Currently the moon is in the waning Half Moon phase (48% full).

Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 57 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the west at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.01 and falling, and the relative humidity is 67 percent. The dewpoint is 46 degrees Fahrenheit (7 degrees Celsius.)

Big Red Barn

The barn is built in the old style, a vast three level structure that is greater in height than a mere three stories, actually closer to five. Great wooden posts support the weight of the upper levels and roof, sunk into the hard-packed dirt floor of the first level like a sparse forest of regularly spaced, naked trees. The stalls and flagstones which once were here have been torn out to leave a rather open area where even crinos Garou may roam freely without fear of running into anything but the supports or the walls or the ladder at the back which allows access to the other two levels.

The first two levels are relatively open to each other, the second being only little wider than a catwalk going around all the walls but the front one, which has massive, twenty foot tall doors set into it. The third level is a true second floor except for a place cut out that allowed hay to be tossed down to the ground floor when the farm was actually worked. Now, it is a hayloft where Garou can sleep outside of the house.

Contents:
Megan

Obvious exits:
BarnYard

Megan is towards the back of the barn, where the punching body bag hangs, working out with it and working up a sweat despite the coolness of the afternoon air. Her clothing looks decidedly 'odd' too, although perfectly servicable.

The big sliding door of the barn is pulled open, sending a spear of light cutting across the floor. Silhouetted within is Natalie, fairly recognizable by the bulk of her ubiquitous leather bomber. The woman slides the door almost closed, leaving it just about a foot open, then heads for the back of the barn, wriggling out of her coat as she comes. With the time it takes her eyes to adjust added toher natural oblviousness, she doesn't notice the Alpha until she's within ten feet of the bag and pulls up sharply, discomfited.

This woman is rather attractive in an Amazonian kind of way. She looks to be in her mid-twenties, with thick auburn hair falling in heavy waves down her back and around her shoulders. Frequent use has sculpted her 5'10" height into a body of strong muscle-definition, long of limb and long of torso, softened only by the definite feminine curves of full breasts and hips, and the inward dip of her waist. Her features display character: fresh, tanned skin stretched cleanly over the sharp edge of jaw, rounding at her chin, across a wide brow and gently sloping cheekbones. Finely arched eyebrows curve over expressive black-green emerald eyes, often found narrowed with keen interest or dreamy in inward contemplation.

Her outfit is a little strange: it *looks* like an aviator's flight suit, but is cut-off at the knees and elbows into a kind of jumper. Where it's cut is fraying, giving the edges a fuzzy appearance.

Megan does, however, notice Natalie's arrival, given that she used the big doors to get in. There was a pause in her punching, which was resumed even as the Glass Walker approaches her. Within about the same the galliard notices her, she is calling out. "Hello, Natalie," without pausing.

"...Megan," the Walker offers cautiously, shrugging her jacket off her shoulders but no further. "...I didn't realize you were, um." She licks her lips and retreats sideways to a pile of haybales, choosing one as a seat.

Atcen pushes open the barn door and pokes her head in, looking around. Seeing both Natalie and Megan, the gaunt cub slips inside.

The Glass Walker's 'stammered' speech gets her attention, and she catches the swinging body bag so it doesn't knock her into an undignified heap on the floor as she peers around it to look at Natalie. "That I was here?" she prompts with a small, amused smile. "'S okay. I just wanted to get some work in before I had to get back to the Grotto. Living out there is starting to drive me a little stir-crazy. How's things in the city?" She doesn't, for the moment at least, notice Atcen.

"That," the Walker agrees, pulling her arms out of the coat and roughly folding the thing before dropping it onto the bale beside her. "And using it. No rush, though. --Um." She hasn't noticed the arrival of the gaunt Metis cub either; her attention's on the Fianna and a subservient attention it is, too. "...Things are all right. Got my own place now. ...Actually, there's a couple things, but they're nothing you have to stop for."

Atcen chews on her lower lip, edging closer to the two older Garou. One hand slips into a front pocket of her cutoffs to close her fingers around the object within it.

Megan shrugs her right shoulder in a 'no big deal' gesture, beginning to stretch out her arms as she speaks. "I was about done. What's up?" she asks with a jerk of her head. And then she finally notices Atcen, and after briefly looking over the metis cub with a hint of disapproval, she jerks her head in a nod of recognition.

Nat says, "First off, I've been spreading the word about the freaky guy..." only to have Megan's notice bring Atcen to her attention as well. Her greeting to the cub is disapproval-free, but neither is it particularly warm and welcoming. "...Anyway. Freaky guy. I've told Trevor, Tony, Eve, and Ashley. Trevor and Eve thought it was something, the other two thought it was nothing." The Walker's shrug suggests that Tony and Ashley's opinion isn't hers. "Just so you know."

Atcen drops her eyes, taking a moment to study her toes as Megan looks her way, then glances up as Natalie speaks. Her brow furrows at 'freaky guy', but though she obviously is curious, she keeps quiet.

"Freaky guy...?" Megan begins to ask, then confusion clears. "Oh, right, the Revel." There a momentary scowl, but then nods as she takes in the information. "Second off?" she asks, picking up that there's more.

Natalie turns to the cub instead of answering Megan's question. "You wanted to ask her something, or just use the bag?" It's a thin enough distraction, but perhaps enough to let that second off be alone for a bit.

Atcen bites her lower lip. "I am looking for Josh-wa," she says quietly, pale blue eyes shifting from Natalie to Megan. "Did Jacinta-rhya talk to you?" she asks the Fianna.

Megan's expression turns even more into an irritated mask at the mention of Joshua, but she shakes her head curtly at Atcen's question. "No, not yet. If you see her, you can tell her I did get her note, but haven't had time to come find her."

Natalie chin jerks in a tic at the mention of Joshua. "I haven't seen him," is her curt contribution.

Atcen hunches her shoulders; Natalie's reaction isn't encouraging, but Megan's has her much more cowed. "...Oh," she says, hesitates a moment, then says, "I... thought he go back to city. Jacinta-rhya speak to him, make him see what he has to do. He say he will. Jacinta-rhya tell me to bring Atremis-rhya to him at the Wendigo cave, and I do, and she calls a cockroach spirit to talk to him." Her pale eyes shift to Natalie. "Cockroach says she does not care if he hates city, that she thinks him Glass Walker."

"He is back in the city," Megan confirms. "At least, he was, according to Alicia." Her jaw tightens even further at that mention. "Eve had him. I told Alicia that the Bone Gnawers should go talk to Leala about him." She throws Natalie a quick glance, but it seems just to see her reaction to that.

Natalie's a good girl - at least while the Alpha is here. "Huh," she says to Atcen's report of Cockroach's decision; it's more thoughtful than appreciative. She folds her arms as Megan continues and stares at a bit of floor between the cub and Adren. Nice floor. Very wooden. Just like her.

Atcen fidgets a bit, shifting from one bare foot to the next. The cub nods once, then starts to withdraw.

Megan, when she sees Atcen beginning to withdraw, gives her another nod, then looks back at Natalie, commenting, "He's up to his old tricks again it seems. We'll see if Leala really meant everything she said during her challenge. So, part the second?"

Natalie lifts her eyes from the floor to the far wall. "She wants to get... us together for a Moot, but she hasn't said when yet." Another pause and she drops Atcen a nod before turning back to Megan. Busted. "I want to know what you expect from a Fostern, Megan-rhya."

Atcen leaves the barn through one of the doors.

One eyebrow climbs almost into her hairline, as Megan quirks it at Natalie's question. Her gaze rakes down then back up the galliard assessingly, before she answers with a cautious reserve. "I expect a demonstration of dependable competence as a Garou, of whatever particular tribe and auspice that Garou is, over a period of months. A certain amount of activity within Sept matters. That the Garou exhibits the qualities of renown specific to that Garou's auspice, be it glorious or wise or honorable behavior. Given how bad off we are in terms of Fostern or higher Garou, a certain amount of leadership qualities would not be amiss."

"Don't screw up," Nat translates. "...All right." She sits a moment longer, tongue clicking against her teeth, then stands. "Thanks, Megan. I told Thomas I wasn't planning on Challenging for rank when I first got here. I still don't know. I think I'm, huh. I think I'm more ready for Fostern than Tony is, and I frankly don't know enough about Leala. But I think the Walkers need... something. I may not be a good Elder, but I think I'm a good Galliard. Better'n cliath, anyway." Her little diatribe trails off, leaving her with a faint sheepish smirk. "...If you cared why I asked, anyway."

An amused smile stretches across the Fianna's mien at that. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist," she begins with quiet humor, "to figure out why you probably asked. Not screwing up is a good start, but you can overcome screw-ups, even if they're major, if you can show that it was a simple mistake and not a trend. I think you're definitely more ambitious than Tony or Leala, but, I think you have a couple more months at least before you should be hitting Alicia up to Challenge. Still... I think if you keep up what you have been doing, and maybe work on the wisdom a little," her grin widens with an increased flash of amusement, "you may be about ready. The glory should take care of itself, given the pack you're in, if the stories of your battles get spread."

"I'm thinking June, maybe," Nat admits with a deepening of the sheepishness. "...Wisdom, though... cripes. My cub name was 'Both Feet First', and it wasn't because I liked to go swimming, you know? Turns out this Rite of mine - Flash's - that Flash is teaching me might help with the restraint a bit. As long as I can find time to do it, anyway. But 'calm, prudent, and temperate' aren't exactly my calling cards. Yet. I haven't decided who I'm gonna challenge quite yet. I think that's counting chickens, don't you?"

Megan's mouth wrinkles as she attempts to contain the smile at the amusement from Natalie's initial words. "And yet, for a galliard, wisdom is second only to glory as to what's expected from them. If you're thinking about Challenging already and have a timeline, then it's not too early to start considering the athro," and the lower case she gives that word is audible in her speech. "It's preferable that you challenge within tribe or auspice. Since there are no Glass Walker Fosterns, that'd mean a galliard. There's Alicia... or, Jarred," she makes a face at that. "But, well, I guess that'd be your choice," she adds with a lame smile trying to cover her opinion.

Natalie's nose wrinkles at the Shadow Lord's name. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to decipher her opinion, now would it? "I guess I'm still kinda hoping that Thomas'll be back by then. He didn't say how long it'd be, just 'a long while'. ...'S too bad 'stubborn' isn't one of the tenets, huh? I got that down in spades. Well. Thanks for your, hmn. Thanks for your opinion. I'd feel weird hitting up every Fostern in sight for what they thought a Fostern should be. It'd be like shopping around for the best price, you know? See who likes me best and Challenge them."

The corner's of Megan's mouth twitch as if to smile, but not quite this time. "Then you've already shown a touch of honor, then, because in my experience, there are far too many cliaths who would do exactly that," she says with a hint of compliment.

Natalie snorts and dips to gather her coat in one swoop of an arm. "Yeah, well, they're not planning on challenging for rank in two months, are they? Thanks, though. You want a ride back anywhere? I'm not in the mood for pounding the snot out of things anymore. Got some thinking to do before I hit the mall."

"No," Megan agrees, "they already challenged long past." She then shakes her head, grabbing her own trenchcoat from where it was hiding. "And no, thank you about the ride. I need to get back out to the Grotto." She flips her hair out from under the collar of her coat, before adding, "Oh, almost forgot. Do me a favor, and pass word on in the city that my pack is together, now. Eamon, Alicia, Dakota and I have been accepted by Stag. We're still working on a packname, so someone'll let you know when we've come up with one. We'll be claiming territory in Kent Crossing, and trying to help out the galliards with keeping information flowing between the city and Seeker and the woods packs."

Natalie hangs her own coat off one shoulder, her eyebrows climbing. "You have? Congratulations. Yeah, that'll be good. You've got a couple decent lines of communication already, what with Alicia, and Dakota married to Jeremy." She considers a moment longer, then bobs her head. "I guess that's all I've got. I'll catch you around, Megan. Gaia bless."

Megan shakes her head briefly, but then returns the nod of farewell. "And you, Natalie."

Natalie heads for the front of the barn with nary another word.

[End of log]