~I... I didn't want them to go.~

[renferret]

Kavi meets Kakkerlak.



Umbra: Bridge Street (100-400)
Bridge Street, like most of the rest of the city, is even more disgusting in the Umbra than in Realm. The power plant here is a travesty -- black filth belches into the sky, creating a dark cloud that hangs over the entire street like a sign of impending doom. The webs of the weaver are old and decayed to an extent here, running in haphazard, entropic patterns. The dim aura of despair and base negative emotion pervades the area, much as it does in the rest of the south end of the Umbral cityscape.
The devastation surrounding the vile blight of the factory lies southward. The city becomes darker and more decayed further to the southwest, where another street can be seen. A building nearby has the gleam of mirrored doors visible through the window. The one ray of hope comes from the Glade visible to the northeast.
Obvious exits:
Southwest Power Plant Northeast
Kavi has arrived.
Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (55% full).

The half moon hangs bright in the sky, though it's partially obscured by the black cloud that seems to perpetually hang over this part of the city, especially toward the area of the former power plant. Mouse leads the way into the shadow of the Tenement building, where, while the filth of the city seems to cluster on the outside of the old building, and the Weaver's webs are certainly present, the dank, disgusting presence of the Wyrm is at least absent on the inside, as well as the rooftop, which appears to be her destination. She's in lupus, and on reaching the top of the building, she sets about sniffing the boundaries of the roof as though it were no different than the much more familiar rooftop of the realm.

Kavi follows after, though he remains in his birth form. He seems nervous, ill at ease, tonight. Perhaps it's the specific purpose of this journey, because over the past months and his lessons with Mouse, his general mien in the umbra has relaxed.

No surprise, there are quite a number of cockroach spirits lurking on this side of the Gauntlet, though none of them are large enough to be Mouse's totem. There are even a few on the roof, and they scuttle about, seemingly unworried by the two Garou visitors. Eventually, Mouse finishes her casual inspection of the rooftop and trots back to Kavi, her long tail waving sinuously behind her. We're early, she tells him. Wait a very small bit.

Kavi nods, chewing on his lower lip. He glances about the rooftop, and then sits, crosslegged, before the fostern. "Should... Should I do anything?" He doesn't seem to mind the smaller roach spirits, even smiling faintly at their movements as he looks toward the edge of the roof and then back to Mouse.

First-Strike sits next to Kavi, ears pinning back. No. Just wait. And, in an attempt to relax him a little, she lays down, tail curling about her paws.

Kavi's hands settle into his lap and he tugs at his fingers, twisting gently. It's a nervous gesture, but his expression settles some and he draws in several slow, deep breaths.

Within only a few moments, there's a definite clacking, skittering sound that's too loud and defined to be coming from the small cockroach spirits. Two long feelers poke their way over the lip of the roof, followed by a dark, shiny carapace that reflects the moonlight much like an oil slick reflects the sun, and six legs moving in unison as they pull the far, far larger cockroach spirit onto the roof itself. She's easily the size of a large dog, likely even bigger.

First-Strike stands immediately, pleased greeting written in every bit of her posture.

Kavi swallows, eyes going wide at the sight. Instead of standing as Mouse does, he shifts onto his knees and bows his head, chin almost touching his chest. His hands rest on his thighs, suddenly tense again.

First-Strike moves forward, sniffing over the massive insect as the long feelers pass over her in return. A few moments, and the Walker elder steps back again, bulking smoothly up into hispo and looking back toward Kavi. She chuffs, once, encouragingly. ~This is Kakkerlak.~

Kavi pulls his gaze from his knees, straining to lift his chin. He manages enough that he can look at the spirit, lips drawn between his teeth making a thin line of his mouth. After another moment of hesitation, he shifts, sliding from homid through glabro to crinos, where he remains kneeling before the spirit. Muzzle still pointed down and ears flat against his skull he rumbles out a greeting, his gruff voice touched with a whine. ~Hello.~

First-Strike repeats the greeting to the cockroach spirit, which chitters and clacks in response. It moves toward Kavi, feelers reaching out to brush his face. *Hello. Are you the one who I have an appointment with? You are punctual!* Mouse, of course, translates.

Ringtone doesn't move as the spirit touches him, but his eyes close and his tongue flickers outward to lick his nose. ~She... She looks like "Akhil".~ The statement is about as quiet as a crinos can manage, more sharp in tone than before. He runs his tongue over his muzzle and lets out a shaky breath. ~I am,~ he rumbles with much less whine in the tone.

First-Strike translates this last sentence, though not the first. Kakkerlak continues to make dry, rustling and clicking noises. Her touch is so soft that it's barely detectable, and after a moment she appears to be satisfied as she backs up just a little. No further translation comes from Mouse just yet, but the spirit itself seems to have an air of...expectation about it. Waiting. Just how in the world such a thing can be obvious from a giant insect is a mystery, but nevertheless, it is.

Ringtone's tongue flicks out again, not quite reaching the tip of his nose, and his muzzle tips further downward. ~I'm sorry.~

Click, click, click. Rustle. *Are you?* The tone is surprised. *Why are you sorry?*

Ringtone opens his eyes, looking sideways to Mouse. His ears seem to pull inward, wrinking the skin and fur between them and he lets out a small, involuntary whine. He turns back to the spirit, looking at her for just a second before he drops his gaze. ~For what I did. For... for what I didn't do.~

The roach spirit moves just a little closer once more, and the clicking seems to become a little quieter. *What didn't you do?* she asks. *What could you have done?*

Ringtone whines again, posture and tone replete with apology. ~I could have been there. I... I could have been with them, with him.~ His whole spine curves as he bends further, almost prepared to touch his muzzle to the rooftop. ~I should have died for him.~

The feelers brush against the top of Ringtone's head. There is the softest of clicks, and then silence. *You could have been,* Kakkerlak agrees, after a long few moments. *Would one more warrior have stopped it?*

Ringtone's ears twitch and then return to flat against his head. His eyes squint, not quite closing. ~No. No they... They said, no.~ His eyes open and he looks at the spirit directly for a long second. ~I... I didn't want them to go.~

Glassy black eyes peer back at him from under that shiny carapace. She does not answer this time. Her long feelers brush against the rooftop itself, and one of the much smaller cockroach spirits skitters between her legs and over Ringtone's foot.

~Please,~ he whimpers, and he shoots another glance toward Mouse. He pulls his hands from his legs, and, turning the left palm out, draws one claw across it. Blood and the silvery sheen of his spirit rise in his cupped hand. ~Please? I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I couldn't... couldn't save them... or, or die with them. I'm sorry.~ He extends his cupped hand toward the giant cockroach.

One leg scratches against the ground, and then the large cockroach moves forward, feelers touching the offering first, absorbing the energy. The touch remains once it is gone, however, and the rustling, clacking noises from the totem spirit get faster, a little louder. Her body brushes his cupped hands, his arm, and several of her legs follow. *You are sorry,* she says. *We are sorry you could not save them. But we are not sorry that you are not dead. You are ours. You are always ours.*

The release is sudden and complete, a melting of tension throughout his form. He leans his muzzle toward the armored carapace, rubbing gently against her. ~Thank you,~ he rumbles, his voice rich and no longer edged with the sharper sound of his whine. He lifts his uninjured hand, at first tentatively, but then with growing comfort, to touch the legs that reach out to him, and he sighs, almost content.

*Ours*, the spirit says, with another soft click. She doesn't move. She remains exactly like that, touching him, brushing him, for as long as he seems to want it.

Seconds tick by and become minutes, the crinos seeming to pay attention to each touch. Eventually he lifts his muzzle to the sky and draws in a breath that rounds out his chest. His howl is triumphant and sad, and carries no words, though as it ends it is filled with the sound of belonging.

Kakkerlak's feelers lift at the sound, waving in the air. Her clicks and scratches become faster, louder, and the other, smaller cockroach spirits lingering on the roof follow her lead, waving their feelers and clicking rapidly. Mouse adds her own howl to the mix, short and simple, and certainly without the kind of expression a Galliard might have, but it still seems to intermix with the sound from the roaches, rather than contrast with it.

Ringtone lets the sound die out and brings his muzzle back down to look at Kakkerlak. This time his ears are not slicked back, though neither are they fully forward. His muzzle drops open slightly and he turns bright eyes from the spirit to his elder. ~Thank you,~ he says, encompassing them both.

Kakkerlak brushes Ringtone's face one more time. Then she turns, trundling back towards the edge of the roof (she pauses once to nudge several smaller roach spirits out of her way), and climbs up over the edge of it again, disappearing from view.

Ringtone watches the spirit go and releases another sigh before sliding down to his birth form. "Mouse-rhya?" he calls to her in a voice just barely above a whisper.

First-Strike steps toward her tribemate. ~Yes?~

Kavi smiles, calm and warm, though there's still a measure of sorrow in his eyes. "Thank you." He pulls the corner of his lip between his teeth, thoughtful, and studies her for a long moment.

First-Strike's ears splay to either side. ~You're welcome,~ she replies, warmly. ~You want to go back now, or spend some time out here?~

Kavi glances down, and then back to Mouse, a little shy. "Will you stay? If I do, will you stay with me? You don't... You don't have to teach me anything, unless you want to, but just... be here for a little while?"

First-Strike, in answer, shrinks back down into lupus and sprawls out on the roof. As if to punctuate her contentment with this request, she yawns widely, shoulders working to get into the most comfortable position.

Kavi scoots a little closer to where Mouse settles, and drops back down to sit crosslegged beside her. He lets one hand settle into the fur at her shoulder and smiles, looking first to the skittering roaches nearby, and then out across the city. The view isn't as comforting as it is in the realm, but it's one he's growing accustomed to. "Thank you," he whispers again.

First-Strike touches her nose to Kavi's leg, and settles in, eyes closing.