Sepdet holds it up to her ear, listening nervously. ~He--he doesn't really approve of me, but he loved his little brother, my father. Maybe he'll know something... maybe he's heard something about all this.~
Slick pages: The call to L.A. finally finds him and after several rings he finally picks up the phone. "Hello?" comes the simple response.
Sepdet's tone suddenly goes very clipped, formal, and respectful. "Ibis-rhya. This is Sepdet."
Diana nods, and stays very quiet.
Long distance to Diana: Sepdet finally USES her 3 pips in Mentor. :)
From afar, Diana giggles.
Slick pages: There is a short pause. Then, "Well." Pause. "Hello, Sepdet, how are you doing?"
Sepdet's face goes very young. "I'm doing well, uncle. Better." She sounds a little uncertain, then pulls herself up and says with shaky pride, "The Strider elder here says I'm Harbinger."
Slick pages: Anubis says this, truly?" It isn't really a question, more of a statement. "Ask me some time why this does not suprise me.
Sepdet clears her throat. "Anubis has not said. But Anpwhotep does. He is biased, but I think he speaks right. So there is good news. Now, of course...the bad."
Slick pages: There is a short pause. "In these days there is always the bad. Tell."
Sepdet's voice grows softer, less certain. "Have you...gotten any strange calls lately? Or heard anything odd? We have. From someone who speaks in threats, and from another who is probably their prisoner, who asks always for me...but by my father's name. It is my fear they have my father too... from dreams I've had. Or at least they know where he is."
Slick pages: The silence is long and heavy before the answer is forthcoming. "I have had no such calls, no. I...dreamed of Mai'a a while ago. Weeks now. Which was strange for I had thought his memory put behind me. But no, no one calling for you. You dreamed he was a prisoner?"
Sepdet's voice raises from Strider discipline to a yip before she catches her self. "You dreamed? Oh.. oh. No. I did not dream him as prisoner, but...of his being pursued, for a long time, so far he was lost. I dreamed of him, many times, more clearly than I ever have...his face." There's a pained yearning her voice. "And then, just two days ago, they called, threatening to kill 'the old man'. I wasn't quite sure who they meant, but then I tried to reach him once more, with Questing Stone. I got so close. Very close. And when I wore myself out, I fell asleep, and I saw him again..."
Sepdet catches herself short, and says very softly, "He was hurt. Dying. Bleeding. With a red cedar, like the one in which Osiris' body was held-- I don't know what it means. But the boy who called for help, spoke father's name. The man who called to threaten me, threatened to kill--who else could the 'old man' be? And why do the dreams come so clearly now, if he is not...near?"
Slick pages: The tone in his voice is unreadable. "Why, indeed? Something stirs, if you are Harbinger you know that. Have you asked your mother of this? She was the last to see him..." He trails off, deep in thought. His words are slow as if he were evaluating each one before he spoke it.
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Sepdet bites her lip. "But I don't know where Mother is right now. She went to Kuwait a month ago, and I haven't heard whether she's back in the country yet." The worry in the child's voice is clear. "I hope she's not...in trouble too. But surely I'd know that."Slick pages: Ibis dismisses the possibility of harm to your mother with a few words. Then the slow, measured pace of his words again. "You have held out hope against all reason that your father still lived. You know what the Dancers do to those who go against them and live. Are you yet to wish against all hope that you will find him again?"
Sepdet goes very still, fear making her close her eyes against whatever she just heard. "I don't know. I have...healed. And this time I'm not alone. I have my pack, and there is one here--Joseph, I will not tell you of him now--who is part of the reason my feet are on the ground, and my heart is steady enough to let the Harbinger dreams come. I'm afraid of them. And I can't just worry about my own safety; the tribe needs me alive, and here. But I've waited so long, uncle. I'm still angry at him...but I have to find him. I have to hear from his own mouth why he did this to me. And I can't let them hurt him any more. For what he did, he's paid for it."
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Slick pages:
Long distance to Slick: Sepdet thinks. Hmmmmm. Yes, I think she'd have told him, sometime in the last year. I'm sure he would have been...disappointed, if not a little angry at her for it.
Slick pages: Ibis waits and there is only the white noise of the cellular link. "I do not wish to kindle hope where there is none. You know that, I think. So take my words and bury them deep in your soul where there is only reason, that you may use them wisely and not foolishly. I did not retrieve your father's Moon Knife for you so many years ago. I did not search out the place in which you were born and wrest it from the sand. I did not take it from the depths of the foul earth where the Dancers laired." Ibis continues, "It was given to me in the streets of Alexandria. The messenger was not of the Wyrm, and it was given freely for you. I have not told you this because I did not see where it would do anything but mislead you. But if you truly are Harbinger, then it will not change your dreams to know this."
Slick pages: Ibis continues, "It was given to me in the streets of Alexandria. The messenger was not of the Wyrm, and it was given freely for you. I have not told you this because I did not see where it would do anything but mislead you. But if you truly are Harbinger, then it will not change your dreams to know tis."
Sepdet listens unhappily for a long time. Finally she ventures, "The...messenger. Surely he was not one named Nekheb?" There is faint animosity in the way she speaks the name.
Diana frowns softly.
Slick pages: Ibis almost seems to frown through the receiver. "No, it was not the harvester of souls gave me it. I'd not met this one before though and I'd not heard his name." A questioning tone comes into his voice. "You've met of Nekheb-Gathers-Close though? When?" There is a hidden edge to the question.
Sepdet seems taken aback, and answers almost sulkily. "He came for the Gathering of Heru Harbinger of the Wheel Renewed, and would speak nothing of his purpose here. He challenged my stepfather two days past, but I did not hear what they said. Is he..." She swallows, then admits frankly, "Forgive me, but I have little trust for him."
Slick pages: I'd thought him dead long since now. No, they called him that, though the name did not stick, they say from when he was a cub. Long before your time. I heard that on his Rite of Passage he walked part ways along the Paths of the Dead. Of the three Garou who started down that road together, only he returned. Gathered the souls of the dead about him, I heard, by the very strength of his purpose and the presence in his voice and they guided his steps back again. I had never known him to leave the old lands. Never. Until he showed up here a few months back.
Sepdet shivers, response subdued. "He sounds like what I have been, for this last year, until Joseph Soulcatcher reminded me of my purpose. Perhaps I have misjudged him, a little. Did he tell you anything, of which you can tell me?"
From afar, Slick considers this carefully. "He is not exactly...open with his information. He seeks, I gather though from the things he did not say, one who still tries to follow the old religion."
Sepdet lets out a held in breath. "Well, here there are several. But I suppose it would not be me he seeks, a mule after all." Her tone is more dry than bitter. "So." She is quiet for a moment, seeking her own counsel, before speaking again. "May I ask you one last thing? You dreamed of my father. Can you tell me of it?"
Slick pages: Ibis sounds like he is almost going to say something but then he does not. "I don't think you want to hear it. It will not please you."
Sepdet's face flushes, her tone growing sharp and angry. "Of course it will not; my own dreams were not pleasing either. If I am to face those my enemies, I must surely face dream's truth." But she cuts herself short, adding more gently, "Well. I suppose I can guess what you will say, and perhaps I should not know. I still need to hope."From afar, Slick frames the words carefully. "I am not entirely certain what it meant and many of the details have faded as all dreams do. But I saw you as you would have been had Mai'a not stayed behind to open that Moon Bridge. I saw the Spiral carved into your breast as a tiny babe. And I think I saw him alive, in the streets of Alexandria. And though the dream has faded I saw the marks that were etched into his face like the lines of betrayal that scar this country."
Sepdet sits down hard and doesn't make a sound, her face closing in on itself like a while. Finally she nods, before remembering her voice. "In Alexandria..." She bites her words short. "I heard his voice in my head, uncle. It was clear and free, not mad, not Wyrm's breath. He will not have walked the Black Spiral beyond all return. He is my father, and they may kill him for it, when they find that they cannot use him to take me."
Slick pages: No, it was more like guilt than the Spiral hook. I'm sorry I can't help you any further. Be careful with all of this.
Sepdet bows her head. "Oh...then there is room for hope still." Again a pause, as she pulls herself together. "I should be about my duties. Thank you, Uncle. For...understanding. Always." She sighs. "Ankh 'm Ma'at, Scans-the-Ground; you are in my thoughts. I do not forget your teaching."
Slick pages: As I have not for a long time, I fear now that you will forget them. When the truth lies bare on the sand and you learn what you have always wanted to know, what then? What path will you choose, my child?
Sepdet says firmly, "I will chose the path under which my star shines. Many have tried to blind me, and I can be broken. But they will never change my name."
Slick pages: That is all I can ask." As the two of you hang up, Sepdet might catch the thought that his words indicate that he is more concerned than, perhaps, he should be by your discussion.
Sepdet finally folds the phone shut and curls her knees into her chest, staring at the bare floorboards somberly. ~Sorry.~ She says nothing more.
Long distance to Slick: Sepdet smiles. Ahhhh. Thanks, as always.
From afar, Slick hopes he didn't make you wince too often with thoughts of 'Ibis would never say *that*.'
You paged Slick with 'on the contrary, I kept forgetting myself and trying to "page Ibis". Perhaps he was gentle, but then...I've always suspected Sepdet's fear and respect of him is that of a child who had a schoolteacher who was brisk whipping her into shape, but relaxed and started treating her like a near-equal years ago.'.
Slick pages: And then gets the occasional doubt every now and then like all teachers. ;)
You paged Slick with 'That too. But (Sepdet says in hushed tones, similar to the way she speaks of Horus) he's Ibis.'.
From afar, Slick laughs as Ibis goes to bed.
Diana sighs softly, and walks a bit closer to you. "Anything I can do for you? Get you something?"
Sepdet finally looks up. ~Ibis has not heard anything, but... he told me some things I did not know, about my family.~ She swallows. ~He dreamed of the night I was born, going a different way... my father not placing himself between us and the Dancers, and I with a Black Spiral carved on my breast, a baby.~ Her hands tighten. ~I don't know. Di...Ibis would not tell me what he was afraid of. But he doubts I will survive this, and he /knows/ me. He knows what I am. I can't break. My tribe needs me whole.~ She swallows, and says weakly, ~But I need my father.~
Diana nods softly, taking up that shoulder-width stance of one who is aware that she needs to seem strong and valiant, but is uncertain of how actually to be taht way.
Sepdet takes in a deep breath. ~I don't want to lose any of you on this. The past is not worth the future. When...~ she tries to force her mind back to the present... ~When Remy goes to find the bug, some of us need to be with him, in case he makes a mistake and alerts whoever's behind it. And we'll probably have to fight before this is true. I'm going to need all your strength, because even with Toxic's tricks, I'm not a fighter.~
Sepdet er, before this is through. Interesting slip.
Diana nods quietly, taking a deep breath. "What strength I have is yours... you know that."
Sepdet nods. ~I know.~ Her eyes close as she forces herself to take long, slow breaths. ~I just have to keep myself from thinking about it, too much...what if he's been trapped, the whole time I've been alive? He's lupus-born...fourteen years is so long...~ Again, she cuts herself short, dodging her grim thoughts like a skittish deer. ~And now there's a boy being held too, probably by the same people. We've got to free him. We must watch every step.~
Diana nods quietly.
Michael Powers alerts you of his entrance with the noisy unlatching of locks on the bolted doorway.
Michael Powers has arrived.
Sepdet is hunched crosslegged on the floor, her cellular phone still clutched in her lap, looking haggard. She doesn't speak, though she glances upwards when Michael comes in.
Michael Powers walks over to the sofa and sits down. He speaks in that decisive tone again. "Feinan is using his talents to search for Thomas. Before Eris can go off and get herself in trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe you want Michael back."
Michael Powers closes his eyes and, after a moment, slumps bonelessly.
Sepdet glares at Michael. ~Can't we have both of you at once any more?~
Sepdet sighs, too drained to get to her feet, though she watches Michael worriedly.
Diana glances quite worriedly at 'Tep, not having seen any of this behaviour before.
Michael Powers's eyes open slowly and he looks around, murmuring, "I...was in the kitchen." He looks at Sepdet. "Was it Jackal?"
Sepdet nods, relaxing. ~I kinda like him. I'll say this for him, he's efficient. Don't think we need to worry about endangering anyone 'cept yourself--in the line of duty-- when he takes over, Father.~
Sepdet glances at Di. ~Michael's been split in two for a while. That was... well he calls himself Jackal. Something of a vigilante.~
Diana sighs, and frowns, pushing a hand back through her hair.
Sepdet adds dryly, ~Like I said, Di, you're the sanest person inna pack.~ She pushes herself to her feet and pads over to kneel next to Michael.Michael Powers looks down at Sepdet apologetically. "I wish I could pull myself together...this is unfair. To all of you."
Sepdet rubs her cheek against Michael's knees. ~I wish you could come together...for yourself. When you're Jackal, it's like you, except...crisp. Sharp. Authoritative. Maybe it's just the way you have to be right now, to make leader's decisions, without the distraction of all the worrying whether what you're doing is right, without worrying about us to the point that you can't take any necessary risk.~
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+finger sepdet
Information for Sepdet (Alias 'Sep'):
Sepdet is connected.
Email address: ellen@medusa.perseus.tufts.edu
WWW Page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/~ellen/homepage.html
Location: Upstairs Apartment
Other Name(s): Little Star. She no longer calls herself Moonfang (d'siaH).
Race: Garou Sex: female
Breed: Metis Auspice: Theurge
Tribe: Silent Striders Rank: 2 (Fostern)
Position: Keeper of Land, Coyote's daughter, Strider elder (not Elder!) at 14. Harbinger? Maybe. That title lies halfway between hubris or hope. Time will tell.
Info:
Father, do not die before I find you. Do not die before I can ask you how your Sight could have gone so wrong. My name and life, you gave me, you damned me with! A Talesinger's lawfulness you twisted with your vision, and you offered up yourself to see that vision live: Hope.
Hope? Yes, still. Innocence? Some things born, burn. It's a long road from the desert, from my jackal kin, from old Strider stories, and the hunger on which my Mother weaned me. It's far from the city which first showed me Wyrm, and Rat's children who taught me to survive there. My uncle is away now, he who trained my moon while cursing his brother's folly. And the Wheel? What did it teach? Pack and family, and the price of friendship--death's parting.
You are all dead now, all but two. I guard them as second fathers; the rest, I tend as Keeper. But in my own brush with death, the Wyrm has taught me what it tried to break from me, the road you laid for me. Hope.
Ash, ember, egg, and phoenix's flame; my star Sepdet is my name.
