Devil's Tower

Who: Hawk and Nova
What: Discussing names
When: Late morning/early noon
Where: In their love nest
Rating: PG
Status: In Progress

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Who: Nova and the Palace Girls
When: Friday afternoon week 14
What: Delivering costumes
Rating: PG-13? It is a house of ill repute
Status: In Progress but open to the girls


Nova loved being in the Canopy and making her costumes but she missed the seclusion of Sunny Times. She missed being surrounded by so much fabric she couldn't see the door. Even though she didn't mind being huddled in like a little mouse in a nest even Nova got claustrophobic. She needed to get out and she needed above all else not to be babied. She grabbed her bag and silently began gathering the costumes she had been making from an order. Everyone involved would freak the hell out once they figured where she was, if they found out.

Nova was hoping for they never found out her destination and with hope that she was gone at all. She hadn't been seen out much and had just been getting her requests by runner. She needed to do some much needed measurements though and this gave her an excuse to get out.

Nova managed with a bit of effort getting down to the ground with her petite form heavily pregnant. She may have only been four months or so but on her tiny frame she seemed like a barrel. It was a beautiful day to be going for a walk with the sky clear as it was. Nova still pulled her rainbow hoody around herself though. No matter the temperature unless it was 190 she was probably going to be cold.

The walk to the Palace was one she had made on many occasion but for once in her young life she was cautious about it. The war still put her ill at ease even though it was over and there was the fact she had more to worry about than herself these days. Nova knew she was a great hope for the future. She knew that despite the state of the world she was accomplishing the impossible. They got reports on occasion from surrounding areas and no one had ever told of a woman being pregnant. As far as Nova knew she was the first and only since the Virus had hit. It was a great responsibility and one she wasn't taking lightly...though she certainly wasn't taking it as heavy as some might. It all made her wonder if she would become some tourist attraction. Like some minimum wage worker seeing the Virgin Mary in a doughnut hole.

It was those flittering thoughts that brought Nova to the pink painted Victorian that was her destination. She made her way up onto the porch and gave a light knock to the front door. She half had to wonder how the girls with their chosen profession would take her being pregnant. It was bound to be interesting.

Who: Libby, Gemini, Nova, and Hawk
What: Just checking up on the preggers lady
When: Late afternoon-ish
Where: Hawk and Nova's tree house
Rating: PG-13 (Libby's mouth again; just minor threatening of Hawk's manhood though)
Status: closed

After bugging Marmie, Libby dragged Gemini along to check in on Nova. It had been incredibly too long since she had seen the girl. Nova had already left to live at the farm when Libby returned to Sundance, and somehow she had missed her again when Nova came to visit Wolf recently to tell him the news. Her body trembled with nervous energy; Nova was pretty much her sister as well, and Libby could hardly contain her excitement at getting to see her again. How much had the young woman changed in the four months they had been separated?

The horses were thankful that they had dropped of the text books and other supplies at the school house; it made their trip to the canopy much easier and smoother. They finally came to rest under the tall tree Hawk's house sat it, and proceeded up the latter after she got off the horse and secured it to a post.

"Pretty impressive, no?" she asked Gemini, signaling for her to follow.

When she reached the deck, Libby turned to give her sister a hand up and then knocked on the door of the tree house. "Hawk! Open the door!" She called without much ceremony. "You let us see the pregnant girl, and I'll let you keep your testicles in tact," she added with a sardonic grin. It was nice to slip into her old, femi-nazi ways from time to time.

Who: Nova and Hawk
What: Nova's told Wolf about the baby, and Hawk fears for his life
Where: Hawk's treehouse
When: Late afternoon?
Rating: PG-13 (again for Hawk's potty mouth)

Hawk paced the length of his house tensely, an activity that had taken up much of his time since Nova had left on Saturday. Pre-Nova Hawk would have been out and about on this fine spring day, probably helping out in the gardens or just lazing about by the Belle Fourche River generally not giving a damn. It was not that he was a selfish person; he just preferred to not let things get to him. Instead of freaking out, Hawk's natural response was to shrug his shoulders, say, "Whatever, dude," to the world, and trust that things would work themselves out.

Now, Hawk had Nova in his life, a reason to care, and it was not just because she was pregnant. He actually loved a human being aside from his sister, and who could say why? Maybe it was all of her quirky and adorable facial expressions, or the way she scrunched up her nose when she laughed. Or how her cute, petite form fit so perfectly against him, and the way her tussled hair fell over her eyes. Perhaps it was the way her lips twitch when she sleeps, or the way her blue eyes can sparkle with love one minute and then blaze with a fiery hatred the next. And he actually tolerated all of her mood swings; he did not walk out in frustration and leave her to fend for herself.

Hawk buried his face in his hands with a groan. That hormonal pregnant mess of a girl had him wrapped so tightly around her finger; he did anything he could to keep her content. Though a bit of that motivation came from the knowledge that her brother would probably have him star in the next Mountain Lion cage fight if Hawk did anything less than make Nova happy. Then again, Wolf just might kill him anyway.

Hawk and Nova had battled back and forth for a while over the issue of telling Wolf about the baby. They both agreed that he needed to know sooner or later, though Hawk was not too crazy about Nova facing her brother on her own. Shouldn't Hawk at least be with her for emotional support, and to show Wolf that he is going to take his new responsibility seriously? But Nova had insisted that she go alone, knowing that Hawk's presence would only further enrage Wolf and not help the situation at all.

So here he was, stuck in his own house feeling much like a caged animal and awaiting the final verdict.

Who: Nova and Wolf.
What: A reunion! And news.
When: Saturday afternoon.
Where: The House.

She'd been dreading this day for weeks. Ever since she'd found out she was going to have a baby, she'd been making excuses not to go into town and tell her brother. First it had been too cold, then it had been too wet, then she'd had other things that needed to be taken care of. Hawk had caught on to her heel dragging however, and had finally volunteered to go on his own to tell Wolf if he had to. That had nearly sent her into a full scale panic attack (which had the side benefit of giving her a few more days to put off the trip). Eventually, she agreed to go on his own. If he was there, the chances of Wolf trying to choke him to death were way too high. Nova had a very good idea of how her brother was going to react, especially giving just how things had gone during their last meeting. He'd been so mad, leaving her there with Grey. And then she'd left Grey. Following that train fo thought, how was Otter going to take the news?

At least the weather wasn't too bad for walking. Hawk hadn't wanted her to make the trip on her own. Whatever. She was pregnant, not crippled. Walking wasn't going to hurt her. Nova had left fairly early in the morning, wearing a jacket to ward off the chill and to hide her growing stomach. A general lack of good nutrition made it fairly obvious what was going on with her, if you knew what to look for. Luckily, her morning sickness had gotten better. It wouldn't have been much fun to be puking the whole way there, espeically giventhe state that her nerves were in. She already felt kind of naseous, without the added benefit of a human being growing inside of her.

There were a few people out and about once she crossed in to town. Nova was easily recognizable, with her wild hair and brightly colored clothes. People waved and called out greeting before going on their way. With winter finally gone, there was lots to do. Everybody had a job to do. Sighing, she followed the familiar route back to her house. Wolf's house. It wasn't really her house anymore. She'd been gone for months. For all she knew, Wolf wasn't even there anymore. Okay, so that was kind of dramatic, but she was allowed to induldge in a few dramatics. Mood swings and all that.

Shuffling up the front walk, she debated knocking. That felt weird, even thinking about it. Just like walking right in felt really weird. Apparently, there wasn't anything about this confrontation that wasn't going to be awkward. Squaring her shoulders, she ran a hand over her bump before pushing open the door. Nova cleared her throat and glanced around once before calling out. "Brent?"

Who: Hawk and [open!]
What: Twin Feathers Christmas Cookout
When: Afternoon
Where: Twin Feathers Pavilion
Rating: PG-13 for alcohol references
Status: Incomplete

Hawk had been rather psyched about the Christmas party. After much planning and running around, he had finally collected Nova's things from where she had been staying at the farm with the help of Libby and another tribe member. Her suitcase had been hidden in his closet, and he would present it to her later this evening once the activities had died down. It was a rather cheap present, but Hawk was awfully proud of himself, especially since he had managed to do it without Wolf knowing.

The week with Nova had been amazing in its own special way. As far as sleeping arrangements went, he had offered to give her the bed and he would sleep on his giant bean bag, but she would have none of it. It was entirely too cold to be sleeping a long, and besides, Hawk needed to be there to protect her from the spook-a-boos lurking under the bed. So she had been sleeping in his bed with him the entire time and not once had they done anything beyond cuddling. Though, there had been that one night when he just kind of kissed her good night on her cheek. It was not out of habit, just an impulse that he acted on without really thinking. What he thought as something simple turned into a big deal when she blushed so deeply at his action and tried to find excuses to get away. After reminding her about the cold weather, the scary monsters, and his general desire to not have to rescue her again, she calmed down.

To tell the truth, Hawk was beginning to lose his cool hold on things. Nova's situation resided outside his normal practice when it came to women. Usually, when they stayed the night in his bed, it really was not for the purpose of sleeping. But Nova had a certain innocence about her, and it made him feel just dirty thinking about forcing her to sleep with him. Which is why he was super excited about the Christmas party. Parties usually meant some form of alcohol, and hopefully Nova would consume some of this alcohol and loosen up, so it would only take a little persuasion. That and every one seemed more relaxed than they had been the last couple of days. Everyone was gathered together, laughing, having fun, and enjoying each other's company.

Most leaders would make some kind of speech, something about holiday cheer and keeping up the good work. But Hawk had never been the speech-making type, that and his stomach was rumbling, so he set out to grab food and something to drink. Crossing his arms over his chest, hugging his coat closer around him, he made his way around the pavilion, checking out the delicious home-grown, home-made food prepared.

Who: Nova and Hawk.
What: Wake-up call.
When: Early morning.
Where: Hawk's treehouse.
Rating: TBD!

She was warm. Most of the time that wasn't something that she noticed, but Nova seemed to recall having been very, very cold. It was a vauge sort of memory, one that didn't include a when or how or why. Just enough to make her vaugley surprised that she was warm. Not that she minded the warm, not even a little. With a small yawn, she snuggled deeper in to the blankets that were wrapped around her. Apparently, she'd been asleep as well. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep. Maybe it had all been a dream? Hmm. Yes, that must be it. A dream. And in that dream, she'd been surrounded by falling snow, lost in an endless field of white. She shivered, remembering. Winter had finally started to get to her, she supposed, if she were dreaming of the constant snowfall.

Not especially wanting to think about it, she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow.

That was when it hit her. Everything smelled....different. The blankets, and pillow. Everything. Not like Otter's bed, where she had been staying, and certainly not like her own room in Sundance. Nova took another deep breath. No, the scent was definately new. She didn't open her eyes, but her eyebrows creased together. Her tired brain couldn't put the pieces together. Not that she had a whole lot of pieces. Nova wasn't even sure what day it was.

Why couldn't she remember anything? Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to concentrate. What was the last thing she could remember? The snow. That was important. Maybe it wasn't a dream. But she couldn't think of any reason why it wouldn't be. The second that her fleeting thoughts brushed on Otter, there was a quick, painful jolt to her heart. He'd told her he didn't want to be with her, couldn't be with her. That quick shock of hurt and resentment made her dizzy, but it also served to wake her up. That memory was clear enough. It was after that that things started to go all fuzzy.

That was when something moved. Something that was very close by. Nova flipped over quickly, her eyes flying open. At first, she couldn't see anything at all. Pushing away a heavy curtain of hair, she frowned up at the ceiling. That definately wasn't her ceiling. Catching a glimpse of the top of her shirt, she realized that that wasn't hers either. Confused, and more than a little freaked out, she stretched out a hand toward a large lump in the blankets. And choked back a scream whenever she realized that it, too, was warm.

Who: Nova/Hawk
What: Getting lost…then getting found.
When: Afternoon.
Where: Somewhere outside Sundance. Nova got really lost.
Rating: PG-13 (Hawk has a potty mouth...)

She’d made a whole hell of a lot of bad decisions in her life, but this one topped it. No other choice had left her so very screwed. It had been nearly an hour since she’d passed a landmark that she recognized. Now, all she could see was a wide expanse of blinding white, the horizon made hazy by the light snow fall. Looking back, she could see the meandering trail of her footsteps, cutting through several feet of snow. She should have been to town by now. As it was, she wasn’t even sure that she was heading toward town.

It had been stupid of her to leave, but she couldn’t stay. Wouldn’t stay, not after that. Had he forgotten that she’d given up the only life she knew to be with him? Did it not matter to him everything that she’d done so that they could spend the winter months together? No, the only thing that Otter could think of now was how Wolf was going to take it. They couldn’t be together, he said, not if the tribe was going to suffer for it. They’d argued, bitterly, before Nova had stormed out. Probably not the most mature way to deal with it, but it had been all that she could think to do. Otter didn’t want her, and Wolf had told her never to come back. Where did that leave her?

In the middle of damn nowhere, that’s where it left her. Under several feet of snow, even the road, and the river, were reduced to an indistinguishable white mass. Something under that mass caught her foot, taking her to her knees. With little time to prepare for her departure, she wasn’t dressed for a long walk in that weather. Pushing herself to her feet, she thought about turning around. The snow had started to fall harder, though nowhere near as heavy as it had all week. Which meant that her trail was probably covered by now. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she stumbled forward a few more steps. She should have waited, yet she didn’t think she’d be able to stay in that house. Saying that he’d broken her heart sounded sort of dramatic, but she couldn’t help but think that it was true. Between what he’d said to her that morning, and the things her brother had told her when she left, Nova felt so shitty that she didn’t think she’d ever recover. Pushing through the snow, she blinked back even more tears. It didn’t feel like anybody cared what happened to her. Maybe it would be for the best if she just lost out here in the snow.

When she went down the next time, she couldn’t find the energy to push herself back to her feet. How long had she been wandering around? She peered blearily upward, but couldn’t see the sun through the clouds. There was a good chance that the sun was about to go down. Closing her eyes, she wondered briefly if she’d make it through the night, after the temperature started to drop even more.

[SUPER SHORT AND COMPLETE!]

Who: Otter & Nova
What: Snowball fight, of course
Where: Outside up at the farm
When: About 1pm, Wednesday
Rating: PG
Status: Closed; Incomplete

Nova had not been as chipper as she was known for being ever since Sunday. Otter still didn't know what all had gone on, but whatever it was that went down between her and her brother it couldn't have been pretty. She'd been down and a little mopey for the past few days. Even Muskrat couldn't cheer her up. He tried with a vengeance, but ultimately even the dog had admitted defeat and whimpered at Otter as if he hadn't been trying to cheer her up as well. Otter had finally veered on the side of mostly leaving her to her thoughts and keeping her company silently when he didn't have things that required his attention.

Wednesday, however, brought excitement. At least, the kids were all overjoyed. Snow. It had been going on for hours now and the powder on the ground was settling thickly without any sign of melting away any time soon. Thus far he'd been keeping the kids inside but it was letting up enough and they were impatient enough that he finally caved. A fair bit up ecstatic screaming could be heard in the house as they ran about finding as much clothing as they could to layer on top of what they were already wearing. A couple lucky ones had stolen old snow gear of Otter and his brother's out from under the noses of the others.

Figuring this could be something adequate to distract her, Otter quietly snuck up on Nova. She was knitting, all curled up by herself. He came from behind her and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Hey you," he whispered. "I have a mission for you. Very, very important mission. Involves lots of running. And your nose going numb. And lots of laughing. And testing out how your aim is. You think you might be interested?" Otter nudged her cheek with his nose. "C'mon, ya know ya wanna." He was wiggling where he stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, fully prepared to go outside and end up soaked through from the snow. "I promise to warm you up after," there was a teasing note in his voice.

Who: Nova and Wolf
What: Packing....and getting caught.
When: Early afternoon
Where: Their house
Rating: R. They say the F-word more than once.

Stealth and speed were the most important factors here. She just wanted to get in and out without anyone seeing her. It was times like this when being small and sneaky was definately an advantage. Even though she was several sizes larger than normal (due to layers upon layers of clothing), Nova was still a slight figure as she slipped quietly into their house. Wolf's house, she amended. After that afternoon, there was no guarentee that it would be her's any longer. The plan was for her to spend the long winter months out at the farmhouse, with Otter, and see where it went from there. Whether or not Wolf would want her to come back after that was a totally different story. The door clicked quietly closed behind her as she sighed. They couldn't have made this go any worse if they'd tried. Now everything was all muddled, and Nova was sneaking in to her own home to try to steal away what she could to avoid another confrontation with her brother.

Unwinding the scarf from around the bottom of her face, she draped it over the back of a chair. Her eyes scanned the living room. It looked just the same as always, plain, but brightened by the feminine touches that Nova liked to add. From the looks of things, Wolf wasn't home. There was a chance that he was just being really quiet, but if she knew her brother, then he was gone. All she had to do now was get out before he got back. Tugging off her hat, she tossed it on top of the scarf, before heading upstairs, toward her room. She made very little noise as she padded up the stairs. Normally, she was that quiet to avoid disturbing anyone. This time, she just didn't want to get caught. Running a hand through her hair, she eased open the door to her room. Here, the atmosphere was even brighter than the rest of the house. There were clothes tossed everywhere, obscuring the mismatched furniture and various knick-knacks. It suited her well. She'd miss waking up there every morning, but not enough to reconsider leaving.

She sighed again. Nothing about this was easy, even though it was bound to happen eventually. Pulling back the curtain that hid the mess in her closet, she started looking for bags. She'd come on her own, hoping to avoid mixing Otter up in any more family drama. All she could take would be what she could carry. Or haul, as it were, in the pair of pull wagons that she'd borrowed from the farm. If she had to live for the winter on what she could carry on her back, she'd have to take Otter up on the whole nudist thing. Dragging a few ragged pieces of luggage out, she tossed them on to her bed. It was time to get this over with. She started grabbing things at random. Speed, she reminded herself, was one of the more important things here. Nova wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, focusing instead on packing as much of her stuff as she could into the bags that were spread out in front of her.

Who: Wolf, Otter and Nova
Where: Farmhouse
When: Early Friday morning
Why: Wolf goes looking for Nova who didn't come home last night and finds something he's not too pleased about.


Wolf could more or less count the hours of sleep he’d gotten this week on both hands and still have fingers left over. The mental list that he kept of problems and concerns had been re-ordered last night when he finally gave up on waiting for Nova and went to bed. She had left him a note that she was going to the farm but it said nothing about staying the night there or anywhere other than their house.

The only thing that kept him from going out and looking for her was the difficult realization that she was indeed 18, old enough to have started taking care of herself. But was 18 old enough to take care of oneself in this new world? Wolf didn’t think so but he was trying to give Nova at least an ounce of her space for once.

An hour before the sunrise Wolf had drug himself out of bed, he couldn’t sleep anyway. He’d woken up every hour on the hour thinking about one thing or another. If his thoughts weren’t on Nova they were on the electricity and if they weren’t on electricity they were on something else like the oncoming winter and the usual problems that it brought with it. He dressed warm and left the house quietly so as not to disturb anyone else. He retrieved his horse form the make-shift stable-house they’d constructed across the road from the apartments and he set out.

Even with the electricity there were few street lamps that managed to stay on, but without the electricity the whole place was plunged in a horrible darkness. It was a heavy reminder of the darkness of the grave that the Ans virus had dug for the world they used to know. Luckily the setting moon was shining and the sun’s oncoming rays had already cast a purple light through the darkness.

He would check the farm first since that was where she said she was going. In the mean time he had to devise an excuse. He didn’t want to embarrass Nova by showing up for the sole reason of checking up on her. Eh, he’d worry about what to say when it came to that. He’d always been better at improv than planned speeches, especially when it came to Nova, the person who was best at seeing straight through him.

When he reached the farm there were a few people meandering around, employed in their various farm-related tasks. Wolf waved to the couple that recognized him. It wasn’t often that he was on the farm. During the peak growing season he was there more helping with the manual labor and such but in these cold months there was little work to be had. He slid off his horse in front of the farm house and walked in through the unlocked door.

There were two little kids eating their make-shift breakfast of apples and honey cakes. Wolf smiled at them and asked them if they’d seen Otter. One of them giggled and pointed to the ceiling. Obviously Otter was still upstairs. Wolf winked at the kid and made his way up the stairs quietly so as not to wake any of the other occupants of the farm house. He reached Otter’s door and knocked. He figured that Otter was awake but now as he usually was.

A faint sound came back through the door which he assumed was a ‘come-in’. Wolf turned the knob and stepped into the threshold of the door. Otter was just pulling a shirt over his head, as Wolf smiled to say hello. Yet something caught his eye that pulled the smile right off his face. The unmistakable auburn hair of his sister was visible just above the blanket line on Otter’s bed.

Wolf’s lips parted as if to speak but nothing came out and instead he just stepped backwards as if his actions were all on rewind. “Otter. Out here. Now!” He was trying to control the mix of anger and astonishment that had risen in his gut but his last word had slipped out as a shout.

Who: Otter and Nova.
What: Nova gets a wild hair, and tromps out to the farm.
When: Late afternoon.
Where: The Farm.
Rating: TBD.

The last few days had pretty much been hell. Though the house she shared with Wolf had been warm enough thanks to plenty of firewood, there were plenty of other creature comforts that had gone out the window when the power had shut down. It was easy to forget that the world had nearly ended when the lights were still on. Now that they were gone, for who knew how long, the situation had become pretty dire. Doubts were on everyone's mind. What would happen if they couldn't get power again? What would they do? Only a few days of primitive living had sunk even Nova's perpetual good mood. The fact that other member's of the tribe were also grumbly and bleak didn't help. It was nearly impossible to be happy when everyone around you was awash in doom. There was only one thing to do, she decided, unless she wanted to sink into a bout of uncharacteristic depression. She had to go see Otter.

She'd wrapped up in what seemed like every piece of warm clothing that she owned. In the summer, the walk wouldn't have been too terrible, but the week had gotten steadily colder. Most people weren't too uncomfortable yet. Those people, however, possed enough body fat to retain at least a little warmth. Tribal life was more cushy than, say, the life of a drifter, but food was still lean, and Nova had never been one to retain calories. That left her pretty frail, and really susceptible to the weather. Leaving a quick note to let Wolf know where she'd gone, she slipped out the door and headed out of the city. Once she'd gotten out of the cover of the buildings, the wind got even worse. Nova focused on trying to stay warm, singing to keep her mind busy. Anyone peeking out of their window would probably have thought she was crazy, bopping along like it was a bright spring day, happily singing to herself. Or they would have though that she was just being herself. Either way.

Nova lost track of how long it took to get to the farm. At first glance, everything was pretty quiet. Maybe she'd miscalculated, and the people who lived her were in town? If that was the case, she knew no one would mind if she slipped in and warmed up before heading back. Techincaly, everyone here qualified as Wolves, which made it pretty much a second home for her. Weaving her way around various fences, she trudged across the wide porch, knocking on the door a few times before she opened it up. Taking a step inside, she unwound the scarf that had been protecting the bottom part of her face from the cold. It was kind of hard to talk when stuff like that was in the way. She soaked up some of the warm air before calling out. "Otter? You home?"

Who: Wolf and any member of the Wolves that attends the meeting.
Where: The gym of the Belle Fourche High School in the southwest of the Wolves’ territory.
When: Tuesday, dusk into dark after the last of the aftershocks.
Why: Tribe meeting and welfare check.
(((OOC: This post is simply a starter for those of you who want to attend the Wolves meeting. Please post all meeting related threads here. Even if your character does not speak you can still make an appearance in the comments. Feel free to respond directly to Wolf and/or join in other people‘s comments. I‘ll leave Wolf‘s part of this post open-ended till the end of the week change and then wrap it up if no one responds to him.)))

The earthquake had done minimal damage to the buildings on the Wolves turf though they’d all certainly felt it. Scouts and runners were immediately dispatched to sweep the center city searching for damage and injured people. A runner was also sent to check up on the farm, the Twin Feathers, the River Runners and even the Mountain Lions. Truth be told the Mountain Lions would more than likely have been neglected had the power not flickered and then gone out shortly after the worst part of the quake. As soon as all of the runners had returned Wolf called a meeting to the Belle Fourche High School gym.

The sun was setting and the remaining streamers from last week’s dance blew balefully in the breeze that pierced the warmth of the gym every time someone entered. Hot water was being boiled on a fire outside of the gym to offer warm drinks to anyone who showed up. Wolf sat in the center of the highest bleacher and waited for people to trickle into the gym. By the time there were enough people there that he felt he could speak the sun had set. The gym was lit by torches and candles from their limited supply.

He stood up on the bleacher and raised his hand to get people’s attention. “All of the runners have returned and I’m sure most of you have heard bits and pieces of what they’ve learned.” He surveyed the faces of his tribe, all lit by the flickering orange of the torches. It was probably not the best idea to have fire inside the gym like they did but they didn’t have another choice. It was too cold to huddle outside and there was no other building on their property that had been cleaned up enough so as to fit everyone inside.

“The Mountain Lions are being tight-lipped as to the true cause of the power outage and the extent of damage on their property is as of yet unknown to us. As far as I know there were no injuries in any of the tribes. However, a tree house collapsed in the Twin Feather’s camp and we’ll be sending a party there tomorrow to help clean things up and replace whatever we can that was broken.”

Wolf paused and rubbed his hands together for warmth. The cold was already creeping in through the dilapidating walls and broken windows. “We’ve combed our territory and none of our people were hurt, and amazingly enough there were no damages. Hopefully the power will be fully restored soon. In the mean time feel free to take more than your ration of firewood for tonight. Be sure to stay as warm as possible and conserve your energy. If you don’t have a fireplace in your home I’m sure one of our tribe members who do would be more than willing to share their space with you until the power is restored. Everyone seems to be accounted for in our tribe so now I’ll open up the floor. Do any of you have concerns or questions? Now is the time to say anything you want.”

Who: Otter & Nova
Where: Main house of the Sundance Kid Apartments
When: Late afternoon/Early evening
Why: Well Darla might actually kill him if he's around her too much and Nova is the light of his life (practically literally) so Otter needs happy!friend time.

All day Otter had slunk about the farm, avoiding Darla and the daggers her eyes shot him for his acts of terrorism on her the previous day. Really, she had to learn to love the tiger suit! The kids around the farm loved the tiger suit and this, so far as Otter was concerned, was more than enough reason why Darla, too, should love it. The girl had no love to spare for him or his attempts to pull her out of the tar pit she seemed all too at home in, though.

As if Otter did not already completely adore Nova, in that platonic and not being maimed by her older brother and his friend kind of way, today it was manifold. This was, of course, thanks to Darla and her threats to his person. Not to mention the threats to his beloved tiger suit. That always made him pout. And then find even better hiding places for the suit. People were so damn depressing half the time. No one smiled and then there were people like Darla who practically held it against him for trying to get them to laugh even if just at him being an idiot. Nova was, truthfully, like his one bright and shining star. He wondered sometimes if she hadn't shown up with Wolf if he might not have snapped and wanted to shove people down the well. Being around so many people with doom clouds hanging over their heads was depressing.

Last night he'd gathered up various random bits of cloth he'd found about the house and that he'd traded people for previously. He figured if Nova couldn't do something with it all then it'd just be kindling, really. There were also buttons and ribbons. In true Otter fashion it was all shoved into a bag without any care for order. While he walked from Watershed Hollow to the city he kept an eye out for strangers, but mostly he busied himself with carving into an apple for Nova. He failed at flowers so he was carving a layered heart into one side of the fruit. Hearts he could at least manage and it wasn't hard to remove the heart-shaped wedges so that there were alternating outlines of white and red when it was looked at. He'd tried a star but had failed miserably at it and ended up just eating that attempt.

Otter didn't come into the city much, his life was on the farm. He realized he didn't actually know where to look for Nova so he defaulted to the obvious, her house. He figured if she wasn't there Wolf might be and if no one was he could just sit on the steps until someone showed up. The plus side was no one who lived in the white house attached to the Sundance Kid Apartments was likely to maim him. This was an important perk for the day so far as he was concerned. The apple carving had even turned out pretty well, even if the heart was a bit lopsided. By time Otter knocked on the door he had a smile on his face, an expression that had been absent when he left the farm.

Who: Nova and Gaia
Where: The trading post
When: Monday, Noon
Why: They're planning on starting a sewing circle.  No, really. 

Her first visit to the trading post had been interesting. To say the most. She didn’t have any plans in making it a frequent part of her weekly itinerary but it continued to pique her curiosity, for some strange reason. She still wondered about the type of people that she could meet there since her last voyage had only led her to encounter another Mountain Lion. She thought of how it would be like to bargain; probably no different than it had been like bargaining in Manhattan, something she had always been horrible at. Gaia had no head for money and a part of her had always liked to think that the reason people spiked prices so high was because of need not for want. Therefore, she’d happily paid the price. It wasn’t as if she’d been lacking in currency. Now, however, she supposed it would be good to learn to bargain, everything was so much more precious it wouldn’t do to lose out because she had more of a head for books and words than for numbers and money. 
 
With curiosity over who she would find at the post this time, a need to improve her mathematical skills, and a boredom that could rival Yuki on a bad day, Gaia closed the book she had been reading and went to get dressed. Today, uncharacteristically, she felt in the mood for jeans and sneakers. Pulling out ratty, gray sneakers and a pair of Baby Phat jeans, she put them on and coupled them with a light gray t-shirt that had pink ballerina shoes on it and a black hoody that had a multi-colored butterfly on the back. With a few of the sweaters she’d had knitted stuffed into a large shoulderbag she was good to go. Yuki was out from running around the Lodge all day long and would still be asleep by the time she returned. Leaving a simply written note anyway on the dresser, Gaia was ready to go. 

Who: Anyone who wants to attend the dance
Where: The gym of the Belle Fourche High School in the southwest of the Wolves’ territory
When: Friday at sundown and into the night
Why: Another attempt at raising morale and possibly improving tribal relations

The overcast sky and light rain did little to dampen the hearts of the Wolf girls that had organized the dance. They had worked hard the last week or so to transform the gym into something civilized, something recognizable in a world that was still all too foreign. They hadn’t been able to remove the graffiti from the walls but at least the majority of it wasn’t too terribly obscene or otherwise offensive.

Despite their amazing work on the room itself there was one thing they were most proud of. They had been unable to find any sort of PA system that was in working order and no one had known how to fix it. However, they were able to find an enormous stereo in the basement of the school. Given the gym’s average size the stereo would surely be loud enough to reach every corner of the place. They scrounged up every CD they could find so they ended up with a little bit of everything. At this point people usually weren’t very picky about the music they heard because they were lucky to hear it at all.

Unfortunately there was no food for their guests due to tight rationing in preparation for the winter months, but there was a good deal of iced tea flavored with honey and some moonshine they’d managed to trade various things to the River Runners for.

As the sun went down they lowered the lights, turned on the stereo and opened the doors. There was no telling what would happen at such an event where all tribes had been invited.

Who: Wolf and everyone else that’s at the Halloween party
Where: The Trading Post
When: Halloween late afternoon and into the night
Why: The Wolves are hosting a Halloween party to boost morale

***OOC: Every post that has to do with the Halloween party is to be posted here as a comment to this post. Please put the recipient of your comment in the subject line of your comment. For example, if you’re writing to Zalen, comment on this post and put To Zalen in the subject of your comment. Your comment can also be labeled as Open. If you have questions please contact a mod or another mun that’s online. Also, since it is a party, feel free to jump into someone’s thread. Though you may want to contact the players involved in it first.***


Wolf spent the morning riding along the river in the Mustang’s territory. He often took day-long rides when something was on his mind. This morning that something was the death of a young drifter at the hands of the Mountain Lions. The entire incident had sent such shockwaves through the city that he’d considered cancelling the party. However, after much thought he’d decided to have it anyway. It would be the perfect opportunity for him to make a statement to the Mountain Lions, and the entire community. Of course the Mountain Lions were not invited but he was not stupid enough to believe that at least one of them, or someone working for them, would not be there. That was precisely the reason he was having the party on such neutral grounds to begin with.

He understood the point the Mountain Lions were trying to make by killing the boy. However, he did not agree with the Mountain Lions’ actions. He knew all too well that they could go to extremes, but something so brutal as burning someone alive was still shocking. He had to think of a way of letting them know, subtly, that the Wolves would not stand for such extreme forms of so called ‘justice’, and he had the perfect plan in mind.

In this new world it was every man for himself, whether that man was a tribe member or not. A tribe could be cohesive as humanly possible, but there would still be that underlying drive that brought all the members together in the first place. The selfish drive to stay alive, to do whatever it takes to keep yourself alive and yourself only. Wolf liked to think that he was above that base, animalistic and selfish instinct. Yet, like so many things Wolf tried not to be, even he could not escape that inalienable human-animal instinct.

( Continued )