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Alyssa Newton was born under the new moon as
Alyssa Jane Burke. Official birth date, September 17th,
1979. The daughter of a Get of Fenris Cliath named Jacob “Rends the
Foes of Gaia” Burke and his mate, a Fenrir Kinfolk named Susan.
Alyssa’s first memories of home were that of a Fenrir Caern near a
small Northern California town, a place of peace, of nature, and, most
importantly, of Gaia Herself. Jacob Burke was an Ahroun, a truly
proud warrior, and the moment his child was verified as “of the wolf,”
he made plans for her to be raised in the Caern, away from the
influence of the humans who might ‘taint her warrior spirit,’ as he
put it. Though she was not born under the full moon, she was still
Fenrir, still Garou, and her father believed that she would grow to be
a great warrior for her people. And as he was, within a month after
his daughter’s birth, sent through his Rite of Passage, where he
earned the rank of Fostern in a furious and combat-laden ordeal, few
doubted that his daughter would follow in his footsteps. Or if they
did, they never spoke those thoughts to his face. Jacob’s warrior
ancestry, with more than one notable Garou name on that list, added to
the power of his prophecy, and soon it was whispered throughout the
Caern that he would teach Alyssa to fight before she could walk
properly. Everyone said things like this, and, in truth, would not
have minded if it HAD happened… everyone, that is, except for her
mother.
As only a Kinfolk can, Susan knew that there was
a balance between wolf and man within a Garou. She was a direct part
of that balance, after all, a human Kinfolk, and did not believe that
Alyssa should be sheltered, as she put it, from that half of her
world. This was met with a great deal of resistance from Jacob, but
his mate would not relent, showing the stubbornness and refusal to
relent that had so attracted him to her in the first place. With a
great deal of reluctance, he finally gave in, saying that, until her
first change, she would be primarily raised around humans, but would
also be trained in the ways of the Garou. And then, on the day of her
First Change, she would be pulled from her school, and taught the
traditional ways of her people, with little regard to “human”
society. In an almost defiant step… well, more defiant than even what
she had done before… Susan made SURE her daughter grew up with all the
things other kids had, ranging from listening to the radio, watching
television, playing with her Snoopy’s Grab the Bones game. All of it
intended to show her the human side of her blood.
Alyssa grew up with country music and California
rock, with the Beatles, the Eagles, Elvis Presley, George Strait, and
the Rolling Stones, and even began to learn to play the guitar
herself, after being given one for her ninth birthday… which it took
her only two years to get quite skilled with. She saw her favorite
cartoon characters compete in the Laugh-o-Lympics, Scooby Doo and
Batman fight men dressed up as fake werewolves, and Strawberry
Shortcake teaching her friends lessons about love and friendship. At
the same time, she was taught to track down frogs and bugs with the
patience of a predator, to growl and bare her teeth the proper way by
a wolf-cub friend, and to give her elders the first shares of the
kill, even if her mother was going to cook it over the fire anyway
before she could eat it. Her father taught her of the world of Gaia…
the world of the Garou. In that respect, she was probably the only
girl in her Kindergarten class who had played with wolf-cubs growing
up, or had laughed as she saw a lupus slip and fall in a mud puddle
during a heavy rain. Though she’d been taught how to behave around
others, she was never told to wash behind her ears, or not to eat that
bug in her hand, or that “proper little girls” don’t go pee behind the
bushes. She was, in her younger years, the perfect mixture of an 80s
child, and a Garou cub.
And until she was thirteen years old, her life
seemed, to her, to be perfect.
During her thirteenth year of life, Alyssa
experienced her first menses… an experience, which, at first, scared
her greatly… which was followed only a day later by her First Change.
For her, it was a time when she was more unsure of herself than at any
other time in her life. For her father, it was a time of great joy
and celebration, for now another warrior for Gaia stood before him,
ready to fight the good fight. For her mother, it was when she
believed she would see her daughter’s tender and loving spirit
destroyed by the warrior instincts of the Garou. Perhaps it is
because of this fear, this broken heart, that, two days after Alyssa
changed, her mother died in her sleep of a heart failure. The doctors
said that even human medical science could not have known about it,
even if they had examined her thoroughly; only God could have known,
they said. But Jacob did not believe in God, only Gaia, and the
Tellurian, and the forces within and surrounding it. To him, this was
a travesty, a horrible catastrophe in his own life, and one that
demanded something be done. His only answer was, simply, to raise
their daughter to be the perfect Garou warrior… but in doing so, he
would end up forgetting that which his mate had wanted her raised as
both human and wolf… and alienating the only remaining piece of his
wife left on this planet.
Within a month, Alyssa began a training program,
ran by her father and a few of the other Fostern Ahroun in the Caern.
Throughout the rest of that summer, she was trained in the ways of the
Garou… how to fight, how to act, how to treat others of different
ranks, how to recognize friend from foe, glyphs, fetishes, lore… all
of it. When that fall came around once more, she found that she would
not be allowed to attend school; she had been pulled out, and would be
receiving her education by the den mother at the Caern, earning a
“home school” diploma, rather than one from a public high school. At
the same time, she was told that she would give up her guitar as well,
as her father wanted no “human” distractions getting in her way. And,
as if this was not enough, everyone in the Caern began treating her
differently, more harshly. Gone were the kind and simple friendships
with her peers, and gone were the days when those older than her would
treat her kindly, if a bit roughly. Friends became little more than
sparring partners. Elders became angry teachers or unkind
instructors. And constantly, she was pushed to her limits, forced to
become stronger, forced to become a better warrior… it was as if love
was beyond them for her now, at least in her eyes. Her father had
become a fanatic, and she superimposed that fanaticism on everyone
else, making it seem as if everyone was being that hard on her. In
truth, it was her father, and her father alone, who actually WAS being
that hard on her, forcing her to become his vision of the perfect
Garou.
And then came her Rite of Passage.
Alyssa was not allowed to take part in this Rite
until she was seventeen years old, simply because her father did not
believe she was ready until that time came around. And when it did,
he and his pack mates chose what they considered the best possible
Rite for a warrior of her believed skills. A Microdyne Industries
plant… a dummy corporation for the infamous Pentex Corporation… had
been set up only twenty miles from the Bawnlands of the Caern, and the
emanations coming from it was infesting all the land around it with
massive amounts of taint. Not only that, but the forest around it was
being chopped down at INCREDIBLE rates to supply raw materials for
whatever it was they were making. Gaia cried out in pain, and the
Garou could not allow such an abomination to remain. And so it was
Alyssa, alone, who was chosen to go and destroy it. Many members of
the Caern believed this was far too difficult, but Jacob sneered at
them, saying that his daughter could do anything. That she would take
her place among the honored ancestors of his family line. All Alyssa
could do was listen, keep the stark terror from her eyes.
It was just as she was about to leave that an
Adren of the Sept, another Ragabash, as it were, pulled Alyssa aside,
and spoke to her. She asked if Alyssa felt she was ready for this,
and that she could do this on her own. The young Garou simply nodded,
knowing that to say anything else would be to invite her father’s
immense displeasure. But the old woman smiled knowingly, and pulled
her further aside, allowing them to speak freely. She told Alyssa
that she was no Ahroun, and that to attack as her father wanted would
only result in her death, this much was true. However, she… both of
them… were still warriors of Gaia, even though they were born as
tricksters under the new moon. This meant they had power, just not
the same sort of power an Ahroun had… something the old woman
intimated was very important in this Rite. With a grin and a wink…
some of the first kindness Alyssa had felt since becoming an official
Cub… the old woman left her side, leaving Alyssa to herself to plan,
prepare, and ready herself for what she would do the next day.
And when that day came around, she had finally
figured out exactly what it was she would do.
Making explosives was not actually her forte, but
she did know where to get something that would work for just this
purpose. One of the Garou in the Sept had some TNT used for blowing
up tree stumps. Alyssa didn’t think anyone would mind her “borrowing”
it, or the instructions for how to use it… and with that in hand, she
made her way to the site, fully prepared to reek a little havoc.
Moving in with a few makeshift bombs… the kind used for tree stumps,
only twice as powerful, she made her way very close to the compound,
and slipped into the Umbra using a mirror she kept with her. Slipping
out underneath a large truck that had stopped at the gate, she slipped
one of the bombs onto the fuel tank, and then reentered the Umbra
right after. This time, she came out near a large propane tank near
the back, and set another explosive there. Finally, she set one on a
large water fountain display, near the pump. Each time, she carefully
slipped out of the Umbra, did it, and was back in before anyone could
see her. Within a few minutes, the charges went off, causing chaos
and pandemonium. Guards came out of the building to try and maintain
order, and each two-man group found themselves running into a large
Garou. One who took them apart in mere seconds, thanks to the
training her father had given her. And the fact that she kept popping
in and out of the Umbra, making little “BOO” motions with her hands
before she attacked. Her only injury was a bullet wound taken from a
guard she did not see in time. He was… quickly dispatched. Once
inside the building, she found out where they kept their really top
secret Pentex information, and used another of her little stump bombs
to get it open… receiving another wound, as it was proofed against
Garou by being silver-lined. But it was worth it, as the information
she got was quite juicy. After shutting off the fire alarm protocols,
and setting a few more long-burning fires, she slipped back into the
Umbra, and headed back home.
When she returned to the Sept, the building was
burning, and would soon be nothing but ash… and she had enough
information against Pentex to plot several more very strategic
strikes. Because of exactly how she had decided to do it, and the
fact that she had not shirked away from a fight, simply chosen to do
it in such a way that would show her true Ragabash nature, she was
considered to have succeeded in her Rite quite perfectly. Her name
was chosen to be “Peek-A-Boo,” as that was how she chose to dispatch
her opponents. Her father was not at ALL pleased, but the Adren
Ragabash of the Sept had been tasked with the naming, as they were of
the same Auspice, and she was the ranking person with that Auspice.
And Alyssa… absolutely adored it.
Over the next few months, Alyssa found that her life was a bit
better than it had been for the past several. Her peers treated her
as an equal, and those around her finally backed off a bit, allowing
her to learn on her own. However, her father did not relent,
continuing to train her and try to drill into her head what he
believed the proper Garou should be. Finally, she had had enough… and
actually struck her father. He was stunned, but she did not give him
time to recover, and immediately followed this up with a very long
period of yelling and screaming at him. Years of frustration and
anger were vented, as she told him everything he had ever done wrong
to her, everything she had longed to say. Finally, without thinking,
she told him that her mother would have been ashamed of him, and that
she would have hated him for what he had done to her… which seemed
like a slap in the face to the older Garou. Without another word, she
moved to her room, packed a few of her clothes (including her
dedicated clothes), and, with her guitar, immediately set out on her
own. She said but one more thing to her father.
“Mother wanted me to be both wolf and man. You took away four and a
half years of my life as a human being. For four and a half years, I
will be only human, not wolf. But even then, you’ll never see me
again. I hate you.”
With that, she left her father’s life, and took a series of busses and
trains across the country, headed for Nashville. There was only one
thing she could think to do at this point… continue her music
training, and try to get a career playing. Unfortunately, all of her
money was spent on the trip over, and when she finally arrived at the
Nashville Greyhound, she had absolutely nothing but her clothes and
her guitar. Alone, desperate, and very, very afraid, she did the only
thing she could think to do. She tried to sell herself for money.
But it appeared, after so many years of hardship, Gaia graced the
young Garou with luck… and the first guy she tried to proposition took
her to his home, and fed her instead. The man’s name was Albert
Quinn, and he was one of those people who liked to help those in
need. For two days, she stayed with him, until he introduced her to a
new concept. The YWCA. And it was that where she stayed for several
more weeks, even after she got a job waiting tables. With that money,
she found a very cheap apartment… and for one more year, she stayed
there, trying to get into the music business.
One day, she finally got a response from one of
her tapes she had sent in. Immediately, she called up Albert, and
told him the good news, her young voice almost squealing with
excitement. He told her how proud he was of her, and ended the
conversation with a simple “Good luck, Alyssa.” For the rest of her
life, she would always pray before a big occasion, asking Gaia to have
Albert Quinn wish her good luck. For she was immediately picked up as
a performer by a large recording industry, looking for a new female
country singer to promote. Within six months, she had an album out…
some songs she’d written, some songs that had been written by the
company… under the stage name Alyssa Newton, a name she’d chosen from
one of her favorite 80s singer, Juice Newton. She was on tour another
six months after that… and so began her career.
Now, it was almost four
and a half years after leaving home. She was considered small-time,
but still nationally successful as a performer. Her life had turned
around pretty well since those days, and, now, she has just bought a
small ranch just outside of Brentford North, Virginia. |
