Meeting New Friends
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Ordering the #1 combo, he sat at the table by the window and watched the street traffic walk by as he ate. Tourists and wage slaves going home for the day, the night crowd starting to emerge. Willow's words came back to him again, "People; pretty much a planetary epidemic."
Which reminded him of his other problem. He'd have to find some type of national parks map that listed the wilderness areas around here. He knew from his west coast map that there is a huge National Forest in the Olympic Mountain range. He could head over there during his time of the month and just let his wolf run wild. There was less chance of running into a human that way and possibly hurting them.
There were also islands to the north. Could one of them be uninhabited? How could he find that out? Oz supposed he could get a boat and just strand himself on one for a few days. Could werewolves swim?
As Oz was pondering this, one of the many homeless people in the area passed by Oz's window. Oz watched him as he passed out of the corner of his eye, but then the man did a double-take. He stared at Oz for a moment, and then a smile crept to his face. An unsettling sort of smile to Oz.
He was wearing beat up jeans, an army fatigue shirt and combat boots that has seen better days. A well worn backpack completed the ensemble. He looked like he'd not seen a shower in a while too. The most interesting thing about him was that he had a number of small objects dangling from his shirt, backpack and a necklace that he wore. Some of these looked like bones, others were just bottle caps or key chains, even bits of string tied in intricate knots.
Then the guy started pointing at the food on Oz's table, with a look on his face as if to say "Are you finished with that?" The guilt from before returned. Oz motioned to the guy to stay where he was. Not wanting to give the guy scraps, Oz bought another #1 combo from his dwindling supply of money and brought it out to the guy. "Here."
"Thank you young cub, I shall mention you to the spirits of the city and they shall protect you." Stepping off to leave, the man turned, "A word of advice to you, since you seem to be new around here. Stay away from the piers at night, they crawl with leeches. Find friends quickly, there is safety in numbers if nowhere else." Then, plucking one of the bits of string from his backpack's strap, he pinned it on Oz's shirt and said, "Wear this and be acknowledged as a friend to the Gnawers." and he left.
Looking at what the guy put on him Oz saw that it was made of multiple pieces of string, tied in knots that formed a pattern. It looked sort of like a Chinese ideogram. Oz almost threw it away, but decided it looked kinda cool, so he left it there. It might look good hanging from the rear- view mirror of the van.
Speaking of which, he should probably head over to where he parked it and make his way over towards the J&M Café. He didn't want to leave it parked overnight where it was anyway. Maybe he'd find a better spot by the club.
The club was located in a neighborhood called Pioneer Square. There were a lot of flyers at the visitor's center that revolved around the place so with a few hours to kill, Oz figured he'd check out the area.
Arriving there he discovered that the place was the "old town" of Seattle. Lots of old buildings, even some cobblestone streets. Finding a parking space near the club took a while but he found one not too far away. Oz decided to walk around awhile and get the feel of the place. The architecture was certainly different from where he'd just left. Everything here looked like it dated from the turn of the century. He past a place called "Doc Maynards" which boasted a tour of the "Seattle Underground". Having spent time in the "Sunnydale Underground", Oz decided to skip that.
Oz also noticed that despite this being a "tourist" section of Seattle, there appeared to be even more homeless down here, especially along a street called "Yesler Way". It was as he was making his way back towards the J&M Café that ran into some trouble.
Oz saw two people walking towards him, illuminated in the street lamps. The guy looked like the typical Punk type. Black leather jacket done up with chains and safety pins, shocking pink Mohawk for hair. The girl didn't look like she fit with him, she was more of a preppy type. Nice sweater, slacks not jeans. They were not talking to one another. The punk had his arm around her, almost supporting or leading her. About 50 feet in front of Oz, they turned into an alleyway. Oz would have just kept going, but he'd smelt something coming from the ally; blood.
Great, and the slayer is 1000 miles away. Looking around for a weapon, he found a broken produce crate. Taking a piece, Oz entered the ally as quietly as he could. Sure enough, about 10 yards in he found the girl up against the way and the punk had he face buried in her neck.
Still thinking he'd not been noticed, Oz crept up on the pair, intent on staking the vamp from behind. He'd gotten perhaps 3 steps when the vamp swirled around. "What the hell do you want dog!"
He victim's blood was smeared all over his lower face, his fangs long and thin. What struck Oz though was the facial ridges that usually appeared when a vamp was in "game face" were not there. Except for the blood and fangs, he looked "normal".
"Get away from her bloodsucker!" Oz screamed.
The vamp leg go of the girl's body and faster then Oz could have believed possible, the vamp rushed up to him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground one-handed. The vamp got into Oz's face "It's not polite to interrupt ones dinner!"
Oz still had the stake in his hand and he made a jab at the thing, but missed and hit it in the shoulder.
"Ahh.! I am so going to kill you now!" Grasping Oz with one hand it raised the other over Oz's head. Oz could see claws extending from its hand, and could feel the ones around his neck start to pierce flesh. Before the creatures hand descended, both of them were knocked to the ground.
Breaking free of the vamps grip, Oz got up and scrambled away from it, slamming up against the alley wall. They'd both been tackled by what looked to Oz to be one of the homeless people. The both of them got up as well, the vamp hissed at the homeless guy.
"You're treading on thin ice mutt!" the vamp screamed at the guy.
"This is our territory leech and you know it!" he replied. "We could kill you now and no one would fault us. Go back to where you belong."
"We? Who you and the kid? I don't think so!"
It was then that more people started to make their presence known in the alley. Six altogether and all apparently homeless by their dress and lack of hygiene.
The vamp decided that 7 to 1 odds were not in his favor, so he ran, quicker then anything Oz has ever seen. One of the six who'd appeared went to examine the fallen girl. "She's alive, but needs a hospital." He picked her up and left the alley.
Oz turned to his original savior "Who are you people?" he asked.
Pointing at the strange thing the homeless guy had given Oz earlier; the guy replied "The Bone Gnawers look after our friends. I suggest you stay out of alleyways cub, if you can't defend yourself." He then turned and left. Oz looked around and all of the others had disappeared too.
Oz moved to follow the first one, but his jacket got caught on something on the wall. Freeing himself he got back onto the street, but he couldn't find a trace of the homeless guy.
He looked back down at the badge or whatever it was he'd been given. Still not knowing what it meant, he was glad he'd not thrown it away at least. Reaching up to his neck he found four little puncture marks from the things claws. Nothing life threatening. After tonight he'd start carrying a stake.
Oz brushed the dirt off of himself as best he could. Deciding he was still presentable, Oz continued on his way to the J&M Café. After all, things just as strange happened to him in Sunnydale, and they'd all go to the Bronze after didn't they?
Approaching it from the outside, it looked like any other pub/bar Oz had ever been to. Inside was different. The bar looked just like one of those old time saloons you see in the movies. There were modern touches of course, but the woodwork was detailed and rich looking. The ceiling was at least 15 feet tall; with wainscoting covering almost half the distance up the wall. The rest was taken up by a paisley looking wall paper that Oz could have done without. Large wood framed mirrors hung above the wainscoting in places. The bar itself was a work of art. Both recent and old pictures hung from the walls all over, documenting the clubs history. Apparently the upstairs part used to be a brothel.
With the band about to go on, the place was fairly crowed already. There was a $3 cover charge at the door, but no one carded him. Not wanting to risk it a second time Oz only ordered a cola at the bar, which cost him $2. He decided to nurse it all night if he could.
Looking towards the stage, Oz noted the band members arriving. First was a rather well dressed male about 20-25 Oz figured. He wore slacks and white shirt, loose jacket and pencil thin tie. He began to arrange himself behind the keyboard setup. In addition to multiple keyboards it looked like he had a laptop on a stand above the whole mess. He also had a cooler sitting next to him, from which he pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew.
The bassist took the stage. He looked like a biker, pro wrestler wannabe. A big guy, perhaps 6 foot 2, built solid and no fat. He wore black leather pants with a black leather vest and no shirt. Tribal looking tats covered both arms. Now that he thought about it he looked kinda like the Undertaker from the WWF but with blond hair.
Next was the lead guitar player, who was going for the grunge look. Tee shirt, torn jeans and a flannel shirt. Nothing else that remarkable about him except that he looked to be the oldest of the group. Following him was a rather good looking girl. Medium height with brown hair. She had a tambourine in hand, so was probably backup and female lead singer.
As they tuned up a little, Oz noticed the drummer was still not on stage. He also noticed that the drum kit is arranged differently then he'd ever seen. All the pieces are there, it was just that some of them are farther apart then they should be. The drummer's absence is soon explained as the lead guitarist approached the mic.
"Ladies and gentleman, good evening. We are Red Moon and we'll be your night's entertainment." A smattering of applause from the audience. "As always, we like to give a special introduction for our drummer as he makes his entrance. We don't know why, but he's an F'ing prima-donna and insists upon it." Laughs from the audience. "But mostly because we want you to know he's coming so he doesn't step on you!" More laughs, and a loud "Oiy" from backstage.
"So without further ado, we give you the great, the powerful, the Mighty Conn!" The audience begins to clap and cheer, but some of the cheers merged into expressions of amazement. With good reason as Oz is amazed himself. The person who emerged from back stage was over seven feet! Most overly tall people you see are rail thin, but not Conn. He must weight at least 500 pounds, and all muscle to boot! He looked like he should be in the WWF, not some local rock band! His hair was long and red, done up in a braided ponytail, and he had short red beard as well.
As he sat down behind his drum kit, the reason for the strange configuration became obvious. Things had to be set higher and farther apart just for him to fit behind the damned thing! The drum sticks looked like pencils in his hands!
They begin their set with a cover tune, Van Halen's "Jump". The musician in Oz immediately began to sum up their ability. Technically they sounded great, doing an almost note-for-note rendition of the song. The lead singer is good too, but that fact that he doesn't really sound like David Lee Roth throws things off a bit. The crowd doesn't seem to mind.
The rest of the set is a mix of cover tunes and a few original songs which have promise, but probably won't get recorded. They even launch into the occasional Celtic influenced piece. For two songs Conn actually brought out bagpipes. After he was done, he told the audience "Ye lasses 'ave to appreciate a man who can blow, finger, 'n squeeze all at the same time!" The men howled and the woman blushed.
Oz continued to listen and nurse his now warm cola. Occasionally he noticed the keyboard player going to the laptop and he wondered what he was doing with it. His actions didn't seem to correspond to the music being played.
As Oz was pondering this, he noticed the keyboard player was scanning the audience in his general direction. He quickly found Oz, looked right at him, and smiled. This kicked Oz's "Oh Shit-o-meter" up a notch. "Well, I was looking at him too" Oz thought. Most people, including him, have experienced that tingle when you know someone is looking at you. After all, it happened to Oz just this afternoon at the Magic Shop.
The lead singer declared the end of their first set and that they would take a 20 minute break. He and backup singer headed backstage. The bass player and the giant behind the drums headed for the bar. The keyboard player stepped off the stage and headed right for Oz. Send that meter up another notch. Not knowing what to think, and growing more paranoid by the second, Oz figured it was time to hit the door.
As Oz turned to leave, he ran right smack into one the bouncers. "Sorry", Oz offered, not wanting to antagonize the guy. "No problem kid". But then they proceeded to do that weird dance where each wanted to get out of the other ones way, but they both kept going the same direction. Getting around him finally, Oz found a waitress with a heavy tray blocking him. Moving around her Oz got about 10 feet from the door, when a whole crowd of people started to enter, blocking his exit. From behind Oz heard "Excuse me..." Crap, too late.
Oz turned and there was the keyboard player from the band, his hand out in greeting. "Hi, my name's Derrick. I think you and I need to talk". "What the hell is going on" Oz said to himself.
Pointedly not shaking the guy's hand, "I really need to get going".
"Really?" replied Derrick withdrawing his hand. "That would be a shame, since I think you don't have a clue about who you are and what's happening in your life. And I know some people who might be able to provide you with some answers."
"Look pal, you don't know me, so what could you possibly know about my life?"
"Well actually it's not my place to tell you; that would be my friends. It won't cost you anything; I'm not selling anything. Information is free, as it should be, but I promise it will be worth your time."
Oz was now intrigued, but still hesitant. "Okay, where are these friends of yours."
"My band-mates actually." Derrick looked towards the bar and Oz follows his gaze. They see the bass player with a pint in one hand and chatting to a pretty girl. The giant had a beer as well, only it was an entire pitcher! He's just finished draining it and was handing it back to the bartender asking for more.
"Those two will get peeved if we interrupt their beer break" Stated Derrick. "Let's go find the others". Derrick heads off towards the back stage area, looking back to make sure Oz was following.
He led Oz to a small dressing room and knocked on the door. "Everyone decent?" he asked. They both heard a muffled "yes" from inside, and Derrick opened the door. Inside are the lead guitarist/singer and the female of the band. "Look who I found! These are my friends and band-mates John and Hope, guys this is.?" He looked at Oz to fill in the blank.
"Uh, Oz."
"Hi Oz!" they all replied simultaneously. Looking at Hope, Derrick continued "I think Oz here might be the subject of your last conversation with Merlin."
A look of surprise mixed with excitement came to Hope's face. John's as well. Oz also noticed him looking at the doodad the homeless guy pinned to his shirt. Hope looked at Oz, really looked at him, as if she was peering into his soul. "Oh wow! You're right!" she exclaimed.
She got up and stood before Oz, taking his hands into hers. He warmed at the touch. "Oz look, I know things at the moment seem a little weird, but you and I really need to talk. The problem is that this is not the best time or place to do that, and we all have to be back on stage in a few minutes. Can you stick around and then head back to our place with us after the last set?"
Oz pondered. What the hell was all the mystery about? "You can't just tell me now?" he asked.
"Well I could give you the short version, but you'd probably freak" Hope replied. "I'd much rather give you the long version and that will take time. For now just know that we've been looking for you in order to help you, and here you go and drop yourself at our feet! So what do you say?"
"Looking for me? Who told you to look for me? Was it Willow, Giles!?" His agitation was clear.
"All part of the explanation Oz. Please, just trust me."
"Okay, I'll wait" What else could he say? His curiosity was now peeked.
Derrick patted him on the back, "Great! Lets' head back out". They all left the backstage area. John and Hope took to the stage and Derrick brought Oz to a seat not too far from the there. Oz could have sworn a whole group of people were sitting there not 5 minutes ago. Derrick intercepted a waitress, whispering something to her and pointing at Oz. As Derrick took the stage, the waitress appeared before Oz.
"Derrick says the rest of your night is on him; what can I get you?"
Cool, it was getting rather tiresome carrying a warm half-filled glass of soda. "Um, can I get a beer?"
"Sure, which one" pointing to a chalk board on the wall. It listed almost 30 different beers, both on tap and in bottles.
Not knowing what most of them are, Oz chose something he at least has had before. "Um, Guinness Stout". She nodded and walked to the bar.
As the waitress returned with his stout, Red Moon started playing again. This time he noticed the other players in the band looking his way, appraisingly. Oz got the feeling that the two big guys are sizing him up.
Towards midnight they finished their last set, thanked the crowd and said goodnight. Canned music filled the air as they exited the stage. Oz waited at his table. A few minutes later Derrick appeared with the rest of the band.
"Oz, here are the two of us you haven't met yet, Conn and Krieg". Krieg just nodded then grunted "Hey".
Conn however broached a broad smile and extended his hand to Oz. "Top o' the evening to ye me boyo! 'Er we kinned we'd 'ave to search weeks to find ye!" Oz takes his hand and prepares for the worst. Conn's hand totally encased his own. His grip is firm, but not the crushing vise Oz expected. Some guys look at a handshake as a test of machismo. Conn guy obviously didn't, or was letting Oz off the hook.
"Where are you parked?" Derrick asked. Oz told him. "Okay, great. Our place is not far from here. Why don't I drive with you so you don't get lost? The others will probably beat us there."
Oz nodded his acceptance of the idea and they all departed. On the way to where Oz is parked, they passed the rest of the band's rides. Of course there is the ubiquitous van; every band has one in order to carry equipment. John and Hope got in, waving to Oz and Derrick. Krieg saddled a really cool looking Harley. "Ha, I was right!" Oz said to himself.
Then Oz sees Conn's bike. It occurred to him then, what kind of transportation could accommodate a person of his size? The answer apparently was a three wheeler motorcycle. A BIG one. Oz was not sure of the make, but it looked like the dammed thing had eight cylinders! Even at that, it looked more like a kid's toy when Conn straddled it.
After getting into Oz's van and getting onto the street, Derrick began directing Oz back towards the way he came from, but more towards the waterfront. The homeless guy's words came back to Oz; "Stay away from the piers at night, they crawl with leeches." Instead of the piers though Derrick lead him to a light industrial area situated under an elevated highway. Derrick pointed out a particular building and told Oz to park in an ally beside it. Oz could see the others just pulling in ahead of him.
They entered what appeared to be a garage or machine shop from the outside. Old signs were still there to attest to that. He could see a lot of graffiti on the outside as well. Some of the designs actually looked like the tats Krieg is wearing.
Once inside it was obvious that whatever the buildings original use was, it has since been converted to a living space. The ground floor where the shop previously resided was decked out as a large recreation room. A kitchen and bar were along one wall, a pool table, a number of sofas and other types of seating were in the middle of the room. A big screen TV and sound system dominated one wall. On the opposite wall Oz could see the telltale signs of a band's practice area, mike stands, amps and speakers. Some stairs that led up to what Oz supposed are bedrooms and such. You could have a hell of a party here.
A large dog, no make that wolf, got up from its bed and greeted them as they entered. It growled a little at Oz. "That's JYD. Don't mind him," said John "his bark is worse than his bite." At which the wolf growled again, but at John. Then he went right up to Oz and sniffed at the knot-thing the homeless guy gave Oz. He looked up at Oz and let out a little yip.
John noticed the object of JYD's attention. "Where did you get that Oz?"
"A homeless guy needed some food, so I bought him a Big Mac and some Fries. He gave me this."
Seeming satisfied, JYD went back to his bed and lay down again.
Looking at JYD John said, "You might want to be more careful about feeding strays Oz, they'll never leave after that." The group laughed, but JYD growled at him again.
After dumping their gear, Conn and Krieg headed for the bar. The others brought Oz over to the sofa arrangement. Hope motioned for Oz to sit on a particular one and she sat down opposite to him. She paused as if to gather her thoughts.
"Okay, where to begin. First who told us to look for you? I don't know who Willow or Giles are, I'm assuming they are friends of yours, but I don't know them. The one who told me about you was Merlin, my totem spirit guide. She told me that a lost cub was heading our way and that we were to find him and help him. That was over two weeks ago."
"Two weeks? I only made the decision to leave two days ago!" Oz was perplexed, but not thrown. He been involved with the Scooby Gang for long enough that it would take a little more then that to throw him. "Lost cub?" He asked.
"Yeah, you see Oz, I don't know if you know it or not, but you're a werewolf."
Now he was a little thrown. Slightly panicked Oz stood and looked at her. "I know that, but how do you know that!" Looking around Oz sees the others are all intent on the conversation as well.
Hope looked around at her band-mates, "I guess we need to show him." All of them but Derrick nodded and stood up; Conn and Krieg put their drinks down.
"Oz, please try to remain calm. Remember we are here to help you" Hope stated, and then closed her eyes. After a moment she began to transform. Her clothes seemed to meld into her as her limbs and body began to elongate. Fur sprouted from everywhere. The now familiar claws and fangs descended. Despite Hope's warning Oz started to panic.
Recalling his dream of Veruca the night before; he made the realization that something was different. Veruca's wolf form was somehow demonic. The Hope-Wolf before him now was nothing of the sort. Oh sure she was a werewolf, but kind of a cute one. A cute werewolf?
Looking around he sees the others have transformed as well, even JYD! While still frightening in their own right, the demonic visage that Veruca had was not evident in any of them.
But his heart almost stopped when he got to the Conn werewolf. He'd never seen anything so huge! Not even the Demon's he'd seen in Sunnydale came close. The creature was almost 11 feet tall and had to weight at least a ton! Thank God for the concrete floor. He could also swear that the Conn werewolf was smiling and laughing at him. Oz's only response to all this was "Damn."
Hearing a laugh behind him, Oz turns to see Derrick, still in human form. "Awe inspiring isn't he? They all are. FYI, I'm not a werewolf, I'm 100% human thank you."
The werewolves transformed back into their human selves. "How can you do that? It won't be a full moon again for two weeks" Oz exclaimed.
The group responded with laughter. "Oh boy, have we got a lot of work ahead" stated John, going to the bar to get himself a beer.
Hope caught Oz's attention. "Oz I can only assume that what little you know about yourself is incorrect so you are going to have to unlearn a few things. First, you are not a werewolf per say, at least not the Hollywood type. You, me and my pack mates are a race of beings called Garou. Werewolf is what humans call us. What you just saw was us assuming what we call our Crinos or battle form. There are other forms a Garou can take as you'll learn."
"The Garou are an amalgamation of what is human, wolf, and magic. We've been around for millennia. We are the champions of Gaia, the Earth Mother. Born to serve and protect her from the ravages of the Wyrm, the normal pattern of decay that became insane. And so are you. Merlin referred to you as a Lost Cub because you went through your first "change" without being found by a Garou tribe or Sept. You have no understanding of what you are and what it means to be a Garou. We will help you along the path of understanding so that you can fulfill your destiny."
"But how come my change only happens at night during a full moon?"
"That's because you are not in touch with your Rage. It's the source of a Garou's strength and what allows us to control the change. Your subconscious spirit knows what you are, but your conscious mind only knows the Hollywood stereotype and it forces you into that mold. We can help you change that."
"Perception is reality. Perception is information. Information is data. Change the data, change reality" added Derrick. He had moved over to a part of the room Oz hadn't seen before. Kind of an alcove, it contained a large amount of computer equipment and a large reclining chair the looked like a fighter pilot's seat. He attached a curious set of goggles via a cord to the laptop and placed them over his eyes. He had gloves on his hands that are also wired to the laptop and he was gesturing wilding with his hands. "See ya in the morning kids!" Derrick slumped back into his seat and became motionless.
John stepped in front of Oz. "Look Oz, it's getting late. We could stay up all night long answering questions, but we are all tired. Do you have a place to stay?"
Oz shrugged. "Just the van."
"Well, we can do better then that. There's a spare bedroom upstairs. In the morning we can answer more of your questions and you can tell us more about yourself. Tomorrow we'll take you out to the Caern, a holy place for lack of a better term, and introduce you to the other Garou in the area. Then you can decide what you want to do from there."
Oz acceded with a nod. John led him up the stair case to a corridor with many doors, almost like a hotel. He opened the second door on the right. "It's not the Hilton, but the sheets are fresh. The big guy down stairs belongs to the Fianna tribe, and sometimes I think their lives revolve around partying! Besides our own we keep a couple of these rooms as crash space for those too drunk to go home."
The room contained a queen-size bed, a dresser and a night stand. In the back was a door Oz assumed led to a bathroom. The only window looked out over the ally where they parked the vehicles. "You gonna be okay in here, you need anything?"
"I'm cool."
"By the way, that thing the homeless guy gave you? It's called a fetish. This particular one marks you as being under the protection of the local Bone Gnawers tribe, such as it is. The guy who gave it to you is called Finder, and he's well respected amongst their tribe. Some Garou might look down on it, but not us. Wear it, especially when you're in town."
"Cool" said Oz, looking at his fetish. That explained the guys in the alley at least.
"Okay, see you in the morning." John closed the door.
Oz sat on the bed and his mind began to process the revelations just heaped upon him. It was one hell of a day. When he set out on this journey of self discovery he had no idea where it would lead and had thought it might take years. Now within only two days of his departure from Sunnydale, be practically stumbled onto the very group of people who can help him.
Wait, not stumbled. He realized just now that he was led here, by the hawk! What was it? Some kind of spirit? He supposed he'd find out more later. Exhaustion finally won out and lying down, he drifted to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------- TBC - Revelations
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Ordering the #1 combo, he sat at the table by the window and watched the street traffic walk by as he ate. Tourists and wage slaves going home for the day, the night crowd starting to emerge. Willow's words came back to him again, "People; pretty much a planetary epidemic."
Which reminded him of his other problem. He'd have to find some type of national parks map that listed the wilderness areas around here. He knew from his west coast map that there is a huge National Forest in the Olympic Mountain range. He could head over there during his time of the month and just let his wolf run wild. There was less chance of running into a human that way and possibly hurting them.
There were also islands to the north. Could one of them be uninhabited? How could he find that out? Oz supposed he could get a boat and just strand himself on one for a few days. Could werewolves swim?
As Oz was pondering this, one of the many homeless people in the area passed by Oz's window. Oz watched him as he passed out of the corner of his eye, but then the man did a double-take. He stared at Oz for a moment, and then a smile crept to his face. An unsettling sort of smile to Oz.
He was wearing beat up jeans, an army fatigue shirt and combat boots that has seen better days. A well worn backpack completed the ensemble. He looked like he'd not seen a shower in a while too. The most interesting thing about him was that he had a number of small objects dangling from his shirt, backpack and a necklace that he wore. Some of these looked like bones, others were just bottle caps or key chains, even bits of string tied in intricate knots.
Then the guy started pointing at the food on Oz's table, with a look on his face as if to say "Are you finished with that?" The guilt from before returned. Oz motioned to the guy to stay where he was. Not wanting to give the guy scraps, Oz bought another #1 combo from his dwindling supply of money and brought it out to the guy. "Here."
"Thank you young cub, I shall mention you to the spirits of the city and they shall protect you." Stepping off to leave, the man turned, "A word of advice to you, since you seem to be new around here. Stay away from the piers at night, they crawl with leeches. Find friends quickly, there is safety in numbers if nowhere else." Then, plucking one of the bits of string from his backpack's strap, he pinned it on Oz's shirt and said, "Wear this and be acknowledged as a friend to the Gnawers." and he left.
Looking at what the guy put on him Oz saw that it was made of multiple pieces of string, tied in knots that formed a pattern. It looked sort of like a Chinese ideogram. Oz almost threw it away, but decided it looked kinda cool, so he left it there. It might look good hanging from the rear- view mirror of the van.
Speaking of which, he should probably head over to where he parked it and make his way over towards the J&M Café. He didn't want to leave it parked overnight where it was anyway. Maybe he'd find a better spot by the club.
The club was located in a neighborhood called Pioneer Square. There were a lot of flyers at the visitor's center that revolved around the place so with a few hours to kill, Oz figured he'd check out the area.
Arriving there he discovered that the place was the "old town" of Seattle. Lots of old buildings, even some cobblestone streets. Finding a parking space near the club took a while but he found one not too far away. Oz decided to walk around awhile and get the feel of the place. The architecture was certainly different from where he'd just left. Everything here looked like it dated from the turn of the century. He past a place called "Doc Maynards" which boasted a tour of the "Seattle Underground". Having spent time in the "Sunnydale Underground", Oz decided to skip that.
Oz also noticed that despite this being a "tourist" section of Seattle, there appeared to be even more homeless down here, especially along a street called "Yesler Way". It was as he was making his way back towards the J&M Café that ran into some trouble.
Oz saw two people walking towards him, illuminated in the street lamps. The guy looked like the typical Punk type. Black leather jacket done up with chains and safety pins, shocking pink Mohawk for hair. The girl didn't look like she fit with him, she was more of a preppy type. Nice sweater, slacks not jeans. They were not talking to one another. The punk had his arm around her, almost supporting or leading her. About 50 feet in front of Oz, they turned into an alleyway. Oz would have just kept going, but he'd smelt something coming from the ally; blood.
Great, and the slayer is 1000 miles away. Looking around for a weapon, he found a broken produce crate. Taking a piece, Oz entered the ally as quietly as he could. Sure enough, about 10 yards in he found the girl up against the way and the punk had he face buried in her neck.
Still thinking he'd not been noticed, Oz crept up on the pair, intent on staking the vamp from behind. He'd gotten perhaps 3 steps when the vamp swirled around. "What the hell do you want dog!"
He victim's blood was smeared all over his lower face, his fangs long and thin. What struck Oz though was the facial ridges that usually appeared when a vamp was in "game face" were not there. Except for the blood and fangs, he looked "normal".
"Get away from her bloodsucker!" Oz screamed.
The vamp leg go of the girl's body and faster then Oz could have believed possible, the vamp rushed up to him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground one-handed. The vamp got into Oz's face "It's not polite to interrupt ones dinner!"
Oz still had the stake in his hand and he made a jab at the thing, but missed and hit it in the shoulder.
"Ahh.! I am so going to kill you now!" Grasping Oz with one hand it raised the other over Oz's head. Oz could see claws extending from its hand, and could feel the ones around his neck start to pierce flesh. Before the creatures hand descended, both of them were knocked to the ground.
Breaking free of the vamps grip, Oz got up and scrambled away from it, slamming up against the alley wall. They'd both been tackled by what looked to Oz to be one of the homeless people. The both of them got up as well, the vamp hissed at the homeless guy.
"You're treading on thin ice mutt!" the vamp screamed at the guy.
"This is our territory leech and you know it!" he replied. "We could kill you now and no one would fault us. Go back to where you belong."
"We? Who you and the kid? I don't think so!"
It was then that more people started to make their presence known in the alley. Six altogether and all apparently homeless by their dress and lack of hygiene.
The vamp decided that 7 to 1 odds were not in his favor, so he ran, quicker then anything Oz has ever seen. One of the six who'd appeared went to examine the fallen girl. "She's alive, but needs a hospital." He picked her up and left the alley.
Oz turned to his original savior "Who are you people?" he asked.
Pointing at the strange thing the homeless guy had given Oz earlier; the guy replied "The Bone Gnawers look after our friends. I suggest you stay out of alleyways cub, if you can't defend yourself." He then turned and left. Oz looked around and all of the others had disappeared too.
Oz moved to follow the first one, but his jacket got caught on something on the wall. Freeing himself he got back onto the street, but he couldn't find a trace of the homeless guy.
He looked back down at the badge or whatever it was he'd been given. Still not knowing what it meant, he was glad he'd not thrown it away at least. Reaching up to his neck he found four little puncture marks from the things claws. Nothing life threatening. After tonight he'd start carrying a stake.
Oz brushed the dirt off of himself as best he could. Deciding he was still presentable, Oz continued on his way to the J&M Café. After all, things just as strange happened to him in Sunnydale, and they'd all go to the Bronze after didn't they?
Approaching it from the outside, it looked like any other pub/bar Oz had ever been to. Inside was different. The bar looked just like one of those old time saloons you see in the movies. There were modern touches of course, but the woodwork was detailed and rich looking. The ceiling was at least 15 feet tall; with wainscoting covering almost half the distance up the wall. The rest was taken up by a paisley looking wall paper that Oz could have done without. Large wood framed mirrors hung above the wainscoting in places. The bar itself was a work of art. Both recent and old pictures hung from the walls all over, documenting the clubs history. Apparently the upstairs part used to be a brothel.
With the band about to go on, the place was fairly crowed already. There was a $3 cover charge at the door, but no one carded him. Not wanting to risk it a second time Oz only ordered a cola at the bar, which cost him $2. He decided to nurse it all night if he could.
Looking towards the stage, Oz noted the band members arriving. First was a rather well dressed male about 20-25 Oz figured. He wore slacks and white shirt, loose jacket and pencil thin tie. He began to arrange himself behind the keyboard setup. In addition to multiple keyboards it looked like he had a laptop on a stand above the whole mess. He also had a cooler sitting next to him, from which he pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew.
The bassist took the stage. He looked like a biker, pro wrestler wannabe. A big guy, perhaps 6 foot 2, built solid and no fat. He wore black leather pants with a black leather vest and no shirt. Tribal looking tats covered both arms. Now that he thought about it he looked kinda like the Undertaker from the WWF but with blond hair.
Next was the lead guitar player, who was going for the grunge look. Tee shirt, torn jeans and a flannel shirt. Nothing else that remarkable about him except that he looked to be the oldest of the group. Following him was a rather good looking girl. Medium height with brown hair. She had a tambourine in hand, so was probably backup and female lead singer.
As they tuned up a little, Oz noticed the drummer was still not on stage. He also noticed that the drum kit is arranged differently then he'd ever seen. All the pieces are there, it was just that some of them are farther apart then they should be. The drummer's absence is soon explained as the lead guitarist approached the mic.
"Ladies and gentleman, good evening. We are Red Moon and we'll be your night's entertainment." A smattering of applause from the audience. "As always, we like to give a special introduction for our drummer as he makes his entrance. We don't know why, but he's an F'ing prima-donna and insists upon it." Laughs from the audience. "But mostly because we want you to know he's coming so he doesn't step on you!" More laughs, and a loud "Oiy" from backstage.
"So without further ado, we give you the great, the powerful, the Mighty Conn!" The audience begins to clap and cheer, but some of the cheers merged into expressions of amazement. With good reason as Oz is amazed himself. The person who emerged from back stage was over seven feet! Most overly tall people you see are rail thin, but not Conn. He must weight at least 500 pounds, and all muscle to boot! He looked like he should be in the WWF, not some local rock band! His hair was long and red, done up in a braided ponytail, and he had short red beard as well.
As he sat down behind his drum kit, the reason for the strange configuration became obvious. Things had to be set higher and farther apart just for him to fit behind the damned thing! The drum sticks looked like pencils in his hands!
They begin their set with a cover tune, Van Halen's "Jump". The musician in Oz immediately began to sum up their ability. Technically they sounded great, doing an almost note-for-note rendition of the song. The lead singer is good too, but that fact that he doesn't really sound like David Lee Roth throws things off a bit. The crowd doesn't seem to mind.
The rest of the set is a mix of cover tunes and a few original songs which have promise, but probably won't get recorded. They even launch into the occasional Celtic influenced piece. For two songs Conn actually brought out bagpipes. After he was done, he told the audience "Ye lasses 'ave to appreciate a man who can blow, finger, 'n squeeze all at the same time!" The men howled and the woman blushed.
Oz continued to listen and nurse his now warm cola. Occasionally he noticed the keyboard player going to the laptop and he wondered what he was doing with it. His actions didn't seem to correspond to the music being played.
As Oz was pondering this, he noticed the keyboard player was scanning the audience in his general direction. He quickly found Oz, looked right at him, and smiled. This kicked Oz's "Oh Shit-o-meter" up a notch. "Well, I was looking at him too" Oz thought. Most people, including him, have experienced that tingle when you know someone is looking at you. After all, it happened to Oz just this afternoon at the Magic Shop.
The lead singer declared the end of their first set and that they would take a 20 minute break. He and backup singer headed backstage. The bass player and the giant behind the drums headed for the bar. The keyboard player stepped off the stage and headed right for Oz. Send that meter up another notch. Not knowing what to think, and growing more paranoid by the second, Oz figured it was time to hit the door.
As Oz turned to leave, he ran right smack into one the bouncers. "Sorry", Oz offered, not wanting to antagonize the guy. "No problem kid". But then they proceeded to do that weird dance where each wanted to get out of the other ones way, but they both kept going the same direction. Getting around him finally, Oz found a waitress with a heavy tray blocking him. Moving around her Oz got about 10 feet from the door, when a whole crowd of people started to enter, blocking his exit. From behind Oz heard "Excuse me..." Crap, too late.
Oz turned and there was the keyboard player from the band, his hand out in greeting. "Hi, my name's Derrick. I think you and I need to talk". "What the hell is going on" Oz said to himself.
Pointedly not shaking the guy's hand, "I really need to get going".
"Really?" replied Derrick withdrawing his hand. "That would be a shame, since I think you don't have a clue about who you are and what's happening in your life. And I know some people who might be able to provide you with some answers."
"Look pal, you don't know me, so what could you possibly know about my life?"
"Well actually it's not my place to tell you; that would be my friends. It won't cost you anything; I'm not selling anything. Information is free, as it should be, but I promise it will be worth your time."
Oz was now intrigued, but still hesitant. "Okay, where are these friends of yours."
"My band-mates actually." Derrick looked towards the bar and Oz follows his gaze. They see the bass player with a pint in one hand and chatting to a pretty girl. The giant had a beer as well, only it was an entire pitcher! He's just finished draining it and was handing it back to the bartender asking for more.
"Those two will get peeved if we interrupt their beer break" Stated Derrick. "Let's go find the others". Derrick heads off towards the back stage area, looking back to make sure Oz was following.
He led Oz to a small dressing room and knocked on the door. "Everyone decent?" he asked. They both heard a muffled "yes" from inside, and Derrick opened the door. Inside are the lead guitarist/singer and the female of the band. "Look who I found! These are my friends and band-mates John and Hope, guys this is.?" He looked at Oz to fill in the blank.
"Uh, Oz."
"Hi Oz!" they all replied simultaneously. Looking at Hope, Derrick continued "I think Oz here might be the subject of your last conversation with Merlin."
A look of surprise mixed with excitement came to Hope's face. John's as well. Oz also noticed him looking at the doodad the homeless guy pinned to his shirt. Hope looked at Oz, really looked at him, as if she was peering into his soul. "Oh wow! You're right!" she exclaimed.
She got up and stood before Oz, taking his hands into hers. He warmed at the touch. "Oz look, I know things at the moment seem a little weird, but you and I really need to talk. The problem is that this is not the best time or place to do that, and we all have to be back on stage in a few minutes. Can you stick around and then head back to our place with us after the last set?"
Oz pondered. What the hell was all the mystery about? "You can't just tell me now?" he asked.
"Well I could give you the short version, but you'd probably freak" Hope replied. "I'd much rather give you the long version and that will take time. For now just know that we've been looking for you in order to help you, and here you go and drop yourself at our feet! So what do you say?"
"Looking for me? Who told you to look for me? Was it Willow, Giles!?" His agitation was clear.
"All part of the explanation Oz. Please, just trust me."
"Okay, I'll wait" What else could he say? His curiosity was now peeked.
Derrick patted him on the back, "Great! Lets' head back out". They all left the backstage area. John and Hope took to the stage and Derrick brought Oz to a seat not too far from the there. Oz could have sworn a whole group of people were sitting there not 5 minutes ago. Derrick intercepted a waitress, whispering something to her and pointing at Oz. As Derrick took the stage, the waitress appeared before Oz.
"Derrick says the rest of your night is on him; what can I get you?"
Cool, it was getting rather tiresome carrying a warm half-filled glass of soda. "Um, can I get a beer?"
"Sure, which one" pointing to a chalk board on the wall. It listed almost 30 different beers, both on tap and in bottles.
Not knowing what most of them are, Oz chose something he at least has had before. "Um, Guinness Stout". She nodded and walked to the bar.
As the waitress returned with his stout, Red Moon started playing again. This time he noticed the other players in the band looking his way, appraisingly. Oz got the feeling that the two big guys are sizing him up.
Towards midnight they finished their last set, thanked the crowd and said goodnight. Canned music filled the air as they exited the stage. Oz waited at his table. A few minutes later Derrick appeared with the rest of the band.
"Oz, here are the two of us you haven't met yet, Conn and Krieg". Krieg just nodded then grunted "Hey".
Conn however broached a broad smile and extended his hand to Oz. "Top o' the evening to ye me boyo! 'Er we kinned we'd 'ave to search weeks to find ye!" Oz takes his hand and prepares for the worst. Conn's hand totally encased his own. His grip is firm, but not the crushing vise Oz expected. Some guys look at a handshake as a test of machismo. Conn guy obviously didn't, or was letting Oz off the hook.
"Where are you parked?" Derrick asked. Oz told him. "Okay, great. Our place is not far from here. Why don't I drive with you so you don't get lost? The others will probably beat us there."
Oz nodded his acceptance of the idea and they all departed. On the way to where Oz is parked, they passed the rest of the band's rides. Of course there is the ubiquitous van; every band has one in order to carry equipment. John and Hope got in, waving to Oz and Derrick. Krieg saddled a really cool looking Harley. "Ha, I was right!" Oz said to himself.
Then Oz sees Conn's bike. It occurred to him then, what kind of transportation could accommodate a person of his size? The answer apparently was a three wheeler motorcycle. A BIG one. Oz was not sure of the make, but it looked like the dammed thing had eight cylinders! Even at that, it looked more like a kid's toy when Conn straddled it.
After getting into Oz's van and getting onto the street, Derrick began directing Oz back towards the way he came from, but more towards the waterfront. The homeless guy's words came back to Oz; "Stay away from the piers at night, they crawl with leeches." Instead of the piers though Derrick lead him to a light industrial area situated under an elevated highway. Derrick pointed out a particular building and told Oz to park in an ally beside it. Oz could see the others just pulling in ahead of him.
They entered what appeared to be a garage or machine shop from the outside. Old signs were still there to attest to that. He could see a lot of graffiti on the outside as well. Some of the designs actually looked like the tats Krieg is wearing.
Once inside it was obvious that whatever the buildings original use was, it has since been converted to a living space. The ground floor where the shop previously resided was decked out as a large recreation room. A kitchen and bar were along one wall, a pool table, a number of sofas and other types of seating were in the middle of the room. A big screen TV and sound system dominated one wall. On the opposite wall Oz could see the telltale signs of a band's practice area, mike stands, amps and speakers. Some stairs that led up to what Oz supposed are bedrooms and such. You could have a hell of a party here.
A large dog, no make that wolf, got up from its bed and greeted them as they entered. It growled a little at Oz. "That's JYD. Don't mind him," said John "his bark is worse than his bite." At which the wolf growled again, but at John. Then he went right up to Oz and sniffed at the knot-thing the homeless guy gave Oz. He looked up at Oz and let out a little yip.
John noticed the object of JYD's attention. "Where did you get that Oz?"
"A homeless guy needed some food, so I bought him a Big Mac and some Fries. He gave me this."
Seeming satisfied, JYD went back to his bed and lay down again.
Looking at JYD John said, "You might want to be more careful about feeding strays Oz, they'll never leave after that." The group laughed, but JYD growled at him again.
After dumping their gear, Conn and Krieg headed for the bar. The others brought Oz over to the sofa arrangement. Hope motioned for Oz to sit on a particular one and she sat down opposite to him. She paused as if to gather her thoughts.
"Okay, where to begin. First who told us to look for you? I don't know who Willow or Giles are, I'm assuming they are friends of yours, but I don't know them. The one who told me about you was Merlin, my totem spirit guide. She told me that a lost cub was heading our way and that we were to find him and help him. That was over two weeks ago."
"Two weeks? I only made the decision to leave two days ago!" Oz was perplexed, but not thrown. He been involved with the Scooby Gang for long enough that it would take a little more then that to throw him. "Lost cub?" He asked.
"Yeah, you see Oz, I don't know if you know it or not, but you're a werewolf."
Now he was a little thrown. Slightly panicked Oz stood and looked at her. "I know that, but how do you know that!" Looking around Oz sees the others are all intent on the conversation as well.
Hope looked around at her band-mates, "I guess we need to show him." All of them but Derrick nodded and stood up; Conn and Krieg put their drinks down.
"Oz, please try to remain calm. Remember we are here to help you" Hope stated, and then closed her eyes. After a moment she began to transform. Her clothes seemed to meld into her as her limbs and body began to elongate. Fur sprouted from everywhere. The now familiar claws and fangs descended. Despite Hope's warning Oz started to panic.
Recalling his dream of Veruca the night before; he made the realization that something was different. Veruca's wolf form was somehow demonic. The Hope-Wolf before him now was nothing of the sort. Oh sure she was a werewolf, but kind of a cute one. A cute werewolf?
Looking around he sees the others have transformed as well, even JYD! While still frightening in their own right, the demonic visage that Veruca had was not evident in any of them.
But his heart almost stopped when he got to the Conn werewolf. He'd never seen anything so huge! Not even the Demon's he'd seen in Sunnydale came close. The creature was almost 11 feet tall and had to weight at least a ton! Thank God for the concrete floor. He could also swear that the Conn werewolf was smiling and laughing at him. Oz's only response to all this was "Damn."
Hearing a laugh behind him, Oz turns to see Derrick, still in human form. "Awe inspiring isn't he? They all are. FYI, I'm not a werewolf, I'm 100% human thank you."
The werewolves transformed back into their human selves. "How can you do that? It won't be a full moon again for two weeks" Oz exclaimed.
The group responded with laughter. "Oh boy, have we got a lot of work ahead" stated John, going to the bar to get himself a beer.
Hope caught Oz's attention. "Oz I can only assume that what little you know about yourself is incorrect so you are going to have to unlearn a few things. First, you are not a werewolf per say, at least not the Hollywood type. You, me and my pack mates are a race of beings called Garou. Werewolf is what humans call us. What you just saw was us assuming what we call our Crinos or battle form. There are other forms a Garou can take as you'll learn."
"The Garou are an amalgamation of what is human, wolf, and magic. We've been around for millennia. We are the champions of Gaia, the Earth Mother. Born to serve and protect her from the ravages of the Wyrm, the normal pattern of decay that became insane. And so are you. Merlin referred to you as a Lost Cub because you went through your first "change" without being found by a Garou tribe or Sept. You have no understanding of what you are and what it means to be a Garou. We will help you along the path of understanding so that you can fulfill your destiny."
"But how come my change only happens at night during a full moon?"
"That's because you are not in touch with your Rage. It's the source of a Garou's strength and what allows us to control the change. Your subconscious spirit knows what you are, but your conscious mind only knows the Hollywood stereotype and it forces you into that mold. We can help you change that."
"Perception is reality. Perception is information. Information is data. Change the data, change reality" added Derrick. He had moved over to a part of the room Oz hadn't seen before. Kind of an alcove, it contained a large amount of computer equipment and a large reclining chair the looked like a fighter pilot's seat. He attached a curious set of goggles via a cord to the laptop and placed them over his eyes. He had gloves on his hands that are also wired to the laptop and he was gesturing wilding with his hands. "See ya in the morning kids!" Derrick slumped back into his seat and became motionless.
John stepped in front of Oz. "Look Oz, it's getting late. We could stay up all night long answering questions, but we are all tired. Do you have a place to stay?"
Oz shrugged. "Just the van."
"Well, we can do better then that. There's a spare bedroom upstairs. In the morning we can answer more of your questions and you can tell us more about yourself. Tomorrow we'll take you out to the Caern, a holy place for lack of a better term, and introduce you to the other Garou in the area. Then you can decide what you want to do from there."
Oz acceded with a nod. John led him up the stair case to a corridor with many doors, almost like a hotel. He opened the second door on the right. "It's not the Hilton, but the sheets are fresh. The big guy down stairs belongs to the Fianna tribe, and sometimes I think their lives revolve around partying! Besides our own we keep a couple of these rooms as crash space for those too drunk to go home."
The room contained a queen-size bed, a dresser and a night stand. In the back was a door Oz assumed led to a bathroom. The only window looked out over the ally where they parked the vehicles. "You gonna be okay in here, you need anything?"
"I'm cool."
"By the way, that thing the homeless guy gave you? It's called a fetish. This particular one marks you as being under the protection of the local Bone Gnawers tribe, such as it is. The guy who gave it to you is called Finder, and he's well respected amongst their tribe. Some Garou might look down on it, but not us. Wear it, especially when you're in town."
"Cool" said Oz, looking at his fetish. That explained the guys in the alley at least.
"Okay, see you in the morning." John closed the door.
Oz sat on the bed and his mind began to process the revelations just heaped upon him. It was one hell of a day. When he set out on this journey of self discovery he had no idea where it would lead and had thought it might take years. Now within only two days of his departure from Sunnydale, be practically stumbled onto the very group of people who can help him.
Wait, not stumbled. He realized just now that he was led here, by the hawk! What was it? Some kind of spirit? He supposed he'd find out more later. Exhaustion finally won out and lying down, he drifted to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------- TBC - Revelations