[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

[dr_riley]

"A gun? You mean like a projectile weapon? Would've been preferable to this, I think," he mutters, turning the blaster sideways to regard it critically before holstering it.

"So nothing is wrong, here?" Drake asked, looking past Obi-Wan at the gathering. It looked like a typical campfire storytelling circle, except without the communal campfire.

[hadthehighground]

“Yes, that,” Obi-Wan says, a little amused but not entirely agreeing that it was better than a blaster. They were both crude weapons in his opinion.

“Not at all. In fact you’re welcome to join us if you like. I’m not sure whose turn it is to tell the next story.” Drake has the right idea. It’s exactly that, just without the fire.

[dr_riley]

"I- I don't know, I left right in the middle of something fairly important." He thumbed over his shoulder with his free hand.

It wasn't untrue: discovering all he could about the power crystal mineral - what it was composed of, its molecular structure, its properties, how it reacted to various other substances and stimuli - was, at least to him, vitally important. But it also wasn't something that was going to break down and lose its integrity if he left it on the counter for awhile. And his back was sort of stiff from hunching over all afternoon.

"I......suppose it might not hurt. For a few minutes. Awfully dark, though, isn't it?"

[hadthehighground]

“Surely nothing that can’t wait,” Obi-Wan says. After all Drake wouldn’t have run out here brandishing a blaster if it had been that vitally important.

So when the man reluctantly agreed, the Jedi motions for him to come and sit down in the circle. “I think that’s the point. To only be lit by the light of the moon. Though I could provide a bit of light if that would make you more comfortable.”

[dr_riley]

As much as Drake stressed the importance of progress and discovery, especially in the pursuit of saving or protecting lives, there was no point in it if he then ignored lives that he thought might be in danger. So no matter how important or delicate or time sensitive his research was, he was no stranger to having to leave it behind - which is what he'd done this time, dropping everything for what he thought was an emergency.

(He was almost annoyed it wasn't an emergency.)

"Uh..." After a brief hesitation and a glance back toward the research building, Drake finally joined the circle, sitting on a low stone ledge and drumming his fingers against it with nervous energy.

"No, I think I'll adjust well enough, thanks. So what is this, exactly, story time?"

[hadthehighground]

“Yes, actually,” Obi-Wan says as he settles down beside Drake. “See that young lady over there? This is a custom among her people.” He’s motioning toward Moonshade, who has arranged it all.

“Everyone is encouraged to share a story of some sort so that we can all get to know each other better. A rather brilliant idea if I say so myself.”

He glances at Drake, noting his nervousness. “Though no one will force you to share if you’re not comfortable. You’re welcome to just listen.”

o boy, OTA

[dr_riley]

Blue eyes scrutinized the gathering as if it were a faulty line of code.

"No..." he finally said. "I mean yes, no I'm not uncomfortable, yes I'll... I suppose I can share. Something."

Drake wasn't sure how well this would go, especially since he wasn't exactly the invaluable fount of answers and upgrades and too-close-for-comfort saves here that he was at home. But he was willing to give it a try, since it did seem like they were all in this for the long haul. So when the group started looking around for another person to speak, he stood up and took a step forward - not that he thought anyone could see him, which was why he also cleared his throat.

"Yes, um. Hello. Doctor Riley, for anyone who isn't familiar. Mechanical engineering. Astrophysics. Quantum mechanics on the side. Annnnd I understand this is a sort of hmm...circle time. So in keeping with that, I uh-" He hesitated. And then launched into what was clearly a spiel that had been drilled into him more than once.

"What you're about to hear is classified under section 1, 1b of the Official Secrets Act of 1989, which creates an offence for unlawful disclosure of information deemed damaging to public interest. I don't happen to have any non-disclosure agreement forms, but seeing as we're on some rubbish planet that none of us has figured out how to return home from, it's a bit of a non-sequitur.

So! So...where to start."

"The beginning's usually a good place." Someone said.

Not being able to see who'd made the remark, Drake aimed a Look into the darkness where the voice had come from and hoped he was spearing the right person with it.

"Right. So. A very long time- tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of years ago, there was a race of physiologically advanced humans called the Alterans. We call them Ancients, now. They developed unimaginably sophisticated technology and built the devices that we use to travel to other planets almost instantly. They came to our galaxy and began colonizing planets, Earth being among the first. Ten million years ago, a plague wiped most of them out and they fled the galaxy, but they left the building blocks of life behind in the hope that it would evolve again. And it did." He gestured up and down with both hands at himself.

"Ten thousand years ago, some came back, but their empire was gone and the humans that had evolved again were largely living in caves and spearing mammoths and such. Some of the Ancients assimilated and interbred with them and others had learned to ascend to a higher state of being.

Around the same time, a parasitic race called the Goa'uld discovered Earth. They posed as gods: Ra, Moloch, Apophis, Kali, Thanos, S-" He seemed to trip up for a moment, then gave a cough and a hard blink and continued, "Sekhmet. And they began adapting the Ancient technology they found and kidnapping humans to plant across the galaxy as hosts, slaves, worshippers, warriors, and incubators for their larvae. On Earth, there was a successful rebellion as little as five thousand years ago. Ra fled and the gate was buried so that no one could come through it to enslave humanity again.

Now," he wagged his finger knowingly, "the important thing to understand about the Goa'uld is that they only stay powerful because they crush anything resembling technological advancement, keeping their worlds pre-industrial, superstitious, and unable to fight back. But they forgot all about us, and Earth became a bedtime story told by the slaves. In the ensuing five thousand years, we became strong enough and advanced enough to learn how to use the Stargate; that's the device that - it creates and stabilises an Einstein-Rosen bridge - a wormhole - through n-dimensional anti-de-Sitter space - and become a threat. And, incidentally, a target.

Across the galaxy, Earth and its people are known as Tau'ri: the first ones, from the first world. We're the second evolution of the Ancients, and the Fifth Race in the Alliance of Great Races. The only enslaved world known to have revolted and won, not just against any old alien, but against Ra, the supreme ruler. As such, our world is a symbol of hope to millions of enslaved peoples. I have the distinct honor of being a part of a group dedicated to bringing that hope to fruition."

That was really the end of the story, but it seemed to cut off so suddenly that Drake felt compelled, after a moment or three of awkward waffling, to wrap it up with something a little more relatable.

"My team was actually - and others, there are several teams - we were offering developmental humanitarian aid to a community of newly freed humans. My friend and I were cut off and attacked by a contingent of loyalists. We escaped, but I fell down a crevasse, and Gene...he grabbed my sleeve and I felt it rip and...that's the last thing I remember before waking up here. I don't...I don't actually know if he made it."

A troubled crease appeared on his brow and he looked down for a moment, then back up as he forced himself to rally. "Anyway! That's it. Keep it under your collective hats."

[holtfinder]

Moonshade's certain she didn't understand half of that, maybe more. But the last part seems to hit harder than most. About not knowing if his friend survived, when he was brought here.

"I hope someday you have the opportunity to go back and find your friend--Gene?--safe and well. It must be hard, being here and being okay, and not knowing what happened back where you're from. Not knowing what the state of things will be, if you ever go back."

[dr_riley]

"Thank you," he said, "it is. I love him like a brother." What he was still keeping close to the vest was that Gene was his brother, in a sense. His brother-in-law, that is, and his best friend since childhood. It was, as Moonshade had said, very, very difficult not knowing.

And then she said If. If he ever went back.

"I will go back. I'll find a way, I have to. I have people who need me."

The way Drake said it was with such serious earnestness that he probably wasn't, for once, talking self importantly about his government and its military relying on his expertise. A particularly astute and empathetic individual might even guess that he was talking about a family.