Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (33% full).

The living room is simply furnished with a sectional couch and matching armchair with the faded look of being used and a simple entertainment center bearing a TV, DVD player, and VCR. A few DVDs are stored on the shelves, but not many. The dining room is tucked into the northwest corner of the area, a step up from the living room, and about half the width. A metal chandelier illuminates an simple pale-wood table and matching chairs set with an autumnal fake floral arrangement. A couple of framed posters of Irish landscapes decorate the walls hinting at the ethnic origins of the current occupants.

It is the evening of the third of May and overall not a bad night. The temperature is mild and the sky clear in what would be a peaceful spring day. Nascha, however, does not feel the lightness of the evening. She stands straight and taller, even moreso than normal, as she makes her way stiffly in through the O'Brien's front foor. Quickly, she looks around before taking another step over the threshold, assuring herself they do have permission to be here, before moving inside so the others can follow.

Jacinta follows the Uktena in, back as stiff and formal as usual. Her gaze travels briefly through the room, taking in the various design elements, posters, and furnishings. She allows a single glance behind her as she steps to the side, jaw set but not rigid. Then she refocuses her attention on Nascha, waiting for instruction.

Natalie lingers in the yard until the door's closed behind Jacinta - it doesn't seem a deliberate action, but rather the Walker mucking about in the cab of her truck, and then stooping to snugly tie a flopping lace. As she lets herself into the Alpha's house she murmurs an, "Evening," to the others, her shoulders already hunching. She doesn't stop at the door, but moves past it, and on to the fireplace in the middle of the opposite wall.

Nascha doesn't walk further into the house than she absolutely needs and closes the door once everyone has entered. "Thank you both for coming." She says, moving directly onto business. "I have asked you both to join me so that we may better discuss the feud you wish to resolve. I will be here to assist, since you both have claimed you are unable to communicate properly, and make sure all that is being said is the truth."

Jacinta remains standing where she is, nodding once at Nascha's introductory statements. "Ii," she says quietly in acknowledgment.

"Right," Nat agrees, equally terse, though she turns to face Nascha as she says it. Her arms seem unable to hang loose at her sides, and slide across themselves and her belly.

Nascha nods her head once and briefly closes her eyes. They remain so only a moment before they reopen and focus on Natalie. "Let us then begin with you. Could you tell me, then, the story in your words, beginning with why you contacted him."

Jacinta's brows furrow slightly, but she remains silent. She seems slightly uncomfortable, shifting her weight to stand more heavily on her right foot, though she takes her lead from Nascha and stays put. She turns to watch Natalie, lower jaw pushing forward.

"...Why I contacted him?" Nat echoes, hands slipping free out of their knot. "I didn't. He contacted me. Or Signe, I don't remember which. But the upshot was that one of his, hmn, people was in trouble, and he wanted us to go help. So we did. And that led to one thing, which led to another..." Her right hand gestures, palm up as if freeing a bird. "So at Moot I wanted to make sure everyone knew how helpful he was, give honor where honor was due. Make sure people knew that it wasn't all Havoc, but it was kin too, and Wendigo kin at that." Her eyes never leave Nascha, as if by ignoring Jacinta the other woman won't actually exist.

Nascha only tips her chin slightly as her arms cross over her chest, one on the other with her hands grasping her elbows. It seems the Philodox is content to listen and not comment.

The muscles at Jacinta's jawline bunch as she clenches her teeth beneath closed lips. Otherwise she is silent and still.

Natalie continues, "A, hmn. A short time after the moot - a couple weeks, maybe, but again, I don't remember off-hand. If you want details I'll have to sit and think about them. -- A short time later I got word that Jacinta wanted to talk to me. I wasn't real happy about that, because every time she wanted to 'talk'," she makes air-quotes, "We generally ended up arguing. But I went. And I was right - she was furious I'd talked to H - to her kin without her permission. My first instinct was to fly off the handle, but after I thought about it for a second I realized she was right. If someone'd done that with Jon I'd've been just as mad, and just as right. So I apologized. Then she demanded I trot out to the bawn every time I wanted to talk to him or he called me. Like I explained to you, it's a heck of a drive from the city to the farmhouse, and then trying to find one Garou on the bawn? At least two hours out of my day. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't feasible, but she didn't accept that. I tried to propose compromises, but everything I suggested made her angrier. Finally she said flat out that none of the Glass Walkers could even so much as mention his name. I'd had it by that point, so I said fine, we wouldn't. Then," she shrugs, as if she doesn't care and looks away from the Philodox, toward one of the chairs, "She insulted me. I told her to knock it off, it went to Crinos, and she throated me." End, therefore, of story.

Nascha listens for a moment longer even after the story has ended, but still does not comment. Instead, she turns her eyes over onto Jacinta and nods once to her. "And would you please tell me your side of the story." She part asks and part requests, her face lacking any readable emotion save attentiveness.

During Natalie's telling, the Wendigo has several moments where is is obvious that she is, at least metaphorically, biting her tongue. As Nascha addresses her, she gives a small bow of her head to the Uktena and then begins her tale. "It is much as she said. But not exactly so. I knew that my kin was in contact with Skadi's Defiant Storm. I had told him she was a worthy person to contact. I did not know he asked action for her, or her pack. No one came to me. No one told me. Even when they asked him, in turn, for action, no one came to me. At moot, in front of the whole Sept, she said that she had been commanding my kin. Yes. I was angry. It was not right." She takes a deep breath, allowing a significant pause before she goes on. "I accepted her apology. I asked that she keep me informed. That she tell me when he came to her with information. That she ask me, before she command my kin to do a thing. She could not understand me. I tried over and over in many different ways to say what I wanted and she could not hear me. She said my request was unreasonable. She told me to berate my kin. I told her it was no place of hers to tell me what to do with my kin. Since she could not agree to my terms, I told her that she... that she alone ... could not talk to him. She still did not understand. She said she would tell everyone they could not speak with him. I said that I only meant her. She still did not understand and said she would tell her whole tribe. I said if it would keep her qussaq hands from him, so be it. Qussaq is white. I said the word in anger. I said many words in anger because she could not understand me." Another deep breath. Another long pause. "After she challenged and I was victorious, I thought that would be the end. But it was not. She went to the Farmhouse and told them that by my order, my kin was to be Ostracized. This is why I cannot trust her. If she cannot understand what I say, even when she says she does, how can I trust her to be near my kin?"

After another moment, Nascha finally speaks. "I am not here to pass judgment, I am only here to provide assistance in finding closure. In the end, any words I say are yours to heed or ignore. I feel this feud has gone on longer much more than it needed to be, and I do not doubt either of you would disagree. Natalie, you have already acknowledged you were wrong in going to the kinfolk Harold without first informing his elder. Jacinta, your anger is justified in this. Our kinfolk are precious and must be protected. However, I think more effort should have been made before now to find a mediator to resolve this. I can understand, Natalie, why you would be reluctant to leave the city for long. As elder of your tribe, you must be near in case they need you. Still, the fact you are elder with kin of your own should make it all the more clear that something must be done to keep his tribe informed of any interactions. You would expect the same. Was there any attempt made to discuss an intermediary between you both, someone who could be trusted to carry the true word between you both?"

Natalie's face goes cloudy as the Uktena speaks; she shakes her head and folds her arms again, hands in loose fists underneath her elbows. "No. Everyone in the city I trust is as busy as I am, or just plain unsuited. And asking the Sept Alpha to play messenger girl is insulting."

Jacinta shakes her head. "My kin's position in the city makes it difficult for him to leave without causing problems and creating questions. Most of my Tribe are confined to the Bawn as Guardians. ... I did not ask that she come the moment he spoke. Only that I be kept informed. She said she did not believe that I meant what I said. That I would become angry even if she did try."

Nascha lets out a brief breath, arms remaining crossed. "What of those outside your tribes? When I spoke to the Alpha, she mentioned her pack, one of communication. Is it not their job to pass word from one place to another? Perhaps they could be asked."

Natalie's jaw clenches when Jacinta speaks, but she keeps her eyes firmly on the Philodox, as if she were the sole light in a dark cavern. "I was including people outside my Tribe. Alicia-rhya is Galliard, but tribal Elder. Dakota-rhya is caretaker of the farm. Neither of them can be yanked willy-nilly from their duties to play messenger." She's careful to keep her tone polite, though it's obviously costing her something to do so.

Jacinta latches onto something that Nascha said. "Resonance says their duty is to carry messages, carry word from city to bawn, to act as intermediary. Why could they not be asked? Also, Already Olga and her kin carry messages to me when my kin has need to pass word. If she is willing to do this for me, she could be asked to do so for Natalie as well."

Nascha nods her head once to Jacinta's words and adds, "If they have said it is their job to do so, then the must. I am sure at least one of their number travels enough to keep up contact between you both. I cannot imagine you two would wish to speak so much that you would detract from any of their other duties." Somehow, she comes off saying that perfectly matter-of-fact. "And if the Bone Gnawer elder and her people would be willing to aid, than so be it."

Natalie takes in a breath and lets it out again, her nostrils flaring. "Excuse me, Nascha, but now..." Her lips press together for a moment, but she continues. "Now who isn't listening? I already said I considered those outside my tribe. Resonance. Havoc. The other Get. Even the Bone Gnawers. The ones I trust aren't suitable. The ones who might be suitable are unavailable for some other reason. I don't have that much of a jumped up opinion of myself that I'd go banging on some Fostern's door just to play Telephone for me."

Jacinta sucks in a deep breath through her nose and holds it for a beat before slowly exhaling through her mouth. She turns to look directly at Natalie as she speaks. "If what you would say to my kin is of so little import, why do you need to speak to him at all?"

The Uktena raises up her hand, palm flat and stiff, a gesture of silence. "I can not see how a pack, regardless of rank, would deny the sept the duties they said they would perform." Nascha says in return to Natalie. "Perhaps it would be wise to first ask them if they are willing and able. What other suggestions would you have if no one is suited to carry messages, no technology or device can connect you, and you are unable to go to Jacinta to speak personally and she unable to come to the city?"

Natalie shakes her head tightly, not acknowledging the Wendigo's question save for another tightening of her jaw muscles. "It doesn't matter now. I can't talk to him. Of him. If he speaks to Signe, it's none of my concern. But. If it were... I'd deliver the message myself. When I could, on my terms, but as soon as I could. I understand her concern over her kin. If someone wanted Jon to do something for them, I'd expect them to take as much care of him as I do. But this..." She gestures sharply, throwing the idea away. "It doesn't matter. I don't expect, I don't want her to, to go back on her word. I'll stick by my word, by our agreement, even though she thinks I'm honorless. I just want an apology for her continual insults."

Jacinta bristles as Natalie speaks her last, fists clenching at her sides. "I think you lack honor because you do other than you say. Firewatcher says that you misunderstood. That you wished to do right. But you do not admit that you did not understand me. Either you misundertood, or you lack honor. Which is truth?"

"You have both insulted the other, by word or by action, and in the end it is your anger that fuels insult. Apology will go nowhere unless you can learn not to let your anger rule your tongue." Nascha says as she looks between the two. "I see only two ways for this to end. One is that the kinfolk Harold is no longer used as a source of information, and that he not be contacted without approval from Jacinta. Or, you can both find someone willing to carry word for you. Either choice will end this feud and your anger can be directed at the Enemy instead of each other."

Natalie takes in another long breath, holding it for a slow count of three before exhaling silently. "I've just said that her kin is no affair of mine. He's dead to me - I don't know, is there some other, clearer way of saying that I haven't talked to him, don't talk about him, don't say his name, have erased his number from my cell phone? He hasn't existed to me for months now. Like the..." she bites off her words, her chin snapping up. "That's my choice. It's the same one I've stood by all this time."

Jacinta turns back to the Uktena, jaw tight. "The issue with my kin is but a symptom. The disease that needs to be addressed is that she cannot understand me. She hears insult in emotion, reads meaning into my words, and does not believe that I mean what I say. Our anger cannot be assuaged by removing one focus. I cannot trust her while she cannot understand me."

For the first time since entering the house Nat acknowledges the Wendigo; she turns on her, hands flying to the sides like they were blown there by a sudden updraft. "I hear insult in emotion? What emotion? I have no idea what you're thinking when you talk to me! You say I'm an honorless qussaq in the same empty tone of voice you use to say you had a hamburger for supper, or you gutted a Nexus Crawler!" The Walker's certainly displaying plenty of emotion.

"Respect this house." Nascha says in her most forceful tone, though her voice raises only a fraction in volume to better be heard. "This is obviously going nowhere tonight. We will meet again, after I have spoken with the Alpha at the Lawgiver's Moot tomorrow night."

"Respect this house," Natalie mutters under her breath, turning back to the Uktena. "I have to let her..." Again she cuts herself off with a sharp gesture. "Fine. I apologize, Nascha." Stiffly she inclines her head, then strides out of the house, the door thumping closed behind her.

Jacinta crosses her arms over her chest as she watches Natalie leave, her face set in a scowl.

[End of log]