The Rest of the Way

[Shehrazad]

12/03/1989 - Monday Evening

The Orlen family had relocated to the Stolz home for now. Max was staying there too, for added security. His cousin's home housed the seven of them easily. The news of the second attack, and the death of Danny's kin, Simon, came as an added shock, but it was the last of the attacks.
The weekend was quiet, and Max and Maria recovered from their wounds and the pack regained its strength.

Danny called them on Monday and asked them to meet him at the Caern when they could. He had news.

[Maria]

Even if she had been recovering from her eye-injury, Maria didn't consider it to be serious enough to not be useful in some way. So the caern had gotten a maid for the weekend, as Maria cleaned up the kitchen, tried her best at cleaning the floors and generally trying to make the place look tidy. When she wasn't doing housework, she sat in the library, reading as much as she could about occult.

When Danny had informed the pack to meet him at the caern, Maria decided not to waste a good chance, and had prepared them sandwiches. She sat on a sofa in the main room, reading while guarding the aformentioned food items.

[Yvonne]

Yvonne arrives in the afternoon, pink-cheeked as usual from jogging to the library. She smiles at Maria, glad to see her still doing what she can rather than dwelling on her injury. On some distant unconscious level that she refuses to think about, Yvonne accepts she's likely to suffer injuries herself in the fighting to come.
"Good afternoon!"
She greets Maria, as she runs through a series of stretches as she cools down after the jog.
"How are you feeling?"

[Maria]

There is a saying that one should never approach a one eye dog from the blind side, while Yvonne didn't do that, Maria still is a bit surprised and her reply very well reflects that.
"Gr-oh hello Yvonne" Maria says, her voice souding a bit odd considering she was prepared to give a growl. Concious about it, she lowers her head a bit.
"Excuse me for that growl, I was too inversed in this book to notice your arrival" she says and stand up, opening the box she's been guarding under her left leg.
"Do you want a sandwich?" Maria says and offers a neatly packet very meat-smelling sandwich to Yvonne.

To Yvonne's question, she gives her packmate a wide smile.
"Well enough, I still cannot move as good as I used to, but I've done my best to make up for being out of commision for a while"

[Yvonne]

Yvonne grins.
"It's a bit hard to growl convincingly with a human voice anyway."
She looks over the sandwiches excitedly and picks one out.
"Thanks, they smell great."
While chewing on a mouthful of sandwich, Yvonne pats Maria on the shoulder. She swallows before responding.
"This is what being a pack is about. Individually no-one can expect to handle everything, together we support each other's shortcomings."

[Maria]

Maria gives Yvonne a sad smile.
" It is very hard to do things I've grown up with with human body, peroid" she says and sits down. Maria is very glad that her sandwich is liked and feels a bit of a private triumph over it. As she hears Yvonne's comment on pack tactics, she nods.
"Yes, I know that now. I acted so...self-loathing because when I was a cub, I was told my worth was how much I could do and if I couldn't" Maria says giving the universal 'cut troath' sign, then smiling at Yvonne.
" With you three, I feel safer" she says and gives her packmate a thankful smile.

[Yvonne]

Yvonne frowns as Maria touches on that matter of the litany.
"Do not suffer your people to tend your sickness. Some take it too far, as I see it as long as you don't get into a situation where your limitations leave you helpless you're not holding us back... and getting into that situation will be the decision of the Alpha, so as long as we're aware of your limitations it shouldn't happen."
She looks down in thought, it's an issue they would need to address before they go anywhere away from the guiding influence of Danny.
"We'll have to decide that when the others turn up."
She takes another bite, chews thoughtfully, and finally sits down.
"I suppose you fight better with... um... three legs. I need to think about how we can work with that, it's my job."

[Maria]

At the mention of the litany tenet, Maria nods. Yes, that is true too, but that wasn't what she exactly meant. But she doesn't want to sound too depressing.
" Indeed, and I will try to find ways to lessen my inability" Maria says, looking at her leg in thought.

"Maybe a fetish of some sort, maybe a torc, Adiyah is a Fianna, right? In any case, something that I can wear in any form without any hassle, I have had enough of it with my cane" Maria chuckles and then let's out a laugh.

[Max Heller]

Max and Adiyah drove up in Max's car and arrived at the Caern.
"I hope this is news about Carsten," he said as he stepped out of the car and locked it.

Once inside the library he greeted Maria and Yvonne with a cheerful smile. His wounds were now healed and his arm seemed to be working fine. The remaining claw marks were hidden under his shirt, and it looked as good as new.
"So what's the news?" he asked.

[Adiyah]

Adiyah nodded at Max's words then exited the car. She too was wondering why they were summoned here. "I hope so too, but at this point, I'd really just like some 'good' news. Too much crap lately."

She followed alongside the galliard, a dull ache in her stomach. She was wondering if it was the feeling of dread that had hit her off and on over the past few days. The sense that the other shoe had yet to drop. Adiyah entered the Library after him, the feeling abating as she saw her other packmates. "Hey there."

She glanced at Max, then looked around for Danny. She shrugged. "Walks with Death asked us here, I can only assume he would wait for all of us to share what he has to say."

Adiyah looked to her packmates for confirmation on that though, in matters of the caern, Danny might have something to see to at a moment's notice and may have told them something already of why they were called.

[Maria]

As the two of her packmates arrived, Maria smirks at Yvonne.
"Well, speak of the Fiann" she says to the ahroun and then turns her attention to Adiyah and Max. Maria quickly offers them both sandwiches.
"Hello, I made these myself" The Fang says smiling.

"He hasn't arrived yet, so I guess so" Maria says to Adiyah.

[Danny]

Having sent off Kasiya and Martin with Aleksi, Danny returned to the Library to find Dämmerlicht waiting for him.

"Punctual as always," he said. "Thanks for coming so quickly, I hope your kin are doing well, Adiyah."

He sat down, and got straight down to business.
"Cloud-Dancer has been spending some time with the pathstone you recovered," he said. "It opened one bridge, and led to the Sept of the Learning Hall, a Glass Walker Sept located in Moscow University."
He looked at Max, who had no doubt heard of it. It was after all one of the most renowned Glass Walker Septs in Europe.

"The moon bridge is of course no longer active. The Rite needs to be renewed at the next full moon for us to reopen the bridge. To force it open is an act of war. They will have to be convinced to reopen the bridge at the same time as we do, at the next full moon.
I have already spoken to Edward to speed up visas for the three of you, and produce a passport for Maria. Whether or not you decide to go is up to you, but I am convinced that if you wish to find Carsten, then that is your next destination."

[Yvonne]

Yvonne waves and smiles at Max and Adiyah's arrival, and turns more serious when Danny turns up. She listens to him seriously.
"So is it possible to contact them and ask them about Carsten? Surely they have a phone number? It would be better than turning up unannounced, and maybe we'll have something more to go on."

[Max Heller]

"I could try and do that," Max said. "I am sure someone back home knows the Sept, and could put us in touch with them. I doubt they'll know of him though. If he'd been at another Glass Walker caern all this time, he wouldn't be so impossible to find."
He realised he was sounding too pessimistic now.
"But I'm sure we can let them know we're coming at least."

[Adiyah]

" Thank you." Adiyah had picked up the offered sandwich, but put it down when Danny arrived. What he had to say was probably the best news she'd heard in quite a while. Another piece to the puzzle might fall into place because of it. Not to mention the asset it would be to have that moon bridge reopened.

One thing bothered her though. "By the next full moon? That's less than two weeks from now."

She frowned at that, it seemed like barely enough time. But what could they do but give it their all. She glanced at her pack mates before speaking. "We can do it, yes Max, if we can contact them before we drop in for a drink and a chat. Might as well while we wait for the visas."

She smiled a bit and addressed the elder's question from earlier, because it gave her a chance to voice her own concern. "My kin are fine, healing slower than us, but thank you for asking. What about them? I am not sure I feel right leaving them in Evie's care without at least one garou being close by to keep an eye on things, given recent circumstances."