Destiny's Run

by dervishspin

The Pack of Destiny's Run goes on a desperate quest to gain renown after loosing their galliard. Who will sing of their success?

The pack of Destiny's Run met on the mainland side of the bawn, just south of the parking lot. Black was excited.  His pack was getting together to run!  As a lupus he didn't really understand why, something about an unexplored silver pit in Blade's father's territory, but he didn't really care. The pack was finally going to go into danger together again.  If they were lucky, maybe they'd find a good fight!  He remembered abruptly the last time the pack had been in a fight, and how Storm had looked when she died.  He realized that she was not going to be able to share in the fun this time or to sing about it after.  His mood got darker.  The others began to discuss how they were going to approach the problem of invading another's territory. As the pack sat and planned out the trip, he began to feel impatient.  They prattled on and on!  Alex asked Black for his thoughts.  Too much talk was the reply he scrawled in his journal.

Blade shuffled his feet.  They weren't actually invading Silverhorn territory, he explained sheepishly, just passing through.   Stonefang rolled his eyes and then suggested that they stop talking about it, shift to lupus and run.  Blade took his car keys out of his pocket and jingled them, "We'll go by truck," he announced.

Shade, the pack's theurge, or shaman, goggled at the handsome, blonde warrior, "What?"

"No we're not," Stonefang said flatly," we run."

Blade set his jaw, "No.  We go by truck."

Black looked as if his ears were drooping even though he was in homid form.  Alex couldn't tell if it was from the thought of riding in a weaver-damned truck or whether he dreaded the coming contest of wills, though in Alex's case it was the latter.  Great, he thought, here we go again.

The hair on the back of Stonefang's neck stood up, "I said, we go on foot."

"No,"  Blade's eyes flicked towards Shade and then away.

Shade felt her face go cold as she slowly realized why Blade was insisting on taking a vehicle, "You don't think I can do it."  She ignored the looks her pack-mates made towards her hands in her lap.  They were curled at an awkward angle and were crisscrossed with new pink scar tissue.  None of them had seen her in her lupus form since the accident that had driven the shattered silver fragments of the klaive she had been making into her hands, crippling her.  "You don't believe in me, do you?" Blade said nothing.

Tear's cheerful voice cut through the tension, "Come on Blade. Don't make me make you talk in the high squeaky voice.  You'll hate that."  He was referring to the Voice of the Jackal, a ritual to done to humiliate someone whose pride brought shame to a tribe or a sept.  It was a favorite ritual of the young ragabash, who had never actually performed it and was dying to see what it would do.

Stonefang's warning killed the lightly chiding mood that his son had tried to set.  He growled a challenge, "Blade..."

"You don't think I can," Shade's voice shook with fury.

Blade looked up to lock eyes with Stonefang and meet his challenge, but his answer was for her, "No, I don't."

The other members of the pack, Shade, Tear, Alex and Black backed away from the two Ahroun.  They were both growling now.  Shade felt like growling herself.  She clenched her fists uselessly, Damn him! Since Storm died she had been the one to take up the job of mediating between them, to soothe the rough edges and reason with the two most stubborn men in the pack.  Storm had made it look so easy.   But Blade started this fight by doubting her in front of the rest of the pack, how could she keep them together if she spent half her energy trying to keep from killing him herself?   The space framed by the lowering of their brows was filled with the rage they had for each other.  Alex remembered the last challenge for authority and watched with trepidation as the two circled.  He saw a flash that he did not quite understand.

Blade tore his eyes away from Stonefang and slumped to the ground.  Nobody made a move to help him.  He put his hand to his head.

"Damn...." Tear whispered, "What did you do to him, 'Fang?"  Tear never called Stonefang "father" if he could help it. 

Stonefang did not bother making a reply to his son, though he succeeded in looking very smug, "We run."

While the rest of the pack waited for Blade to recover from being stunned, they discussed tactics and strategy for getting in and out of the mine without being seen.  Shade glared at the defeated ahroun.  He refused to look at her while he absorbed the meaning of his latest failure to gain control of the pack.  Black observed her anger, scribbled in his book, and shoved it under her nose.  Startled, she looked down to read his childish scrawl: Save your rage for the wyrm, he had written.  She nodded, but turned her eyes back to Blade unwilling to let it go.  Perhaps if she had not been feeling so useless his lack of faith in her would not have rankled so much, but it hit too close to home.  The truth was she did not know if she could keep up.  She had told both Stonefang and Blade as much, but had told them in confidence and was furious to find him bringing it up in front of the others.

Blade endured her glare while struggling to master his scattered thoughts.  Stonefang had never managed to successfully use that trick of his will on Blade, though he had attempted twice before.  He was humiliated and angry that Stonefang had defeated him this time without even lifting a talon.  He had packed for this trip early.  Nestled in the bed of the truck was food, rope, flashlights and climbing equipment, everything that he imagined they would need to explore an unknown cave. But he had not had enough time to say any of this before everyone leaped for his throat.  If he had told them about his planning, they would probably have agreed to take the truck, but that was not what he wanted, he wanted them to trust him with having to explain it. He had upset Shade as well.  That had not been his intention, though he had suspected that she would be furious at his reasoning: he had just wanted to protect her and keep her ruined hands from sustaining more damage. This latest injustice, challenge, of Stonefang's burned in his belly.  His instincts were screaming at him to obey the pack alpha, but his rage and need carried him past them as he shook off the last of the affects of Stonefang's will.

The older man caught the movement and tried to fix Blade with his eye, "Are you ready to stop playing around and go now?"

Blade avoided the look, forced his recalcitrant voice past his lips.  It was an act of will for him to be able to speak at all, let alone defy his leader again, "Yes. But we go by truck."

There was a moment of startled silence.  Alex closed his open mouth with a snap.

"I...I know you blacked out for a moment, but did...did you miss the fact that Stonefang just kicked your ass?" Tear was so astonished that he was stuttering.

Blade ignored him, "Come on, let's get in the truck."

Alex could not believe what he was hearing.  The alpha had won a challenge and still he was defied.  The young philiodox was more disturbed than he could articulate.  Blade was setting pack law on its ear, "The decision has been made.  We run!"

"We're wasting time, let's get in and go."

Alex spluttered, "You lost!"

Stonefang narrowed his eyes at his rival, but Tear kept him from having to speak, "Yeah, it's definitely time for the high squeaky voice."

This pronouncement did not make the ahroun particularly alarmed, and indeed Tear made no move to start a rite.  Blade held himself very still, it took all his strength not to submit to Stonefang's will.  Shade seemed to sense his struggle, for she spoke with scorn, "Bare your throat, Blade."  Blade said nothing, only jingled the keys to underscore his point.

The gravely voice of the pack leader cut across the metallic ringing, "My decision stands.  We go now and we go by foot."

Shockingly, Blade laughed, "Have fun finding the place without me."

Alex could not contain himself any longer, "You would do this?  You would split the pack because your stupid pride would not admit to a defeat?  You lost a challenge, Blade! What right do you have to stand there and think you have a say in what we do now?"

The Ahroun snarled at the Philodox, finally free to snap at someone lower in the pack structure, "It was my idea to go in the first place!  If you want the chance to find the glory you crave we go my way, and we take the truck."

Shade stalked up to Blade, got in his face, forced him to meet her eyes, "Don't expect me to smooth the path between you and Stonefang this time."  She kept her voice low, furious words meant for him alone, "You lost your defender when you doubted in my ability to run with this pack.  You are in the wrong and you know it. Obey him!"

Only Black's ears were keen enough to hear the exchange. He knew that one of them would have to give in, but also that for the strength of the pack, it must not be Stonefang.  It was with angry wonder that he watched Blade struggle to tear out the throat of the law of the pack.

Finally Black got up. He shimmered into lupus form and began to run to the parking lot, leaving all the talk-talk-talk behind him.  Tear glanced at Alex worriedly, and then followed suit, lagging in the wake of his more fleet footed pack-mate.  He rounded the corner to the lot where Blade, Alex and other visitors to the bawn kept their cars just in time to see Black take crinos form and advance on the back of Blade's truck.  Tear barked at him to stop, but Black ignored the command.  If the weaver beast caused such division amongst his pack, then the weaver beast must die. Unsheathing his claws he tore out a chunk of each of the back tires.   Tear skidded to a halt near Black and surveyed the damage with tongue hanging out of his mouth.  The Ragabash whined and hid his eyes under his paws. But Black was already moving, shifting back into lupus, catching a piece of the radial in his teeth and racing back to the rest of the pack.

The argument had shifted in his absence, for Shade now had her hand on the side of Blade's face as if in comfort, while Stonefang and Alex had turned away to confer.  Black spat the shredded tire at Blade's feet.

A strange look passed over Blade's features as he looked at the mangled piece of rubber.  Alex laughed aloud.  Gathering his dignity Blade looked at Shade and Stonefang, "Once I get the spare, I guess we'll be on our way."  Stiffly he broke away from Shade and stalked over the rise towards his truck.   Blade fixed Black with a glare as he passed, but Black yelped, wagged his tail and waited for approval from his pack leader.  After a moment they could hear Blade cursing loudly as he drew closer to the damage.

Stonefang allowed himself a slight smile, "You took out more than one tire, didn't you."  Black barked once happily.  Shade scratched him between his ears and he leaned into the gesture, pleased that they could now get going.

A red honda whose back windows were covered with bumper stickers proclaiming the drivers dedication to environmental issues sped down rte 116 doing at least 80.  Its passage whipped the branches of a small pine grove that had been planted by the highway department on the east side of the road to prevent erosion along this stretch.  After the air in it's wake shuddered and slowed to a more normal speed, an enormous silver wolf crawled out from underneath the small trees.  It looked carefully both ways on the road as if looking for oncoming cars, but there was no other traffic.  The wolf, a male, yipped once and the bushes shuddered again, this time with the passage of a mid-sized pack of wolves leaping out from under the trees and scampering to the other side of the road.  They faded into the bushes on the other side, skulking, belly low to get under the branches. One, a wiry bitch with red and black markings, was slower to move than the others were and the silver nipped at her heels.  When all had vanished into the trees like mist, the silver turned his majestic head to the ground.  Satisfied that they had left no muddy paw prints he spun and leapt though a gap in the bushes, moving ahead to take point.   The pack continued their run. 

Black felt the wind of his passing rustle through his fur.  The ground under his paws thrummed with life and the smell of a winter loosing its identity to the spring was intoxicating. It was good to be out running long distances.  He did not turn his head to look at Blade several paces behind him, though he could hear him laboring to keep pace with the fleet lupus. Black lolled his tongue at his slower homid brother, but remembered that they were supposed to be on point together and slowed down a notch. He forced himself to run at the rest of the pack's pace, though he longed to race ahead and watch the miles fall away behind him.

Stonefang watched Shade struggle to run without limping.  She was doing a good job of keeping up with the others, but he knew that she was suffering, if silently.  He was afraid that in her need to prove Blade wrong she would do further injury to herself, though he knew that if he mentioned it she would snap at him.   Since the accident that had ruined her hands she had been moody and defensive.  He wished that he had the words to convince her that it had not been her fault, but words had always been Storm's tools, never his.  He did not persuade people, he led by example, by strength of will.   People followed him because they wanted to be led or in Blade's case because he was not yet strong enough to break away, but those skills would not help Shade overcome the darkness that gripped her soul.  He did not know what would.

Blade skidded to a stop in the middle of the road.  Alex, in his current form of a red dire wolf with brilliant green eyes, tripped over him and came to an inelegant, sprawling halt.  Blade loped a couple of paces backward to a fork in the road that he had raced past.  A couple of sniffs at the entrance proved that it was the road he was looking for. A howl recalled Black, who in the lead had already rounded the next corner.

The pack regrouped and ran down the muddy dirt road towards the mine.  The road showed signs that someone had been here during the winter with heavy trucks, but not since the last snowfall.  Stonefang picked a distinctive looking elm tree about a thousand yards from the cavern entrance to serve as their rally point.   In case they got separated they would meet back there or scratch their sigil on the bark before fleeing to let the others know that they were alive.

Alex sniffed and then sneezed. The area still smelled like the weaver even though the place had obviously not been used in years; trucks, motor oil, the dark tang of heavy equipment.  He did not like the place.  Blade led them to the entrance of the mine, barred with a rusted iron gateway, though the lock was new and as Tear discovered when he shifted to homid to deal with it, not fastened.  Alex shifted himself and frowned. He took the torch that they had brought and held it upright while Tear set flame to oil soaked wrappings.  Stonefang knew that Alex was uneasy, he wasn't so sure he liked the situation himself, but they had run too far to turn back now.  Blade confided in his pack that a fetish of great power had been hidden someplace on the land that used to belong to his father. Old Blade, Young Heart had been the previous sept leader before The Hunter and had donated the land to a private environmental foundation. The Hunter's pack the Silver Horns, had control of the land now and it was on their territory that Destiny's Run was currently trespassing.  They were here at the abandoned mine because Blade believed that the fetish had been hidden somewhere in it's depths.  If they could recover it great renown would be theirs, though they had no galliard to sing of it since Storm's death; they would have the fetish to speak for their bravery.  It was a clever plan, Stonefang allowed to himself, even though the conception of it had been Blade's.

Stonefang stretched and assumed his homid form, "Easy Alex," he soothed.

Alex growled, "Why is it unlocked? What if it's a trap?"

"What if it is?"  The alpha returned, "We can take all comers."

Blade stood up from being on all fours, "It's not a trap," he assured them, "there was a survey crew here about 3 months ago.  They probably just forgot to lock up."  Alex snorted his disbelief but did not contradict him.

Shade sat on the ground carefully brushing the dirt from her palms.  The scabs on her hands from the accident were not fully healed and she did not want them to get infected.  It also gave her a moment to massage the aching muscles so she could possibly use her hands later.  The run took more out of her than she would ever admit to Blade.  Out of the corner of her eye she could see Black still in his wolf form giving her questioning looks, and though she wanted to rest longer, she pushed herself to her feet. "Let's go," she said.

The mine was fairly easy for the members of the pack on two legs to traverse; at first the tunnels were tall, wide and stretched on in one direction, angling sharply downward.   After a while the way became narrower; it twisted and wound around in the switchback way that the silver had run through the earth. Black didn't like the place. It was dark, cramped and smelled, strangely, like fish. He stayed close to Shade fearing for deadfalls, his paws scrabbled to maintain traction on the parts of the tunnel that were starting to get slick with moisture.  Alex was the first to discover the narrow crevasses cut into the cavern walls.  "These are too small to get equipment down," he observed. 

Shade touched the rock; it was softer than the base rock that silver was usually found in, "This is a natural tunnel."

"Black, check it out," Stonefang ordered.  Black hesitated and a sound almost like a whine escaped his throat. "Currently you are the only one who is the right size to fit through that hole," the alpha pointed out logically.

Black rolled his eyes at Stonefang but did as he was told.   Alex got the distinct impression that he had been about to point out that anyone could shift to lupus at any time.  True enough, but Alex was glad that it wasn't him down that hole yet. Black padded forward hesitantly. He was certain now that he was hearing the sound of water over stones, and the smell of the fish grew stronger.  Snout down he sniffed trying to determine what kind of fish.... with a yelp his paws slid out from underneath him and he skidded down a sharp incline into stream of warm water.  He slammed up against the water cut streambed with a splash.

"Black!"  Alex shouted in alarm.

Frustrated, Black shifted into homid, though his first action was to bite his tongue to keep from swearing in gaelic, "Come down," he finally got out, "Room good. Follow stream."

"What is he saying?"  Blade had no patience for the lupus garou's faltering use of English.

Alex, who spent more time with Black, translated, "He said there is enough room for us to go down and that there is a stream that we can follow.  It must go someplace."

"Well why didn't he say that?" Blade grumbled.

The rest of the pack gingerly made their way down the incline, more sure with hands to help brace than with paws.  Black stayed in his homid form reluctantly.  One by one they entered the stream that flowed sharply down again, Tear taking up the rear, holding the torch up high to light the way.  Blade sourly thought of the rope and climbing equipment that they had left in the truck, it would have been very useful now.  He wondered what secrets the darkness of this abandoned mine held.  The Sept leader, a fellow Silverfang called the Hunter, had not quite asked him to go check it out.  Instead she had very carefully expressed regret that they may need to open the mine up again to production unless definitive proof could be brought that keeping it closed would serve Gaia and protect her bounty.  Blade was wise enough to know that there were times when she had to ask for something without actually asking for something.  She must have thought that there really was a secret hidden in the mine's depths, though damned if Blade could figure out what it was.  The story of the fetish, while true, was mostly an excuse to get the proud and stubborn Uktena of his pack to do a favor for the Silverfangs.  He supposed that the mysterious fetish of his father's could have been hidden here; he soothed his conscience with the thought that it was not quite a lie.

Shade felt the water soak her moccasins up to her ankle and was surprised to find that the water was warm.  For some reason this made her more nervous, shouldn't cave water, never having been kissed by the sun, be cold?     

Tear held the torch up high so the flame would not blind him.   The light flooded the tunnel with flickering amber warmth.  Tear was having a great time!  Other than the ridiculousness of Blade's challenge to Stonefang, it had been a marvelous adventure so far.  He could not wait to see what was down this tunnel and around the corner. Abruptly his foot slipped on the bottom of the slick, fast moving stream, "Ooops," he said.

Stonefang heard the exclamation and turned behind to steady his son.  Tear slammed into him, knocking him forward into Alex.  Alex tried to maintain his balance, failed and the three men swept into Shade.  Gravity began to work against the pack, sliding down the streambed, collecting Blade and then Black, gathering speed.  Hands grappled against the slick cavern walls, failing to find a handhold to stop the descent.  There was a long, tense moment of free fall and then the pack splashed in a tangle of limbs into a pool of water.  The torch went out.

Black found himself at the bottom of the pile.  Someone's elbow dug into his back, and a foot glanced off his head as everyone tried to get to the surface of the water.  Black did not panic yet, though his lungs wanted air.  In the moment when he was suspended over this invisible pool of water he had smelt the fish again.  He waited until he could get to the top and then surfaced carefully.

"Everyone ok?" Stonefang's voice floated through the blackness.

"Fine," Blade brushed off the concern.

"Sorry!" Tear said shamefaced. "I slipped."

"Thanks a lot, Tear." Alex snapped, sounding like he was sloshing to his feet.  The water proved to be only about waist deep.

"I said I was sorry!"

"Good," Black volunteered.

"Shade?"  Stonefang demanded.

"Something's glowing," she observed.  After a moment of letting their eyes adjust to the darkness they could see that it was true.  They looked around themselves.  The cavern was large, about 1/2 the size of a football field, with the bottom a pool of water.  Three dim light sources sat half submerged in the water, stationed about equidistant apart.  They cast a gentle silver glow that partially illuminated the chamber.  Behind and above them the tunnel that they had made their abrupt entrance from stood twenty-five feet above the surface of the water.  Blade sighed; that climbing equipment would have been really handy right now.

"What the hell are those?" Alex's voice was rough with strain.

Shade splashed over to one of the objects to have a closer look.  They looked like glowing boulders, but they felt to her spirit senses like... what did they feel like?

"Alex, relax!" Stonefang barked.

Alex's hackles were up, "I don't like this place."

Black looked around the cavern, but he was more interested in what may be living below the water rather than the fixtures above it.  He stuck his nose in the water.

"Hello Fish," he called.  Black, being born a wolf rather than a human like the rest of his pack, had gifts enabling him to speak with the other animals of the woods.  One of those gifts enabled him to talk to fish.  The fish in this cavern were very excited, they had never spoken to anyone other than themselves before, but they had heard rumors of wolves that could speak like fish.  Black tried to make sense of what they chattered to him.

Blade flared his nostrils, questing for a scent to help him understand the glowing objects.  Nothing made any sense to him, and the only thing he smelt was strange sweet smell of the wyld and fish, "What are those things?"

"They're eggs," Tear pronounced.

Stonefang frowned at the misshapen, rough-hewn boulders, "They don't look like eggs to me."

Shade spoke slowly, "No, I think Tear is right." She did sense something inside them, but she did not know what.  On closer inspection, the eggs seemed to be perched inside little tide pools made of stone just below the surface of the water.  The tide pools themselves contained the strangely warm water and a phosphorescent liquid.  Shade dipped her fingers in it.  The liquid did not sting, but she felt particles of something rub against the tips of her fingers.

Tear looked around the room as if scanning for trouble.  If these were eggs then where...?  Abruptly he held the torch up high, changing the direction of the shadows that it cast.  He looked down.  Sure enough, he could see his reflection in the water.  He grinned.

"What are you doing?" Stonefang demanded suspiciously.

"I'm gonna go for a "walk"."

"Not alone, you're not."

Tear shrugged indifferently, "Come along if you want. It could be a little father-son outing."  The sarcasm carried clearly in the empty cavern.

Stonefang clenched his jaw; his son could be so infuriating! He had long ago given up trying to protect Tear from danger, but still, as alpha of Destiny's Run he had an obligation to make sure that all member of his pack were safe.

Tear met his father's eyes with a sardonic, challenging expression, and then sought the reflection of his own eyes in the water.  Stonefang, not to be outdone did the same.  Lost in his own image he felt briefly like he was falling inside himself and then he came up against the gauntlet, the membrane that kept the real world and the spirit realm, the Umbra, apart.  Stonefang braced himself and pushed his way through. The gauntlet was thin in the cavern and it was not a moment before he stumbled out on the other side.  Tear stood near him looking around.  The flame on the torch did not survive the passage, though Tear still held the piece of wood clutched in his fist.  Fortunately the area of the Umbra that they were in did not require light of any kind.

"It's almost the same, "Stonefang observed.

"Only brighter, " said Tear.  It was true. The representation of the walls and the eggs glowed much more brightly on the other side, chasing the shadows from the cavern, but the area looked virtually identical to the cavern where the rest of the pack explored.  The light seemed to come from everywhere, and compared to the gloom on the other side, it made their eyes almost water

Stonefang sloshed over to the nearest egg.  It looked the same, but now something in him sensed the truth.  Perhaps it was that he had fathered several children in his time, but he felt, or rather he knew that Tear was right.  This was a nest.  He touched the phosphorescent liquid that the eggs were bathing in and drew his hand back quickly.  It had left him with the impression that the liquid contained another creature, microscopic, which somehow had a symbiotic relationship with these eggs.  He frowned.  If these were eggs, where was the mother hen?

"Oh shit," said Tear reverently.

Stonefang whipped around to his son.  Tear had his head back and mouth open, looking at the ceiling, the too bright ceiling.  Stonefang followed his gaze.

"Oh shit," he echoed.

When the torch vanished through the Umbra the room returned back to its original faint illumination.  Shade did not seem to notice, focused instead on the puzzle before her.  Finally here was her opportunity to do something useful, a puzzle that only she could solve.  Shade knelt and laid her hands on the glowing stone protrusion.  The water came up to the top of her chest.  She began to put herself into a trance, trying to commune with whatever creature might be inside.  Blade shrugged and moved away from her to the wall.  It looked like it was glowing too, though in a different way.  He reached out and touched it.  His fingers tingled slightly.  He frowned, scraped a bit of the reflective surface off and touched it to his tongue. It began to itch and he spat it out.  Silver.  He lifted an eyebrow; at least Shade would be pleased.

Black dog-paddled over a deep hole in the water.  The smell of fish here was strongest so he dived down to see what he could.  The light did not extend very far, but the fish assured him that the hole was the way out.  He felt around the lip of the crater, it was not very big; they would have to go one at a time.  He surfaced and looked for Alex.

Alex refused to shift out of crinos form.  Something was not right.  He did not know what it was, but something was definitely not right in this cavern.  It made his fur stand on end and it was all he could do not to growl.  The water lapped around his knees.  He regarded the little glowing rocks with distaste.  Wyld scent or no, he was not comfortable here.

Suddenly the light in the room became dimmer.  Blade waded back over to her and was startled to see that Shade's fingers had sunk into the stone surface, creating handprints in the surface of the egg.  He was about to shake her out of her trance when she woke herself and looked down at what she had done with horror.  "Oh no," she moaned, "What did I do?"  She cupped her hands, and poured more of the luminescent liquid over the ridges that her fingers had left.  It only seemed to dredge the imprints of her hands deeper into the egg.  She looked up to meet Blade's eyes, "I didn't mean to," she said.

A splash marked the return of Tear and Stonefang when they tumbled out of the Umbra.  Without a word, hands shaking, Tear lit a match and held it high to the previously unlit ceiling.  The pack looked up.

The feeble flame illuminated what appeared to be many pairs of silver stalactites dripping from the ceiling.  Their eyes could not quite make sense of what they were seeing.

The egg cracked between Shade's hands spilling green fluid and a half formed birdlike embryo into the water.  It moved weakly in the water, floundering.  Startled, Shade scooped it up into her hands to keep it from drowning.

The stalactites opened their eyes.

"Out!" roared Blade and Stonefang simultaneously.  Tear dropped the match as he shifted to crinos and the roof plunged back into darkness.  Blade jerked Shade to her feet and hustled her towards the tunnel high in the wall where they had made their abrupt entrance.  She did not resist, but cradled the baby thing in her hands and tried to protect it when he jostled her.

With a splash the first of the dragon like creatures plummeted to the water.  It struggled to the surface as another one dropped.  It had a large, wedge shaped reptilian head with red eyes.  Its wings spread about six feet across and were tipped with gleaming claws.  A thick strong tail churned the water behind it.  The whole thing glimmered with silver.  It opened its mouth and shrieked.

Stonefang shifted into crinos and stepped between it and the retreating Shade.  It stuck out its wing and raked the claw against Stonefang's stomach trying to get past him to her.  He grunted and lashed back with his claws, tearing the wing membrane.  Tear began to grapple with the other one, trading blows.

Another three dropped from the darkened ceiling to move towards Alex and Black.  Alex roared at the first of them and lashed out.  It fell in a gurgle of blood, his claws making short work of its throat.  Black growled, "Down hole!" and dodged a blow.  The sound of creatures hitting the water filled the air.

When Blade reached to side of the cavern he lifted Shade up onto his shoulders to try to boost her up the wall into the tunnel entrance.  She the nestled the baby creature carefully as she could feel it still moving in her hand, and reached for the lip. "It's no good," she shouted, "Someone else would have to be standing on my shoulders!"  Two more of the wyld monsters beat their wings lifted themselves in the air and hopped over towards them.  Stonefang shouted a warning as he dispatched the creature attacking him.  Blade, hobbled by having Shade on his shoulders, tried to block the first strike against him and failed, the claws bit into his cheek.  

Shade felt the Ahroun absorb the blow and wobbled on his shoulders, "NO!" Shade tried to spirit speak to the animals, "Harm my pack and...and I kill it!"  She was bluffing, but she held the infant out so they could see what she had.  This only seemed to enrage them more and they shrieked and beat their wings in the water, churning up froth.

Alex shouted Black's instructions to the others, "There's a way out here!  A tunnel in the water!  To me! This way!" Black leaped in the way of a strike to the back of Alex's head and felt talons rip through his shoulder.  He did not make a sound but shook his head to clear it from the pain and struck back, severing a forelimb.

Tear realized that the monsters were trying to protect their child.  He wished Shade would just fling it away to distract the others so that they could find a way out.  While she held onto it, it was just driving them into frenzy.  With a sudden flash he understood that he might be able to use their animal nature against them. He closed with the one he was fighting and tore out its throat with his talons, accepting the raking of it's fore claws against his chest.  Hamming it up, he groaned and sank backwards in the water and lay very still, pretending to be dead.  With luck they would leave him alone and be able to go retrieve one of the other strange glowing eggs and fling it to the far side of the cavern to draw the creatures away from his pack.

Stonefang saw his son fall.  His heart hammering in his chest he roared his fury and lifted the creature he was fighting into the air by its neck.  It screamed and beat its wings at him.  Ignoring the slashing cuts of wingtips and forelegs, Stonefang closed his fingers around the throat, crushing the windpipe, and then he flung the body away.  He splashed over to where Tear lay floating in the water and went to gather his son up in his arms. 

"Hey!" Tear struggled against him.

Stonefang froze in disbelief.  His son was alive.  His son was alive and had been playing dead while the rest of the pack had been in danger.  His rage went cold.

"Get up!" He snarled and yanked him up by his arm.

Angrily Tear broke from his father's grip, "I'm trying to..."

Stonefang locked eyes with his son.  Tear felt Stonefang's will crush his resistance effortlessly, heard the words of command indelibly mark themselves on his mind.  "Get out!  Go through the hole that Alex has found.  I will deal with you later." Tear felt his own rage leap in response but lacked the will to tell Stonefang where to go. He gave his father a withering glare and surged towards Alex and Black. 

Blade readjusted his grip on Shade's feet.  The situation was rapidly devolving out of his control.  Two of the dragon creatures were trying to get at her over him.  She continued to hold the child out to them, though she had changed tactics.  "Let us go, and you can have your baby back.  I give you my word!"  They screamed their rage.  Blade saw them both move at the same instant.   One dove for Shade's shoulder, talons outstretched.  The other moved its beak lighting fast towards Blade's head.  Reacting without thinking, Blade let go of one of Shade's legs and parried the shot with his hand; the beak tore into his fingers, spraying blood. Shade took the blow on her arm and tried to curl around her burden.  Blade, cursing, felt her fall and hit the water.  What was wrong with her? Why would she not let the damn fetus go? He lashed out and struck the one who hit her.  It cried and floundered back.  This gave him a moment to shift into crinos and reach for the one that struck him, but suddenly they pulled back out of his range, taunting him with their shrieking voices.  Shade surfaced, still holding the fetus, Blade grabbed her and dragged her backwards towards the others with his good hand.  The monsters stayed away from the Theurge and Blade was happy enough to use her as a shield to rejoin the rest of his pack.

When Black saw that the others were finally paying attention to Alex he dived down into the water.  The fish did not know how far it was for the garou, short enough they insisted, but he needed to be sure that there really was a way out that was not held against them.  With a burst of speed he was down the watery hole.  After a long moment he surfaced into a very shallow cavern.  His snout barely cleared the water to breathe.  Not much further, the fish burbled to him, not much further.  Black took another deep breath and followed the tunnel.  He ran smack into a rock wall, loosing some of his precious air. He had a moment of panic as he felt the rock.  Here, the fish cried, the skin of the earth is thin here, use fists, use fists! His lungs burned for air as he balled his hands into fists and bashed the rocks blocking the way.  The water churned and rocks crumbled under his hands, but finally he was able to claw his way through the opening he had made. Just a little further on he found trees, stars, and a muddy stream bank.  He did not recognize where he was, but there did not seem to be anyone around.  It was a good place for crinos-form garou to regroup.  Sucking air in though his thankful lungs, he turned around and went back to his pack.

Tear and Alex had already struggled down the hole as the creatures closed in from all sides.  Blade and Stonefang parried blows while Shade, still in homid form held the creatures back by holding the little baby out at them.  "Get out!" She screamed at the men, "They'll stay back from me, but you are just taking damage, GO!"

Blade wiped the blood out of his eyes, "You go first!"

"No!"

"Blade, GO!" Stonefang shouted.

"Shade first."

"This is so stupid!" Shade raged against them, "Go!"

"Stonefang..." Blade growled.

"Now!" He rasped back, "I'll pass her to you."

Blade took a last look at Shade, hands aloft with the stillborn monster, iridescent silver and green slime speckling her hands, blood pouring down her arms.  She looked like a pagan priestess offering a sacrifice to the gods.  He took a deep breath and dived down the hole.

Stonefang watched the water swirl over Blade's head, saw him kick and he was gone.  He turned to bodily pick Shade up and force her down the hole below him when he felt himself shoved off balance by a hand placed in the center of his back.  He fell into the water, hands scrabbling for purchase.  He felt Blade grab his arms, thinking he was Shade, and drag him downwards.  He struggled, cursed, felt bubbles race upwards from his lips. The dim light of the cavern seen through the water died behind him.

Shade stood alone in the cavern.  A creature, still untouched, faced her.  It glared at her with rage and beat it's wings at her, alternately crying piteously or shrieking.  Shade felt like she was looking at the mother of this creature, desperately trying to protect her young.  She felt tears start behind her eyes, "I'm sorry," she gasped.  She wished her words could convey to this creature the depth of her guilt, and sorrow, and the shared pain of motherhood denied, but the reptile gnashed it's teeth at her as if to deny their fellowship.   Shade turned to dive.

Pain raked across her back, she felt flesh tear and bones and sinews snap.  Her hand opened of it's own and the baby slipped from her nerveless fingers to splash into the water.  Shade cried out and felt darkness overwhelm her.

Stonefang rose to the surface of the tunnel in an area that afforded him about four inches of air space.  He gasped, pressing his face to the roof to clear his nose from the water.  It was pitch black, but after a moment he smelt Blade, Tear and Alex floating beside him

"Where's Shade?" Blade demanded

"She shoved me!" Stonefang swore, "Where's Black?"

"He's scouting ahead," Alex reassured him.

"I have to go back and get her."

"Give her a chance to get here on her own," snarled Blade.

They waited in silence for almost two minutes. In the darkness the seconds crawled by.

"I'm going back," Stonefang dived.

Black's head popped back into the space, "Come," he stated, "Smash rock, get out."

"We have to smash through?" Tear's jaw dropped and he inhaled water, choking.

Black grinned though none could see it, "Done. Go now."

"I'll wait for Stonefang and Shade," Alex offered, "you go first."  Black and Tear took deep breaths and dived, kicking and struggling down the passageway. Blade and Alex gripped each other's arm.  Neither made a move to leave.

Stonefang surfaced in the cavern carefully.  The bodies of 4 of the dragon things bobbed on the surface of the water.  The others appeared to have retreated to the roof.  Shade floated in the water next to him face down, her back a ruin of blood and bone.  Stonefang's heart stopped.  An image of Storm lying still and cold flashed through his mind.  He shook his head.  No.  Not again.  Not Shade.  He placed a trembling hand on the center of the damage, lined her neck and head up along his forearm and turned Shade over onto her back, careful to keep her spine still.  She was not breathing.  He pinched her nose closed, opened her mouth and pressed his lips against hers, exhaling.  He saw her lungs rise with his breath and fall, and then she choked and drew in air on her own.  He felt his heart pound into life again.

Holding her afloat, he waited until her breathing found it's natural rhythm, keeping an eye on the roof in the dim glow to see if the monsters would attack again. He felt something small bump against him, and he slashed at it, more unnerved than he cared to admit. It was the body of the little creature that Shade had tried to save from the egg.  It floated towards her, all twisted limbs and blind eyes, bumped into her hand and tangled itself in her fingers.   Stonefang shuddered, and with revulsion and pity both shook the thing away from her.  She did not move. He knew that if he did not get help to her soon she would die, but he was afraid of submerging her again while she was unconscious. "We have to go through the water, Shade," he said quietly next to her ear, "underwater.  You will have to hold your breath. Can you do that for me?  Hold your breath?" There was no response.  He hoped that she understood somehow, but he was running out of time.  Grasping her by her chin he took a deep breath and dived, dragging her along behind him.

Blade emerged dripping from the water, the sunlight a welcome sight after the blackness and the gloom of the cavern.  Still in his crinos form he easily levered himself out of the hole in the earth, using the roughly smashed rocks as handholds, and looked around him.   Black was sniffing for trouble.  He was back in his lupus form already.  Tear and Alex looked like they were standing guard, though they were much too close to the edge of the underground stream to be really useful.  Blade did not have time to reprimand them; he turned and helped Stonefang guide Shade's body to the surface.  She wasn't breathing again. She wasn't breathing when Stonefang had brought her into the shallow cavern and they had been forced to send Alex out to join the others to make enough room for Stonefang to breathe for her.  The two of them made the determination to dive again when she had not responded.  Blade braced her neck and back while Stonefang scrambled out of the hole.  Alex helped Blade lay her down, and then Stonefang resumed breathing for her, pinching her nose and blowing into her lungs.  For a long time nothing happened.  Blade desperately ran his fingers through his hair.  He hated feeling helpless, he hated that Stonefang knew how to help her when he could not, and he hated that she was not breathing.  He wanted to tear the alpha away from her and help her himself, but he didn't know how to do what Stonefang was doing.  Alex remained where he was by her head.  She lay in a pool of her own blood that mingled with the water that streamed from her hair.  There seemed to be so much of it.  He held his breath, remembering Storm and prayed to Gaia.   Finally, Shade choked.  Stonefang turned her gently over to the side so that she could spew out the water that she had swallowed, and then back, keeping her neck and spine straight.  Although she did not regain consciousness, she began to breathe on her own.  Alex sighed in relief.  Black glanced across at the drama disinterestedly; he knew that Shade was strong, and that she would eventually recover from the claw and bite marks.  He could not figure what all the fuss was about or why the males hovered around the pack female so intently.

"Look at her hands, " Tear breathed.  They were covered in green slime, blood and the strange silver liquid, but underneath the mess the skin had begun to bubble, turning red and irritated.  Alex tore a piece off of the tattered remnants of her shirt and started wiping the stuff off her hands. Black loped over and sniffed her hands, then, over the protests of his pack mates, licked them clean of the nasty green goo.

Too late to stop Black, Blade pulled his gloves out of the pocket of his leather jacket, "Since we don't know whether or not this rash is communicable, let's the rest of us take precautions."  He handed them to Stonefang, who slipped them on her hands.

Alex quickly stuffed the rag with the goo in his pocket and rinsed his hands in the underground stream, "What do we do now," he asked, "can we move her?"

Stonefang shook his head.  "Not yet.  Let's give her body a couple of hours to recover and then we'll start back." 

The ability for garou to heal from a critical incident was astonishing.  It sometimes still amazed Alex that a death wound such as this could heal itself totally in a couple of days.  In a few hours, the skin would have closed over the wound and the broken bones begun to stabilize.  Though if he were any judge, the skin on Shade's back would bear evidence of the fight for the rest of her life.  Battle scars were an important part of garou society; warriors would strip their shirts and proudly retell the story of how they were gravely wounded in service to Gaia.  Since the garou constitution was so tough, nothing but a death wound would leave a scar, so it was an honor to receive one in Gaia's name.  Alex looked again at the pool of blood that Shade was lying in and the state of her hands.  He did not think that this was a wound that she could proudly show to anyone.

"If we had taken the truck, we wouldn't have to wait, and you wouldn't have to carry her all the way back by yourself, " Blade drawled, and waited for the Stonefang to pickup the implication.

Stonefang knew what he meant.  He met Blade's look blandly, without expression, "I will be happy to carry her back. There is no reason for you to get your fur dirty."

Blade gritted his teeth.  That was not what he meant.

The pack bedded down until dawn.  It was not enough time to truly rest, just enough time to lick their wounds and let tired muscles stiffen up before Stonefang declared Shade fit enough to be carried.  The return journey took much longer than it had on the way because the pack could not run, they could only go at the fastest pace that Stonefang could carry their theurge in his arms.  The distance covered was about 50 miles, and they were footsore and weary when they reached the edge of the bawn at dusk.  They spoke little along the way, keeping the thoughts of what had happened and their sense of bitter failure to themselves. 

Shade woke within moments of crossing into the Destiny's Run territory.  Stonefang took that for a good sign as he lowered her to the ground.  She blinked fuzzily and looked around for the beloved faces of her pack, "Oh good, "she breathed and closed her eyes in relief, "You're not dead."

"Speak for yourself, " Stonefang growled.

"Oh good," she repeated obediently, eyes still closed, "I'm not dead."

Blade and Stonefang exchanged a rare grin.  Shade struggled to her feet, Blade lending her a hand.  She winced as her shoulders stretched.  Glancing down at her hands and frowning, she pulled Blade's gloves off, and then froze.  Without a word she examined the rash that covered her mottled hands, and then pulled the gloves back on.  Voice steady she asked, "What happened to my hands this time?"

            "We don't really know," Alex offered, "But there was this green gunk all over them."  Alex pulled the scrap fabric with the slime on it.  Shade reached for it, but Black growled, leaped forward and snatched it in his jaws. "Hey!" Black was already beyond hearing, racing between the trees towards the east.

            "I guess we can assume that he didn't like it," Tear observed.

            "We think that that slime gave you the rash," Stonefang explained to Shade.

            Her hands itched, but she ignored the sensation, "Now I guess we'll never know."  She could no longer see Black, though her eyes strained to follow him in the darkening light.

            "Come on," Blade took her by the hand started leading her in the direction of the caern, "you should really rest."

Alex clutched his stomach, "And I really, really want some food!"

            By the time the pack made it back to the communal long-house that they shared, Black had already buried the rag in a secret location in the woods, come back, stirred up the embers of the fire to a cheery blaze and was re-heating a pot of deer stew.  Alex did not think that he could wait until it was warm all the way through. He picked up a bowl and scooped up a generous mixture to calm the growling complaints that his stomach was making.

            Blade somberly helped Shade get settled onto a pile of sheepskins and brought her a bowl of the stew.  Stonefang examined the rest of his pack one at a time, checking to see the depth and gravity of the other wounds that they had sustained. For a long moment the crackle of the fire and the sounds of eating were the only noises.

            Shade closed her eyes the bowl untouched beside her, and was the first to shoulder the burden of guilt and shame that was the packs. "We should not have been there," she said.  Black grunted his agreement.  She continued, "Those creatures, whatever they were, were of the wyld.  We invaded their territory, their breeding ground, we deserved every cut and wound they gave us, and more besides."

            "What would you have us do?" Demanded Blade, suddenly defensive, "We went to check it out, we found out that we should not have been there, and we left!"

            "Yes, but we killed at least four of them in the process," Stonefang rasped.

            "And the baby," said Shade quietly.

            Tear put down his bowl, "I have thought about this all the way back. You know I share my battle critiques with everyone, and here it is whether you like it or not."  His blunt tone commanded everyone's attention.  Tear was the acknowledged tactician of the pack with a mind built for analyzing battle strategy. His voice assumed a teaching tone, " When we entered that lair, and we were wondering what those things were, I said they were eggs.  Hence, young.  Then they started to hatch as I returned from the umbral side of the area. Hence, we were in their lair, threatening their young.  Besides the fact that they looked like crazy mutants and scared the crap out of us, what did we do wrong?"  His eyes swept over his pack, evaluating what effect his words had on them and seeing if someone would have the temerity to answer his question.  No one did.  "We didn't consolidate our position. We attempted to form a tenuous and risky little 3 crinos stack to shove someone out of the top hole to get out.  Ridiculous."  Blade shifted on his heels uncomfortably at the critique.  "We did not band together and bargain our position from a position of strength.  We threatened their young. You all know that if a mother, any mother, has her young threatened, she will fight to the death.  Her death is meaningless so long as her cub survives.  In a communal environment, the community will die to save their young.  We held their young hostage; of course they were going to continually attack us!  Had Shade thrown their young to them, to distract them, they would have sheltered their young and given us another opportunity to slide around the walls looking for the outdoor exit that we eventually found. "

            Shade stiffened at the criticism leveled at her.  Her voice shook with fury and unshed tears, "I would never throw a baby, no matter how tactically sound your advice is, Tear!  How can you suggest that? I know I screwed up!  I know we were someplace that we were not meant to be and... I deserve to be dead... and I know that!  But how dare you think that I would throw a baby into the water to drown!  I was trying to get us all out and protect the baby...and they didn't understand.... I'm sorry...." she choked up and turned away, fists clenched in rage.  Tear would never understand. She had held a baby in her hands and it died.  She was responsible for it's death.  Her pride in her skills had killed it.  It was no wonder that Gaia had not seen fit to ever bless her with her own child.

            " I didn't say whip it at them like a baseball," Tear drawled, " I said throw.  Perhaps I should have used toss, but you know how hard babies bounce back.  You can drop a baby from a second story window to concrete and have it survive, to grow up normally later. " Tear ignored her gasp of outrage, " All things of the wyld do not have their young be super-fragile.  And they would have been dexterous enough to catch them and protect them from our further "intrusions" and harm.  Deep down Shade, you know this, even if you would like to cover yourself with your own self-loathing for the recent failure of the klaive and whatever else you consider to be your fault.  Look beyond yourself at the pack.  We all feel your sorrow and we all individually are upset at the loss of a great weapon in Gaia's name, but you are not completely at fault." 

Shade shook her head mutely.  It had nothing to do with the destruction of the klaive!

Tear growled at her refusal, "If you would say that you should be dead, you wish the pack should die.  If you blame yourself, the pack is to be blamed.  You may be my elder, but this is as simple as it gets.  Straighten yourself out, and bring your duties to the forefront. You serve Gaia.  You serve your pack.  To not do such a thing is blaspheme against Gaia and to fall to harano.  I would sooner throw us blindly into Worcester at Salamander's Soul than to continually suffer this self-loathing and self-pity.  Gaia has no room for this, her enemies surround her and they must be purged.  Gaia has no room for her warriors to cry and lick their wounds for an extended period of time.  Gather yourself." Shade looked as if Tear had slapped her, but said nothing else. 

"What else did we do wrong?" He demanded, but this time he did not wait for an answer, "There was no trust.  We say that our pack is rising.  But it is not.  It is no wonder that Uktena, our totem spirit, is sick when we as a pack fail Uktena by not acting as a pack.  Blade offers us an outing that Stonefang sees as a way for the pack to wander out and bond as a pack.  Blade, a guardian of the caern sees fit to say that a car should be brought to the site as a means of quick escape.  And immediately it is turned into an issue specifically regarding Shade's recent injury?  So what if it is?  You give Blade no credit in thinking that his pack may need two different means of escape.  Perhaps the confine is specifically warded against entrance via a pack of Garou, versus some stupid humans in a truck out to drink beers in an abandoned mine?

            "As bullheaded and ignorant of the Alpha that Blade was, perhaps he had a point, and nobody was willing to let down a little bit of pride to simply acknowledge that his plan had merit.  We work as a pack, no one is to be ignored and thought the fool of the pack, unless it is their role.

            "When I feigned dead in the lair, I meant it to divert their attention to you, the obvious threat, so I could strike deeper and distract them again with their young.  I meant to catch them off guard with their other hatchlings/eggs by throwing them to them, so that they would have to divert three of their band to holding their young and protecting them, instead of all amassing on us."  Tear's voice dripped with scorn, "Instead, Stonefang distrusts me, grabs me up, and when I break free of his grip I am forcibly commanded to his will.  You will all say, "We were not meant to be there." as a lame excuse for our poor performance in that battle that almost killed Shade and Stonefang.  We all know Gaia's laws, the most basic of them being natural selection.  The weaker creatures of Gaia can and will be eaten by the stronger.  Those stronger in conflict will prove their right to existence through dominance.  We did not dominate that situation. Had Gaia not given us a second chance, we would have been merely examples in her laws.  You cannot deny that!  Stop over-reasoning simple instinctual situations like that, lest you get us killed as the stupid plain humans we resemble.  Storm would agree with me here, and it would be all we could do to shut her up at the next moot from telling the sept our shame, as her method of making sure it never happened again.

"There was no trust given to me, and there was no trust given to us as a pack to work together for each other.  Stop being bullheaded and see that everything I do, I do for the pack.  Everything that Blade does, he does for the pack. Everything that Stonefang does, he does for the pack.  Everything that we all do, we do for our pack, our caern, our sept and for Gaia."

"My tears tonight are not of fury or of rage.  They are in pity of my pack for acting so disjointedly, and without single purpose.  We do dishonor to Storm by falling apart like this after her loss."  He regarded each of his pack mates in turn, his anger not quite spent in his speech.  "Where are you?  What are you doing?  No one is saying the things I have said, and they must be said.  We have ridden far enough on the past glories that our pack has for years traditionally accomplished; yet we allow this?  Slacker I am, fool I am not."  There was a long moment of silence.

            Blade spoke more tentatively than he had in recent memory, "We made the best we could of a poor situation. I understand you feel like we could have done 'better' had we made different decisions, perhaps been hurt less, perhaps killed fewer, but our course was chosen for us, and there was little we could do to avert the outcome once things began. "  He sighed and looked down at Shade, "I will inform the Hunter of what has occurred. Though I do not have any idea what she will say"

            Stonefang cleared his throat, " Thank you for your wisdom, Tear. Your opinion is as insightful as always."

            Tear growled, "Great.  Now I'm going out."
            "We just got back," his father protested.

            "I'm gonna go play with the slackers now.  At least when they're fools and idiots they're allowed to be, because we're all Cliaths and Fosterns."  And with that he shifted into lupus.

Shade's quiet voice stopped him before he shot out the long-house door, "I will think on what you said."  He nodded once, and then he was gone.

Black saw her shoulders slump with weariness and defeat.  Alex and Stonefang busied themselves cleaning up from dinner while Blade and put his arms around her shoulders in comfort.  He scribbled a message in his book and showed it to the both of them, Legends are full of heros doing dum things in caves. 

Shade's lip quirked in an almost smile.  Blade laughed aloud.