2019.05.06: Wind Dancing

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Wind Dancing
Battle Singer (Lleu) goes with Cait to try and entice a wind spirit to teach her a gift.
IC Date 2019.05.06
Players Cait O'Connor Lleutrim as ST.
Location The Caern's Heart and the Umbra.
Spheres Gaian Garou


It is now currently Sun May 05 17:35:15 2019, PDT.

The moon is currently New Moon, Rage diff 8 (7 if Ragabash and/or Crinos).

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Once Cait contacts Lleu, he's happy to meet with her and gladly accepts coming along if for only the reason that garou are safer when they do things together, with a pack or anyone else they trust to watch their backs. The Fianna Galliard suggests she come find him at the Caern when she's ready. He's apt to be in the Patrol office working on patrol schedules or in the tavern drinking, or socializing in the main valley and likely playing music. Evening in the Caern is a nice, comfortable place to be and a social and spiritual center of the Sept.

Once she's found him, Lleu wraps up whatever he's doing and gives her his full attention. "Let's go into the Caern's Heart and cross over into the umbra. For Scent of the True Form, any spirit of Gaia can teach you that gift. There are plenty of spirits drawn to the Caern's Heart. You don't even have to cross the Gauntlet to deal with them there but it is more polite if we do. You have any particular spirit in mind? They are going to want some kind of chimmerage in exchange."


Cait 'patiently' waits for Lleu, as best she can, he's being kind to her, and helping her out, so she tries to put on her best patient face. It doesn't stop her from moving from foot to foot as she gets more and more antsy. When he is ready, she'll smile up him with a broad grin. "Hey, thanks for coming with me!" She'll walk with a bounce to her step, a very eager cliath it seems, any sort of 'field trip' like this is extremely exciting to her. When they begin to walk towards the Caern's Heart, she'll nod to him and then says after a moment, "I don't really have a specific spirit in mind, no... what would you suggest?", she asks respectfully.


As they near the entrance he stops outside of it and keeps his voice down. "Sometimes you can find a willing spirit in the Heart or lingering near by in the umbra that is drawn to the gnosis, the power of the Caern. But they aren't always willing to interact with us. So it really depends on finding one that is curious and interested. Away from the Caern and it can be pretty slim pickings to find any spirits at all and you are more apt to find some that aren't friendly."

Lleu glances at the Heart, "When we go in there, we have to be quiet and serious. Respectful. So it's best to do any discussion out here before we begin." He thinks about it, "The most common spirits I encounter around the Caern's heart are nature spirits. Once in a while there will be a glade child, a tree nymph if you will. There's the water elemental that lives in the pool. Sometimes there are animal spirits, or other elementals like wind. Sometimes there's very little. Let's go and see what we can find."

The Adren shifts his form, changing his human body for that of a wolf. He lingers to see if Cait has anything else she wishes to discuss before they go.


"I think I would like to interact with the wind... since I run in the wind often, and enjoy it thoroughly with my parkour." Cait says as she stops outside the caern heart to talk to him. She'll nod at his words, and then as he shifts, she'll grin and then will also shift into her wolf form. Her outfit, a pair of tight exercise shorts and a sports bra are dedicated to her, but everything else would drop on the ground. Stepping out of it after her fast change (she spends a gnosis to make it faster, why not? She's at the caern heart), the mottled looking wolf shakes herself out. She's smaller than normal, and wags her tail happily, her ears perked up and alert even as her tongue lolls out. She is very doglike in her demeanor, even if she is indeed, a wolf.


Caern Heart - Deep Forest

The underground forest thickens and becomes more wild and untamed as the path leads to the center of this subterranean valley, flora growing thick and large, with many species of plants that haven't been seen above ground in this region in millennia. At the center of this valley, massive trees make way for a clearing dotted in flat stones and abundant in flowering ground cover surrounding a large pool of deep, crystal clear water. Its surface undulates and moves, sometimes fountaining quietly as the water elemental within rejoices in Gaia's energy.

The ever fresh breeze and the sounds of undisturbed nature all around combine with the deep peace and serenity of this holiest of places. Members of the Sept spend their time meditating around the pool amidst the multitude of spirit life that slips in and out of physical reality through a paper thin Gauntlet. Great boulders scattered around the heart of the Caern are carved in the likeness of proud bears in honor of the Sept's Totem and tangled in flowering nature. At their feet are offerings: fruits, herbs and honey along with other small tokens of strength and reverence.


Battle Singer leads the way, a large grey wolf with dark agouti black tipped guard hairs over his creamy coat with strongly contrasting pale undermarkings and a faintly blood stained ruddy tint to his sides. Silvery eyes are as icy grey as they are in his human form as if a reflection of Luna's late gift. He moves very quietly without making any sound as his paws trot him into the Caern's Heart. The Fianna goes to the crystal clear pool and there he lies down, paws stretched out front.

There are a few other garou here, scattered about and quietly going about their own business here. Most of them are likely Theurges but not all. All along the pool's edge and elsewhere in this sacrad place are many offersings left for the spirits who gather here.

As Battle Singer lies there waiting patiently, and as Cait will come up, the water in the pool ripples and sparkles. The water elemental stirs as if an unseen finger had dipped into the water. A tiny bit of the water in the very center pokes up to better 'see' who the new arrivals might be.


Cait pads silently behind Lleu as he enters the Caern Heart. She's very light footed, and also, very sure footed, knowing exactly where to place her feet in order to remain silent. As she glances around, her ears are still perked up alertly, very curiously, and her tail wags slightly, she just can't relaly contain her excitement, even if she is trying to be respectful.

When the larger wolf lays down near the water, Cait will trot up silently, on those soft paws of hers, used to a much harsher environment than the soft loam of a forest floor. She'll lay down next to Lleu, her body nearly touching his, and her tail still wagging slightly in the background, whapping him occasionally. When the water spirit peeks up, she'll lower her head, putting her head on her paws to stare curiously.


The Galliard's head turns and he wolfishly smiles at Cait. >> Let us sit quietly for a while and meditate. Refresh your gnosis. It will quiet and calm you and thus make you less threatening, more approachable by the spirits. Think about the wind... << Battle Singer grows silent and does precisely that. He watches the water, or allows his gaze to wander idly as his breathing and his heart rate slow... and eventually he's staring off at nothing in particular as if in a trance.

Before them the water elemental has ducked back down and the pool stills. All around them the spirits have gone into hiding or still, watchful. They know Battle Singer for Lleu comes here often. Yet Cait is a stranger to them here, in this place. They are cautious.


Cait turns her head to look at Lleu, her tail wagging a bit more when he directs his attention at her. His suggestion causes her to bob her head and nod. << Okay, Battle Singer-Rhya. I will try... > Lowering her head to her paws, she will stare forward and for awhile her tail will continue to wag, she is just too excited. After awhile though, her breathing will slow and she will successfully begin to mediate, which does calm her. Her tail finally goes still after awhile, and while she lays there with her head on her paws, she'll think of the air, she'll think of jumping and flipping, and doing aerial things with just her body and how much she enjoys it. Overall, she's meditating and thinking about her love of high places, and the wind.


After a little bit the spirits here begin to slip forth once more. Something weird that looks like a fern slowly creeps closer as if stalking her. An animal or two peer through the foliage her. A rabbit, then a bird flits through. Or are they real animals? Various sounds seem like perfectly normal forest sounds. The breeze that comes and goes here ruffles Cait's wolf fur.

Wait, is that a dryad that slips from a huge old tree and goes to slowly dance around the Thuerge over there? Cait's eyes may be playing tricks on her. Something sort of pokes and prods at one of Cait's ears, then brushes an unseen hand against her wiskers!

Battle Singer has regain his own focus and lies there, very alert. Watching and listening. His attention has shifted to watching the ripples blowing Cait's coat, >> I think it's time. Let us slip through the guantlet and converse with the spirits. <<


Cait remains very still as she meditates, even her tail has gone stock still. It's hard for Cait to not move, she's always in motion, but right now, she's silent and still, which is weird in itself. Her eyes slowly open to mere slits and she'll watch the things near her, and the things that begin to play with her fur and whispers. As Battle Singer speaks, she'll perk up and turn her attention towards him, her ears high and her tail lifting in attention. << Perfect, I'm definitely ready! >> She tries not to show her excitement, but she is excited so... well, at least her body isn't going 100 miles a minute.

Turning her head then, she'll stare into the reflective image of the pool, and focus her energies to slide into the alternate world through the gauntlet.


The Fianna Galliard wolf does the same, looking to the reflective pool so conviently still and quiet as the wolves themselves. It seems to shimmer very subtly, both reflecting and at the same time transparent. Cait can see the bottom and yet almost see ... it may elude her but not Battle Singer. It feels like falling /into/ the pool yet he knows not to fight it. He slips through.

In the next instant, Cait is alone. Battle Singer has stepped through without moving and yet he's no longer there.


Cait will tense up as she doesn't go anywhere, her rage building because of her failure when he went across so easily. Rising, she'll angrily stare at the reflection pool and try again to slip past the gauntlet that is supposed to be so weak here. This time, she is successful, except now, all that meditation has gone to waste, because now she's pissed off and irritated. Her ears are flat and she just looks angry once she has stepped over... finally.


And there is Battle Singer waiting in the Umbra on the other side. His wolf's body is marked with many glowing glyphs of his renown, crisscrossed by the many scars that mar his otherwise beautiful pelt. Even some over his face as he turns his head to look at her stepping through. >> Excellent. Now, calm yourself once more and think about the wind. It is here. Do you know how to speak to the spirits? <<

It is as if unseen fingers trail through Cait's fur, teasing her softly... the wind, playing with her.


Cait's head hangs a bit from her anger and she'll flick an ear at his instructions. Her heart is calm, so it's fairly easy for her to calm down again, although she's still a bit grumpy from her failure the thought of speaking with the spirits uplifts her spirit. She'll shake her head << I can not speak to spirits, at least not without my spirit radio.. >> Although as she feels fingers trail through her fur, she'll jump slightly and turn to look where the teasing was coming from. Her tail wags slightly at the playful wind and her ears will perk up a bit more.


She gets him to cock his head, >> Spirit radio? << Battle Singer watches the wind playing with Cait's fur and he wolishly smiles, tongue to loll. It's beautiful and strange in the Umbra here. Much of what she saw in the Caern's Heart looks almost exactly the same here and yet all heightened. Brighter colors, light like a painter would dream of, shimmerings, and if she looks she can /almost/ see the invisible wind spirit as it sails away, doubles back, swirling so softly with the barest hint of ... it's hard to say. Not quite a glow but sort of a barely perceptible luminous quality that isn't quite light.

>> Try speaking to it. It may understand you. Your thoughts have attracted it to come to you but it's not likely to stay if you don't keep it's interest. Ask it what you came for and see if you get a response. If not, I will ask for you. << Battle Singer once more lies down to get comfortable, waiting and watchful.


Perking up at the mention of the wind spirit, Cait will say, << I will show you my spirit radio after if you are curious.. >> Her tail is wagging more, eager again as she can see the outline of the invisible spirit. Turning, she'll take a running leap, and with her powerful back legs, she'll sail through the air, the air ruffling her fur. Landing and then spinning on a dime, she'll leap again and bound off a rock near the pool before leaping higher and doing a flip in the air to land on all fours again with her forelegs low, rear high and tail wagging excitedly. She's attempting to play with the wind spirit to get its attention. << Wind spirit, play with me... I wish to seek your help, to learn an important gift, a gift of scenting out someone's true form... please guide me... this little one loves the wind, and will offer you much joy and many hours of play for your guidance... >>


Wind is by it's nature elusive and always on the move - and when it's still, it is absent. So it is that the spirit slips away and starts to blow through, dipping and swirling on it's way, seeking to brushing the leaves of trees and things it can sense through the very thin gaunlet here. Battle Singer watches it go, then glances back to Cait.

Then there's a wolf leaping through the air and right through where the departing spirit was heading! It darts through and around Cait for both are spirit here in the Umbra! As the Ahroun keeps up her antics, the wind spirit is no longer intent on moving along. Air headed as it is, it is easily distracted! It flits to and fro, brushing through Cait's fur for she has regained it's momentary fascination with the garou! It's attention will be difficult to hold for long.

Battle Singer watches, very still and quiet so not to distract or interrupt. This is for Cait to do or to fail in and he will only help if needed.

The wind scoops up some fragment in the thinned veil, a dried leaf it looks like, though in umbra side it is but a shadow. Lifted up and danced about upon the wind like a feather! It and several others like it are picked up by the zephyr like tiny feathers and tossed in Cait's wolf's face! Hah! She can /almost/ hear the wind laughing! Battle Singer cocks his head as if listening, as if he can hear something more. >> It also wishes ... desires ... you open your closed places to the wind. I think it means ... doors, windows? Things that block the wind. << Clearly Cait has succeeded in getting it's attention!


Cait's tongue is lolling out and she's panting a little from her exertions, but she's hardly done. She'll dart around the wind, playfully dodging the leaves/feathers with leaps and jumps and flips. Her tail is wagging as she will respond << I will open all the doors and windows, so there are no closed spaces, the wind will have freedom! >> This is something she puts her heart into, because it's very obvious she also desires freedom, and adores it, just like the wind.


Wind of course can be a dangerous, powerful thing. A single spirit of breezes or a zephyr may be limited in it's power yet serves higher related, stronger spirits. Things that build into tornados, hurricanes, helping with the aid of time, water or dust to wear away even mountains. The breath of the world.

The spirit dances and rushes around with Cait now fully engaged! It seems joyous and can feel Cait's sincerity! Up lifting! She can feel it too, puffing this way and that, ruffling her fur, almost as if the breath of air can even pass through Cait's own spirit flesh here in the umbra. At the height of their duel exertion of both garou spirit and wind, the wind builds and grows stronger! Only a little, this spirit being small and nothing fierce. In the midst of this playful dance, a sense, a feeling ripples through the Ahroun. Just as the spirit passes through or over her, again and again like a caress unseen yet utterly felt.

Smells come to Cait, brought by the wind! Smells of things she may or may not have ever met before. One is of a thing that is a kind of leech that smells of death, yet wears the form of a man or woman's body. Then the wind twists and curls back in it's dance, bringing with it another scent! This one utterly strange to Cait and yet, with a strange stink to it and an image Cait knows to be a soul of some past life, in possession of a human body! Again and again the wind whips around and brings scent after scent in quick succession, teaching the Ahroun how to recognize things the gift of the wind will bring to her.


The wind may be dangerous, but leaping across buildings is also dangerous, and that's also part of the fun! Cait thoroughly enjoys her dance with the wind spirit, using all of her energy, every single bit of her strength to dance and leap and twist and flip until she was completely worn out. Her joy is contagious and the spirit's joy is also contagious, so it's a beautiful thing to behold, the wolf and the wind dancing with one another, fast, in the air, enjoying their time. As she begins to smell things, Cait's attention sharpens, she knows this is important, so she'll continue to dance, and flip and jump and spin and twist while she breathes heavily. By the time she is done, for this time around, she'll flop to the ground and pant heavily, like super heavily, although her tail is wagging extremely fast, generating wind all on its own! << That. Is..... amazing! Thank you Wind Spirit!! >>


Battle Singer laughs a wolf's silent laugh, tongue lolling. He looks happy with her progress twining and flitting around as light as a feather with the wind spirit. >> Keep this up and we may have to give you a new deed name, Wind Dancer! << His own eyes are bright, pleased with Cait's success. Sometimes this is very difficult yet she seems to have an affinity for this spirit and thus it was a good choice. Lucky for them the Caern's Heart is a place that wind dwells softly, ever bringing refreshing clean, moist air through.

Hahaha, thump goes Cait, exhausted! The wind spirit couldn't be more pleased with the garou's heart and efforts! The breeze comes back around and around to cool the heat from the Ahroun's body and give relief - briefly, for it is difficult to keep the wind focused without forcing it. Soon enough it is slipping away to play and fondle other things - back to making the leaves whisper, the grasses bend, and on it's way it goes, slipping away... Battle Singer stretches where he lies, digging his claws into the umbral earth. >> You did very well, Aint Dead Yet. The spirits know if you have a good heart and put it into what you do. <<


Cait lays there, and flops to her side as she pants, her eyes closing as she feels the wind try to help cool her. This causes her to try to wag her tail some, thump thump thump, it's a tired wag, but a wag nonetheless! After a few minutes, she'll seem to have regained some energy and rolls to lay upright again, more alert as she looks over at Battle Singer. << I would not mind that name either, I would like both names! >> Her entire demeanor is cheerful, excited, and just happy right now. << i am glad, the wind, I love it... I am glad it could feel my love and adoration... >> She wags her tail again, although it's again a weaker thump thump, she's very tired even if she's pretending not to be. << Thank you, Battle Singer, for your guidance as well...>> She'll hop up and trot over to him to bump bodies with him in thanks.


The older battle scarred garou gets up. Battle Singer looks happy and shares the body bumping, his own tail up and probably smacking her in the face at least once until she ducks past it. He turns, >> You could have done this in the Heart. Yet making the effort to come into the Umbra shows respect to the spirits. It also helps ... rejuvenate our own spirits, I think. Linger a while and rest if you like. It is safe here to do so, so close to the Caern's Heart. Or slip back. I would be pleased to teach you many things - you need only to ask. It is my pleasure. <<

He bumps her with his nose, himself smelling of his own scent, the rich earth, of the food and drink he's enjoyed before meeting with her, the scent of camp fire smoke, faintly of leather, perhaps some traces of his mate. Many complex smells that compiled all together are him.

>> Now I should get back home to my mate. She has many nightmares and does not rest well, more so if I can not be there with her. I shall bid you a good night, Wind Dancer. << The Fianna gives her a wink and slips back through the Gauntlet and into the Caern's physical realm.