Thread: Going Alone - Attn Kharma Only

She lays on the ground for what seems like forever, she looks for a while, then changes into her normal form. Flying no longer seems like the way to go anymore, she shakes her head to get the "cobwebs" out, then stands and tries to steady herself on her feet. Once stable she walks out to the Prarie heading towards the park, holding her head. She looks towards the East to see if there is any indication of sunrise, not seeing any she moves on.

She heads towards the cabin thinking that it would be the first place to look for Art. The stars are not as bright as she would like, so she uses her disciplines to help her (Eyes of the Beast) see where she is going. She can only hope that no mortals are foolish enough to be out this way, with everything that has been happening the last thing that is needed is a Masquerade breach.

She keeps walking, making as much headway as she can. Her mind waunders to those she left behind, would they really miss her should anything happen to her? Her mind than waunders to the family she once had, she had said some terrible things about Christian since that night he killed Sabre, but now she didn't blame him. There was two possibilities in her mind now, the demon, or someone within the City...and coming out here was the only way she could rule out one or the other.

She wanders, lost in her thoughts, her mind drifting.

The ground beneath her crunches in an unfamiliar way . . . looking down you are walking on snow. Along side you are tracks, bear tracks it would seem.

Looking back you see that those tracks have been pacing you for as far as you can see. You also note, this is NOT Prairie State Park.

*She looks around, trying to get some idea of where she is, and where this bear might be. She wonders how long she has been walking, and why the hell there is snow on the ground. She finally decides it's best to stop walking, and to sit down. Anyone else would have thought her crazy, but she knew from her mortal life that should she need guidance to speak to the spirits. She crosses her legs, sits strait up, closes her eyes, then speaks in Cherokee.*

"Great Spirits of the earth and sky I seek your guidance. Give me clarity mind to understand what it is that I need to do to please you tonight."

A low growl echoes around you, almost you could perceive it as amused, perhaps a chuckle.

"Guidance you seek now little bird?" a deep voice says. Opening her eyes a man sits in front of her, cross legged, dressed in buckskins, with the ornaments an accoutrement's of a medicine man. Around his neck hangs a huge bear claw. The left side of his face is scarred with deep furrows where some animal ravaged him.

"You don't want guidance, you want vengeance. You want hot blood running across your hands and down your throat.

Be truthful little bird.

Why do you come here tonight?"

*She looks in the mans eyes, curious as to why he calls her little bird. She knows that should this be a great spirit then he would call her by her mortal name. Maybe he felt like she was not ready to hear her name spoken by him. Maybe he was calling her little bird because of her lifestyle now. She had pulled so far away from her mortal beliefs and ideals, that maybe she no longer deserved the name given to her by her parents.*

"It's true, I want blood...I want someone to suffer as I have suffered. I know it is not part of the ways I was taught as a mortal, but I have not been a part of that life for almost two hundred and fifty years. I try to stick to the ways as much as I can, but more and more the beast inside me grows. It wants blood...I want blood."

He nods solemnly.

"You choose your path. You fly as a bird, not walk as a bear, the way you were taught.

Leaving the old ways behind because they are too hard, that is the choice you are making.

So Little Bird . . . make your choice now. Which path will you walk?"

His voice is a deep warm grumble that seems to curl around her, it rises up from the ground and caresses her skin as he speaks. A warm tingle flows across her skin.

"Neither choice is wrong, it is merely a choice. One you must make, we can but show you the paths . . . we cannot tell you which one to walk."

*She thinks for a moment, neither choice she makes is the wrong one, but she wants to make sure that it's the right one, for her.*

"The ways of the bear were my old mortal life, the ways of the bird are that of my new life. I lived the way of the bear for only twenty four years, but the way of the bird I have lived for over two-hundred. I don't choose to leave the ways of the bear behind because it's too hard, I leave it behind because it fades from memory."

*She looks at the ground, then back into his eyes.*

"I want blood because it is my lifeforce now, it is what I have become by force. My sire killed my family, my people, and took me then did this to me. I would have rather died with my family, but I didn't. This was my fate, and now I go to meet another fate."

*She stands.*

"That thing in Prarie State Park, it needs to be delt with. It's all I can do to prove to myself if it or someone within the city posessed Christian. I want blood because blood was taken...twice my family was taken from me, and now I will take."

He looks sad but says nothing, just nodding shortly.

"The choice is yours. We cannot help you in that. Blood is not what you are, nor is it what you are forced to be.

Destiny is not set in stone, it is opportunities to be taken, choices to be made.

If you let your anger and loss blind you, you will not see the path or the choices you make until it is too late.

Remember this as you walk this road you choose.

The one hope, will come in the form of the God of the Sticks. When you see the symbol of the white man's spirit, that is your hope. Use it.

Remember the Ghost Dances. In time, perhaps you will no longer forget who you are, if your choices lead you to survival. Then you may walk with Bear. Until then, Bird does not accept you, despite your choices, he is a trickster. You have too much to learn to yet teach in such a way.

I am sorry for your loss Udosvnochi Ayotli."

The man rises and begins to walk away, his feet leaving behind him the paw prints of a bear in the falling snow.