The Forge of the Fallen

[Falling Rock/Lei Feng]

-CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG-

Hammer struck metal in a rhythmic pattern, the song of the forge echoing through the home of a great Garou. She was an Arouhn. She was a mother, daughter, Alpha, pack-mate, and friend to many. Most importantly to the craftsman, though, she was Fianna, Fianna and a hero.

Beats-the-Cadence lifts the plate, examining the hot metal, before quenching it in the bucket of water. He examines it again, noting the flawless surface.

He sets the plate on a table, taking up hammer and chisel.

"Athena-yuf, come please, sit down and tell me about Layla."

[Athena Fire-in-Snow]

Athena slowly uncurls herself from her place in the corner of the room; the smoke was piped out, but the heat of the forge filled the room baking it to a bone-deep warmth that was pleasant after a long morning planting new trees. Many great old ones had fallen in the fight; she was planting seeds and seedlings in the crevices of their stumps, encouraging the formation of nursery trees and fulfilling her chiminage to the Glade Child. It was worthy work, but chilling.

She pads over to the forge, and heaves a great sigh before shifting to Homid. She was starting to hate being in Homid, hate talking and talking and talking. So many stories, so much to teach, so much homid-thinking; it was hurting her head. But she had lived, and her friends and teachers had died. There was no one else left to tell the stories.

Athena shifts to Homid, sitting cross-legged on the ground, leaning against a leg of the table. She looks around her, up at Beats-the-Cadence, and then just stares off into the heart of Calcifer, the forge-fire.

"This place, this hill-home, it is her story. Her story is one of stubbornness and passion. She took a mate, bore a son, then lost them both when our enemies assaulted her cabin, which sat mere yards off of the edge of our bawn. They crashed a car into it, killed her mate and son, and then burned it to the ground, leaving them inside. She took what little survived and rebuilt, digging this hill house inside the Bawn. She built with craftsmanship and artistry, while still ensuring that this home was more defensible than the last. This is Layla. Time and time again she sustained loss -- packs, packmates, family -- and time and time again she found the passion to build again, better and stronger than before. Even when the tasks she was given were not ones she was good at, she attacked them with a will and gave everything she had to the cause. Right down to the end, when she died fighting the Eater-of-Souls, knowing that doing so would cost her her soul and her hope for a future rebirth, or Gaia's eternal peace."

A long pause, and then Athena speaks again, but more quietly and with a more personal tone. "I loved how she treated the spirits. When she gave Chiminage, it was often one that would bring personal pleasure to the spirit. She fed Calcifer rare woods and herbs as treats once she found out he liked them; she fed the Owl spirits plump rodents so often that it's wonder any of them are still thin enough to fly, and used a Rite to allow spirits to experience the taste of a human feast. She brought Fluffy, Destroyer of Worlds into her home, and gave him love and attention and treats."

Athena appears momentarily distracted, as she sees Fluffy on the other side of the Gauntlet lift his head sleepily to look in her direction, before dropping his head back on his paws and drifting off again in the heat of Calcifer's flame.

"And at the end, she made me promise to take care of them, to take up where she left off. I would have in any case, but she thought of them, even with everything else going on. She cared about them, cared what would happen to them in her absence. She loved them. It was in her nature, to care about all the details and to give them the same attention and passion that others give the grand things."

Athena looks up at Beats-the-Cadence, and locks eyes with him. "Layla was the ten thousand small hammer strokes that shape a sheet of steel into a masterpiece."

[Falling Rock/Lei Feng]

As he listens to Athena, Beats-the-Cadence strikes hammer to chisel, shaping a multitude of runes into the surface of the plate. The runes flow, one into the other, depicting all that was Layla "Broiler-plate" Brand. They show her honor, her loyalty, her passion, her stubbornness.

As he completes his work, her lifts the small crucible from Calcifer's flame. He pours the molten silver into the runes. When the silver cools, he sets about the task of finishing the piece. After hours of careful detail work and polishing, he holds up the plate again. The silver runes shine against the dark steel.

"It is complete. Not as good as her own work, but I hope it does her justice."

She hands the plate to Athena, locking eyes with her.

"I know the Eater of Souls consumed her, but we must not give up hope. So long as we draw breath, we do not give up hope. That is the Garou way. We mourn the fallen, and carry on the fight."

[Athena Fire-in-Snow]

She locks eyes in return, with the focused gaze of an iron will and immense determination. "We will carry on, and carry her memory with us. Every act made in her memory does her justice, if it done with passion and a good will. What we do in her name is her only immortality." She looks at the plate. "This is beautiful. Thank you."