He shrugged, and wheezed. The joys of being sickly.
"Mostly glasswalkers in the city, so whatever we luck out and find as far as other Tribes will have to do. It doesn't matter what they are, if they know what we want to know."
He shrugged, and wheezed. The joys of being sickly.
"Mostly glasswalkers in the city, so whatever we luck out and find as far as other Tribes will have to do. It doesn't matter what they are, if they know what we want to know."
"But where to start looking?" D'jin said as his nail started into dig into the table's wood top, "Is there a group of known Garou in this city that we can ask or are we stuck with just striking out on our own and seeing who we can dig up?"
"Chill, guy. There's a bar where loads of us get together; I'm sure there'll be someone who can help us out."
Thom grabbed D'jins' hand, frowning. "And don't mess up my table."
For the slightest moment intense anger flashed through D'jin eyes, but it faded as soon as it appeared. He had learned to control his anger no matter how deep it ran in his blood. For that brief moment he had wanted to rise up and punch a hole through Thom's chest, but restraint and discipline had stopped him, "Then lets go to this bar of yours," He said before rising to his feet, "How far is it?"
"A few minutes away by car, a few more by foot."
His voice had a hint of distain - this kid was getting on his nerves with his pissy attitude, and Thom would be glad to be rid of him. He rose to his feet, leading D'jin outside and down to the street. He hoped that the walk there would be a quiet one.
D'jin moved out the door and followed closely behind Thom. He seperated himself from the other man for more reasons then one. The first and primary reason was that anyone who knew who Thom and D'jin are, or what they are, would take a very sudden interest if they found the two walking down the street side by side, and D'jin wanted to avoid as much attention as he could. The second reason was that he really did not trust the monstrocity for a moment and he would rather be the one to stab the creature in the back then the other way around.
It was just be a quiet walk to the bar...
Club Excess was one of those lovely little dives you can find any city. It has a mix of patrons - students looking for cheap drinks and a place to hang out, adults looking for the same. All in all, a good mix of people who may or may not be useful to the pair of Garou elbowing up to the bar. A new band was set to play the place that night, and the dance floor was packed.
A good-natured smile from Thom got him his usual, and the tender waited patiently for D'jin to order.
Kevin, the drummer for the band playing tonight, peeked his head between the curtains and let out a whistle.
Ethan, the guitarest, threw a wad up piece of paper and tapped him on the head. "Idiot. We're going on in a few minutes. Get back on the set."
The other two members of the band, Vicki and Paul, exchange chuckles. Nara just shook her head. Her bandmates were always goofy when playing a new gig. They were just excited. Hell, she was too. It was always a rush to find out how the local Garou reacted to her show. As a protector of Gaia, Nara had a different approach in spreading the word of their struggles. She was very subtle on one hand in her lyrics but other times she would beat you over the head about the fight with Wyrm, Pentex and all the strange creatures that go bump in the night. Environmentalists loved her slams against Pentex, regular folk just loved the melodic music and her haunting voice. Garou. Eh, her people were split. They either loved her or hated her for it but she was a Galliard. Healing her people through song and rallying their strength for a fight was her calling. They just have to deal.
"All right everyone! Give a warm Portland welcome to Esoterica!"
That was her cue. Stripping off her red leader jacket, she cracked her knuckles while the curtain opened. Kevin tapped at the cymbal four times and Paul led into the song with his bass, everyone else following suit.
I wake, I hunger.
I sprint through the woods.
Jumping, turning, racing under the full moon.
Four paws pressed against moist Earth,
Free of constraints of a mundane world
The crowd was eating it up but there were familiar confused eyes staring at Nara like she was crazy. She grinned and broke into chorus. Her brothers and sisters were in the club tonight!
D'jin asked for a glass of water. He didn't drink anything sugary becuase it made him hyper and he didn't drink anything alcoholic because it clouded his judgement, two things he really did not need at this point in time. D'jin was about to throw another question at Thom when the stage curtain rose and music hit his ears like a sledgehammer. He turned where he stood to look at the band and listened. He was not much of a music lover, but this band's lyrics were odd in the sense that it made sense to D'jin.
A thought crossed his mind and he started to sniff the air, to no avail. The building was too full of people and their scents for him to get a whiff of the Band, "Know anything about that band?" He asked Thom in a shout to be heard over the music.
A few days before, Jonas had taken a plane to Portland. And during those few days in between, he had scoped out much of Portland, using his ties and his abilities to find out the proper information. And tonight, he made his first appearance, but as a human. Jonas was dressed in jeans with holes in the knees and tatters at the base of the legs, because the length was enough to drape behind his boots. He wore a hoodie and a jean jacket over it. He carried no weapons on him now, for if there were trouble, he would either fight with his natural weapons, or high tail it out of there. Either way, he was fine.
Walking to the bar next to the Russian man, Jonas ordered a drink.
"I'll have a Bud, please."
"Know anything about that band?" He asked Thom in a shout to be heard over the music.
"Nah, but it seems obvious that we've got a friend amongst them."
He nodded to the man who slid into view beside D'jin, raising his full glass to his lips before continuing.
"We can always talk to them after the show..."
Each song received a resounding roar of approval from the crowd. They were a success and were even called out for an encore. Nara couldn't have been happier with her band's performance tonight.
Backstage the crew was breaking down their equipment with the help of Vicki and Kevin, Ethan and Paul had just finished putting their own gear away. She flashed all of them one of her rare genuine smiles. "C'mon on and let them finish up. Let's hit the bar. I owe you all at least two rounds."
Kevin happily relinquished the twenty-five pound cord he was hauling to the nearest Roadie. "Thanks, mate," and slapped him on the back, in which the Roadie gave him a dirty look but said nothing. Like he wanted to make the band angry and loose this gig.
Nara led her group opposite of where Thom, Jonas and D'jin were. She had noticed Thom's deformity on stage during her set. How could she miss horns coming out of someone's head? His companion, a rather hearty fellow, was the one that looked confused during the performance. The signs pointed to them being Garou and she sniffed the air when they were close enough. Room was too packed to ascertain if they really were. They might have just been kin like her band were. Yes, sometimes kin are so insane they really do odd things like plaster fake horns, claws and teeth onto them to make them seem like they were Garou. Mentally she cursed her inability to learn the gift of true scent.
All five of them piled onto the free stools, two members on each side of Nara, and she ordered them all a round of whatever beer was on tap and shots of the house whiskey.
Jonas followed the band with his eyes. At least one was Garou. The lyrics said it all. A pup, it would seem. If this one had been around as long as he had, she wouldn't sing about her heritage. For some, they may consider it merely artistic writing, but others, those who were trained, would follow up the lead. Maybe he would school her, but most likely, she wouldn't listen. Most pups and members of other clans wouldn't likely listen to the advice of a Bone Gnawer. They were the dirt of the earth to the others, mere scavengers in a game of predators. But Jonas always smiled and remained happy, for it would be him that would be alive long after those other idiot mutts killed themselves over trivial matters.
When his Bud arrived, the cap was still on. Most establishments would already have the cap off for patrons, but apparently not this one. No matter. Spacing his knuckles over the cap, he twisted his wrist. The cap came off easily, and the slight spritz of pressurized alcohol smelled pretty good to Jonas' nose. He took a large sip, almost a gulp, then sat the beer down on the bartop.
Jonas noticed the man two barstools down nod at him. Jonas noted the horns, but didn't care. Metis were common among the Bone Gnawers. Some were albinos: one bitch he knew was a sweet-looking albino, nice features, but burned easily. A nice lithe body, perfect womanly parts in her Homid form......Jonas shook off the memory of sweat and the passing of other bodily fluids, and focuse on the task at hand. The Metis was wearing city clothing, and had an air of understanding to him. Most likely Glass Walker; they were often the most accepting of the clans, especially of Bone Gnawers, who made great informants. And the man next to him had an air of absolute confidence. An air of aristocracy. But he was in the company of a Metis. Hmmm. An unbiased Silver Fang? Interesting. This one might just be a half-decent pup, maybe with age, an even better alpha male. A big maybe, but a possibility nonetheless.
Jonas, not looking his ripe age of fifty, smiled and took another sip of his beer before speaking to the two men next to him.
"Not a bad act. The music's pretty good. But I bet it's not the music that brings you two lovebirds here......Maybe it's the burgers....."
Jonas, grinning, turns and asks the bartender if the kitchen's still open. When Jonas receives the affirmation, he orders a triple cheeseburger with a side of ranch, and a plate of seasoned fries, handing the barkeep a fifty for it.
"You keep the change, good sir."
D'jin watched the band members as they walked over to the bar and sat down not far from him and Thom. Instantly D'jin felt ashamed to be seen by in the company of a Metis by other Garou, how could he live that kind of shame down? Back in Mother Russia Metis were killed instantly, and interacting with or protecting one was punishable by banishment and sometimes death.
Perhaps what frustrated him more was the fact that he still could not catch the scent of any of the band members. He was a Silver Fang, and royalty at that. He should be able to smell a mouse in a dung heap. All he could smell was the scent of sweat, human bodies, food, drink, and the Metis beside him.
Then a man a few seats down started talking to them. His talk bored D'jin and his choice of food disgusted him. He strained his neck forward and sniffed the air, catching that man's scent. The man was a Garou, but of what Tribe D'jin could not tell. He had not interacting with many other tribes and as such had a hard time telling one tribe from another.
"We came for the women," D'jin lied, attempting a joking manner but failed miserably. He did his best to hide his russian accent, as always. His time in America had helped him get it under control and use more american friendly words and avoid overused Russian terms and words, such as referring to friends as 'comrades'.
D'jin leaned his head close to Thom's ear, "There is no possibility that we can conduct a conversation amidst this... chaos. We will need somewhere quiet if we want to talk to those inside the Band that are Garou."
"Yeah, plenty of good bitches to go around, old man."
He smirked and coughed in Jonas direction, before leaning in close to D'jin.
"I guess we'll have to wait then, catch them when they go backstage...don't see why we can't go over and chat them up, just to get an idea of which one is the Garou of the group..."
Nara downed her shot and then swiveled the stool around so she could lean on the bar and watch the crowd. The local DJ was spinning some local favorites that weren't half bad to her ears. She'll have to make it a point to ask DJ if he had any samples.
"Psst, Nara." Kevin jabbed her in the side.
Her head bobbed to the music, fingers tapping against the wood. "Don't do that. What?"
The drummer leaned closer to her, "Those guys back there keep eying you. Think they're cousins?"
Around her little circle, cousins referred to other Garou. If by some chance any of them thought there were Black Fury, they called them family. It was an easy way around using terminology that would raise eyebrows. Even on stage she refused to use such language when singing. Bold as she was, there were boundaries she refused to cross.
"Might be." She shrugged, "I can't tell, tho I bet at least Ram-man is."
Vicki was seated next to her as well and chimed in, "Well if they are, they'll make there way over here eventually. They always do."
"Unless they're hopeless fanboys," Paul said to which Nara winced. "At least it isn't Troll boy."
Kevin busted out laughing, "Yeah how long did he follow us for? A month up and down the East Coast." He wrapped at arm around Nara's neck but was so busy talking that he missed the singer's glare. "I mean, why you didn't find a short, pudgy man with greasy long hair who looked like he didn't wash his clothes in weeks attractive is beyond me."
Casually, Nara grabbed one of Kevin's fingers and proceeded to bend it in a way that grew very painful, very quickly. His arm twisted awkwardly around from the pain and tried to shake himself free, but of course Nara was far stronger then he. "Nara! Lemme go!"
The rest of the band cracked up. So did the bartender. Even Nara managed a small smirk. "You know better then to make fun of me with limbs nearby."
She let him go and the drummer fanned his hand to stop the throbbing in his finger. "I need that ya know!"
"You're such a baby. I didn't break it."
Kevin looked towards his fellow bandmates for any help. All he received were snickers and he hunched over the bar in defeat, "You all hate me."
Jonas smirked as the burger came in, all juicy and savory. He took a huge bite, washing it down with the Bud, and swallowing his food. He had heard the whispers, even among the background noise. He smiled. The kids had it all wrong. And Jonas spoke to the Russian Silver Fang.
"Actually, my silver-tongued friend, this is the perfect place to have a conversation that shouldn't be overheard. Too much noise. Makes monitoring difficult. Which is even better with your friend there."
He felt the Russian tense up, and Jonas gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"Don't be ashamed, big guy. You're being open, and that's the problem with your tribe. They ain't open. And that's why incest and weakness has spread. If you become more open, you can change, instead of stagnate. It's like new water in the pond. If you keep the same water in there, it will putrefy and kill the life, leaving only death. And we all know that death is good, but only in good, healthy doses, right?"
D'jin growled at the older Garou, the side of his mouth opening to reveal his teeth, an action that was far more animal then D'jin preferred. Too much time spent as a wolf had it's draw backs; such as you started acting like an animal even in your homid form. D'jin needed to spent more time on two legs then four, otherwise he'd turn into a wild animal like most of the Silver Fangs.
"Don't speak of my tribe, you don't deserve the honor and such negative comments demand that I remove your head from your dirty shoulders. Pity I do not have to the time to do so," He said angrily before turning back to Thom, "I don't like the idea of discussing Garou matters in a packed building, I fear the chance of discovery is far too great. But I am... inexperienced in such matters. So let us go with your suggestion, but I warn you. If we are discovered then I am holding you accountable for it."
Jonas smiles.
"First off, no need for idle threats or name-calling. Then again, I should expect that from a pup like yourself, thinking yourself on the top of the world because of who you are. In truth, you are delusional, having no real power over the other Garou. Do not feel bad, though. After all, it was quite a rude awakening when I found out the same thing: that I was but a small pup in a larger world, with bigger players than myself playing the same game. So I got an idea: make myself useful to the bigger players. And thus, I do what I do best: gathering info. Oh, and I've had bigger dogs threaten me with a growl. And the dirt? One day you may actually get your claws dirty and find just where you are useful. For example, if we are discovered, might I suggest finding and either killing or finding another way to ensure the silence of the perpetrator. Sometimes killing isn't the only way. Silencing them would be where you would be useful."
Jonas takes another bite of his huge burger, and takes a swallow of Bud immediately behind the bite, ending in a large gulp.
Thom rolled his eyes. As if being stuck with D'jin wasn't bad enough, now he had a preachy Bone Gnawer. He grabbed his Silver Fang friend and pushed his way through the crowd towards the table where Nara and her bandmates sat. He raised his glass up to his lips, draining the last few drops of alcohol before clearing his throat.
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