On the longest night of the year, Whisper will gather his pack, and depending on the studies of his young charge, will invite Abby and Kiki as well.  He tells them of a place at the foot of the mountains, easily found by those who can smell their way there, and next to the forests edge.  Whisper will get there at sunset and build a small bonfire and await the arrival of his packmates...

 At his invitation Kiki certainly would have wanted to join, whether she really had wanted to or not. She wanted to appear interested in the younger alpha's affairs and had assumed he had already invited Abby which meant that she would want to be there. She had posted it up on the fridge and on the passive aggressive wall calendar they all share in the living room. It was scheduled at dark, likely around 9-ish according to Kiki. She arrives home at eight in the evening and proceeds to take a quick shower and comes out wearing some sort of crazy L.L. Bean collaboration and a pair of brand new Timberlands she must have just picked up, you can still see the price tag.

As she is tying her shoes and collecting her stuff, she looks around at anyone that is there, "So you guys ready to go? I don't know why we could not have done this from the rooftop, I told him I have a wonderful telescope we could use," with a resigned sigh suggesting she has wondered this many times since the invitation.    

Abby looks up from where she was watching TV on the couch, dressed in jeans and a pink t-shirt, with matching pink Converse sneakers on her feet.

"Come on, it'll be fun, like a Discovery Channel thing! Only with more werewolves!" she says, winking at Kiki.

"When are we supposed to be there again? And are we camping? Because I'm totally bringing marshmallows to roast in the campfire if we're camping."

 "I think in an hour, he was sort of vague in the message, but it looks like the professor was held late. He can call if he needs directions. You ready then? Lets get going," as he grabs a backpack and keys, following out Abby and locking the door behind them.

Before long they are headed out in her new SUV, leaving the city behind and driving up some rather rough mountainous trails.

"He was not kidding when he said 'a bit out of the way' was he?" with a smile toward the passenger. She could not express how much having her near had helped her feelings here. She only wished she had seen the city when it was what it should have been, what it will be soon enough.

Son wanders up, making no attempt to cloak his arrival. He wears a dusty brown button up shirt, half undone and a torn pair of brown pants. He is barefoot and his pant legs and sleeve are rolled up. His hair is chopped short, a recent change. He is clean shaved and topped by a tattered fedora. Over his shoulder is slung his ever present duffel bag.

"Howdy, boss. Sorry iffim' late. Hadda speck ah' bizniss ta deal wit."

A soft wheeze drifts from his throat, pulling at the edges of his speech. He squats down by the fire and rolls himself a cigarette.  

--Last edited by Son on 2009-02-14 19:19:22 --

Abby is getting quite impatient with the long journey, though it really is nothing. She's been fiddling with the radio station for along time, probably driving Kiki crazy.

"Yeah, this is taking FOREVER!" she exclaims.

She also is quite happy to be around Kiki, who has kind of become her substitute mom since the change.

 "I love that song," with a smile as Abby flips through the stations. Anyone else doing it might frustrate her to no end, but Abby is different. She reminds her of her own youth in Sanfield though a bit different to be sure. The road has become a dirt path that in turn became an off road adventure and she is loving it. Just as she is revving it again a faint hint of light comes into view.

She slows it down and puts it into park, killing her lights. "Guess we are here," as she hops out and grabs a few things she put in yesterday, a few memento's that she thought would be needed.

"Shall we?" as she leads the young girl through the small brush, the bonfire coming into sight now that the artificial headlights had been turned off. The air is cool, the mountains sleeping through the winter months. It was serene, no noise, no familiarity and Kiki was certainly not comfortable here.

Abby jumps out of the car, excited about an evening of watching the stars, something she hasn't done since she was quite a small child.

"So, Kiki, what are we supposed to be doing out here?"

Her attention wanes away from Kiki as she focuses on the night sky.

"Wow, it's so beautiful out here!"

 "I have an idea," spotting the Child of Gaia in the distance "But I'll let Whisper explain it. Its his Rite and I'd like to see how he wants to run it." She reaches back into the vehicle and retrieves the box she had put in it yesterday.

Seeing the young girl elated over the nights sky she smiles. She was certainly glad she had found her. Just being near her reminded her of her own awakening and the things that made a difference.

She can see Abby headed toward the bonfire and follows a bit behind, her thought lost in her past. A past she will never have again.

Whispers keen eyes spot the vehicle a ways down the hill and then the two figures coming up from it.  Judging by the exuberance of one of the figures, he guesses it correctly to be Abby and Kiki.

Whisper turns to Son

"No worries from me, you're ornry enough to take care o' yourself."

Whisper smiles and claps a hand on Sons shoulder before standing up to greet the two new arrivals.  Those who know Whisper, or know of him, will find the smile odd as it doesn't happen often.  But then again, the Child of Gaia is once again in his element, and far from the Concrete and Steel of the city.

As night continues to fall, Whisper awaits the two coming up the embankment, only a few more, hopefully they will come...

Abby skips happily up to Whisper and Son. She's been so much happier since she started hanging around them and living with Kiki. They all feel like much more of a family than what she had before, especially Kiki, who's kinda like her favorite aunt or something.

"Hey guys! It's so nice out here!" she beams.

"So where's brother Yuri? Probably stopped to fiddle at some deer or something, didn't he?"

 She follows a bit behind Abby her mind soaking in the atmosphere and smells that she was a bit less familiar with. It had been some time since she had seen the pack and she was glad that Whisper had invited her. That one certainly had promise. She can smell the fire, the smoke drifting into her, transporting her to a time long ago. She smiles in the dark to herself knowing an occasion such as this is a rarity indeed amongst her kind.

She heads toward the alpha wolf, "Greetings and thanks, Whisper. You have shown your ancestors great respect in electing to perform this rite. I have seen your resolve and want you to know it is not taken for granted. I have brought some things I wish to sacrifice as the rite calls for. I have neglected to speak with Abby concerning the nature of this age old ceremony and thought it should be the ritemaster's role in explaining what this ceremony means and its significance," as she sets down her bag.

"Ooh, we're doing a ritual? That's totally neat," Abby says, sitting down cross-leged next to the fire.

"Do we like, sing, or dance, or howl? Can you teach me?"

She sounds very excited at the prospect of this fancy secret rite that Kiki didn't tell her about. Maybe it's even better than roasted marshmallows.

Ok, it's probably not better than roasted marshmallows, she thinks as she rummages around in her backpack for her bag of candy.

Yuri decide to take the long way by foot to the rituals because he feels that he need some time to thinks about life. He arrives late but he dose show up at the rituals. It is hard for him to express his trusting nature to other because when you’re an outcast everybody is only protecting themselves. He dose not yet trust them with his survival. Yuri follows his gut and some things dose not seem right to him like why there are only Glass walker here? What are Kiki true plans and how will they affect his little sister? He worried but he knows how to hide his feeling as he walks up to his pack. He gives everybody a bow to let them know that Yuri has arrived.

"Yuri!" Abby exclaims as she runs up to him.

"Good to see you, rosy-smelling brother of mine," she says as she hugs him enthusiastically.

"So, are we all here now, or is anyone else coming to the party?  

--Last edited by Abby Holloway on 2009-03-12 16:53:49 --

Yuri give abby a twirling hug to show her that he is happy to to see her. "Hey little sister!"

Son reclines by the fire, warming his feet as the light dances over his features. He grins up at Yuri and Abby, calling out a greeting, his sibilant voice drifting on the cool mountain breeze.

"Howdy y'all."

His gaze slowly shifts to the Glass Walker elder, the smirk shrinking to a soft smile.

"Rather s'prized ta see her lykes heer..."  

--Last edited by Son on 2009-03-15 01:09:15 --

Abby runs out to Son when she hears his voice, hugging him tightly as well.

"Hey Son, good to see you too. You know Kiki;s like my mom, or my mentor now, of course she'd come tonight!" she smiles, gently chiding him for thinking the the elder glass walker would avoid this ritual.