[Howl Mingle] Wolves Outside and They Wear Sheeps' Clothing

[holtfinder]

WHO: Everyone's invited!
WHERE: The grassy area north of the memorial at Green 19
WHAT: A Howl!
WHEN: Under the light of the full moon
WARNINGS: Please put them in TLs if they apply to your story


The area has been cleared of rocks, making it comfortable for people to sit on the grass or some of the larger boulders that were already there. The full moon shines overhead, making it bright enough to see one another. While some people would put a bonfire in the center of the ring, Moonshade is doing this the traditional way; the Wolfriders avoid fire at all costs.

That said, she's gotten someone to cook a portion of the piglet-squirrels she's hunted to share with everyone, skewered and nicely charred, enough to go around. But there's also raw meat available for anyone like her, who prefers to have theirs fresh.

Moonshade directs everyone into a rough sort of circle, standing in the middle as she waits for the late arrivals. She's dressed in her usual leathers, but there's some flowers from the greenhouse tucked into her hair, something small and purple that catches the moonlight. "Thank you all for coming. My people, the Wolfriders, hold howls regularly. We sing to the moon as our wolf-friends did even before we joined them. And we tell stories. This is how we keep our history alive. I know that I don't share a history with any of you, but I could think of no better way to learn who you all are, what Way you live by, than hearing your stories, and sharing one of my own."

Her smile turns a little wry, and she glances at Steadypaw. "But before the stories, we sing." And the wolf moves from lying down to sitting, throws his head back, and lets out a proper howl. Moonshade joins in a moment later, closing her eyes. It's an eerie harmony between them--she can't help but wonder who'll join in. Or, for that matter, who'll share a tale or two.

Comments

[holtfinder]

She doesn't respond aloud, not at first. Instead, she reaches out with her mind to see of Kaz is one of those odd humans like Ezra, who can perceive Sending.

*This is Sending. To speak mind-to-mind, heart-to-heart. One cannot lie, when they Send. It is one spirit brushing against another.*

[demjiin]

Because he was looking right at Moonshade, he did not see her mouth move, yet he distinctly heard Moonshade's voice in his mind. And she was right, it was like sprits brushing against each other. He'd once said before that like the bone in his leg, no part of him had healed right. But he had been thoroughly and completely broken once. How that happened were very dark and very horrific memories that with just a single brush were still locked behind a dark door in his mind, but they waited like a hungry maw poised to swallow Kaz whole. Just from that one brush, she would know how vengeance had burned away other feelings, and indeed his ability to feel anything outside of shades of irritation, anger or rage.

This is to say that Sending felt invasive as all get out to Kaz. Though it was very likely not to matter to Moonshades ability to Send at all Kaz jerked back looking thoroughly disturbed and irate. The idea of Sending rattled Kaz, badly.

"Can you just do that at any time?"

If so Moonshade just ranked right up there with the Jedi and Billy as 'threats' in Kaz's mind.

[holtfinder]

She switches back to speaking aloud, intrigued and a little worried by that reaction.

"Yes, though it's fairly rare for humans to be able to receive it. Ezra can, and so can a human woman who was raised by us--it took her more than three eights of years to be able to, though."

[demjiin]

Kaz had once had grisha powers used on him and it was very possible that what the grisha called 'The Making at the Heart of the World' made his connection to all life stronger. But regardless of 'why' Kaz was able to hear Moonshades Sending but he could not Send.

That still meant that he was shaken by Moonshade's Sending and once he knew she could do it at will, he certainly did rank her with the Jedi and Billy as a threat. He would still continue staring hard at her, right now.

"Is it only used to send messages over long distances?"

[holtfinder]

"No, sometimes it's used in a manner similar to whispering; lock-sending, just to one person so no one else can 'overhear'. Or in moments of intimacy. My mate, Strongbow, is someone who will not speak if Sending is an option. Because you can't lie, mind-to-mind, he finds it more direct, more honest. He only speaks if someone can't receive Sending, or in times of the greatest emotion. Or when he wants to be sure someone knows how serious he is; he once called council with his own voice, and everyone knew it was something more serious than serious."

It's a part of life for her people, like the internet or radio are in other times, for other people.

She doesn't understand why the stare is so hard, why he seems so shaken, but she smiles in the face of his cold eyes.

[demjiin]

Well that didn't help explain anything. If anything Kaz still had the same inscrutable look that he usually had but now both brows raised in surprise.

"So it's mostly a method of communicating. But if I understand what you're saying it's most often used as a more intimate way of communicating?"

[holtfinder]

"It's a meeting of souls. Of course that's more intimate than words spoken to air."

She says that like it's obvious, like it's self-evident. It's something she's always known, after all.

[demjiin]

Well if it didn't feel invasive enough the first time, Kaz would now say he felt a little violated. That part was not Moonshades fault and in fact, she was willing to allow someone else to know her just as well through Sending. The problem was that so much of what Kaz was doing was trying to hide his debilitating weakness on the inside. Which, of course, was not healthy in the slightest.

"...and what did you mean 'what Way you live by?"

[holtfinder]

"The Way is how we live our lives as Wolfriders, following the rules first made by Huntress Skyfire. It's things like not starting fires, and 'in the trees, as you please; on the ground, not a sound' and how to find a wolf-friend. It's who we are, what we do, how we keep ourselves...right."

She doesn't have words like 'culture' or 'philosophy' to help her explain herself here, but she also doesn't want to fall back on tautology. The Way is the Way, and always has been--especially to her and Strongbow, as the elders whose jobs it is to guide the rest of the tribe, to question changes and innovations and their place in the world of the Wolfriders.