New Comer - Mid April

A slender male approaches the front gate of the now fortified wildlife reserve that was Cherokee Park. A rifle case is slung over his shoulder. He looks up and down the fence line, and then back at the gate. Notice a slight glint of metal he spots a small dome camera above the gate. He frowns slightly, "What?... What is this place?"

He closes his eyes and reaches out that part of his being that is just a bit more open to the world. He feels the caern, breathing in deeply and feels relaxed. "Well, no doubting it... What now.."

He looks back at the camera, "Hello?" He yells slightly.

"The hell am I doing," he mutters.

He paces slightly then sits down his rifle case. He looks about at the nearby houses, honestly having no clue how to get in to this place. Then his faces lights up as a thought occurs to him.

"Oh yea!"

He digs in his pocket and then takes off his backpack, after ruiffling through it for a few moment he retrieves a scrap of paper. "There we go, they told me to call him when I got here. I really wish they were more helpful. Can't understand why they would be so eager to get rid of me, are we become so isolated that we hate our own now?......"

He sighs and then pulls out his phone, having to dig around more to even find it.

He types in the phone number, saving it under 'Devon' and then types out a text message.

-Howl of Introduction, Cliath, Glasswalker, Galliard, at the front gate. Could really use some rest, it's been a hard journey. The Glasswalkers in the skyscraper told me to fuck off. Gave me your number though. What's up with that?-

He sends the text and then sighs. He looks around a bit and groans. "Should have stopped by that O'Tolly's..."

He whines slightly to himself and then sits down on the ground, grimacing and sitting his rifle case across his lap. He doesn't even pay attention to the gate anymore, sseeming lost in thought.

About 100 yards from the gate, a reddish, mangy looking wolfdog comes slinking out of the underbrush and onto the main path, her nose lifted to the air questioningly. A low, quiet growl begins deep in her throat when an unfamiliar scent comes wafting from the way of the gate, and the wolfdog disappears into the brush once more.

Several minutes later a woman appears from where the animal slunk off, pulling her curly, dark hair back into a ponytail. Her attire is simple - a pair of patched and dirty shorts that hung past her knees, and a black wife beater shirt. Her arms and legs are marred with the scars of past scuffles.

The woman began to walk towards the gate, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. When she noticed the man, she scowled.

"This is private property, you know. You can't sleep there."

"Technically the street is city property... still can't sleep here though, so I guess you're right."

He stares at her a few seconds, and then glances furtively up at the camera.

"Actually I'm waiting for someone, to be honest. But since you're in there, maybe you may know him. Devon?"

He picks his phone up off the ground from where he clearly recklessly discarded it, "I sent him a... text of introduction. Hasn't been long though."

The woman eyed the stranger for a moment, collecting her thoughts.

"Yeah, Devon is a...coworker of mine, but I don't know where he is right now. Probably doing security rounds on the other side of the park. If you sent him a text though, it shouldn't be long before he gets it. He's pretty quick about that kind of stuff."

She paused, her brow furrowing. "A text of introduction...?" She paused again, as if trying to think of what to say. "Is the boss expecting you?"

"Doubt it, just passing through. I went to stay with my family up in the high rises. But they told me to buzz off. Not sure what has their fuzz in a bunch. Told me that everyone who passed through town came here, you had more room. So I came here."

He stares up and down the wall. "Does seem like you have a lot of room."

He stands and reslings his rifle case on his shoulder, "So is Devon the right person to talk to? I really don't know. They didn't tell me, just gave me his name and number cause he's family.

He walks towards the fence and pokes at his phone, bringing up the text he sent Devon. He reaches out to pass it through the fence so she can read it and then abruptly stops.

"It's... It's not electrofied, is it?"

The woman shook her head. "No. Not yet at least. That's next on the list of improvements." she explains, reaching a hand through to accept the phone. She takes a minute to read over the text, and then her face lights up, and she "oohs" softly.

"Well, that's something completely different then. Gimme a second to open the gate, and you can come in."

Carry hands the phone back, and then walks over to the large chain and padlock holding the gate shut. She reaches around her neck and pulls a thin chain out, from which hangs a key. She unlocks the padlock and unwinds the chain, pulling on the heavy gate to let the man through. As soon as he enters, she immediately rewraps the chain and locks it in place, sliding the chain back around her neck.

"Let's go find Devon. Once we are a bit farther into the park we can talk more. I'm Carry, by the way."

"Scott," he follows her in taking his phone back and dropping it into a pocket.

"So... You just kind of took all of this land? How'd you manage that?"

He stares back over his shoulder at the camera and then looks around at the wildlife, struggling to survive so deep in the city.

Once they were out of earshot of anyone who might be lurking around the fence, Carry seemed to relax a little.

"The fences and such were built a while ago. Our past beta, Darien, funded the project, bought the park, and turned it into a wildlife preserve. It's been private property, and our home, ever since. Darien has since moved on, so construction and improvements have slowed due to trying to gather funds, but it's a great start, and has kept most everyone out of our hair."

After maybe a half mile of walking, she turned off the main path they were on, and began to lead Scott up a watershed. "Our main gathering spot is up here. There's bound to be someone around."

Devon's vision blurs and his stomach turns as he falls through the gauntlet. As his clothes bleed out of his skin and back into reality, he shrugs his shoulders and sighs. Even after all this time, he still felt uncomfortable in crinos.
His pocket vibrates, and he checks his phone. "Shit."
In less than a minute, he crossed the bawn but saw no one at the gate. "Shiiiit."
Shoulders slumped, he began walking up to the watershed, texting rapidly on his phone.

Devon, Paces the Car, Adren, Homid, Glasswalker, Ahroun, Where are you?

At the top of the watershed was a small clearing, the brush and tangles pulled back to almost make a boundary around the area. In the center stood a small campfire that crackled and danced merrily. She walked over to it, motioning Scott to follow.

"Now we wait." Carry said simply. "Everyone winds up here eventually."

Scott jumps slightly and his hand darts for his pocket. He pulls out his phone and takes a quick glance, then types out -Uhhhhh With Carry. In a clearing. She says it's the hip place to be.-

"I think Devon is now coming."

Devon's absently tapping away as he arrives at the campfire. Looking up, he sees Carry with the newcomer and smiles. "Glad you made it in okay." He says, holding out his hand in greeting.

Windy approaches Devon and Carry, looking oddly at the newcomer. His sniper rifle on his back.

"It took a bit, she's defensive." He grins slightly.

He takes Devon's hand and gives a weak shake.

"Do you know why our tribe in this city are prickwolves?"

Devon shrugs, "It's been a tough year for everyone around here." He takes a seat by the fire. "So they sent you here, huh?"

"It has indeed been a rough year, it's nice to start seeing new faces around again." Windy says as he extends his hand to the newcomer. "Hello, I am Pierces the Wind, most around here just call me Wind.y"

"Wouldn't let me in. Building was on lockdown. They told me everyone comes here, didn't seem very friendly about that thought either."

Scott lays his rifle case on the ground and sits by the fire, "So, how many of you are there here? The stories make it seem like a fullhouse, but it's so damn quiet here."

He looks over to Windy, "I think I've heard of you. My names Scott. Scott Carpenter...... Err.... Scott 'Two Birds' Carpenter."

"Nice to meet you Scott....Two Birds? How did you get that rite name?"

"Devon/Carry, How are you guys?"

"Took us hunting for our Rite. Had to kill as man, something about conquering nature. Shot two birds in flight with one bullet."

He mentions it seeming fairly uninterested in his own story.

"Been busy as all hell, Windy. What have you and Carry been up to?" Devon says, throwing a log onto the fire.

Glancing over at Scott, he looks him up and down. "We haven't met before this have we? Where are you from?"

We have not met no. I'm from eastern Kentucky. Coal mines area. Been moving about, old sept got hard to stay at,' Scott explained.

Carry smiled over to Windy. "Not much, brother. Patrolling the park borders, keeping an eye on things, picking up stragglers." she answers with a chuckle, as she makes her way to sit by the fire. She grabs a nearby stick to poke at the coals, stirring them larger.

Devon shrugs, "I guess it'd be that way up there with the widespread poverty, and men cutting down mountains, destroying wildlife. With Pentex constantly gutting the EPA, it'd be a hard won fight up there. I certainly wouldn't want that job. I'd rather fight here in the city. Maybe you'll be more comfortable here. Our goals tend to be fairly reasonable and sometimes even straightforward. You looking to join a pack?"

"I... Uhm. I wasn't intending to stay. I mean, I'm not really particularly useful to have around, I wouldn't think a pack would want me.," he mutters nervously .

"If you haven't noticed, there aren't many of us." Devon says somberly.