Post by Victor Adelai on Feb 6, 2011 21:26:15 GMT -8
There are few humans that will ever understand what it is to be Garou. It is a multifaceted life. Duty before dishonor. Smiling in the face of death. Chasing a war we have already lost. Fighting anachronistic traditions while battering off a ravenous, growing modern world.
It would be taxing for any person. But adding Rage to the mix and the entire thing changes. A great 'gift' from the Celestials... a thank you note was likely in order. With sparkles.
Lightbringer knew that Rage well, as did Orion. There was sympathy for his comrade in arms. Their 'gift' was a prison with red hazed murder for bars and an eternity away from any semblance of a normal human interaction as the sentence. Certainly, there were those born under the no-moon or the crescent that might play at normality. But those born under the full had little choice. Most of humanity would reject them; to not embrace the Rage completely was akin to suicide.
And only if the Rage first shown its face with the Change. If only there would be a few blessed years of normalcy before the war claimed your life. But even that small kindness would be too much to ask. Those with Rage in their soul twisted the thoughts of people around them. Always on the outside. Always greeted with hushed whispers and frightened glances.
And so the world of humans was forever closed to those warriors of Gaia 'blessed' enough to be allied with their hatreds. Picture that life. Then see it change forever in a bloody mist when the change came upon you and reality set it. A murderer in the service of Gaia. A... necessary evil. Still, a kind and loving god would not curse their own warriors so, but such it is.
And now the Uktena can gaze across the bawn and see a Fenrir. A Fenrir alone and isolated. He had never known a 'normal' life. Had never seen true kindness from strangers or the welcome embrace of a community. Like his Uktena voyeur, sat on the outside. And when his Rites of Passage were completed and his greater family chosen, even then there is no peace. Your cousins in this war are untrustworthy. It only takes one poor example to sour ones thoughts forever after. The other Tribes could not be trusted to have your best interests; they would use and discard you. Your own Tribe would belittle you and give lesson after lesson to display their own superiority, cast you into the grinder and war machine with little regard for safety. It was a war we have already lost, after all.
So those Garou gifted with Rage had little to call a community. Humans hated you (save a few brave Kin, perhaps, and even they granted Ahroun a wide berth). Other Garou offered little support, save perhaps passing comradeship. Tribal connections offered little; not the family one might look for.
And then there was Pack. The new family, the bond deeper then anything one could describe. Finally, the acceptance we were missing. Pack was sacrosanct. Pack was powerful. Pack was... crucial. Those who ran alone were anathema. To shun the one acceptance and love a Garou would ever know was unconscionable.
The Fenrir sat calmly. The Uktena envy's his emotionless demeanor. He faced the truest fear that sat in the concealed heart of Lightbringer: dissolution of Pack. To lose a brother, a sister and a brother (again) was too painful to consider. And the loss he saw the Fenrir wrestle with echoed forever through him. It forced an uncomfortable lens on his own Pack.
Johnny Chaos was either a political mastermind or a bumbling fool. The Uktena would accept either without much concern at this point. Three challenges resolved with a single duel was... terribly nontraditional. And now the Load-Bearers were without a Beta. Half the Council of Elders were Hummingbirds. He had a Kin to speak for; a curious change. Rank was coming swiftly. Battles were on the foresight... For the first time the Pack felt the pressure of their name. Chained to the Sept now with unflinching bondage.
If the Children of Hummingbird followed Volcano's example, the Ali'i would never forgive that shifty no-moon. Ever.
It would be taxing for any person. But adding Rage to the mix and the entire thing changes. A great 'gift' from the Celestials... a thank you note was likely in order. With sparkles.
Lightbringer knew that Rage well, as did Orion. There was sympathy for his comrade in arms. Their 'gift' was a prison with red hazed murder for bars and an eternity away from any semblance of a normal human interaction as the sentence. Certainly, there were those born under the no-moon or the crescent that might play at normality. But those born under the full had little choice. Most of humanity would reject them; to not embrace the Rage completely was akin to suicide.
And only if the Rage first shown its face with the Change. If only there would be a few blessed years of normalcy before the war claimed your life. But even that small kindness would be too much to ask. Those with Rage in their soul twisted the thoughts of people around them. Always on the outside. Always greeted with hushed whispers and frightened glances.
And so the world of humans was forever closed to those warriors of Gaia 'blessed' enough to be allied with their hatreds. Picture that life. Then see it change forever in a bloody mist when the change came upon you and reality set it. A murderer in the service of Gaia. A... necessary evil. Still, a kind and loving god would not curse their own warriors so, but such it is.
And now the Uktena can gaze across the bawn and see a Fenrir. A Fenrir alone and isolated. He had never known a 'normal' life. Had never seen true kindness from strangers or the welcome embrace of a community. Like his Uktena voyeur, sat on the outside. And when his Rites of Passage were completed and his greater family chosen, even then there is no peace. Your cousins in this war are untrustworthy. It only takes one poor example to sour ones thoughts forever after. The other Tribes could not be trusted to have your best interests; they would use and discard you. Your own Tribe would belittle you and give lesson after lesson to display their own superiority, cast you into the grinder and war machine with little regard for safety. It was a war we have already lost, after all.
So those Garou gifted with Rage had little to call a community. Humans hated you (save a few brave Kin, perhaps, and even they granted Ahroun a wide berth). Other Garou offered little support, save perhaps passing comradeship. Tribal connections offered little; not the family one might look for.
And then there was Pack. The new family, the bond deeper then anything one could describe. Finally, the acceptance we were missing. Pack was sacrosanct. Pack was powerful. Pack was... crucial. Those who ran alone were anathema. To shun the one acceptance and love a Garou would ever know was unconscionable.
The Fenrir sat calmly. The Uktena envy's his emotionless demeanor. He faced the truest fear that sat in the concealed heart of Lightbringer: dissolution of Pack. To lose a brother, a sister and a brother (again) was too painful to consider. And the loss he saw the Fenrir wrestle with echoed forever through him. It forced an uncomfortable lens on his own Pack.
Johnny Chaos was either a political mastermind or a bumbling fool. The Uktena would accept either without much concern at this point. Three challenges resolved with a single duel was... terribly nontraditional. And now the Load-Bearers were without a Beta. Half the Council of Elders were Hummingbirds. He had a Kin to speak for; a curious change. Rank was coming swiftly. Battles were on the foresight... For the first time the Pack felt the pressure of their name. Chained to the Sept now with unflinching bondage.
If the Children of Hummingbird followed Volcano's example, the Ali'i would never forgive that shifty no-moon. Ever.