The Chronicles of NightStalker and WyldChyld

"Life being what it is…one often dreams of revenge"

Taya strode through the woods, snarling angrily as yet another branch snapped back and lashed her in the face. She had been at the Caern of the Black Furies for over a month now and they had taught her nothing. Patience they had counseled, she would learn all she needed to know in time. And they had gone on to tell her fancy stories of women….. wolves even, that Taya had no interest in and most of whom were dead. They had promised her training. They had told her they would teach her everything she needed to know about this strange new life of hers. But so far, she had learned nothing. No one had even mentioned teaching her anything. And she had only been taught the most rudimentary of shifting skills. When she had pressured the other’s about her training they had just smiled at her as though she were a child and told her to be patient that one would be arriving in time to teach her all she needed to know. Taya snorted and pushed on through the woods, stumbling over an exposed root and falling to her knees in the muck left by last nights rain. Taya sniffled and ran her hand across her nose, leaving a smear of mud on her face. Bad enough that she had to sleep out in the open. Bad enough she’d gotten caught in the rain last night, but now she was sitting in the muck. Growling softly to herself, she stood and brushed at the mud futilely and continued to shove her way through the grasping underbrush. She had been brought to the caern on a path. Surely it couldn’t be that hard to find. Taya sighed wearily. She was looking forward to getting back to the city. The forest was for the animals, and she would be happy to leave them to it. All in all, the last month seemed like a bad dream. Even worse than life usually was. Taya snorted softly to herself. If regular life was a nightmare, it would stand to reason that any nightmare she would have was bound to be worse.

Taya finally stumbled, literally, onto a faint trail. The trail ran in opposite directions to the one she was traveling. At a loss she grumbled to herself and dug into the pocket of her tight jeans for a quarter. Carelessly she tossed it into the air and let it land on the path. Glaring at it she frowned… then headed South, leaving the coin gleaming softly in the mud behind her.

Around what Taya judged to be noon, her grumbling stomach forced her to look around for food. Finally spying some small berries not far from the trail, she stopped and ate a handful, but they were sour tasting and left a scummy feeling in her mouth, so she didn’t eat any more.

Within half an hour, Taya found herself doubled over in pain at the side of the bush, her arms wrapped around her stomach and sweat standing out on her forehead. She moaned in pain as another cramp raced through her.

"God I hate the bush! I wanna go home!" Taya frowned and blamed her sorry condition on the fools back at the caern. She had been happy in her former life. Well, if not happy, then at least as content as any street kid could hope to be. But now, now she was dying and cold and dirty and wet and alone and it was all their fault. Taya felt her stomach churning, and barely made it off the path before she became violently ill. She heaved until she had thrown up her meager lunch and everything she had eaten at the caern the day before. Groaning, she staggered to her feet and continued down the path muttering to herself.

Before too long, as she was getting over the surprise of having her lunch revolt on her, she came realized that she could hear voices. One, a males, was raised in anger, the other was to indistinct to hear. Creeping forward slowly, she came to the edge of a clearing. In the clearing was a lean, dark haired, young man standing over a frail looking blond girl. The girl was sobbing brokenly and kneeling at the mans feet. Taya felt her anger rising. Rage the others had called it. The word suited the feeling just fine. Taya’s eyes narrowed as she saw the man bring his hand down and tangle it in the girls hair, forcibly drawing her head back and bringing a fresh torrent of tears from her eyes.

"And the next time I tell you to do something? Are you going to do it? Without questioning me? Without delay?" The mans voice was harsh, and he raised his hand, about to backhand the girl if she did not answer him promptly.

"Yes! Yes! I swear it!" the girls sobbed wildly.

"And you will learn your place and stay in it?" he demanded.

Taya stepped into the clearing, a growl on her lips, unsure of why she was interfering. She didn’t know this girl. Or the man either, but something within her urged her to do something. Anything.

"And just where might that be?" she demanded loudly. "Barefoot in the kitchen?"

The man shoved the girl to the ground and turned to Taya. "Precisely, and you would also do well to learn your place."

Taya laughed. "Oh? And you are going to teach it to me??" she glared at the man, but quickly shifted into a more wary stance as he drew nearer.

The man laughed harshly. "Little girl, I would be more than happy to teach you all you need to know about men…."

Taya laughed and assessed the man approaching her. He was lean, and whipcord thin. He looked pale, as though he had been sick.

"Better men’n you have tried… and failed…." She made a come on gesture with her hand, and crouched slightly, her hand going into her boot for her knife. She watched in satisfaction as the small blond scurried out of the clearing.

The male laughed and lunged at her, feinting. Taya moved with him easily, finding her footing only slightly worse than fighting in some of the back alleys at home.

Taya chuckled slightly and feinted towards him to gauge his reaction. He made a minimum of effort, barely moving when he realized she was not following through.

In a sudden blur of motion, he lunged for her, no feint this time, but the real thing.

Taya leapt back, lashing out with her knife and hearing the satisfied sound of ripping cloth. The man spun, with a sound remarkably like a growl and lashed out at her with a large fist. Taya was unable to duck in time and was sent sprawling to the ground.

The man put a hand to his stomach and drew it away bloody.

"Bitch!" he snarled. "You’ll die for that!"

"I doubt it….." Taya wasted no further words on witty comebacks as he lunged for her, his features seeming to blur he was moving so fast. Taya rolled frantically out of the way and bounded back to her feet, her head still reeling slightly from the blow he had given her. That must be why his face seemed so blurry…. As though his features were shifting, growing longer…. Wolf-like.

Taya gasped and did a double take. This guy was a Garou. Like the others at the caern. Like her.

"Hey…." She got no more out as the man, in glabro form lunged at her, his fist lashing out and slamming into her shoulder. Her fingers suddenly numb, she dropped the knife, the pain flaring through her upper body making her growl…. Making her Rage. She felt herself shifting, was powerless to stop it, and she lunged at him as he gaped at her in surprise. She caught him off guard and caught him a glancing blow on the chest, her claws raking four deep parallel gouges down the front of him.

He yelped in pain and howled in Rage. "Bitch! You’ll pay now…." He shifted suddenly to Crinos and lunged for her.

Taya backpedaled in a panic as the Crinos leaped on her and knocked her to the ground, his teeth sinking into her shoulder. Yelping in pain she clawed at his face, frantic to drive him off her.

He snarled as her claws ripped into his face and flexed his claws in her shoulder sending bolts of pain blazing through her arm.

Desperate Taya bit at him, and frantically tried to kick his larger form off her. Her jaws snapped closed on his muzzle, and he yelped, bringing his hand down to crash into the side of her face. Taya continued to kick at the larger Garou, landing a lucky blow to his groin. Her jaws loosening from his muzzle as he sprawled to one side. She rolled away from him weakly and scrambled to her feet hoping to make it upright before he could recover. Too late she looked up to see him launch himself from a near impossible position on the ground to slam into her, knocking her back to the ground.

Taya gasped in pain as the air was knocked from her and her vision blurred slightly. She lashed out hard with one hand and tried to keep him away from her with the other. She cried out as he quickly changed tactics and slashed at the arm she was using to keep him away from her. She sobbed in pain as her hand went limp, the tendons in her elbow slashed and useless. She raked weakly at his face with her other hand as he hit her face and shoulders again and again. He continued to beat her about the head and shoulders until her vision blurred and she felt consciousness slipping away from her. Holding onto her consciousness with her last bit of will power, she laughed at him.

"Guess your girl got away huh?"

Snarling, he stood and drove several sharp kicks into her side. Taya cried out as she actually felt her ribs break. The young man grabbed her then, and dragged her to the edge of the clearing where a small stream ran through it. Laughing harshly, he flung her face down into the stream.

"I’ll be back to finish you later!" he snarled and ran out of the clearing, sure that Taya was unable to move.

Taya prayed that the girl had gotten enough of a head start, and tried to struggle to her feet. The pain coursed through her body, leaving her weak and unable to hold her Crinos form. Gasping, she fell back into the stream, her body shifting to human as the world grayed and her consciousness fled.

**** **** ****

Aggg…. the pain was amazingly agonizing. It felt like there was a hot knife burning my insides out. Oh that was a hell of a good shot.

"Can I have another my good friend ….ummm what’s your name again?"

"Look, Night, If I haven’t already told you a million times tonight, it’s Gordon. What’s up with you? I’ve never seen you act like this before."

"Nothin…. Nothing you would understand. Oh by the way it’s NightStalker….not Night. Don’t insult my name."

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I also would hate to pry into your business but I’d like to try and help you with whatever is on your mind. I’m a good listener."

"Don’t bother. I don’t wish to talk about it. It’s nothing really ……nothing at all" I slammed down drink in front of me like if it were my last. "Gimme another shot …….George?"

NightStalker, It’s Gordon not George and I’m sorry to say this but I ain’t gonna give you any more War Whiskey … It’s gonna kill you."

I swear I must’ve scared the crap outta him when I looked at him. Cold and icy like, enough to freeze the gonads off of a polar bear. My Rage crept up on me. "What in Gaia’s name do you know smartass!! I can’t die!! I’ll never die!! I should’ve been dead ages ago!!!"

"Your right," Gordon said softly across the counter.

"What ?" I asked in a deep tone still staring him in the eyes.

"I don’t understand," and with that he turned his back to me and went down the ways some to help another poor sap with a drink.

Getting up from the table I slapped a few dollars on the table and walked out the door. What the hell did he know? What the Hell did any of them know? All these years and the link between the Garou tribes was growing weaker. None of them probably knew what their true purpose was any more. To them fighting the tribe that you hated the most was their purpose. Make them pay for all those years that they slaughtered us. If they only knew. Every time I try to talk to them they laugh or don’t even bother to listen to you. "Hey NightStalker your starting to sound like a Children of Gaia," they laughed "Why don’t you talk and join with them." Or even better. "The concerns or problems of the other tribes does not concern us. Go find someone else to help you." Then you’d find out that they were gonna try and take control a caern from one of the other tribes. When was it all gonna end. The Wyrm was winning and only a few knew it but as far as they were concerned there wasn’t enough of them to do anything. I knew that I’d have their support when the time came. By the time that happened though you’re sure that they’d all be dead or too old to fight. Is it all useless now I was thinking to myself as I walked down one of the paths that led to the park. I wish I knew if I was just doomed to fail Gaia as I had failed her before. I looked up at the seer’s moon that was hanging over head. "Do you know Luna? Is it all for nothing? Is there nothing I can do to stop the Wyrm from winning? There was no answer of course but I had to wonder never the less. I looked around the area and noticed a teenaged girl running down the street towards me. She practically ran me over screaming "Help! me… us… please mister you gotta help me." I’ve always had a soft spot for teenagers with problems… yeah right.

"What’s up? " I asked her in a calm and gentle voice.

"This Guy back there he’s beating up some woman because she protected me from him beating me. I ran to find help, please you gotta help."

"K…k…k let’s see what I can do. Show me where…., what’s your name."

"Andria, she turned to run back to wherever this event was taking place and screamed instead "Ahhhhhh!!! There he is. He’s comin to get me."

I looked up from her to see a huge Get of Fenris running down the street towards us. I looked quickly at the girl. "You see that?"

"Yeah, he was suppose to be my teacher. Instead he’s been trying to make me what I don’t want to be.

"Humph" I sighed. Obviously she was Kinfolk or Garou so maybe I could reason with the guy. "Get behind me and stay there. I’ll try to reason with him."

"But he’ll rip you apart. Look at him." She pointed towards the guy that was almost upon us now.

Oh I was looking too. The guy was hulking at seven foot six at least and had muscles of steel for sure. I held out my hand and the figure came to a sudden stop. I looked him over as he gave me a puzzled look of confusion, probably trying to figure out why I hadn’t ran from him yet. Not to offend any Get’s but once in awhile it takes them a little longer to figure out what is going on. He decided to grunt out commands at me.

"You…. Girl… give……..now." he demanded. That took a lot of doin I thought, which meant he must’ve had a little practice with that field.

"Why?" I asked in Garou and with curiosity. I wanted to hear this one. It was gonna be good and I knew it.

"She is mine. You will hand her over at once you Smart assed Kinfolk or I’ll tear you to little tiny pieces that no one will recognize." I looked at him seriously and shook my head in disgust.

"I see that no one ever told you that you should never call me a Kinfolk and I smiled with an evil grin on my face. I also see that no one told you never to challenge anyone of higher sanction. I believe that is a known as a an insult and people like you lose great amounts of Renown for such an incident." The guy looked me up and down and then laughed aloud at me.

"You are no Elder, only a confused Kinfolk or little Garou that should be shown how not to piss off a Get of Fenris. Now please give me back what is mine before I get personal on your body parts."

"You are right on the account that I’m not an Elder my foolish friend." I looked around the area and then back at him. "Unfortunately you don’t know me in this form.." I started to shift and every bone in my body snapped, cracked, reshaped into it’s new form. It was relaxing more then painful, possibly the stretch I was needing all day long. My black fur blending into the night sky and my clothes disappearing so as to not wreck them too much. Instead a new set of clothing appeared and from the look on the Get’s face I’d say I was looking mighty fine. The undone black leather jacket with a tight pair of jeans done up with a chain instead of the regular belt. A pair of shades on my face and my two babies on my back. Yeah I was ready and willing to show this guy his place now. Let’s see if he was as ready. I removed my sunglasses from my face to reveal the fiery red eyes that were behind it. "You were saying pup!" my deep booming voice shaking the ground below me as I spoke.

"Caern Elder NightStalker…. I…I never knew. I’m…. sorry to insult you, but my rage out does my judgment at times. I just want my student back." He confessed at least that’s what I would call it.

I smiled and grabbed his chest pulling him into my face. "I bet you are sorry you little pup. I hate insults and I don’t think I like you. As far as I’m concerned you are not fit to teach this teenager or anyone at that. Now If I were you I’d take off and forget it all. Do you hear me PUP…. DO YOU!!!!!!"

"y..es" he mumbled and I dropped him to the ground. He looked at the kid and then got up running down one of the side allies as fast as his feet could take him. I looked down at the teenager. "Where is the other female?"

"This way," she pointed and started to run in the direction of the park. I walked still being able to keep up with her. "I never knew that you were an Elder she said as we ran along towards the park."

"No one seems to notice" I smiled showing all my teeth with a grin.

"I’m sorry to get you into this." she said. "You probably had something else to do, huh?"

"To tell you the truth young one, I have nothing to do. Nothing to do at all."

We both walked into the clearing and looked around. "This is where they were fighting" she excitingly said. "I don’t see her…. Where is she?" I sniffed the air myself trying to pick up the scent of another Garou in the area. I smelt something faint off towards the river and started to walk towards it.

"This way." I called to the girl and walked towards the scent. I went around a small hedge and there she was. A fair looking young lady with cuts and bruises all over her body. Her face looked like it was in the water so I rushed over and slowly turned her over. Under her one eye I saw the Fury symbol and sighed again. Of course this would happen to me I thought. Gaia have you blessed or cursed me with this. I had contacts in the Fury Caern but this could start something really big. I touched her chest and did a Mother’s Touch to it. She was alive at least. I quickly decided that she couldn’t stay here and lifted her into my arms. She was out of it so I didn’t think she would mind to much. It would save her from the bandits out here that would take advantage of such an attractive young woman. I looked at the young girl and nodded towards one of the paths. "We should go this way back to my caern . Just to be safe from other’s seeing me like this." She agreed and we took off back into the woods away from the middle of the city and back to the place I called home. The Caern of Gaia.