----------------------------------------------
Five months. Two weeks he said! We'll be back before Christmas he said! But like
Derrick surmised the Wyrm was waiting for Garou to arrive. It took five long
months for the assembled packs to beat the Wyrm back.
They'd left the morning after Oz's Rite of Passage. They didn't pack the yurt or
much else for that matter. Hope explained that Derrick would bring down most of
their gear.
Their method of travel was called a "Moon Bridge". It created a connection
between this Caern and another, allowing Garou to travel between them in only
moment. The Gazzam Caern had the added advantage of possessing a "Stepping
Stone", a type of a fetish which made the creation of Moon Bridges easier.
Traveling the bridge was akin to walking along a mist covered road. The ground
was barely visible beneath your feet and you could not see very far ahead. But
it shrunk a journey of days down to just minutes.
Their destination was a Caern outside of Rio de Janeiro. Derrick would set his
base up in Rio, not being allowed in the Caern itself. From there the pack would
go out to the Caern that was in danger in the midst of the Rain Forest. John had somehow
contacted the Rio Caern while Oz was on his Quest. The moon bridge had to be
opened from both ends at the same time to work. The Sept in Rio was glad to hear
that Red Moon was returning to aid them again.
After arriving, they met up with Derrick in town. He'd leased an empty warehouse
and hired some of the local Bone Gnawers for security. He'd brought all sorts of
weapons with him and the pack spent the first day in Rio prepping them and
showing Oz how to use a gun.
"I thought Garou didn't use guns, just tooth and claw?" Oz asked Hope.
"Normally that would be the case Oz, but Derrick seems to think the Wyrm has an
organized defense against us this time. That means soldiers and lots of them.
We'll have to make up the difference with these."
"Normally Oz, I don't get involved directly in the fight. I don't have the
training and I'm much more useful acting as the Pack's personal AWACS." Derrick
told Oz. At Oz's perplexed look, Derrick explained, "Airborne Warning and
Control Systems. Using my art, I can keep an eye on everything related to the
target and the battlefield. I can then direct the Pack in and out of the war
zone and warn them of danger. Everyone in the Pack wears these." Derrick held up
a piece of gold jewelry that looked like a spider.
"Most Garou disdain tech of any kind. Red Moon can deal with guns, but guns are
actually fairly low tech when you think about it, purely mechanical devices.
This little baby is a communications device. I tried to use radios at first, but
the pack breaking breaking them and they're difficult to use in Crinos form. I compromised by getting together with a Glass
Walker friend of mine and creating these fetishes. They are all linked together. The
wearers can communicate with one another in something similar to telepathy. It's
also secure; I've added my own encryption schemes to it so the channel can't be
hacked. Watch."
He placed the spider on Oz's shoulder. After a moment, the thing got up and
crawled up Oz's neck, onto his ear and clamped itself down on the top like an
ear cuff. Oz almost tried to swat the thing off, but Derrick grabbed his hand.
Major wiggens!
Oz looked back at Derrick. "Can you hear me Oz?"
He could, which was strange because Derrick never opened his mouth! "Cool!"
"Yeah ain't it? Range is not a factor either. The only drawback is they need to
be recharged with Tass or what you Garou call Gnosis. They're good for about 72
hours of continuous use between charges. They won't fall off unless you get your
ear lopped off. To remove it, just reach up and grab it, they'll let go on their
own."
Oz did so. Derrick handed him a small container. "This one's yours. Keep it in
this when your not wearing it and don't lose it! I don't have any spares right
now. I'll be getting some more in a few days."
"Guys come here!" Derrick shouted. Picking up a large case, he led everyone over
to the gun range they had set up. Derrick had some kind of field around it to
dampen the noise. The pack gathered around to watch. He began to assemble a huge
rifle, placing it on a tripod. "This is a modified Anti-Aircraft gun. 20mm Cannon,
recoilless, magazine fed with 10
rounds."
There was a scope on the top, but instead of an eyepiece, Derrick hooked up a
fiber optic cable to it and ran the cable to a laptop. Then he connected some
type of apparatus to the muzzle of the weapon. It looked like a funnel, but the
large end was closed. It was perforated to allow the muzzle flash and gasses
escape. What he did next puzzled everyone. Instead of pointing it downrange at
the concrete target he'd set up, he pointed it 90 degrees to the left of it.
Going to the laptop, Derrick brought up a window that showed a live image of the
target area. There was a cross hair and what Oz thought was range and windage
info. Using a built-in trackball, Derrick centered the crosshairs on the target.
"Fingers in ears everyone!" He only waited two seconds and pressed a red key he
had on the laptop.
BOOM! The the gun fired and the target disintegrated. "How's that sports fans!"
"And oh it gets better, watch." Derrick began keying some things into the
laptop. Looking over his shoulder, the pack could see the image shift. What
appeared was familiar to some of them.
"Derrick, that's the factory we raided last summer in Iowa" said Hope.
"Yup. They abandoned the place after you trashed it."
His screen showed the outside of the place, now becoming overgrown with weeds
and rust. Using a small joystick Derrick zoomed in closer, but then the
"camera's" perspective went through the wall. Derrick was now following an
interior corridor. The image plunged down to a lower level, apparently
underground. He then panned to the right and pierced another wall. It was dark
on the other side. Derrick flipped a switch and the image became green and
white. "Zero Lumens capability."
It was a machinery room of some kind. Derrick settled on what looked like a
generator and targeted it.
"Fire in the hole!" Everyone covered their ear's as he fired the weapon again,
and all could see generator explode. Almost nothing was left of it.
"I AM ELITE!" Derrick shouted. "Distance and direction for this baby are not a
factor! The only limit is if the bad guys have any mages around. It can be
blocked if they can cut off my ability to "see". I've done what I can to mask
it, but I could probably only fire once or twice before a mage with any skill
can trace it back to the source. It's also vulgar as hell, so we use it
sparingly."
"You are one scary Son of a Bitch Derrick" Hope told him. The others grunted in
agreement and returned to their tasks.
"DS9" Oz said to Derrick.
"You saw that episode too huh?"
"Yup"
"My inspiration for this little puppy. The bullet leaves the muzzle and then
teleports right in front of the target. There are ways to shield yourself from
it, but only if you know it's there."
The next day the Pack traveled out to the Rain Forest and joined up with the
other packs that came to help. The "Construir de Madeira" company, a lumber
mill, was a subsidiary of Pentex. When the pack was last here, the company was
clear cutting large swaths of the rain forest. This was happening all over
Brazil, not just this one location. The local Garou and other werebeasts fought
this all the time.
What made this special was that an ancient and powerful Caern existed in the
path of destruction, and not by coincidence. The Caern was their main target,
destroying all those nice oxygen generating trees, and making a profit at it,
was a just a nice byproduct for the Wyrm.
Eight packs altogether had answered the call, three from Europe and five
from North America. In order to further protect the Caern, a "War Camp" was set
up a fair distance away from it. As many stationary defenses as they could think
of were erected. If any Wyrm creatures decided to follow the Garou back, they'd
find some surprises.
Scouts went out from there to the site where the Madeira Company was clear
cutting, with Derrick adding his tech to the mix. It looked like a standard
logging operation, only nothing was being left behind. Nothing growing above
ground was spared. After the trees were cut, trimmed of their leaves and hauled
away, bulldozers ripped up the stumps and everything else. Sometimes the stumps
would be harvested, American and European woodworkers would pay nice money for
the burl wood they contained. Whatever was left was burned onsite.
The main difference from last time was that the camp where the loggers lived was
being guarded by units of the Exército Brasileiro, the Brazilian army. It
appeared to be a light infantry battalion, with a small amount of armored
support. Trained to US Army standards and doctrine, they were not a force to
be ignored. Each bulldozer had troops riding "shotgun" armed with AK-47s.
Light tanks and APC's guarded the perimeters of the logging operation.
Besides the loggers, other civilians were in the mix. The logger's camp had
woman and children, similar to the camps that followed armies in the middle
ages. They did the washing, cooking and cleaning needed to support the effort.
Any attacks against the camp would result in the loss of innocents. Derrick
pointed out that some of the most important people involved in the European
Crusades in the Holy Lands were the washer women.
Those scouting reports launched the first arguments between the packs. Some
Garou felt that if a few humans died in the effort, so what? They were just
hairless monkeys aiding and abetting the enemy. Kill them all, let Gaia sort
them out. Red Moon held the opposite view,
but they were not the majority.
Conn was one of the highest ranking Ahroun's present, and he tried to assert
that rank. He was immediately challenged by an Ahroun of similar rank from the
opposing view, Carlos "Wyrm Killer" DeSantos. As the one challenged, Conn got to
pick the challenge, and of course he chose drinking! The other side assumed he'd
pick a battle challenge and were caught unprepared. Carlos was a fearsome
warrior, but as a Child of Gaia, did not drink to the extent the Fianna did.
Conn had a case of Irish whiskey brought in (with Derrick's help) and made it a
simple game of going shot for shot.
It was no contest. They'd not even finished the first bottle before Carlos
started to falter. Halfway through the second, Carlos fell flat on his back.
Conn took the remainder of the bottle, chugged it, and then started shouting in
Gaelic. No one could understand, but the jist of it was clear. Then he opened
another and started in on it, which sort of brought an end to that planning
session. Everyone else decided to help him finish the case.
The next day, a surprisingly clear-headed and chipper Conn McNessa was elected
war leader for the assembled packs. He decided that the best course of action
would be to remove the heavy artillery the army was packing. The best way for
them to do that was to enter the umbra and attack the Weaver spirits that
inhabited them.
Oz also offered another solution. "Sugar in the gas tanks."
Derrick replied "Actually, that's sort of a myth. It does nothing to the engine;
sugar is not soluble in gas or diesel. But it does plug up the fuel filter which
would have to constantly be changed until the tank was replaced or cleaned. If
you're going to risk approaching the vehicles however, I'd suggest something more
permanent." Since this was not the Caern Derrick was allowed to be present.
"And that be killing the Weaver spirits Oz. The canna operate without 'em." said
Conn.
Oz looked away in embarrassment.
"I know you've na much experience at this, but dinna let that stop yea from
speakin up Oz. Yea 'av faced more leeches then anyone 'ere, even if they be
strange ones."
The Packs that weren't familiar with Oz's story suddenly looked at him
appraisingly. Fighting vampires was like big-game hunting to them.
"So 'eres the plan..." Conn laid all out for them. Two packs would be held in
reserve, the last ones to arrive was the easiest way to settle which ones, and
the reserves would be rotated. The local sept would supply two Garou each for
the foreign packs to act as guides. They all had a common language, Garou, so
that was not a problem. Of course, Oz was still new to the Garou language, but
it was coming to him fast.
It was decided to time the attacks using the Spider Fetishes. By now Derrick had
acquired enough so that each pack, besides Red Moon, had at least two each. They
would move up to the perimeter in the physical world, step across the Gauntlet
and attack the Weaver spirits. With the tanks and APC's out of action, they'd
only have to face small arms afterwards. The attacks would begin tonight, under
cover of darkness.
While waiting for the time to go, they all rested as best they could, eating
lightly. It wasn't good to go into battle with a heavy stomach.
Oz approached John with a question. "I thought you told me that only older
spirits had a spiritual presence in the Umbra. How will we see these Weaver
spirits?
"That's true what I said before, but it was sort of a blanket statement. What
develops a spirit for a man-made object is the emotional attitude of the beings
that either occupy or use it. The Weaver spirit is there, but it's not strong
enough to manifest itself unless there is some emotional or spiritual investment in it. Like I said
about buildings, an office building will have less spiritual investment then a
church."
"Now think about the emotional investment a human has towards a weapon of war
such as a tank. Every human that's ever occupied it has had to treat it with
some amount of fear and respect. Fear of either using it, or of being caught in
it. I'm told those things can become death traps if you come up against the
wrong foe. That has to make you think. Add to that, what if these things have
actually been used to kill? Even the hardest soldiers have emotions towards
that."
"Only really new machines won't have built up enough of this to remain un-manifested.
I'm sure these vehicles are US or Soviet surplus as well. Derrick tells me the
models all date from Viet Nam era. It shouldn't be a problem to kill them. One
thing you need to remember, these will not be inanimate objects in the Umbra.
The Weaver spirits are capable of fighting back. Some may even be able to
manifest weapons of similar design to their physical world counterparts, with
equal potential for destruction."
"There are things that I can do to them as well, but it usually unnerves the
Garou when I do. Red Moon is used to it, but the other packs might object if I
interfere with their war. I'll save some of my best tricks for when they are
truly needed."
Somehow Oz was not comforted by this discussion.
At nightfall the packs headed out. The two locals with the Red Moon pack were
Nelson Ribeiro and Alexandro Piearas. Oz was tempted to call him Xander, but
held off. They led the group to their insertion point. Once they arrived, all
could smell the cook fires of the camp from where they stood.
They gathered around Conn. "Okay me boyos," Hope slapped him on the arm. "Let's
have at it. We cross 'ere and go to the edge of the clearing, then wait for the
signal."
John peeked into the Umbra to see if all was clear. He didn't see anything, so
as one they all crossed into the Umbra. Once there they moved to the edge of the
clearing made by the clear cutting going on. The signal they got was not the one
they expected though.
As they stood waiting, Fomori began popping up from the ground all around them
where they had laid in ambush. Fomori are humans or animals that have been
turned to the Wyrm and draw power from it, and are the blood enemies of the
Garou.
The assembled Garou began to fight them immediately. Since they were intending
to fight in the Umbra, they did not bring any technological weapons with them,
only tooth, claw and fetish. Conn shifted into his Crinos form and began to lay
into the enemy with what he called his "Irish Potato Masher". It was a huge
mallet; the head was almost a foot in diameter and two feet long, made of oak
and bound with iron bands. Conn said he'd bound a Ram spirit to it to give it
that extra oomph. The handle was made of ash, and it protruded through the
mallet's head to form a spike. Fomori began flying away from him, the hard way.
The rest of the Red Moon pack and their two local guides also sprang into
action. Aside from his Rite of Passage, this was Oz's first battle as a Garou
while he was in control of his rage. He'd shifted into his Crinos battle form
almost instantly and engaged one of the formori. It was humanoid, looking rather
like a demon he and the Scooby gang had encountered once. Barbed spikes
protruded from its fists and forearms.
Oz outweighed it at the moment, and was a little stronger. He'd landed several
good blows on the creature, but it was still coming. Then the fomori scored as
well, ripping a gash down the side of Oz's face with one of the spikes. It hurt
like hell, but it didn't slow Oz down.
In the day or two they'd been waiting around for the offensive to begin, Krieg
had been showing Oz some fighting moves, ones that work for Garou in their
battle form. Oz saw an opening to use one now, a type of spinning kick. He
caught the Wyrm spawn square in the chest and sent it flying.
Lying on it's back, but still alive, Oz did a running jump and landed with one
foot right on the things throat, crushing its windpipe and breaking its neck. Oz
had no time to think about the brutality of his actions as two more fomori
attacked him. One of them breathed a noxious green cloud at Oz, which he barely
dodged. The other had bone spikes similar to the first. Oz was hard-pressed to
deal with both of them, but he managed to wound one enough with he claws that it
had trouble maneuvering. This let him concentrate on the second enough to kill
it, and then go back after the first.
Krieg had a weapon almost as formidable as Conn's, a fetish in the form of a
bearded axe. Having both a pain spirit and a war spirit bound into it, just its
touch can cause damage to an enemy. Nothing stood before him for long.
John, Hope and the others were holding there own as well. Mostly thanks to Conn
taking out so many of them to begin with. When the last of the fomori fell, Conn
asked Derrick to report on the other packs.
"Each got ambushed just like you, sorry but they did not show up on my scans.
One of the other packs is still fighting, but the one to your left has exhausted
their supply of bad buys too. None dead on our side, but lots of wounded."
"Okay Derrick, signal the pack to our right to attack the Weaver spirits. We can
still accomplish our goal."
The Red Moon pack approached the Weaver spirit of an APC. It was an old Russian
BTR-70, a wheeled vehicle with a turret mounted heavy-caliber machine gun. The
Weaver Spirit version of it looked a lot like its physical counterpart, only
more like a bug. Instead of wheels it had thick joined legs. Its turret was a
kind of insectoidal head, with a long proboscis. It had sat idle all this time;
rarely do Weaver spirits attack unless directly provoked.
Well, the pack was about to provoke this one. Conn had mastered a gift called
"Kangaroo Leap", which let him jump incredible distances. He took a running leap
up into the air and landed right on top of the thing and began tearing into its
shell.
The rest of the pack tried to come up to its rear, but the thing began spinning
around, trying to dislodge Conn. As it came around, it spat three globules from
its probuscis which exploded when they landed.
"Balefire!" Shouted Krieg, and the pack scattered to avoid the blasts. Still,
John and Hope were caught by some of it when they zigged instead of zagging. As
the Pack finally closed in on it and started to destroy the spirit, Derrick
announced "Guys, you've got incoming. The other Weaver spirits are waking up
and mobilizing".
Just as he spoke, explosions began to ring around them. Looking up Conn saw
Weaver tanks approaching, spitting out their own balefire. With the APC finally
dead beneath him, Conn decided that was enough for today.
"Derrick, sound the recall, everyone return home."
It grated at Conn to retreat. But they would be back again.
Back at the Battle Camp they surveyed the damage. The physical injuries were
minor. No dead, a few broken bones, lots of smaller wounds and a few big ones
like the gash in Oz's face. It ran from the bottom of his right ear, down and
inch or so and then along his jaw line ending before his chin. It had stopped
bleeding and was closing already. One benefit of transforming from Crinos to
Human form that Oz didn't know before was it accelerated healing.
The worst damage came from the corruption the Fomori were capable of spreading,
their "taint". A few of the wounded Garou were now suffering from infections
that did not respond to the normal healing gifts the Garou used. A few others
had to fight off Bane spirits that the fomori attempted to pass on to them. Many
cleansing rituals would be needed to scour the corruption away.
Conn went over to examine Oz's wound, to determine if he'd suffered such
corruption. "T'is a clean wound so ye 'il no need cleansing, but ach, that's
gonna be a beauty of a scar laddie!"
Not liking the idea Oz asked "It's gonna scar?"
"Sure will," said Krieg "Unless we heal it. Hope or John can heal it for you and
it won't scar, but then how will you tell its tale?"
"It's tale?"
"Of course! Battle scars are worn as badges of honor in the Garou society and
every scar has a tale" said Krieg. "How it got there, who gave it to you
etcetera. Get more then one Ahroun in one place and the conversation will almost
always turn to who's got the worse scar. Heck you're a Galliard son; I'd start
composing a song about it if I were you."
And he did. He sang it the next night around the fire. But it was not just about
him. He included parts of all the stories that were told of the battle that day,
the first battle in the war for Amazonia. Everyone was moved, including the
elder Galliards present.
The day after the battle, the Army regulars were stumped when most of their
vehicles wouldn't start. The mechanics could find nothing wrong with them, and
began to strip them down. One of the tricks Derrick had up his sleeve was to
intercept their requests for replacements so they never came. It slowed them
down, but didn't stop them.
After 5 months of running battles, the combined Packs managed to shut down the
operation again, but not without cost. Of the eight packs that fought, two were
wiped out entirely. Others lost at least one or more of their pack mates. Only
Red Moon remained intact. At least if you could call it that.
The local press deemed it a "Rebel Uprising" hence the presence of the army.
They even declared victory when it was over, even though they'd lost.
Oz learned a lot in those 5 months, not the least of which is the horror of war.
Oh he'd fought along side Buffy before, but it was nothing like this. He didn't
shy from it, but it hardened him. He now had a look in his eyes that Krieg
called it the "1,000 Yard Stare".
"Your eyes become somewhat empty or vague, because there's nothing you haven't
seen. Utter cruelty, callous and vicious fighting; blood flowing like rain,
children at the utmost risk placed in harm's way purposely to be used as bait or
traps. You've seen soldiers and men, women and children, civilians murdered
carelessly, all in the name of corruption. Despite the fact that we came here to
fight the Wyrm, he revels in this. He knows that despite our victory, he's
somehow corrupted you."
"It happens to all of us Oz the first time out. I'd be more worried if I didn't
see you like this. If not, that would have meant you enjoyed what we've been
doing these last months. And the minute you enjoy killing is when you'll lose
yourself to the Wyrm. The stare comes from your soul trying to compensate what
you've done and seen against what you know it right and wrong."
"What about Conn? I've seen him sing in battle."
"That's not what it looked like Oz. First, Ahrouns are mostly misunderstood by
others. They think we DO enjoy this. We don't. There is no enjoyment, no glory,
no honor from killing things. The glory and honor comes from doing what you need
to do to DEFEND those that need defending, your people, your homes and Gaia
herself. What most people interpret as our lust for battle is really the Ahrouns
way of preparing himself for the carnage that must be endured."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but when Conn sings, doesn't your heart feel
lighter?"
Oz pondered a few seconds and nodded his head in the affirmative.
"He knows that the reality of battle can quickly suck the life out of your soul.
His songs bring inspiration to his fellows, buoying them against the carnage.
Just seeing him inspires us all to continue on. That and his bravado are a
defense mechanism, protecting his psyche."
"Believe it or not Oz, you'll get used to the carnage; you can "normalize" it.
The "stare" will go away, though you continue fighting. Just remember to keep
self-analyzing yourself. When you start to enjoy this, it's time to back away.
That's the difference between a soldier and a wanton killer."
The pack had by now made it's way back to the warehouse in Rio. Conn decided
it was "Miller Time". Time to unwind and decide their next move. He also
officially handed leadership of the pack back to Hope. During times of War, Conn
was the leader, but he knew when it was time to yield back to a cooler head.
Hope addressed the pack. "I think we could all use a vacation. Disney is out
after our last visit there." she said smiling.
The pack began to laugh except for Conn and Oz. Conn shouted. "The "It's a Small
World" ride is Wyrm tainted I tell you!"
"We know Conn, we know. Any other suggestions?"
"How about Cabo?" posed Derrick. "I can get us a nice secluded cabin or three on
the beach somewhere. A few weeks of fun in the sun, drinks by the pool. The Cult
of Ecstasy has a chantry there that I can safely open a gate to. And do those C
of Xer's know how to release tension! From there we can head up to Sunnydale and
finally get to the bottom of that mystery."
Wow, Sunnydale. Oz had almost forgotten all about it! Five months and he'd never
let Willow know where he was. Crap. And the Dingos! They probably thought he'd
abandoned them, which he sorta did. Double Crap.
"Any objections to Derrick's plan?" Hope asked. Silence. "No, then Cabo it is!"
Cheers from all around.
"Oh, there is one other thing we've been neglecting in all this time." Hope
continued. "Oz, we never made it official, but I think I speak for all of us
when I say "Welcome to the Red Moon pack!", that is if that's what you want…"
Oz didn't hesitate. "Of course. I'm honored. Thanks, this means a lot guys." He
received a round of applause.
Hope continued. "There is just one formality you have to undergo Oz." With that,
Conn dumped a huge bucket of beer over Oz's head.
The room broke out with laughter again. "Gee thanks Conn. Didn't you know that
this was Alcohol abuse?"
"Don't you worry laddie, there be plenty more where this came from! Time to get
pissed!" Which they all proceeded to do.
The two weeks in Cabo were an eternity to Oz. One could only take so much fun in
the sun with a burden weighting on your soul. He was both looking forward to and
dreading returning to Sunnydale, but he knew he had to. The anticipation was
making it hard to relax. His restlessness was obvious.
"I think our Young Turk here is chomping at the bit to head north" observed John
over breakfast one morning.
Krieg replied "Actually I think the novelty of doing nothing is starting to wear
off. Maybe two weeks of R&R is enough"
"Aye" Conn agreed with him.
"What about you the rest of you?" queried Hope. John said he agreed with the
Ahrouns.
Derrick replied "I've had subroutines and search bots working on gathering info
related to Sunnydale since we left. I've also been working on several theories
in my own mind to try and explain some of the paradoxes involved here. I'm
anxious to go to the source to try and prove them out."
"Oz?"
"I need to reconnect with the Scooby gang. One problem is; what can I tell them
about me now without endangering the Veil?" Maybe they'd say we couldn't go and
relieve him of the problem.
Derrick spoke up again. "I've been working on that too Oz. From what I can tell,
all of the members of your Scooby gang are either already Awakened individuals
or are on the verge of it. Buffy certainly is. I almost blinded myself when I
peeked at her avatar."
"You peeked at Buffy? Dude, you better not let her find out. She'll rip you a
new one, literally!"
"Relax kid, it's not like I looked at her while she was in the shower. I sent a
probe through the Web to look at each of them. It actually functions through
their TV sets. If people knew those things could work in more then one
direction, they'd freak!"
"Your Willow by the way is more then just a Wiccan. She's an Awakening mage. The
right stimulus will push her over the edge. I'd actually like to be there to
guide her. I'm positive she'll make a great VA. I've also seen her in the
presence of another cute girl who appears to be on the verge of awakening."
"Rupert Giles is another Hedge Mage. I didn't see any signs of his awakening,
and given his age I doubt it will happen. He is however from what I can tell,
well versed in the occult."
"Cordelia Chase is in LA still, but she has Awakened as well. I don't think
she's a mage, but some type of benevolent spirit inhabits her now. Her
ex-boyfriend Xander is inhabited by not one but TWO spirit forms. One is
defiantly Hyena."
The pack looks up at that. "A hyena spirit can be powerful Oz" John informs him.
"If your friend can learn to tap into it, he'd become a force to recon with."
"That's what I figured" continued Derrick. "But get this; the second spirit
seems to be a Shade of some kind. A "Shade" Oz is essentially the soul of a dead
person that did not pass on to the next life. I have no idea how these two
supernatural entities are affecting Xander, if at all."
"I'm not sure about the Hyena. I seem to remember Xander telling me the story of
a problem at the zoo a few years ago. The Shade you're talking about though
would be that of a Vietnam era US soldier. It was before my time with the gang,
but one year at Halloween, a guy name Ethan Raines made everyone in Sunnydale
turn into the costumes they were wearing. Willow became a ghost, Buffy a
noblewoman from the 1700's, and Xander became soldier guy. He was wearing a set
of fatigues he got from an Army-Navy store. We think it was worn by an actual
Vietnam vet. He can channel the guy every once in a while, but usually not on
purpose."
Hope patted him on the shoulder. "So there you go Oz. The Veil is to keep our
existence from "normal" humans, sleepers as Derrick calls them. It seems your
friends are far from that." Hope looked over at Derrick. "So how do we get
there?"
"First I recommend we keep a low profile. There may be powers involved here that
might not like our presence. There are a few chantries in LA, and I can only
assume there is a Glass Walker and Bone Gnawer caern as well. I don't think we
should use any of them. The best approach would be the long way. It's about 1800
miles from here to LA. I'll charter us a plane and we fly up."
They all looked at Conn. The problem with the Pack using Air Transport is that
airplanes were not designed with a 7 foot 500 pound person in mind. Plus he
hated the things.
"There be no other way?" he pleaded.
"Not without letting someone else know we've arrived. We could drive, but its
1800 miles or more. Most of which would be on Mexican roads. Even if we drove
straight though it would mean more than 24 hours on the road, as apposed to 3
hours on a plane. Relax. I'll see if I can get as a cargo plane with some
seating. You can stretch out in the back."
"Okay, but I reserve the right to complain!"
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TBC