The pack forms

Dear Mother,

I know Father won't be pleased if he finds out I'm writing to you, so I've sent this in a Chase Manhattan envelope. You've always been too thorough about opening all your mail, but I suppose it works in our favor this time.

I know it has been a long time since we last spoke, but I also know you still worry. So I'm writing to tell you that I'm not alone any longer. I have joined a pack. It's a mixed group, not like Europe where everyone keeps to themselves. They are...interesting. It is a blessed pack, for one; that's a good omen. However, they are certainly an idiosyncratic lot. The Ahroun is barely more than a child. She looks as though she's straight out of her First Change, and we keep having to pull her away from her video games. Our Ragabash is a lupus Fianna, but that can't communicate just how rustic he is. He's from Georgia, so perhaps that explains it.

That's the state, Mother, not the country.

Our Philodox is also a lupus, as well as a medical doctor. I've never heard of such a thing. He must be the most over-achieving lupus in the Nation. Finally, there's our, ah, Silver Fang Galliard. She hails from Russia. Given that fact, I expected to have trouble with her, or just perhaps to find a kindred spirit...but she has strung barely two sentences together since I met her. Not only is she the most silent Galliard I've ever met, she seems about as inclined to leadership as a rock. The Ragabash seems intent on doing her job for her. He certainly talks enough for both of them.

What do they think of me, I wonder? I imagine their impressions must be unique. This is hardly the sort of group I envisioned finding myself with, but they do their jobs well, no matter how oddly they behave.

We've not yet discussed a totem. Perhaps one will make itself known to us. A pack name has likewise not been decided upon. No point in rushing these things.

Ah, but the evening of the rite was marked by great events! Are you familiar with the Talons of Horus? There was enough Silver Fang lore lurking about the old country that you may have heard of them. They have returned. The Ahroun, a Silent Strider, tells us that Horus returned with him. She happened to meet him outside an arcade, and he passed her a scroll for the Elders. My head hurts from the coincidence. No one is certain what these signs portend, but the consensus is that our pack is destined for great things. The precise nature of those 'things' is, naturally, debatable. At great length. Over a great deal of alcohol.

I'm doing good things, Mother, for humans and for Gaia both. No matter what Father thinks, I have not shamed this family. You can be proud of me, I promise you.

I've enclosed a new address you can send my mail to if you ever want to write, or if it's important, you can always speak to Maxim. He knows how to reach me.

Sincerely,
Sonya