Lane

Stretching a good quarter mile from the road, this gravel lane leads back to the Escrowe farm. Trees line the lane, their limbs bare but for the snow still clinging to them. In the distance, the farmhouse looms above the treetops, gleaming white as the snow from its yearly coat of paint. Silence prevails here, save for the rustling of the tall grasses in the fields when the wind blows.

The front entrance to the farmhouse is on the porch alongside the gravelled road which continues on around the eastern side of the house back to the barnyard. The opposite end of the lane turns back west to empty out onto Sunrise Road.

(Non-Garou, please "+view curse")

Contents:
Emma

Obvious exits:
PORch BarnYard Sunrise Road

Emma is just walking along the lane, en route to the farmhouse. Her pace is casual and relaxed, and she carries a wicked looking knife that is covered in glyphs.

The rumble of an engine announces Natalie's arrival in a small dark green pickup. She drives past Emma slowly, at perhaps ten or fifteen miles per hour, parking the truck some yards from the farmhouse. The Walker Galliard gets out of the truck, squinting sourly at the rain, then looks between barn and house, considering both.

Emma continues her pace and watches curiously as the new arrival parks. "Can I help ya with something?" comes her mostly polite call. Her knife is held then in her left hand, and at her side, non-threateningly. In fact, she looks to be trying to downplay the fact she has such a massive 'toy'.

Anthony is heading off the porch as Natalie drives up, brim of his cap tilted low to keep the rain out of his face; he's apparently heading towards the small blue car parked near the arriving pickup truck.

Natalie turns about to face the newcomer, tossing Anthony a wave as she does. "Morning Tony." Emma gets a more guarded but still friendly, "Maybe. Do you know if Megan is about?"

Emma sees the familiarity between the two and assumes there is nothing to worry about. "Last I heard she was sleeping upstairs. Who're you?" Though she could take a good guess.

"She's inside, and so's half the sept, it looks like," Anthony replies, turning and walking towards the other two. "And a new cub, too."

Ashley heads up the porch towards them from the lane, arms crossing over her chest. She has a scowl upon her face, letting out a snorting breath. "Hey."

"Natalie Baker," the Galliard begins to answer Emma, only to be distracted by Tony's news. "...Oh, hey? Then now's not a good time to disturb. I need to talk to her, but it's not important enough to drag her away from anything." She acknowledges Ashley's arrival with a chin jerk before refocusing on Emma. "Sorry. Glass Walker elder, Galliard."

Emma gives a nod to the rest of the introduction, "So you're the infamous Natalie. Hear you are looking to pack up with Signe. I'm Emma Mahler, Ahroun of Fenrir, and also talking to Signe about packing up."

"Infamous already?" is Tony's comment, delivered with a smirk.

Natalie regards the Ahroun, bemused. "Infamous?" she echoes, glancing toward Tony and laughing despite herself. "Yeah, I guess that's me. You're Emma, huh? Nice meeting you."

Emma gives a nod of her head, and then glances to Anthony. "You're infamous if you've done anything to rub Josh the wrong way, so yeah." She grins a bit at this and looks over the Walker. "You pretty sure about hiking along with Signe huh?"

Anthony considers this for a moment. "If that's true, half the sept'd be infamous," he comments. "And the other half, he just hasn't got to yet."

Natalie grins sidelong at Tony. "Knew I liked you." Verbal tennis resumes, the Walker looking back at Emma. "Yeah, I am." She considers several options, finally settling on a bland, "Why?"

Emma gives Tony a smirk, "Yah well it is true. Just this is coming from someone who more or less just got here. She made the list quick." Then she turns back to the woman, her smile growing a little more devious, "Because most of the people she's named, I'd rather drag behind a semi for a few hundred miles than pack with them. Wanted to check you out."

"Who else has she mentioned? I'm kinda interested too," Anthony asks, getting into the conversation itself now.

Ashley clears her throat loudly at Tony's words as she steps up onto the porch.

Natalie leans back against her truck, arms folded casually as she studies the young Get. "I heard you, some Fury named... hmm... Doc? And a Theurge. Karl, I think, though I also heard he was joining a Guardian pack. As for myself, I think 'pushy bitch' covers things fairly nicely. I've been in town less than a month, I'm already Elder, facing down repercussions from a possible Veil Breach by the old Elder, and Leala's Challenged me for leadership." She casts a wry sidelong look at Tony. "Anything you wanna add?"

"Wait, veil breach? I hadn't heard about that one," Anthony states, frowning slightly at Natalie.

Emma looks up as the Fury comes out, grinning a bit as one of said 'semi-dragees' arrives. "Who else has Signe mentioned about the pack?" she asks of Anthony, then nods to Ashley. "That one."

Ashley turns her killer's glare over towards Tony for a moment, revealing a wide range of teeth. She clicks them once, then steps up to Emma's side, giving the Fenrir a nudge. "I like you more as a Cliath." She says with a feral grin.

"The Russians," Nat explains. "Only it's looking now like it's not a Veil breach. Which reminds me - I wanna see those notes of yours from last night, see what you think about a plan."

"I left them on Salem's -- your desk. They're kinda messy, though." Anthony is doing his best to ignore Ashley, it seems.

Emma huffs and steadies after the nudge, almost sending an elbow back. "Keep working it at and I might say the same thing about you some day." Seems the Fenrir has stopped being so serious about the 'jabbing' and is getting into the swing of just going back and forth with it.

Natalie remains unflustered by bad handwriting. "Then you can just translate them for me." She eyes Ashley for a moment before venturing, "I know we've met, but I can't place your name. In the zoo, with the Gnawers."

"I am Artemis, Lures-The-Beast, the 'other' bitch of the Sept, Black Fury and Theurge." The woman says, arms crossing about her chest as she lets out a grunt, then smirks slightly at Emma, then looks back to the Walker Galliard.

Emma huffs, shaking her head at Ashley. "Show off."

Anthony lets Artemis make her introduction before proceeding. "Okay, that won't be a problem," he says to Natalie, nodding. "Hopefully we can come up with something and get it done before full moon's over."

"Definitely," Nat assures Tony, as fervent as a brand new convert. "I'm gonna be in and out all afternoon; just give my cell a buzz. Or if my truck's in the drive, I'm probably in back working on the greenhouse. Plus I want to nudge you about the plumbing."

Ashley glances over to Emma and snorts. "I'm not showing off. I would have been if I lets say... fired two arrows at once from my bow." She grins slightly, then lets her attention drift slightly to the pair of Walkers as they talk about.. plumbing.

Emma rolls her eyes once more. "You sound pretty busy with things Nat. Would like to talk with you sometime, see what you goals would be inside the pack?"

"I know, but I'm not really sure if I wanna bug Leala about forking over the cash right now," Anthony says. "I'll try to be around, though..."

"Talk to Jer," is Nat's last piece of advice before she turns back to the other women. "No, now's all right. Shall we... hm, the barn, maybe? If the house is busy?"

Emma lifts a shoulder up, "Sure, whatever works for you. Haven't been in the house, but if Tony says it's packed..."

Ashley tilts her head to one side. "I suppose I will see you guys later then." She says gruffly. "I'm heading out to the Caern for exercise."

Ashley leaves the gravel of the lane for the black pavement of the road.

Emma gives a nod to Ashley, "I'd ask to check you out too, but I already know you're a bitch and a bear to get along with." Then a faintly sweet smile is offered to the Fury.

Natalie says, "I believe him. Tony? You wanna come, or...?"

"I guess," Anthony replies, shrugging.

Natalie, without another word, heads toward the barn. Tony'll follow if he wants.

Farmhouse: Fields

What once was worked cropland has been, over the last several years, allowed to go to seed, and the result is the natural prarie which has developed, enclosed on three sides by the forest. It covers several acres of land with grasses as high as a person's waist, large enough to be out of earshot of the barnyard but uniform enough that anyone in bipedal form could be seen approaching through it.

The looming buildings of the farm can be seen to the south.

Obvious exits:
BarnYard

Natalie angles for the fields instead when Megan and a group of Garou head intently into the barn. "I don't know what they wanted," she comments, slowing her steps to let the shorter Get keep up, "But that didn't look like a quiet, sit around and talk group."

Emma laughs, "No, and Josh is ... well he is Josh." She walks more casually now, so far, unoffended by the Walker. "So, what made you start thinking about going along with Signe in a pack?"

"Mmnh," Nat says in regards to Josh. "As for the other - well, it was something Salem said my first day here. He suggested I pack with him. I met Signe a few days later, and we seemed to hit it off. Then when Salem announced he was leaving town, it just seemed natural I talk to Signe. I've been trying - not very hard, mind, but I've been busy - to get around and meet the other people Signe mentioned."

Emma smiles a little, "Well first impressions, you're doing much better on my list than Ashley." She chuckles a little bit and shoves her hands into her pockets, "So I take it you and Signe agree on the pack's purpose?"

"I want a pack that will do something," the Walker Elder answers immediately. "Not sit around and contemplate various navels. Plus I want to be based out of the city. With all the... crap that's going on in St. Claire, I can't justify joining a Guardian pack. Especially now that I'm Elder. A war pack of some sort is more than fine with me."

"Go out and take the offensive then huh? That's cool." Emma licks her lips and rolls her head from side to side to crack her neck. "What kinda position in the pack would you be taking?"

Natalie says, "Ah." With that restrained exhalation she stops, ostensibly to study a clump of grasses. "That depends on who else is in it, doesn't it? I should tell you - I was beta in my last pack in Minneapolis, and I fully expected to be Beta to Salem. I'm a pushy bitch, Emma, and I've been one all my life. All I can tell you about this pack is that there's no way I'm going to be Omega."

Emma nods, "Me either." She weighs this down a bit, "Which is what I told Signe was my concern. The people she is listing off, are ones that'd be above me, and I just got done being a cub. I don't mean to say I have t'be the boss. But I am not going to be the one getting shoved around and told what to think either."

Natalie looks up from the grass with a feral grin. "Well, unless you want to add Karl, Dakota or Cat to the mix, anyone else in the pack will have more experience than you. Learn from us. Push back a little - but be willing to be pushed, too. Gaia knows I got slapped plenty of times, and probably should continue to be slapped. That said, I don't plan on treating my packmates like punching bags. Far as I'm concerned, Signe's alpha, and will be until she stops pushing back. Everyone else... depends. We'll see what the line up looks like first, and then see where we are when the dust settles."

Emma nods a little, "Yah. Sorta why I wanted to see you for myself. If you were like Ashley, there'd be no way I'd join up. It'd bug me too, since Signe's been a real good mentor so far. Jus' ya know, against my nature to be the one that gets shit upon."

"You're Get, you're Ahroun," Nat smirks. "Of course it is. Yeah, I'm not too hot on Ashley either - she's that Fury chick out in the lane, right? The one who insists on everyone calling her Artemis?"

Emma laughs a bit, "Yah, that's her. Pompous, and mouthy and thinks she's the cream of the corn. But the fact you aren't too keen on her, eases my worries about you. So, can I ask why you dumped Josh out?"

Natalie says, perfectly straight-faced, "You can ask, but you have to call me Superman."

Emma doesn't get it, and her face shows. "Okay, for curiousity sake, Hey Superman, why'd you dump Josh out on his butt?"

Natalie rolls her eyes, starts walking again. "Because he doesn't act like a Walker, that's why. From what I've heard since, he doesn't particularly want to be a Walker, either. I don't see any reason to give him free room and board or play hostess to his temper tantrums if he's not one of my tribemates."

Emma laughs aloud at this, giving a nod. "More than once that boy has called me urrah. Something not right in the head there. I personally don't think you so evil for doing it, though I do resent the fact I have to deal with his moods and whining more often now. Thanks." She gives a nod, though the tone is definately jesting.

Natalie blows out her breath in an explosive snort. "That 'boy' is a whacked out nutjob." She's silent a moment as she picks her way over a bit of muddy ground, then adds, "I'll probably try and hunt him down Monday or Tuesday, see what he has to say for himself."

Emma nods, "Ok, you've passed in my books. That just leaves Ashley as someone I'd have to work on. And the fact I don't want to be bottom dog." She smiles at this, "Yer all good Natalie, and I'd not be against packing with ya."

Natalie glances back, her eyebrows lifting. "...Oh? Ah, Joshua. Yeah, I think we could work together too. ...Don't tell me Signe is actually considering packing with Miss Call-Me-God?"

Emma grins and looks around, "Uh, ever since those two duked it out, they been all hot and bothered for eachother. Respecting each other and shit. It's all fine and good, but I honestly can't see Ashley stepping back to let Signe lead."

Natalie ahs thoughtfully and begins to bend her path back toward the farmhouse. "There's chutzpah, and then there's just plain pigheadedness. A pack with Signe leading, I get the feeling we'd think about things. With Ashley in the lead, it'd be 'point us at the problem and stand back'." She shakes her head, watching her feet. "I want to be in a pack, not a Cuisinart."

Emma smiles and nods, "Yah. And me, I'd follow Signe to my grave, trust her completely." She stands up and looks to the farm. "Hey, I should get going and check in with Taslyn. Was real nice getting to talk to you thouh, and like I said, am all cool with the idea of you being in the pack. Not that my voice has a say in it or not."

Natalie regards the younger Garou with mild surprise. "Yes it does. You won't get the final say, but you should be able to discuss packmates. --At least, that's how it is with the Walkers. I know I'll talk to Signe about Ashley; if there's two of us who say no, that's more than one, right? And if Signe insists and we find we really can't stand working with her... well, there's nothing that says we have to stick around, right?"

Emma nods once more, smiling even more. "Well, am glad I checked you out for myself, you're really not so bad. And maybe not so infamous anymore either. I'll catch you later?"

Natalie says, "Absolutely. You have my...? 'Course you don't." She rummages in her pockets, finally coming up with a wrinkled receipt from Lowe's and a pencil. She uses one knee for a makeshift desk, balancing on the other like a flamingo, then hands the paper over. "My cell number. Feel free to call whenever."

Emma smiles, "Hey thanks. I'd give you mine, but I am either here or at Brownstone, with Signe." She tucks the paper into her pocket and nods, "Cool."

Emma pages to the room: I should go, but that was a great scene! I wasn't expecting to get along with you hahaha.

"I've got Signe's," Nat nods, stopping to let the Get move ahead. "Gaia bless, Emma."

[End of log]