11/11 Dante drops in. Sepdet doesn't like him much, does she?
Sebek kisses his sister on the nose. ~I'll follow you anywhere, sister. My hope is yours.~
Sepdet's face brightens. ~I'm afraid the only place I can go right now,~ she says regretfully, ~Is right downstairs. The Roach-gaffling has offered to help track all the humans that are scouring the woods where the caern is right now. The humans have pictures and notes about Garou. Roach is going to find out what they know, and perhaps steal the records.~
Sepdet says with a grimace, ~My job for the moment is to leave food out for roach's cousins. And I am /not/ doing it here.~
Dante climbs out of the hatch in the floor.
Dante has arrived.
Sebek says, ~Ew. I hope not. You can't go out into the city? Not at all?~
Sepdet, snuggled against the young boy in a corner of the room with her head on his shoulder, doesn't see the arrival. She lifts her head warily and turns.
Sebek looks over at the young man and freezes like a deer caught in a car's headlights.
Dante huffs his way through the hatch and rolls onto his back on the tile floor. He is quite literally coated with grime. "Christ, Angelo. Why in God's name did you think this was a good idea?" He seems not to have noticed the occupants.
Sepdet's answer is cut short as her gaze latches onto the newcomer and grows cool. She gives a low soft growl in her throat.
Sepdet puts a reassuring hand on Sebek's shoulder. ~It's a Garou, not a Dancer.~ Her soft voice is laced with bristling contempt.
Sebek unlocks his arms from around Sepdet, reaching to the back of his jeans to pull out the two glocks. He aims them at the new arrival.
Dante looks back over his head at the sound of voices, catching sight of the pair. And the guns. "Well."
Sebek lowers his pistols.
Sebek says, ~You know him?~
Sepdet looks warily at the man. ~I advise you to mind your tongue a little better than last time,~ she growls softly. ~Yes, I know him, Sen. This is Dante. And believe me, it is not a pleasure.~
Sebek puts his pistols hesitantly back into the waistband of his pants.
Dante picks himself up off the floor, skimming away a layer of muck and tossing it to the floor with an audible thwack. "Sepdet?" He peers. "Must be. Most people wait a minute or two before they start making threats."
Sepdet glares at the muddy man. ~I thought I would warn you in advance, since I will /not/ tolerate that kind of language here.~ She keeps her grip firmly on her brother's arm, as if restraining herself.
Sebek clears his throat. ~I'd rather we not start fighting.~
Dante shoots a quick glance at the young fellow. "So says the gunslinger. You store those things like that, you're going to blow your privates off." He looks back at Sepdet. "What the hell are you doing in this godforsaken hole?"
Sebek looks down at his pistols. ~Can't. Safety's on.~
Sepdet glances down and sideways at Sebek, mouth quirking into a faint, very faint smile. Her chin lifts at the Gnawer's question. ~If I said I'd renounced to your tribe, would you take it as Law?~
Dante shakes his head, taking a few steps forward. "If you said you'd renounced to my tribe, I'd take it as a sign that you're dippier than I imagined."
Sepdet snorts. ~Frankly, I'm taking a forced vacation. Perhaps the news hasn't reached your little corner of Gaia, but there is a large pack of Dancers loose in the city. For some reason I cannot fathom, they want me and me friend here very much. The Striders and my pack have decided it's best if I stay down and out of sight until they've dealt with the enemy, lest I lead my foes to the caern.~
Sebek nods mute agreement with Sepdet.
Sepdet's voice cracks with ill-veiled frustration.
Sebek puts his hand on Sepdet's shoulder and gives a squeeze.
Dante considers, lips slightly pursed. "They... know how to find you?"
Sebek says, ~They are looking, but they haven't found us.~
Dante nods, thoughtful. "But you don't want to hide at the caern, because you're afraid you'll lead the Dancers to it. Somehow."
Sebek says, ~If we step outside the sewers, they might be able to find us. If were in the open, that is.~
Dante says, carefully, "Ah." He sweeps the chamber with an appraising glance before shrugging and plopping unceremoniously down on the floor nearby. "Good a place as any, I suppose. If they come, you can throw cots at them."
Sepdet half-closes her eyes and turns sideways to the man, looking back at her brother. ~I went most of the way to the caern, recently. And lo and behold, a "copter" flies right over me and may have even spotted the Wheel. I am not taking that risk again.~
Sebek smirks. ~I'm sure they'll wait until we get out in the open. This place is too defensible.~
Dante snorts, picking bits of decaying leaf from one arm of his jacket. "Not to speak disparagingly of the tribal near and dear, but the much-vaunted Ratkin would just be a bit of preliminary gristle if these Dancers came after you down here. They like smelly, filthy places. God knows why," he adds with a distasteful mutter.
Sepdet says quietly, ~Perhaps, but I've seen Cassius take out two Dancers that had just felled my own packmates. I have no love for his people, but I do know that if any of the enemy come down here, we will have warning and plenty of time to move. And /I/ know the paths down here.~ She smirks. ~Can you say the same, Gnawer?~
Dante leans far forward, looking Sepdet up and down for a long, calculating moment. "Not a little testy, are we?"
Sebek pokes Sepdet. ~Please don't start a fight.~ He glances at Dante, indicating the message is for him as well.
Dante pages: Bwa-ha.
Sepdet matches Dante's gaze with undisguised irritation. ~Of course I am. I'm a Strider, and Keeper of Land, and I belong minding my trees and not skulking in a hole. But I'm not an idiot. If coyote has to run to ground for a while until her pack and friends have a battle-plan and a prey to hunt, coyote will do it.~
Dante nods, fishing in one pocket of his trenchcoat. "Coyote is, however, notoriously bad with ladders." He makes a gesture with his free hand. "No thumbs." The other hand emerges with a pack of cigarettes, which he almost unconsciously folds open. "As it happens, I have my own problems. Not as flashy as yours, granted."
Sebek glances at the cigarettes. "Bad habit."
Sepdet sniffs and takes a step away. ~Oh? Police after you again?~
Sebek pages to Dante and Sepdet: I need sleep badly.
Dante holds a cigarette between his lips while he lights a match on the floor. "I know I'm a rebel in your dreams, honey, but here in the real world I'm just another nobody trying to get by. What's all this broo-ha between the Gnawers and the Sept?" He touches match to cigarette, then shakes it out.
Long distance to Dante and Sebek: Sepdet hugs the brother, and pulls an excuse out of a hat.
Sepdet sobers at Dante's question. ~Come downstairs, and I'll tell you what I've heard. Which isn't so much, in this bolthole.~ She glances back at Sebek and whispers something to him.
You whisper ~Get some sleep--for yourself at least. I promise I won't kill the bastard. But I am /not/ going to sleep in a room that reeks of cigarette smoke.~ to Sebek.
Dante glances thoughtfully at Sebek before getting to his feet. "If you like." He heads for the exit. "Don't sleep with those guns in your pants, kid," he calls behind him. "You'll get a cramp."
Dante pages: There much of a family resemblance between you two?
You paged Dante with 'Oooo yeah.'.
Sepdet gives Dante a glance that could drain gnosis and follows him at a stalk. ~Out,~ she growls tightly. ~Before you say something stupid.~
Dante says "I'm always saying something stupid. It's part of my charm."
Dante opens the hatch and climbs down through it.
Dante has left.
d
You open the hatch and clinb down through it.
Sewer Junction
This is one of the larger junctions in the St. Claire sewer system. Numerous small pipes empty here, leaving the floor a foot deep in water even during dry times of the year. Other, closed pipes carry sewage and other materials through the junction and off towards the treatment plant. The ceiling here is one of the highest in the system as well - almost 9 feet, and high enough to stand comfortably if one takes care not to run into the pipes which hang from the roof. Light is provided by a small utility lamp which is set next to the room's other oddity - a hatch in the ceiling.
Tunnels and pipes both large and small lead in all directions. A ladder set in the wall allows access to a small hatch in the ceiling.
Contents:
Dante
Obvious exits:
Ladder
Dante leans against the wall, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "So. Family?"
Dante says "Or just an associate who you like to hug?"
Sepdet slides down without bothering to use the rungs and takes a deep breath. ~Okay. Lesson number one. /Never/ mention assholes, fucking, or anything else remotely like that in his presence, or he will kill you if I don't. Lesson two: Yeah. My brother. We just rescued him from the Dancers.~
Dante blinks, scanning Sepdet once again. "Are you twins?"
Sepdet nods curtly.
Dante fights, with admirable effort, a faint smile. "Christ. *That* must've gone over real well with the Elders."
Sepdet growls softly. ~Oh yes. My mother's still alive, ronin, and went from being Talesinger to having her name taken from her. My father's worse than dead.~ She speaks without fondness.
Sepdet leans against the ladder. ~But that's old history. Your family history is a bit more pressing, nowadays.~
Dante draws on his cigarette, still watching the young Strider. One eyebrow lifts, but after a long pause, he says only, "I'm listening."
Sepdet says, ~It all started when your tribe's dear friend Cassius started spying on the caern with rat-spirits. I gave 'em a warning, but ended up on the wrong side of the river with your people. I and th' Warder called in Owl to get rid of the spies. Rat I respect, but I /won't/ have him prying into the caern.~
Dante says "Unlike, say, Owl."
Sepdet sighs. ~As you say. I'm not proud of having to do it. But Cassius will sell information to the Dancers if he feels the need; he told me this flat-out. I'll have any child of Rat in the caern, but not for his sake.~
Dante concedes this with a wave of the cigarette; ash drifts into the water. "Cassius doesn't write my tickets. Go on."
Sepdet nods. ~So I know. The Gnawers know too that I may be Owl, but I'll do my best by 'em when I can. But that's neither here nor there.~ She shoves her hands in her pockets. ~At any rate, Mama Rat got angry, and was the first tribe totem ever t'pull out of the Wheel. When the Invisibles offered to pick up the Guardian Pack this last month, she put her foot down and told them no. She wanted an apology from Justice--she aready had mine--and wasn't going to stand to have any children of hers defend a caern that has driven out rat-spirits. Well. Justice wouldn't apologize, and told 'em that if they put their own issues ahead of the caern's, they could leave the caern.~
Dante says "Oh ho."
Sepdet looks highly displeased. ~So that's where it is now. I think Thorn-rhya was going to have a little chat with the alpha; he had a long talk with Rat and got an earfull for his trouble.~
Dante nods, blowing out another cloud of smoke. "That would explain the mutterings." He considers. "And here's a penny for your penny. There's some think we should walk."
Sepdet grimaces. ~My guess, it can't last. It's stupid. This caern is short-handed enough without losing a whole tribe. I hope you don't have to go.~ She meets the Gnawer with less malice than usual, remarking gruffly, ~The woman's got a point. Conflicts of loyalty are messy. If you put your own personal wants ahead of the sept, you're askin' for it. But sometimes, we all know, you've got to use judgement.~
Dante nods absently, grey eyes half-narrowed. Apropos of nothing, he says, "You don't like me, do you?"
Sepdet snorts. ~After your proposals of undying love? How could I not?~
Sepdet adds in a tight mutter, ~After all, it was only the Dancers who talked to me that way before. I was very touched.~
Dante blows smoke out through his nostrils. "Excuse me for offending your sensibilities." He pushes off from the wall, wanders away a few steps. "I know you're probably a little young to be hearing this, pun'kin, but sex isn't evil. Real people do it all the time. It's useful for making babies, and fun besides. Hell, even wolves do it." He looks thoughtful, then adds, "Well. Disgustingly."
Sepdet's face twitches. ~Not Garou,~ she spits. ~I know you only mock, no-moon, but even a fool knows there are some things that should be left silent.~
Dante shakes his head, turning. "I don't think it's that simple."
Sepdet snorts. ~You're not metis. One thing has been /painfully/ made clear to us. It's a lesson I wish everyone had learned.~
Dante's eyes narrow slightly, and he returns a few paces. "Do you think your parents loved each other?"
Sepdet sighs. ~That's the worst part. They didn't even do it for love, which is a damnfool thing but makes some sense. They did it, because they wanted me born. They were nuts.~ She turns away. ~I don't think anyone else has ever broken the Law so badly.~
Dante pauses, eyes momentarily downcast in thought; a thin line of smoke wafts up from his cigarette. "Lousy thing to do to a kid," he allows at last. "But let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. People do things for all sorts of reasons."
Sepdet speaks quietly, coldly. ~I don't think you could imagine their reasons, even if you are an expert in the matter.~
Dante shifts suddenly, fluidly forward, until he is holding his lit cigarette upturned just beneath the young Strider's chin, his face within inches of hers. "As it happens, darling, I *am* an expert in the matter," he says, low and threateningly. "So go with me on this one, okay?" After a long moment, he straightens. "I'm sorry your parents were lunatics. It doesn't make you any less a person."
Sepdet's hands tighten to fists. Her left arm twitches, and she takes a long stride back. ~I'm so glad for the vote of confidence,~ she snorts. ~But I don't need you to tell me so. I know what I am. Sepdet. I have no parents. But I have a brother, a pack, a caern, and a job to do. And not my parents' folly nor these Dancers are going to keep me from it.~
Dante takes another pull on his cigarette. "Then how about you lose the hangups, yes? If one pass in jest can drive you into a rage, you're not much good to anybody. Get over it, big shot."
Sepdet ducks her head at this. After a lengthy silence, and more than a little rearrangement of her features into some sort of calm, she murmurs, ~When you have lived through the Dancers' games, which I hope for your sake you never do, then tell me that and perhaps I will listen. But not now. Not after seeing the same things done to someone I love.~
Dante blinks, momentarily speechless; his eyes widen, and his face lights with sudden conclusion. "Ooooooooh," he says at last. "So *that's* what all this has been about." He taps out his cigarette, tosses it into the sewer.
Sepdet stares at the ground. ~And I would appreciate you not telling the others. The Keeper of the Ways knows. Gods know that what happened to me was discussed and gossiped about by half the caern. But my brother's hurt, I will not have spread about for cubs to whisper over while idling at the fire.~
Dante smiles, very faintly. "What, cross the picket line just to tell some tree-jockeys what the Dancers did to your bother in their spare time? I'm sick, honey, but I'm not *that* sick." He sighs softly, looks behind him down the dark sewer shaft; it seems, perhaps, that his grey eyes are somewhat distant. "No one tells me these things. I'm sorry."
Sepdet shakes her head tiredly. ~I told you in so many words. I guess you never heard me.~
Dante shrugs. "I'm not good at so many words when I'm falling down drunk. Which is most of the time."
Sepdet leans back against the ladder, still not looking at him. ~Maybe that should tell you something. Gnawers usually have a fairly sensible survival instinct, you know.~
Dante tucks his hands into his pockets, takes a few steps back, and turns to depart. "And here we were just beginning to have a normal conversation," he says ruefully, shaking his head. "Go look after your brother, Keeper. Thanks for the information. You can keep the moralizing."
Sepdet snorts. ~Don't fall down a pipe, Gnawer.~ She turns back to the ladder and hooks a paw on a rung.
Dante squeezes into one of the smaller pipes.
Dante has left.
