Stormcloud sticks his headout from the woods, taking a moment to look around this place that he hasn't been in in so long.
The yard is sparkling with dew and the last of the crickets, a sleepy, quiet woodland meadow. The only sign of weaver here is the steady yellow light from an upstairs thatched window, evidence that someone is probably still awake in the house.
Keith sniffs the air, slinking low to the ground as he smells the Talon and another.....unknown smell.
From afar, to Glissa and Stormcloud, Keith is trying his best stealth in wolf-form, hoping his practice pays off.
Stormcloud looks behind him to find himself being followed, noticing Keith only when he's a few feet away. Cub... Why do you wander?.
The tranquility of the forest glade is abruptly broken by the squalling of a human child, muffled by distance and double panes of glass, filtering down from the upper story.
Keith yips in surprise, not expecting to be discovered. Well Stormcloud-rhya, I couldn't sleep and I was doing some.....weeding. Part of my punishment.
Stormcloud stares at Keith in disbelief, it being quite dark out. Indeed... His attention turns immediately towards the window worriedly. Without further ado, he crosses the yard.
Keith decides to skirt the perimeter of the house, sniffing the area for any threat.The squalling starts to die down; anyone who knows human babies should recognize sleepy indignation when they hear it.
Keith looks around, satisfied with the security of the house once the squalling dies down.
Stormcloud, unfortunately, doesn't. He busies the rear door, testing the knob with his jaws to see if it will open.
Keith looks at Stormcloud quzzically. Stormcloud-rhya..you could just shift a paw into a hand to open the door.
There is an odd, high-pitched electronic chime, again coming from the second story. After a few brief moments (and some last half-hearted gasping coughs from the aggrieved infant upstairs), the lighted window is flung open with a creak of springweights.
Stormcloud crouches low to the ground, ears splayed back as the noise seems to hurt him. He glares back at the cub, faulting him for the sirens.
Keith slinks to the ground, oblivious to Stormcloud's glare as he tries feebly to cover his ears with his forepaws.
Glissa calls down, "The door's locked, the mirror isn't. Dear Gaia, I've got a baby howling at the moon when it's not even half full and my gardeners are doing yardwork on four paws and at midnight. Just _what_ is this Veil you kept telling me about, anyway?" There's an exasperated sigh. "I'll be down in a moment. Justa sec, Jules needs burping."
Keith whines a little, then resumes covering his ears with his paws.
Keith pages to Glissa and Stormcloud: I can't step sideways yet. No one ever taught me to.
Stormcloud stands back up, shaking out his ruff, then sits near the door.
After some minutes, the sounds of bolts (multiple) being drawn back heralds the back door opening. A dumpy woman in an indigo silk bathrobe, armed with an old-fashioned straw broom, stands cautiously in the doorway. She relaxes as soon as she sets eyes on the huge wolf. "If you were digging in my peas, I'll tie you to tomato stakes and forcefeed you Tang and boiled okra, Gaia's chosen or no. Evening, Stormcloud."
Stormcloud stands up on his hind legs long enough to lick the woman across the face, even if he didn't understand half of what she just said.
Keith looks cautiously at the dumpy woman and stormcloud's rare display of affection.
Glissa doesn't even have to crouch to ruffle the big wolf's ears, a itle gingerly, belying the faint awe and human fear which she still holds for the tireless hunters.
Stormcloud lets his tail wag at the scritching, then tries his best to weasel past the woman to get inside.
Glissa raises an eyebrow. "All scritches no talk? Fine, _fine_, I know, you just love me for the top sirloin in the fridge." She doesn't obstruct him, however. Not that she could. She just grins and follows him inside, not shutting the door.
nh
You swing the doors open and enter the great hall.
Nicholson Hall(#3015RAJ)
Obvious exits:
Front Door
With a solid thunk, the doors close behind you.
Stormcloud enters from the meadow.
Stormcloud has arrived.
Keith enters from the meadow.
Keith has arrived.
Keith trips over a wool rug, gets entangled in it and yelps pathetically as he falls over.
l keith
Before you stands a large, sleek wolf with a coat of the purest white, with silver highlights playing across its flanks as the light shines on it. It moves gracefully, conveying a sense of confidence and quiet strength within its lean, muscled frame. Its eyes, a crystalline-blue, eye its surroundings inquisitively, head raised high, alert for any danger perceptible with its sharp senses.
Glissa tightens her grip on the broom again and whips around, eyes widening. She takes a step back. "One of yours?"
Keith cringes from beneath the rug, not moving.
Stormcloud seems a little bit more relaxed now, glad to be out of the way of possible unwanted eyes. He turns around at the flailing cub, barking for him to stop with this foolishness.
Keith stops and yips softly. I didn't see the rug!
Glissa cuffs Stormcloud with the broom lightly. "Shhh. You'll wake Jules, and then she'll cry for the bottle all over again."
Keith disentangles himself from the rug and crawls towards Glissa slowly on his belly.
Stormcloud heaves a sigh at the cub, not paying the broom any attention. Cub, wear your birth form. He then turns to the woman and tries to draw her attention away from Keith by walking around her, tugging her gently with him wwith his teeth on her clothes.
Keith nods his fuzzy head.
Keith contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Keith shifts into Homid form.
Glissa takes one hand off her badge of office and covers her mouth with fingertips, trying very, very hard not to laugh at the doggy display of submission. "Oh. Oh, it's all right. You're a pup, aren't you? I don't think you need to be doing that to a human... I'm pretty sure we're not on the pecking order..." She trails off and looks down at Stormcloud questioningly. "What?"
Keith stands up and grins at the friendly lady, "Hi, I'm Keith Mallory, cub of the Silver Fangs. "
Stormcloud settels back down upon his haunches once the cub is done.
Keith extends a hand towards Glissa.
Glissa does a double take as she looks back up to find a young man before her. "Mothers and little unicorns," she says a bit faintly. "I'll never quite get used to that. Pleased to meet you, lad."
Glissa shakes the hand warmly. "Glissa Nicholson. Strider kin and mother."
Keith says "Strider? Is that another tribe? Oooh mother? Can I play with the kids?"
Keith literally beams as he thinks of little kids.
Glissa covers her mouth again with a cautioning finger and then points upwards. "Almost two," she warns softly. "And there's a little brother, I think, on the way." Her face is a bit sad for a moment, and she pats her tummy--evidently the dumpy woman isn't usually quite _this_ dumpy--with a thin smile. "I'm sure Jules would love visitors,though, if you promise to be careful. She misses her father and Mum isn't always strong enough to play horsie with her."
Keith excitedly blurts, then lowers his voice a second later, "Really? That's great! I'll be careful!"
l keith
Before you stands a young man in his late teens. He keeps his thick black hair cut short, the left side of his face partially covered by the left side's long fringe. His face is attractive in a rugged sort of way, his mouth looks like it has a ghost of a smile on it. His skin is a dusky brown from time spent in the sun. He is roughly 5'9, broad shoulders only accentuating his athletic frame, his forearms thick with muscle. He is dressed simply in blue jeans, Nike sneakers and a white T-shirt. The T-shirt sheathes his massively muscled torso like a second skin, hugging tightly to his well defined abdominals. His physique could sell any crappy workout machine with him as the model.
Glissa grins back at him, then tips her head to include Stormcloud in the smile, sealing it with a sly wink. "I think the proper term here is 'cute cub', yes?"
Stormcloud blinks, again missing much of what's been said, but get's the idea that the woman carries. At this he stands back up and limps over beside her, leaning a shoulder lightly into her hip.
Keith blushes a tad bit.
Glissa drapes an arm a bit shyly over the wolf, every inch of the gesture slow and cautious, as if still not quite sure what is permitted. Her watery blue eyes steady and sober up her face a little. "I'm actually glad you stopped by, though...I need to rest soon. I was wondering: is everyone all right? I felt something last night." She smiles a little sheepishly. "They said on the radio this morning it was just an earthquake."
Stormcloud looks at Keith, remaining where he is. Tell her that everything is fine.
Keith nods. "Everything's fine I guess. Must be some minor aftershock from some other quake somewhere. I didn't feel a thing. Slept through it."
Glissa searches Keith's face for a moment seeking answers from innocence, since she hasn't the skill to read wolf posture. "I see." Her voice flattens for a brief second, smile straining at the corners before growing soft again. "That's right, I shouldn't pry. You have your secrets." She sounds like she's reminding herself, as much as anything.
Keith looks down, "I really didn't feel anything, ma'am! "
Glissa shrugs and paces over to the hearth to prop the broom up against the mantlepiece. "Maybe you're too young," she says gntly.
Stormcloud keeps to the woman's side all the while, walking with her.
Keith follows the pair.
Glissa smiles indulgently down at Stormcloud with an air of deliberate patience, as if resigned and amused at this sort of treatment by now.
Stormcloud keeps limping beside Glissa, licking at her hand.He looks quite, well, proud just now.
Glissa scritches Stormcloud lightly. "Somehow, I just keep wishing I could do something. I mean, besides raise the cubs to know what Daddy believed in, and help keep you folks from breaking the veil in front of stupid humans like me." She winks, then sighs. "I'm all for Mothering, but it wasn't the job I meant to have as my _only_ job that made a difference. You tell me, if there's ever something a witch with a head full of old dead languages can do for you kids, okay?"
Keith nods, "Yes, madam!"
Stormcloud stands back up on hind legs and gives the woman a rather human-like hug, resting his head on her shoulders and careful to keep his substantial weight off of her.
Glissa smiles, tickled by the young man's earnestness and obviously touched. She yawns enormously, and frowns. "I think that's juniors bedtime alarm," she says sheepishly. "Help yourselves to the hamburger...um...or other stuff..." she looks at Keith pointedly, "if you like, before you go; I keep it on hand for emergencies and guests. If you need to crash here before heading back out, that's what Mike built the house for. Just lock up."
Glissa gives Stormcloud a blink of surprise and a faint but sincere pat on the head. "And to you too, sir," she says softly.
Keith nods. "I think I'll hotfoot it back to the farmhouse, ma'am, I somehow don't think my elder would be very pleased with me going for midnight walks. Thanks for your offer! :)
Stormcloud hopes he blocked the cub's shifting as he relunctantly settles back down to the floor. Unlike the cub, he spends the night here. On the floor in this very room.
Keith leaves the room, taking care to lock the door. Once outside, he shifts into Lupus form for the trip back to the farmhouse.