Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (27% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the east at 6 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.95 and falling, and the relative humidity is 46 percent. The dewpoint is 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 19:47 Pacific Time on Thu Sep 13 2001.
Forgotten Church(#1801RAJLM)
The old church is dark, dimly lit by outside light coming in through scum-encrusted windows during the day, and tomblike during the night. There is a coatroom in the back of the nave, with separate doors leading off to mens' and womens' restrooms, and two staircases, one going up to the balcony and bell-tower, and the other leading down to the basement. The double doors leading out to the street are at the back of the coatroom.
The hard wooden pews in the sanctuary are, for the most part, still intact. There are even Bibles and hymnals left in the shelves along the back of each row, although many of them look rather chewed on. The altar on a dais at the front of the church is empty, and the lectern that once stood next to it has been knocked over. Rotting red cloth hangs at the very front of the church; there might once have been a design on it, but it has long since faded or been eaten away.
Sitting on top of the dais, surrounded by dogs, Yi holds her own little worship session of the renowned Chinese culture. Boxes of noodles, fried rice and other entrees litter the floor. Only she sits on top of it all, cross legged and eating quietly in comparison to the messy canines.
Dizzy carefully enters the church, 'ew'ing and looking distastefully looking around. The Gnawers certainly have a strange sense of decor. Tonight she's dresed, uncharacteristically, in black sports pants, with double white stripes on the outer part of the legs and a pretty thin zipped up off white sweater jacket. "Hello?" her voice echos, introducing herself to any who might be within.
For a moment the Gnawer inside doesn't answer, swallowing down a mouthful of noodles as she is. A few seconds after, Yi answers with a returning, "Good evening." All the dogs had looked up even before the door opened, but most have already gone back to 'wolfing' down their greasy treats. A couple of mutts start fighting over a piece of beef, but Yi simply leaves them alone. She's dressed in a regular pair of fading grey sweats and an off-white t-shirt that was probably white some long age ago. "Looking for someone?"
Dizzy walks up to the little shrine of take out. "Actually, I was looking for you... Rhya." The last word sort of rolls off as if it were alien to the tongue from which it came. "I didn't see you at the park, and someone said Gnawers sometimes hung around here, so I thought I'd see if anyone here could help me... I know I could have called," she admits, shrugging, looking off to the side, "but I thought like taking a drive, and thought maybe I might meet more garou, doing it this way."
Yi nods after finishing off the takeout box with a quick, natural blaze of chopsticks. A half bottle of water is emptied along the way, and then left for the moment on the shrine. "Please," Yi says while wiping her mouth with a napkin as of yet unsoiled by canine paws. "Just call me Yi. Rhya is... stuffy." The Gnawer then stands up and manuevers her way around the boxes and dogs. "Looking for me... I take it for some words about training." She tilts her head off to a small, skewed angle.
No surprise there, hardly any cliaths want to be called Rhya. "Yeah," Dizzy says, nodding. A tad surprised that she's so transparent. Stupid cub, look how you're dressed!
"Well then," Yi motions downstairs. "It's easier to do these things in the basement. The dogs are nice, but... they can be a little distracting." She reaches down scratch a mutt that looks much like a cross between a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler. But still is the sweetest thing in the world. Really. "Shall we?"
"Yeah," Dizzy says, a bit distracted by the dogs as it is. Sure they're sweet. Sure. She follows Yi down the stairs. "They protect the church, I take it?"
"We'll be downstairs," Yi says a little casually to the mutt before nodding at Dizzy and heading down to the basement. "I'm not sure who brought them all here, but the church isn't just for humans."
Forgotten Church Basement(#1279RJLM)
This basement is only partly below ground level, and there are windows evenly spaced on the walls, right below the ceiling level. The main part of it is a large open area with a small kitchen in one corner and a large, ratty carpet in the center, covering the cement floor. There is a rather large window in the kitchen; it looks as though it might actually open onto the street. On the wall opposite the kitchen is a large bin, and there are folding tables along the wall perpendicular to it. On the other wall there are a few folding chairs, many fewer than one would expect from the number of tables.
A hallway next to the kitchen leads off to two offices and what once might have been a classroom.
Once downstairs, Yi turns around in the darkness. She hadn't turned on the light, for odd reasons. "So..." The Gnawer starts, a little hesitant at first. She hadn't really developed any game plan. Oh well, take the ox by the horns. "What did you want to know, from me?"
"Well," starts Dizzy, a little nervous that they are still in the dark, "I would like, you know, to, like, uh... learn to, you know, defend myself. While still in homid. Maybe pick up like, new moon stuff too. You know, 'cause like, John said I should learn, like, from you." Maybe this is part of the training, she thinks.
Yi nods, though in the dark it's probably not visible. "Ah. A lesson for me then," Yi murmurs softly. "Point John in a different direction." She chuckles, if a bit half-heartedly. "Well... lesson one for you. What can you tell me, about being in the dark like this? What can you see? What can't you see? How do you feel, about being in a strange place like this, in the dark?"
Dizzy doesn't understand the line about pointing John elsewhere, and just shrugs it off. "Uh.. actually, I can't really see anything. I think there are windows over there." She points off toward the wall with the small windows. "And I feel, like, confused?" The last part is definately more a question, than a statement.
Nodding again, the Gnawer moves almost silently. For a minute, only the sounds of movement upstairs are all that's there. "There is far more than you think, to the darkness. It is a part of us as the new moon is." The Asian's voice comes from behind the cub. "Don't use your eyes. Use the other senses... your sense of hearing. Your sense of smell. Taste the air. Even the smallest hairs on your skin can tell you where you are. Whether the area is safe, or not. That gut feeling that you have inside... listen to it. Use it." And again, the Gnawer moves. Around and around, like a predator circling its prey. "When you feel it is right... strike. And we'll see if you guess right."
Dizzy closes her eyes, having no idea what the heck she's doing, but going along with the Gnawer anyway. Half-heartedly she weakly punches out once, in a random direction, stepping forward as if her fist were dragging her around.
Yi dodges easily, every so often simply letting the weak punches float by. "You can do better than that." The voice is the Gnawer's, and right beside the Walker cub's ear.
Dizzy swings her arm to the side, now actually trying to hit the Gnawer. The taunting only makes her more determinded, and focused, rather than angry. She says nothing, though, prefering to concentrate on the task at hand.
Yi dodges, again, ducking under the arm as it swooshes by over her head. "Good," Yi adds for a compliment. "Now... don't focus your anger... just focus your senses." Like Yoda, she sounds. And around she goes again. This time, with concentration, her footsteps can be heard going around the Walker. It might be deliberate, or it could simply be the matter of lacking stealth in the human form. The light 'pak' of the sole against the concrete floor. The feeling of wind moving by the arms. And just a sense... a sense inside that gives a general feeling of what is around.
Dizzy pauses for a second, tilting her head to listen to how Yi seems to be moving. She makes a fist and lashes out, sort of in an overhand strike, looking more like she should be doing it in Crinos form with a claw, rather than in homid with a fist. Maybe some of what John has taught her actually sank in.
Instead of dodging this time, Yi moves in close and reaches out. Where the intended strike from Dizzy would've hit her shoulder, instead meets forearm to forearm in a somewhat painful clash that rings into the bones. Then the Gnawer's other hand taps on the cub's underthroat once. Gently. "Gotcha." The Gnawer backs off, her footsteps again audible. "What you just did, is similar to a man jumping out and striking downwards with a weapon. My counter, was one of many. But an attacker with a weapon, always has a... 'circle' of comfort. The range of the weapon. Once you get inside that range, it becomes less and less useful for most."
Dizzy steps back, eyes open and visually surprised, one hand flys to her throat and the other, the one that was hit, being shook to numb the pain. "Holy geeze," she says, looking around in vain. It's just dark enough for Dizzy that she can't see more than blury lights. "Wow," she adds during an exhale.
"Close your eyes a moment," Yi says with a soft tone. Her footsteps are heard going around to a wall. Then, the lights to the basement come on. They're dim, but still it is easy enough to see most details of the room. The CantoGnawer stands by the switch and then comes back down the stairs. "You're pretty good. There's just one thing to work on, first. It is what I had plenty of time to do... when I was... stuck in a closet for a couple of months." The Gnawer also rubs her own forearm, a little. Those scars are still there, uncovered now by bandage or cloth. "So when I was in Hong Kong, after my first change, I had to learn fast to deal with the dark. If I didn't... I wouldn't be here today." Yi clears her throat gently, and scratches at a small part of her throat. "I think... what you can do to practice feeling around the dark... is when you go back to your apartment, or a room in the Walker house... don't turn on the lights. Just wait.. feel for what's around. Then walk around, slowly at first. You might bump a few things. It's natural. Eventually, though, you learn what is around and what isn't. It's like a blind person who learns their environment by listening, or smelling, feeling. We, born human, are too dependent on sight sometimes. I guess, the lesson as a whole... is to be more in touch with your inner instincts."
Opening her eyes after the lights turn on, Dizzy looks about the room, now rubbing her sore arm. The Glass Walker cub nods at Yi. "Okay," she says. If this is what it's going to take, then that is what Diz is going to have to do. She shakes her arm a couple more times, just to make sure the pain completely leaves.
Yi glances at Dizzy's arm, then offers up a short smirk. "Anything else you'd like to know? How to get rid of the stinging, maybe..."
"Like shifting?" Dizzy asks, "Yeah, I know. But, if I'm going to learn how to defend myself without shifting, I should learn how to take a blow, right? John has shot me so I'd learn how to take a bullet. I survived that, so... I should survive this." She grins, "This is a lot less painful than getting shot."
Yi looks a little surprised at the mention of John shooting any of his cubs, on purpose. "That's... an interesting...way of showing pain. But...what did you want to know about shifting?"
Dizzy shakes her head, grinning, "I meant, shifting would get rid of the pain. What do I want to know about, though?" She pauses a second, eyes rolled upward, trying to think of something, "I dunno, really. Maybe when I should stop by next?" Her tongue is firmly in cheek, figuratively.
Yi nods, also thoughtful. "Well... there -is- more to being ragabash than fighting in the dark. I'm just... better at this sort if thing than joking around or playing pranks."
"Well, learning from a couple different New Moons has really helped me," Dizzy says, running a hand through her hair, "I'm starting to see how I fit into the auspice. I'm not too much for like, the jokes either."
The doors to the basement creep open and Jeremy comes plodding down the steps. He's wearing a pair of just past his knees denim baggy shorts and a seattle supersonics basketball jersey. He's sweating a bit, most likely just getting back from Tom's place.
"That's good... as much as you learn from me, or others, it's still a rather..." Yi searches for some words. "Well. It's like searching for yourself." She shrugs. It's the best she could do. "But it's always good to know what the other newmoons do. Either finding which paths they take, or which one is yours..."
Dizzy looks up at the kind boy's arrival with a smile. "Hey you," she greets. Turning back to Yi she nods, "At first I was really confused, because Sophia said I had to be some sort of joker, or jester or something like that and I was all like, 'uh-uh, no way,' you know. Now I've got more of an understanding on what are job is, and how to go about it."
Jeremy rubs his bare shoulder and makes his way over, swaying his arms a bit in his stride. "Hello Song Yi, Amanda." He notes each in order by ranking, dipping his head a bit. He's wearing a pair of green contacts in his eyes, those which compliment his black hair.
Yi glances at Jeremy again, trying to put a name to the face. And finally coming up with one a few seconds later, she nods politely to him. "Good evening. Jeremy, yes?" A brow arches up with the query, more rhetorical than confirmational. "What brings you to the church? Or were you looking for Dizzy?" Her eyes follow the kin as he moves over towards them.
The cub takes a couple steps to meet the kin and wraps her arms around him. "Over at Tom's again?" she asks, "Or were you coming down here so I could beat you up?"
Jeremy blinks his eyes once, then lets a smile brim along his face as his arms wrap about the cub's shoulders, giving her a firm hug. "Just got back from Tom's, working out and practicing my kick boxing." He states a bit proudly. Looking to Yi, he smiles. "Came by looking for her actually. She mentioned she would be here looking for you."
"Kick boxing?" Yi's brows really do arch up. "Who's teaching it?" She's curious, interested, and really, wishes for some place to learn. "And where? Are there classes?" She tilts her head slightly after the last question.
Dizzy steps back, letting go over Jeremy, blinking. Yi is interested in kick boxing? What does a super martial artist-type want to learn kick boxing for? She stays quiet, looking from Yi to Jeremy.
Jeremy wets his lips some. "Tom, a Child of Gaia kinfolk is teaching me actually. He's a black belt and he thought that this would improve my self esteem. We practice at his house. He got a punching bag set up and he's been helping me go through all the manuevers and steps, even showing me how to lift weights."
Yi's mouth forms a small 'oh', followed by a series of thoughtful facial expressions. "I would not want to trouble you too much... but maybe you could ask him if he might be around to teach this newmoon some things about kickboxing." She glances over at Dizzy, catching the shortly confused look. The Gnawer dips her head, eyes going down in humble gesture for a moment. "I may be good, but I'm far from any black belt or mastery." She holds up an arm, showing the scars in the dim light of the basement. "Obviously. There is always someone better than you." The arm lowers, her expression fading in smile a little. "Just make sure the Wyrm doesn't know that."
The cub is not surprised, those chinese people being such humble bastards. "So, then, you're doing well?" she asks Jeremy.
Jeremy nods his head to both of them. "Sure, I will ask Tom. I'm sure he'd love to, he doesn't have anything to do now that he's almost done with his medical degree." To Dizzy, he nods. "I'm doing well, yah.. I feel good, I can run and not pass out." He grins sheepisly. "Tom says I've learned to hurt the bag now."
Yi looks at the two with a small smile. "When you 'hang out' with the Garou, you're destined to become more athletic." She says those two words with visible oddity in the slang of it. A short rub of the back of her neck, and then the Gnawers gets a small thought. "Care to show us what you learned, at Tom's?"
"Sounds like you're doing great," Dizzy says excitedly. She glances at Yi at the suggestion of having Jeremy show them what he's learn and nods in agreement. "How 'bout it, Jer?"
Jeremy bites his lip a bit, working his teeth over it gently. "Um.." He looks shy, cheeks rising up in a blush. ".. I.. I dunno.. I'm not /great/ at it yet." With a soft murmur, he shifts his eyes between the two Garou. "Um... show you how? Combat one of you?"
Yi nods affirmatively, looking over at Dizzy with a querying arch of her eyebrow. Would the newmoon cub like to try?
Dizzy looks at the newmoon cliath as if she were insane, raising her eyebrows. Who? Me?
Jeremy glances to the two of them and steps back a bit, shaking out his arms. Drawing in a deep breath, he tries to do as Tom says, clear his mind, in with the good air, out with the bad.
Yi gives the cub a short smile, perhaps too innocent at that. But with an understanding nod, the Gnawer steps up to the 'sparring circle'. With a quick shake of her own head and arms, she bounces up and down a couple times, and then settles into a position, almost all too commonly seen in the action movies.
"Don't kick his ass too bad," Dizzy chides. "Go Jer!" she adds, just in case they might think she doesn't support the kin.
"... Right.. go Jer'." The kin softly says as he stares over at the slightly shorter asian. But by no means is he going to underestimate her. She has scars after all, she has seen her good share of battles and lived. He doubts his half assed kick boxing will be any match for what she has learned. Loosening up his body, he snaps his head to the side and cracks off a few pops, rolling his hands into fists. Palms out, the fingers slightly curved over. He's bobbing now, back and forth -- one fist guarding the throat, the other off to the side.
Not too unlike a scene out of some fighting movie like... Best of the Best, Yi gains a sort of poker face. She starts circling, eyes never leaving Jeremy and his vicinity. A couple times she bounces in and out of kicking range, just testing the kin's reactions first. A sniff, and a foot shoots out in a swift low kick towards the shins.
Dizzy quickly finds a spot to sit on the ground to watch the fight. Sure, Jer may lose, but at least it might be interesting.
Flinching at each of her quick movements, Jeremy continues to let his eyes dart over her arms and legs, finally seeing an attack approach. Shifting his legs, just as he's taught, one leg rises up to catch hers in a block, her foot catching the side of his knee. Dropping himself forward, he whirls himself around in a quick half circle, lashing out with a spinning fist about head high due to her height. Guile, eat your heart out. The nerd can actually move.
Her first reaction is to duck, but its canceled with a different move. Foot blocked, it plants itself down to stabilize the rest of her body before a hand comes up to catch the wrist of the kin. Her head tilts a bit to keep the inertia of the strike away from her head. She's ready to use the motion of her opponent and toss him if necessary, but at the moment her other hand occupies itself with finding a path towards Jeremy's armpit.
Finding his fist caught, Jeremy stumbles forward and grunts in pain as her fist finds him in the side. Pushing forward with one foot, he continues to whirl forward, pivoting back to tug his arm forward and lets loose with a solid kick from the side into her hip, twisting himself with determination. He's not as quick as her, or skilled though and its obvious by his slow physical reactions despite his sharp wit.
Yi lets go of Jeremy's wrist, loosening herself from possible entanglement just as the kick comes. Though she melts away from it, the foot still connects with a stinging blow to the side of her thigh. That causes a brief half-second of pause, but in the following motion her own foot comes out in a straight series of kicks. Like Chun-Li brought to life, in this Street Fighting spar.
Finding that his kick went through, Jeremy lets out a soft breath and takes that half second pause to step back, only so that he can catch her foot into his side and stomach. Another grunt of pain, he almost loses his wind as he backpeddles off to the side to get out of reach. Rubbing at his side, he watches her like a hawk and steadies himself once more, teetering, but holding himself in another defensive pose.
The offense doesn't quit at all, Yi finding a sort of natural ease flowing into her as her mind focuses on simple objectives. Just as her foot sets itself on the ground, she leaps up and forward into the air with a flying double kick straight out of the movies, both feet coming down towards Jeremy's left side. The cry from her is one to bring strength and swiftness.
This was something Jeremy definitly wasn't expecting. He has never sparred against someone with this range of martial arts. Kick boxing and Kung Fu' are two different sports. As the kicks soar at him, the kin squeaks out a breath of surprise and uses one fist to try and catch a foot as he rolls backwards, yanking his arms to try and bring her straight down to the ground.
HOLY... Dizzy shoots to her feet, amazed at what just took place. There is no doubt in her mind that this Bone Gnawer would give any movie kung fu fighter a run for their money.
And down she goes, the first kick blocked and caught but the amount of surprise in the kin giving notice by the somewhat weak grip on her ankle that he has. She puts her weight forward with the second foot, the kick aborted in favor of a rather cat-like mid-air twist. Hands shoot out to plant onto the ground and absorb falling shock, and with another quick turn of her body her free leg hooks low to catch and trip Jeremy.
Holding on as tight as one can around her twisting ankle, Jeremy sinks his body down, catching her leg hard once more into his side. Poor ribs may just break if this keeps up. Giving out a yelp of pain, he lets her go and doubles over to clutch at his side, sinking down to his knees. ".. K.. give.... I give.."
"/Wow," the cub says, "That was awesome!"
Yi immediately stops. Her ankle loose now, she kicks up to her feet only to kneel on one knee beside the kin and gaze at his pained face. "I think I may have gotten a little carried away," she says with due apologies in her tone. "How is your side?"
Jeremy coughs once as he catches his breath again, rubbing his ribs. "Ah'm ok. Jus' hurts really." He murmurs, feeling stupid. He got his ass kicked. Wow, what a great way to display what you learned. You got /one/ kick in, you dumb nerd. "It'll be ok."
Dizzy goes over to Jeremy now, making sure he is, indeed okay. "Wow. You really did good," she tells him, honestly. Hey, he stood up a lot longer than she figured.
Hey, you have to give the kin credit. He got one kick in! Yi stays by the Walker kin's side as he coughs, concern written over her features. "You -did- do really well. And besides, you're still learning. -I'm- still learning. You got one kick on me at least, and blocked quite a few." She rubs at the side of her thigh, the tingling feeling still in it. She then glances up over at Dizzy and inclines her head in the direction of the refridgerator inside the small kitchen. "See if there's some ice packs in the freezer?"
Jeremy rolls his shoulders back in a silent shrug, obviously not pleased with his preformance. Then again, he didn't expect much at all. He figured with at least Dizzy he can /possibly/ take her, seeing how she's a whimp like him. With the cliath, he knew he was toast the second they moved in that dance of combative melee.
Dizzy nods and heads into the kitchen to retrieve an ice pack. "I'll be right back," she tells Jeremy before hurrying into the kitchen.
Yi bends a little more to stick her face in front of the disappointed kin's. "Hey... you really did do well. Don't let this spar push down your motivation to continue learning kickboxing." Dark eyes hold back concern for moments as she makes sure the kin is going to be alright despite any side blows to the ego. "Believe me. It was impressive to see how much you learned." She's serious, and non-flattering on this point.
Jeremy dips his head a bit as he lowers it instinctivly in regard to her station. "Ah'll try Rhya. I am sure Tom will be just as persistant to help me learn." Pushing himself up to his feet, he looks a bit wobbily for a moment, not actually standing up straight just yet.
Dizzy comes back with an icepack. "Sorry that took so long," she apologizes, handing the pack to the kin boy. "You did really good, Jer. Thought you were a gonner when she lept in the air and was all hoo-ha ya!" She demonstates by waving her hands around in the air.
Yi helps the kin up, resistant to any protest whatsoever. "And please, just call me Yi. I don't need such an honorific title." She smiles faintly at Dizzy and an embarrassed chuckle escapes from the Gnawer. "I was surprised the first time Sifu performed that move on me as well. Stargazers can be like that."
Jeremy mutters softly. "I wasn't expecting that either. I can't jump that high." Taking the pack, he slips it under his shirt with only a brief shiver. His flesh soon crawls with goosebumps.
Dizzy grins at the smile Yi flashes her. "Maybe you should have fought with me," she says, turing her attention back on Jeremy.
Yi ducks her head lightly between her shoulders. "Probably not a good idea to fight anymore, for Jeremy anyway." Her gaze flits over the kin's ice-packed side again. "I think it might be best if we found a healer to ask for a favor and take care of the bruises..." The Gnawer trails, "John might not be all too pleased I took to sparring with his kin."
Yi adds, "Without pads."
Jeremy shakes his head. "Not like John will find out. I'm sure not going to brag about it. I'll be fine, they'll be gone in a week or.. whatever." He says softly. "I've had a few from working out with Tom."
"Are you okay?" Dizzy asks, redundantly. "How did you get here? Are you going to like, need a ride home?"
Yi lets her little concerns go unvoiced as she glances to Jeremy. Her eyes echo Dizzy's questions.
Jeremy shrugs his shoulders as he shifts the ice pack. "Ah'll be fine guys, really." Ooh, is there a bit of irritation in his voice? He's not made of glass. "I jogged here.."
"You need a ride home?" Dizzy asks, concerned, either oblivious of the irritation or simply not caring.
".. Um.. Sure." The kin answers softly as he moves the ice pack once more.
Yi, attuned to irritation like a hypersensitive meter, nods with some understanding though her concerns aren't let up. "It would be better not to strain your ribs with too much walking." Other than that statement though, she acknowledges the kin's annoyance at being essentially nursed.
"Thank you," Dizzy says, turning back to Yi, "for the training today. I'll think about and try what you said. The darkness thing." She then stands up and asks the kin boy, "Can you manage walking to the car?"
Jeremy nods and straightens himself up, heading for the door without so much of a limp. But he is grinding his teeth a bit to keep back the pain that shoots up his side. He'll be hobbling in the morning no doubt.
Yi twists a little bit of a smile, nodding at Dizzy. "To be in tune not just with yourself, but with others." She glances at Jeremy going up the stairs as emphasis, and with a silent slight of her hand she motions for the cub to go take care of the kin. "I'll see you around, both of you."