While Clarice and her pack were searching for Joni, Meriam found out about what had happened to her parents, and rushed home, her 4 year old son at her side. It was her, actually, who had alerted the Furies to what had happened, two whole days before the Kin fetch spirit made any kind of report; one of the few ties that she still had in town called her immediately on hearing what happened, and two days later, Meriam was in town, to clean up the mess. Clarice and her pack started there, staying to cleanse the house of taint, then heading off to track Joni down.
Meriam was the one who made all the arrangements about cleaning up the house, the funerals, finding her sister (sending the police in the wrong direction, to keep them away from Joni) and finally, selling the house and everything in it, then setting up a bank account for Joni, giving her half of the money that was earned from selling the property.
Meanwhile, Joni never stayed in one place for more than two days, while she ran. It made tracking her difficult, and tracking her down quickly almost impossible, even though the pack was using Sense the Prey to find her. While on the run, Joni stole what she needed; money, food, clothing, and an old baseball bat, for protection, and for the comfort of something real, something she could connect with, both literally and metaphorically. And not yet trusting her newfound ability to change shape.
That, perhaps, was the most terrifying part of the whole experience; she had never even dreamed of becoming a monster, before her father tried to rape her, with his unnatural strength. Why then? Why did she shift then? Was it something he did to her? He was obviously a monster, so did he curse her too? She didn�t know, and that terrified her as much as he had. So she kept running, not knowing where she was going, just that she had to get away.
Whenever she felt the pull of the rage inside her, she fled into the wilderness, which here was mostly the farmers fields between the cities. Away from the ones causing her to rage, causing her to want to turn into that monster, that black demon of death. Away from everyone.
When Clarice and her pack finally did find Joni, Joni was a mess; filthy, malnourished, exhausted, layer on layer of dirty, ill fitting clothing, and almost beyond rational thought. She was running on instincts, pure and simple. The wounds she had received from her father still weren�t healed, and had started to get infected. Had she still been a normal mortal, she would likely have been dead of the infection quite a while before.
As Clarice expected, Joni wasn�t going to be taken easily, and even in her weakened state, she fought viciously, losing control completely and attacking the three wolves that approached her, speaking in a language she understood. But the fight was over before it even began; one touch, one falling touch, and Joni was on her back. Each time she jumped back up, she was put down again, and again, and again, until finally, Joni�s rage was spent, her will sapped, and the wolf fled, causing Joni to shift back to her breed form, and collapsed, unable to resist, or even move.
Deciding to take the quick way home, the pack pulled Clarice into the umbra. That turned out to be a big mistake; immediately, Joni was awake and terrified, but unable to scream; her mouth was occupied with the contents of her stomach coming back up to leave the way they had come in. Even when she had nothing left to bring up, the nausea and the vertigo was too much for her, and the other Furies had to carry her, protesting weakly the entire way.
They knew from the reports, from Meriam, about the stories surrounding Joni�s first change. And they frightened the Furies; normally, reports of a madman with an axe, or a wacko on speed and in a werewolf suit, an exceptionally hairy biker, or the like, were common in describing seeing a Garou in Crinos. But not this time; this time, the reports were eerily accurate. Too accurate to be safe, for the veil.
Eventually, Meriam brought Joni to the police, to tell her side of the story, and to get her off their �wanted for questioning� list. For a week straight, Meriam drilled into Joni�s head that the had only seen her mother dead in the kitchen, and then been attacked by her father and someone else, someone she didn�t see because he came from behind. Someone who had attacked her father for some reason that she didn�t know, when it came time to rape her. While they were fighting over her, Meriam ran out, in a panic, and just ran until she got to the one safe place she could think of � Meriam.
It was a bad story. They all knew it was a bad story. But there was just enough truth in it to be acceptable, and the police were more than willing to pass the attack off on ex-con�s who had been paroled, and had been in prison with her father. None of them wanted to believe that a 16 year old girl had been strong enough to tear her father in half. A 30 year old violent criminal, on a nasty combination of drugs was just a shade more believable than a 16 year old girl in self-defence.
And with a Philodox acting as Joni�s �Lawyer�, using a wide variety of gifts as subtly as she could, to persuade the police of Joni�s story, and to keep Joni�s wits up, eventually the police were convinced that Joni wasn�t the murderess, at least. The police didn�t stop believing she knew who the killer was, but decided to stop pursuing it; by blaming a gang from Detroit, they could petition for more funding. It was a win-win situation for the police, and for Joni; she was free to go, and the police got more money. The fact that Joni promised to leave and never come back was icing on the cake.
A few years later.
Joni snarled up at Clarice, heedless of her rank. �Stop telling me it�s my damned job to have a kid, Clarice! I ain�t havin� a kid! No Elder is gonna order me to spread my legs for no man, just so I can be stuck in human for nine months to pop put a mewling little brat, when I should be out there lookin� for Wyrm shit to bust up.� There was true anger in her snarl, and in her words, but there was also the smell of something else. It didn�t ring false in Clarice�s ears, but it wasn�t ringing true, either; her gifts told her it was the truth, but the truth is such a personal thing that sometimes the gift was fooled.
Clarice didn�t answer right away. She simply stared down at the cub, startled at the disrespect for motherhood she heard from Joni, and confused at the mixed signals she was getting. �Mewling little brat�?� said Clarice quietly, buying time to try to figure out this puzzle that Joni had inadvertently thrown her way.
Joni nodded, wiping the blood from her lips. �Mewling little brat, damn right. And all the time waiting to finally pop it out, stuck in human, bored as hell, doing what? Watching daytime television? Sewing? Arts and crafts over tea with the other girls who were stupid and got knocked up? Fuck that; I ain�t gonna be useless. And that�s what I�d be � an Ahroun who can�t defend her Caern is useless.�
That rang true. That rang very, very true in Clarice�s heart, and Gaia�s gift sang in her hears, singing the praises of the Truth for every word that Joni spoke. And it kept singing, after she stopped talking, singing so loudly that Clarice didn�t realize that Joni had stopped talking. �What was that last part? I missed it.� asked Clarice, almost sheepishly, but controlling herself enough to still appear indignant over Joni�s attitude.
Joni growled, thinking she was being mocked by the Adren. �I said an Ahroun who can�t defend her Caern is a damned useless excuse for an Ahroun, and ain�t worth shit, that�s what I said.�
Joni�s words still sang in Clarice�s heart, and the gifts Gaia had given to Clarice sang loudly in her ears again, but again, Clarice missed the last part, and shook her head, frowning a bit. �Yes, I heard that. What did you say after that, that�s what I didn�t hear it this time either. I know you said it, but I just didn�t hear it. Not mocking you, just honestly didn�t hear you��
Joni stared at Clarice, not understanding the Theurge, not exactly. �Uhh� I didn�t say anything else. Just that an Ahroun who can�t fight is useless. You okay�?�
Again, Clarice heard the words, and the songs, but this time, she paid more attention to the words than to the songs, and again, she heard the songs long past the time that Joni had stopped talking. �What didn�t you say, Joni�? I heard what you said, but you didn�t say everything you wanted to. Tell me what you didn�t want to say.�
There was no mistaking the command in Clarice�s voice. She was going to get those words out of Joni, no matter what. Joni could tell it was going to be a losing fight, but still, she fought on. �I don�t know what you�re talking about, Clarice; if I didn�t say it, I didn�t say it. What are you, telepathic now too?� As she challenged Clarice, she made the mistake of meeting Clarice�s eyes, and they locked into a battle of wills, in which the winner had been determined well before the eyes had ever met.
Joni looked away, and down, her Rage swelling up for a moment, then disappearing entirely. Clarice had the decency not to look smug at so easily cowing the Ahroun cub, but never lost the look of command on her features as she watched Joni. �What didn�t you say that you wanted to, Joni. Tell me now.�
Joni continued to look down, and away. �It�s� nothing. Really.�
It was only through sheer will that Clarice kept from losing herself to the Rage, hearing that blatant lie from Joni. No need for the gift to tell that lie; it was as transparent as air on Joni�s face, body language, and voice. Snarling, Clarice shifted up to Glabro, reaching down to pick Joni up by her shirt, uncaring at the pain it would cause the cub. �Don�t. Lie. To me. Again. Cub.� spat out Clarice, looking directly into Joni�s eyes, wordlessly daring her to lie again, to give her some excuse to pull each and every word from Joni, one blood cell at a time, if needs be.
Joni got the message, loud and clear, and stopped struggling, sagging in Clarice�s arms, defeated. �I� don�t want to be a mother. I�m a bad mother.� she whispered, almost inaudible. But Clarice caught the words, and let Joni down, shifting easily back into her breed form, still holding the exhausted cub.
�You�re a bad mother�?� asked Clarice, hiding the confusion she felt at that statement. �I didn�t know you were a mother already, Joni.� Joni flinched as if hit, then started to curl up into Clarice, as a child curling up for comfort and protection from her mother, and Clarice realized she had hit a nerve of some kind. Kicking herself internally for the gaff, Clarice let Joni curl up into her, stroking her hair softly, trying to comfort the scared teenager. �I�m sorry, I wasn�t being sarcastic, honestly. I just don�t know what you mean by that, Joni, that�s all� please, what do you mean you�re a bad mother?�
Joni didn�t answer right away, instinctively taking some time to gather strength from Clarice, before saying her peace. After a minute of silence, Joni finally answered. �We learn how to be mothers from our mothers, right�? Look at mine. I�m gonna be a shitty mother�
Clarice smiled a bit, softly, almost relieved at the revelation. She didn�t know what she had expected, but she expected it to be far worse than this. �No you�re not; look at your sister. You two had the same mother, and she�s a great mother. You�ll be just as good. You�ll see.�
Joni shook her head softly, with just enough presence of mind to keep from leaning her head into Clarice�s breasts, not feeling the lust for them, for the first time in a long time. She was in enough trouble as it was, and she knew that Clarice was uncomfortable with lesbians, even if she said she didn�t have a problem with them. Now was not the time for lust; it was the time for truth. �Meriam had a mother who loved her. And a father. I just had a big sister who loved me, and two parents who hated me. That�s why Meriam is a better mother than I ever could be. And she doesn�t scare her kids, like I would��
�Scare your kids? What do you mean?� asked Clarice, a bit shocked at Joni�s rationale, and unable to come up with a quick rebuttal. If she didn�t come up with one quickly, that part of the argument might be lost, and that was unacceptable. But it was hard to think when the truth was ringing so loudly in her ears, seeming to echo throughout her skull, distracting her. It wasn�t often that she heard such complete, and absolute, honesty.
Joni nodded again. �I see the way Marius shies away from me when I see him. I can see how scared he is of me, even if he doesn�t know what I am. Can�t you feel it from other people, Clarice�? I could be sound asleep, hidden under a log, and I�d still scare the hell out of him. What makes you think my own kids wouldn�t be scared of me�?�
A lump caught in Joni�s throat, and she fought it down harshly; she wasn�t going to cry. She wasn�t going to cry. But the lump got heavier, so she summoned the last of her anger, and spat out the rest of what was on her mind. �And what would I do, just give them up for adoption? I wouldn�t be a mother � I�d be a breeder. Pop out kid, give to kinfolk, go fight Wyrm. Come back, pop out another kid, give to another kinfolk, go fight Wyrm. That ain�t bein� a mother. That�s bein� a test tube with tits.�
The lump crashed down into Joni�s stomach, and suddenly, there was no energy left to fight back the tears. �I don�t wanna be my mother� I don�t wanna be a mother�� she said finally, through sobs that started small, then drained the will to fight them as the grew in size.
Clarice just held onto Joni comfortingly until Joni finally fell asleep, by daybreak, knowing there were no words that could comfort the teenager. She wished it had been something so simple as Joni just not wanting to be with a man, something easy to blame, like being a lesbian. That would have been an easy thing to get around. But this revelation, this was more than Clarice knew how to handle.
As Joni cried herself to sleep, Clarice silently prayed to Gaia, Pegasus and Luna to grant Joni the strength to overcome her fear of motherhood one day, and prayed that Joni would live that long.
�Up!� called up Lightning Paws, and Joni obediently raised the labrys up. �Down!� she called out again, and the labrys went down. �Arc right! � Again the labrys flashed, arcing to the right.
�
Joni just grinned, while panting, at the old lupus. � The old ragabash barked out a laugh, shifting down into her breed form, the fur of her hocks and paws a startling silver, branching up onto her flanks, showing where her name came from. � � Lightning paws looked back at Joni, and nodded. � Joni just stared at her, not realizing it was another joke. � � Joni, and the Mage. A story of Love and betrayal. Not for the faint of heart. (currently being updated; story will be completed asap)
The Rite of Passage.
Judgement: A rather simple test, Joni was shown a girl in trouble, and told to help her. The girl turned out to be an underage prostitute, who was pregnant and a drug addict. This test was a long, long test� getting her out from under the thumb of her pimp, and his gang, was easy; Joni simply killed them all, taking a few of their coats as trophies. That was the easy part of the Test.
The hard part was teaching the girl to stand on her own. It was almost a year before the girl had kicked the drug habit, had her child (a scrawny, poorly developed little girl, born six weeks early and still addicted to heroin) and was finally strong enough to stand on her own. A year of anger, frustration, numerous frenzies as Joni�s rage overcame her, and learning the meaning of patience, and of self control.
The second part of her Rite of Passage was quite a bit faster than the first part.
Vision: A bowl of water was placed in front of Joni, and a knife. �Bleed into the water, cub, and tell us what you see.� were the instructions. Joni did as she was told, annoyed at the self inflicted pain, and at the fact the only thing she saw in the bowl of water was her blood flowing through it. �I see blood in there.� said Joni sarcastically. �Blood, water, the bottom of the bowl, more water, more blood, blood, water, bowl, water, blood, blood, a labrys, more blood�� as she droned on, she started to finally see something in there. �Labrys� there�s a hand in there. But it�s only got four fingers, one of�em got cut off. Ring finger is missing.
�Wait, hold on. They ain�t fingers. They�re women. There�s supposed to be 5 of�em. But one�s missing; the fourth one. They used to be one woman� but something happened. One of�em left, and the others are looking for her. They�re scared of something.� Joni frowned, staring at the bowl of water and blood, looking to see what it was the women she was seeing would show up.
�Hold on, the youngest on has something. She�s holding it out to the oldest� no, she�s holding it to the� I don�t know who she�s holding it out to, there�s no on that side of her but me. Who�s she� me? She�s holding it out to me? She�s holding a� labrys� to me� for me� it�s for me!� Anxiously, excitedly, Joni reached into the water mixed with blood, for the labrys that she thought was being given to her by the woman. But the only effect it had was to disrupt the vision, turning it into water mixed with blood again.
�Dammit!!� screamed out Joni, splashing the water around frantically, then in frustration, threw the bowl across the bawn, it finally crashing into the trunk of a tree, and smashing into a dozen pieces. �Dammit, I saw it! She was giving me a Labrys! Dammit!� In frustration, Joni shifted up to Glabro, and pounded on a tree with her larger and more powerful fists.
The elders who had watched just smirked at the display. �That, dearie, is not how you go about earning the right to carry a labrys. Faking a vision from the Gorgons, while I will admit I�ve never seen a cub who faked one for a Labrys, I�ve also never seen a cub so eager to have a labrys. What did you really see, if anything?�
Joni just looked at the elder, in confusion. �No, I saw four women, not four men. I can tell the difference, ya know; I ain�t that young.�
The elder frowned. �I didn�t say you saw men, cub. What would give you that impression?�
�You said I faked a vision about the four Gordons. They were women, not men, and I�ve never heard of a woman named Gordon.� replied Joni.
�No, GorGons, not GorDons, cub. The five Medusae. One of our most powerful totems, our most powerful totem of war.� corrected the elder, frowning at the disrespect the cub was showing her tribes most powerful and potent totem of War.
Joni just shrugged. �Whatever. I saw the four of�em � not five, four, one ain�t there anymore, or got killed, or whatever. And one of�em handed me a Labrys.�
The elder snarled, getting impatient with Joni�s responses. �Stop lying to us cub! Tell us what you really saw. Now.�
Joni snarled back, angry at being called a liar, but before she could reply, Clarice stepped in from the shadow. �Liana, Joni is speaking the truth; she can�t help but do so. She�s not the type to lie, and it�s easy to see when she does, anyway.�
Liana, an Adren Galliard, turned to face Clarice. �Oh, and I suppose you can tell that she�s telling the truth, Theurge?�
Clarice nodded. �Yep. And she is � maybe if you�d been listening to the words of your packs Theurge rather than trying to figure out if Brittney Spears is a good thing for women or a bad thing, you�d have heard that the Gorgons have split into five. They aren�t one totem anymore.�
Wisely, Joni stayed out of the argument that followed. But she didn�t forget the vision of that woman, holding out a Labrys to her�
Fury: Five people were convinced to go hiking in the woods. Three men, two women. They were carefully chosen for this; one of the men was a serial rapist, except he got away with it by preying on women who came to his business for work, and were desperate enough to allow him to rape them, if it meant they might get a job. Few of them ever did.
Another was a teacher who preyed on his students, but in a way that it made the students look like the ones who were asking for it. He would tell his female students that there wasn�t much that they can do to raise their grades, and that they should probably be in the Home Economics class, because all they�ll ever amount to is a housewife without better grades, with some subtle hints that maybe he�d be willing to overlook a few things, if they wanted to act like a wife now�
The last man wasn�t a rapist. He was a philanderer, a handsome, silver tongued bastard who loved to have sex. With as many women as possible. He had 11 children by 11 women, and left each woman high and dry, not supporting them at all. He didn�t care; he let the women deal with the kids; that�s their job, isn�t it? He just used their bodies for a short time, for his own enjoyment, and left.
One of the women here, in fact, was being lined up to be his next victim. He had smooth talked her into accompanying him on this hike, along with the two other men who he had met in a bar. The teacher brought along one of his students, who was desperate to pass his math course, so she could earn a scholarship and get away from home. For that, she was willing to do anything.
Clarice told Joni all about the three men as they stalked through the forest, in lupus. Told her all the gory details, who, what, why, when, how, and where�s, told her about the women and the children who were suffering because of the men, working Joni up into a near frenzy.
When they arrived on the scene, Clarice didn�t have to stroke Joni�s rage anymore; the scene itself was enough to stroke her own. (fill in the scene the way you want; I'm leaving this blank on purpose.) On first sight, Joni lost control, and few into a murderous rage, killing all three of the men without hesitation. In less time than it took to blink an eye, the men were dead, and Joni set on the two women, who were willing victims in this perversity, stopping short of killing them, but they too felt her claws, biting deep into their chests.
A moment later, Clarice stepped out into the clearing, in her own powerful Crinos form, and the two surviving women, both of them naked, bleeding, terrified and in pain, fled as the primal instincts given to them during the Impergium, when the Garou culled Humanity, came to the surface, and their minds became scattered. Neither would remember this incident clearly, except that they had been abused, then something had killed their abusers.
Neither Fury felt the urge to follow them to see if they made it safely out of the forest, but they followed anyway; they may have been disgusting examples of womanhood, but they were still women, and needed to be protected. Running naked and terrified, they could be helpless victims, and it would be the fault of Joni and Clarice this time.
Luckily, the women made it back to civilization without incident, and the two Furies went back to clean up the clearing.
Mystery: It would kind of defeat the purpose of the Test of Mystery if you knew what it was, now wouldn�t it.
you think the story's done? not even close.
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When she could stand on her own, the girl was adopted by the Tribe as a kinfolk, even though she had no Garou blood in her viens. She and Meriam share an apartment just outside of Chicago, and work together to help get other girls off the streets. Joni and her are still in regular contact, though not as often as either would like. That�s the price you pay for being a Garou, and trying to have a friend who is a kin.
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