Pre-moot: the Balam arrives

In Chicago, a great moot is being held. The guest list is growing increasingly prestigious. Sonya nearly curses when she learns her great-grandfather Sergei Burning Heart is expected. Aila and RF share their warm thoughts for the family reunion. Olesya, on the other hand, understands. "You'll see," Sonya simply tells them.

The pack is set to pick up a liaison from the Wendigo. They've asked for a Galliard, because they expect to need much in the way of lore. The Wendigo arrives early, and they're given time to get to know each other. He introduces himself as "Dances for the Spirits," and he bears a Stone Bow--a powerful fetish weapon. They also meet Mark Looks-into-Holes, a Uktena Ragabash, and Tim Runningaway is in attendence. The pack greets him warmly.

Meanwhile, the Balam has arrived in Chicago, and has to deal with getting through downtown. She's feline-born, and raised almost entirely apart from civilization, so this is...interesting. She nearly loses her sanity in the chaos of a human city. Traffic zooming, people rushing everywhere but only half-awake at this time of the morning, music, flashing signings. She finds people lined up to go in and out of a busy building that smells like coffee (a Starbucks). This, at least, the Balam feels a little familiar with. It looks to her like an exchange ritual is taking place. She hesitantly orders a coffee, and the order of a plain coffee confuses the cashier. "Do we do plain coffee here?" he asks one of the barristas.

The Balam thanks the coffee spirit before drinking. A jittery girl who's obviously already drunk too much coffee takes an interest in her after ordering a venti triple shot mocha latte. Noting that the Balam is sitting there, just gazing at the shop's patrons, the jittery girl shakes her. "Falling asleep? Lemme get you another coffee!" She orders a venti triple shot espresso, which she hands to the werecat. The Balam tries to beg off while the other girl makes small talk.

"Have you traveled from the land of secrets, chica? Cat got your tongue? Oh! 'What's she know, what's she know?'" "Wow, I can't slow down or I might die!" "Haven't found frappuchinos so you must be very removed from civilization."

The Balam ignores the girl's nattering, says maybe five words in response to her barrage of questions, and walks away when she's done with her coffee. The jittery girl diddles, torn over coffee or following the mysterious cat-woman. Finally she steals another guy's cup and takes off on a bike.
"You might wanna stop before the iron goddesses kill you!" she calls over the noise of traffic when she catches up to the Balam.

The werecat won't say where she's going. The jittery girl, who at this point has dropped enough hints that she's a Corax that someone might catch on, finally bets her she's going to the moot tomorrow, and tries to needle the cat-woman into asking for help, since she's obviously overwhelmed by the city. But the Balam barely acknowledges her, so finally the Corax girl shoves a map into her hands and takes off.

Introductions continue at the caern as people arrive. Aila is nervous. The Corax turns up a little while after leaving the Balam, with an important message. A Uktena banetender spoke a prophecy and passed it to her, telling her to bring it to the moot. She hands the papers to the pack, who look them over a bit. "Yeah..." says Aila. "Let's show this to someone who's good at it." Sonya stares at her, then shares a look with Olesya, who's clearly amused.

The Balam, meanwhile, is still trying to find her way through the metal jungle. A car pulls up alongside her, and a plain-looking man sticks his head out. "You should get in." She turns him down.

He leans back to reveal a tied-up teenager in the seat next to him. He draws a gun and shoots her. "Let me reinvite."

The Balam spins and runs, but a pickup truck cuts her off. "Mah friend tole ya to get in," drawls the hayseed behind the wheel. She ducks and breaks for the side, but someone trips her, grabs her, and throws her in the car. The woman who grabs her introduces herself as "Needs No Reason." The Balam stays silent.

They take her to a warehouse, where they demand to know why she's going to the werewolves. The unassuming man in the suit grumbles that they couldn't make the spirits talk, and asks if she's taking something to them--a message or something.

"I'm guessing you're one of our jungle people," he says, "Think this is all Wyrm-tainted and that it was better when we ate each other's shit."
"I'm not from around here," is all the answer she gives, which exasperates him.

He complains about the redneck ("Why can't evil fucking bathe once in a while?") and introduces her to "our Ragabash, Bleeds-for-Fun. He's happy so long as somebody in the vicinity is in pain." And complains, "Why don't they ever have dossiers? I'm from Boston. How about you?" The redneck mumbles how women always clam up when you want them to talk and they never shut up otherwise.

The gist of the whole thing is that they heard that someone's couriering important papers, and they want to know if it's her. She holds up the bus schedule, which is the only paper she has on her. The man takes it, annoyed, but "It's a bus schedule that's been touched by other people." He thinks he can get something out of it.

Apparently deciding that's all he'll get out of her, he tells her he'll send her where she wants to go. "Move over; you'll have to get off the corpse." They'd tossed her on top of the dead teenager. When she moves over, it gets up and climbs behind the wheel.

"Buh-bye, try not to eat this one!" the man chirps at her as the car pulls out.

The corpse drives badly, slinging the car all over the road till it goes hurtling toward the caern, up a ramp and nose-down into the meeting area. Startled shapeshifters leap in every direction. The werecat climbs out woozily, and is greeted by the Corax.

Sonya strides over to take in the scene, looking over the car and eying the werecat. She asks Aila to fetch some water. The car has no plates, no registration, nothing identifiable. "Is anyone here a mechanic? Can you get me some serial numbers off these parts?" she calls to the crowd in general. But that's a bust too. Car's been completely cleaned.

"I have names," the Balam offers from where Aila's escorted her to sit. "Needs-no-reason. And Bleeds-for-Fun." Turning attention to her, Sonya heals her wounds and asks her name.
"Jungle's Fury," the Balam inroduces herself. The Corax celebrates that someone got information out of her. Jonas flips through the corpse's wallet. Nothing has been stolen from it.

Jungle's Fury tells them about her kidnapping. Sonya sends Aila off with her while the others take care of the mess. She expects the police soon. She and some of the law enforcement-related kin deal with the police, which goes startlingly smoothly, which makes Sonya suspicious till one of the cops hands her a badge with the symbol of the High King David. She tells them to keep her updated on anything they learn.

Then the Balam becomes the center of attention. She tells them about her journey and her various encountesrs. She doesn't know what the thing was that assaulted her in Texas, but the pack recognizes the description of an Iterator. Jonas calls Ambrose. They learn that both groups received the same prophecy, and Ambrose promises he'll look into that girl. He finds it hard to believe she's really from Iteration X, but she can't be hard to trace. It's not like there are a lot of Iterator Nephandi.

Jungle's Fury is sure the people who interrogated her were shifters. Probably Black Spiral Dancers, from their behavior. She remembers the empty town in Mexico... Aila investigates and finds that it's actually in Texas. Everyone there vanished, with only the word "Croatan" left carved into a pole. She's offended. Jonas gets in touch with some people to check it out.

So. There were six people in that warehouse. Two were named, and Jungle's Fury can describe all of them, but she can't give them a good idea of where they picked her up.

While they were otherwise occupied, Sergei arrived. He is...distinctive. His every look seems to bear gravitas and judgment. "Is he cranky?" Aila asks, eying him apprehensively.
"No," Sonya replies. "Cranky is not what I would call him."

Sergei knows the old Wendigo who came with Dances for the Spirits, and is talking to an old human, whom he gives a great deal of respect. The man seems strangely familiar. Aila indicates she wants to know why, so Jonas pushes her at the man. She stammeringly asks if they've met. He doesn't believe so, he tells her, but he is a mage. Odd things happen to him.

Sonya prompts her to introduce herself. He nods in greeting and names himself Walking Hawk. Aha! That's in the prophecy!

Aila recites the line, "A dragon's lesson to a horned serpent..." Yes, he says, he knew the Mokole in question; in fact he gave him the knowledge to accomplish it.

Jungle's Fury is confused. Sonya explains about the prophecy they've received, then spots..."Jonas, are you filling it out like a crossword puzzle?"

Why, yes. Yes he is. Somehow his answer to that question meanders over into a rant about Lando Calrissian going Nephandi, at which point Sonya stares at the caffeinated Corax who's following him around. "How much coffee have you given him?" The Corax shows her a bag of 20 empty cups, from which Tim crawls. Sonya's about to reply when she feels her grandfather walk up behind her. She stiffens.

"So this is your pack."
"Some of them, yes," she replies.
"And a gaggle of over-caffeinated tricksters in the corner. I will be taking a copy of your prophecy."
She hands him one, and introduces him around. Sergei looks at Aila. "A word of advice: Ahrouns try to look bigger."
She sort of tucks in on herself and meekly says, "I'll try."

Well, Aila understands about Sergei now. She offers her sympathy to Sonya, who explains she didn't grow up with him. He trained her for a year after her First Change. "It did...interesting things to my family," she tells them, referring to Sergei's nature.