another/ thump a moment or so later, this one louder and somehow, more final. A few minutes later a man screamed and just as Chaney was working herself into hysterics, the latch rattled and Natalie slipped sideways through the door with a, "Hey, Chaney." Chaney scuttles awkwardly backwards. The lupus is in homid form -- Chaney the naked wild girl instead of Chaney the big almost-wolf. Behind the tangled auburn hair, her eyes are wide and her nostrils flare as she snuffles the air rapidly. Overall, she looks anxious. Natalie, with a last glance into the hall, closes the door and crouches down, a hand extended. "Shh shh - it's all right, Chaney. It's all right. Have you been playing with the recorder?" Her scent's nearly impossible to pick out from the rest of the room's odor, at least while in homid. But she's not acting like anything is terribly wrong. Chaney crawls toward the Galliard and pushes her face against her anyway, seeking reassurance. Nat gets a good whiff of human body odor... which is, mostly in the hair, mixed in with the smell of Dog. Or Wolf. It's pretty similar -- big hairy unwashed animal. Natalie says "Whew," at the smell, but pats the girl's head anyway, even going so far as to dig her fingers into the rat's nest and rub at her scalp. "Bath toys. That's what we need. Something to keep you occupied while I'm scrubbing away." She continues to murmur reassuringly, only adding a mostly to herself, "Well, is today learning to stand or litany?" Chaney leans into the scritching, squinting her eyes closed in pleasure. Her frantic breathing slows down. Natalie continues to pat and soothe until the cub's calmer, then puts two fingers under her chin to lift her face. "How's that, Chaney? Better?" Chaney does a little lunge upwards to try to lick Natalie's mouth. Natalie jerks back with a 'glerk!' that sends her falling back onto her tush, and pawing at the girl to keep her away. "Gah! No! No licking, Chaney! Not in homid!" Chaney lets out a little yelping noise and scrambles away in an awkward, apelike all-fours fashion. At the pile of blankets, she turns back and stares wide-eyed at Natalie. Though it's hard to read her expression, she seems rather... hurt. Natalie addresses the ceiling with a resigned, "Oh, Chaney," then pushes herself onto hands and knees so she can pat at the floor. "It's all right. C'mere, you. Come on, Chaney. Bring your recorder," she adds, pointing at the toy. "Come, Chaney. Bring your recorder." Chaney starts edging back, then pauses and looks around. Spotting the recorder, she grabs it -- she's getting better at that -- and on two feet and one hand makes her way to the spot Natalie's patting. Natalie says "Good girl!" While Chaney's approaching Nat rocks back onto her heels. She cracks the door open, then calls out, "Josh! Get in here if you're coming!" She leaves the door open and moves out of the way, intercepting Chaney's path. "Good job. You brought the recorder. Very good job." White Bear presses into the room through the cracked door, noes working over time to get all the new scents inside. He looks up the Galliard, but it's clear his attention is on the new and very naked person. Holds-the-Line called? Chaney's eyes brighten. She doesn't smile, but that's typical for the wolf-in-human-skin. She plants her butt against the floor, clutching the wooden recorder and looking from Nat to Bear and back again. "Damn straight I called." She beckons the wolf farther in and scooches closer to Chaney. "Could you explain to her that I'm not mad? She just shouldn't try to lick my face in homid." "--And oh," as an afterthought, "Introduce yourself as well. ...At least, I hope that'll work. Have her give me the recorder if she does." Lithe and sleek, here is of a classic display of Canis Lupus Arctos. His thick coat is a clean gray, near-white of a wolf of the arctic, stretched over a crisp frame. He stands about two and a half feet tall at the shoulder; from tip to tail he's just about four feet long. His ribs are slightly apparent and his hide shows where many of the bones are from months of lean eating. But he looks well worked, muscle sliding under the coat when he moves. Four legs connect with the ground, ending in slightly blunted claws. If you look closely enough at his face, a few light red hairs might be visible amongst the coat. Erect ears cap his head, and brown eyes peer out from under this beast's brow with unmistakable intelligence. White Bear duely comes further in the room, much slower and more cautious this time around, sniffing at Chaney's direction. He is White Bear. He starts cautiously, squinting at the other. Chaney's full attention suddenly focusses on White Bear, her eyes sharp behind the tangled hair. She rises onto all fours, nose working visibly. Then she exhales her breath in a loud 'huff!' and on fingers and toes stalks over toward the white wolf. Head up and arms somewhat stiff. Natalie laughs to herself, just a single huff, but lets White Bear deliver the smackdown. White Bear snaps his jaws at the air in the direction of the Naked girl, silently, and firmly, telling her to stop. Holds-The-Line says She is not to do that in two leg shape. He inflates his body, carrying himself much bigger than before. Only in Four leg shape. Holds the line Also says Not to lick Alpha's Muzzle in two leg shape either. Only do that in Four leg shape. Chaney stops short. Her head cocks slightly. Slowly, she sits down on her rump again, visibly backing down. She pants softly, jaw hanging slack. "I never said she couldn't play dominance games in homid," Nat points out dryly. "Just to not lick my face, thank you. But it's pretty obvious she understands you. Ask her if she'd rather play with blocks, or the recorder? ...With you," she adds. "Or work on the litany, I'm going to do some cleaning up. This place reeks." White Bear doesn't come down from his puffed up posture, still carrying himself 'big'. Holds the Line wants to know if you wish to play with blocks, wooden stick that makes noise, or learn rules that she must know. Jeremy pages to Marcus, Chaney, Natalie, White Bear, and Emily: From down the stairs, comes Jeremy's paniced voice. "GUYS!!!" Chaney looks at the recorder, then drops it and starts scrambling four-legged to the blocks toy. She pauses, head coming up alertly at the sound of a shout. She looks at Natalie. White Bear's head jerks around at the noise as well, then over to Natalie. Should he go see what Black-Cloth Kin is wants? Natalie rolls up to her feet and shakes her head firmly. "No. Both of you stay here. Josh... hell. Just stay with her. I'll go see what's crawled up Jer's butt this time." And out the door she goes, closing it firmly behind her. But, one might note, not locking it. Chaney makes an anxious whining noise in the back of her throat and shifts her weight restlessly, looking from the door to White Bear. White Bear looks over to Natalie as she leaves, a note of nervousness entering his body language for a few minutes before he shakes it off. He slowly approaches the cub, watching her back as she watches him. He loosens up slightly, stopping near the other as he squints. Chaney shifts her weight again, balanced oddly on fingers and toes. Then she backs up slowly and turns to crawl toward her blanket-nest and the clock-shaped puzzle lying next to it. Only half of the blocks are in; the rest are scattered. White Bear paces on over, sniff sniffing as he goes. Smelly, eh? He comes around carefully, watching the Cub and the clock toy with interest. He wants her to show him how the blocks fit in, he tells the other. Chaney makes a vague grunting noise that could mean anything and starts hunting, feeling around for the stray blocks. One by one, she puts them into the proper slots -- sometimes having to make two or three guesses for the shapes that look almost alike, and often having to turn shapes around to get them to slot in. But she does, after a time, get them all. White Bear watches with Rapt interest, tail ticking a few times after she gets all them in. She is Smart to get all the blocks in, he offers, pacing in a quick circle to look over at the door and then back to Chaney. If she wants to take four leg shape, she can, he adds. Tskilegwa pages to Chaney and White Bear: You both hear an electric crackle from upstairs someplace, then smell cooking circuits. Chaney wriggles her butt against the floor a bit. One can suppose that she's pleased, though the fact that she never smiles or uses any human facial expressions at all makes reading her difficult. Rather than take Bear's suggestion, though, she lifts her face and sniffs the air, nostrils flaring. Natalie pages to Chaney and White Bear: Any canine noses smell burning electrical equipment. White Bear's nostrils flare again, sniffing at the air. Bad smell, he states, matter of fact. He hesitates for a long moment, eyeing the door. Holds-the-Line said stay here, he notes. But she should take four leg shape and smell and remember. This is bad smell. From afar, to the room, White Bear shares, in case he didn't hit you with it too: You hear Jermey from the server room suddenly go. "AWw FUCK!" Then footsteps down the hall. "Fuck fuck!" An there is smoke everywhere. Chaney reverts back to breed form slowly, almost reluctantly. She lies down, ears going back and nose working rapidly. If she smells this smell, she should tell Holds the line or White Bear or Gold-hair or Black-Clothes Kin, White Bear adds, matter of fact. Does she understand this? Chaney looks puzzled at some of the other Walker's vocabulary and wonders what a bear is. White Bear hesitates, before starting a strange bear like swagger move, explaining that Bear is big animal. Very big. Moves like this and is very strong. Bear is smart. Does not have big tail like wolf does. Chaney stares at White Bear, ears up, forgetting the strange, bad smell for a moment. Big like Crinos? White Bear indicates a flat 'no'. Not as big as Crinos. But biggest of not-crinos animals. He stops his swagger, turning about to approach the Chaney again. Chaney remains reclined, forelegs stretched out in front of her. She lays her ears back as the other approaches and shifts her eyes away from him. White Bear stops, turning to pace off to the side, all puffed up like again. He turns around in a quick circle to face the Cub again. He is White Bear. What is her name? Chaney sweeps her husky-tail back and forth a bit. Many Faces. I am Many Faces. Holds the Line Gives Many Faces her name? He inquires, head canting. Chaney affirms that this is so. White Bear is bored, he declares all the sudden. And he looks it too. He wants to play. Holds the Line wants him to teach her rules that Many Faces should know, so he cannot. Does Many Faces want to play? Chaney wags her tail. She is of the opinion that play is better than rules and says so. White Bear huffs out an agreement, but adds that rules are important and If Many Faces learns some of the rules, they could play. Can she learn some of them so they can play? Natalie pages to Chaney and White Bear: OK, hand-waved since I can't stay. Nat'd poke her head in, smelling charmingly of rubber and burnt electronics, to report that everything is all right, no one got hurt. She suspects a spirit got cranky about Chaney's first changem but she'll look into details later. Later, dammit. No, Josh, you're to stay here with Chaney and keep her calm. And then she'd head out. From afar, to Chaney and White Bear, Natalie also adds: Tskilegwa pages to the room: Okay. The lowdown. Every computer in the mansion is cooked and totally unsalvagable except for Jeremy's laptop and the palm that Emily is holding and had in her purse earlier. The security cameras and tapes (which I assume were hooked into the computer). Backup drives, toasted. And the X-box (possibly networked) and the best TV in the house. Chaney, after Natalie's interruption -- and the way the Alpha smells gives the cub another spasm of distress -- pads over to the closed door and sniffs avidly all around the edges of it. White Bear hangs back after the door closes, deliberately not sniffing too much at the room full of what he considers a foul scent, looking as stumped as he felt. He comes up aside the cub, informing her that Alpha knows of about the Bad smell. A bad thing happened, but everyone is okay; she shouldn't worry. Chaney paws at the door, and Josh can see how the wood's gotten scratched. Bad thing? What bad thing? How the hell to explain -this- one? White Bear backs away from the door, trying to make her turn her attention away from scratching up the door and over to him. The lupus seems quite reluctant, though after a bit she stops scratching and backs up a step to look calculatingly up at the doorknob. White Bear makes a sharp snort of a noise to all but demand her attention. No. Holds the Line says not leave this room. Many Faces cannot leave yet. Chaney whines. Waaaant. Want out. She glances back at White Bear, then up at the doorknob. I want out _now_. No, White Bear Repeats all the more firm, this time emphasizing with half-growl. She cannot leave yet. Holds The Line is alpha, and Alpha says she cannot leave yet. So Many Faces cannot leave yet. Chaney gives it up reluctantly, flopping herself down on the floor next to the door, half-curled. She looks mournfully over at White Bear. White Bear considers for a moment, before trying again: If Many Faces learns Rules she must know, he and Many Faces can leave the room and play. Does Many Faces want to do this? Chaney's ears perk up. Learn rules, then go out? Yes. Learn rules, then go out. And play. He wants to play after Many Faces learns the rules, because others do not play much. Chaney looks encouraged by this and wags her tail. Yes, I will learn rules and then out and then play. Yes. White Bear almost perfectly mirrors her body language, visibly happy. He trots briskly to a short distance away before he turns around to face Chaney again. Many Faces knows what Garou is? Man-Wolf Changer? Chaney affirms that she knows. Garou makes hands, makes wolf, makes big with teeth. Homid. Lupus. Crinos. Yes. White Bear straitens slightly, saying that the first rule is that Garou never can mate with other Garou ever. It only makes weak, very sick, and unhealthy Pups. So Chaney must never mate with other Garou. He then asks if Chaney understands this? Chaney wonders who she should mate with, then? Other wolfs she can mate with. Pups that come from mating with other wolfs are strong and healthy, not like sick and weak Pups from Mating with Garou. Garou cannot mate with other Garou. That is the rule. Chaney becomes quite still. She's thinking, obviously. White Bear asks if Many Faces understands the rule? Chaney asks the other if Garou only mate with wolves. She asks if they mate with humans, too. They make human shape. White Bear looks almost pleased at the question. Yes. Garou can mate with Humans too. But Humans are strange in how they mate. Homid born Garou usually mate with Humans. Lupus born usually mate with wolves. But Lupus can mate with Humans in man-shape, and Homid can made with Wolfs in wolf-shape. He pauses a moment, before adding that Many Faces is smart for realizing this. Chaney's ears perk up and she looks pleased with herself. Yes, I am a very smart girl. Very smart. Yes. Garou mate with wolves. Garou mate with humans. Garou do not mate with Garou. Yes. White Bear wonders if Chaney knows what the Wyrm is? Chaney does not know what Wyrm means. Is it big like a bear? White Bear considers for a moment, before indicating that the Wyrm is not an animal like Bear is. Wyrm is a bad thing that wants to kill Garou. Garou fight Wyrm to keep it from doing bad things like killing Garou. All Garou must fight the Wyrm where ever it lives and when it mates to make more Wyrm Creatures. It is the rule to do this. Wyrm Creatures are Bad. (Handwaved: Josh teaches Chaney about half of the Litany, more or less, and then the two do some wolfish roughhousing.)