Reuben Cabot: 3/2/97 (11/6/96)
The motorcycle slowed and came to a stop in front of the Chantry. We all looked at each other, then to the front door. Raoul swaggered in. He looked pretty much like I'd expected - denim jacket, long, black hair, greasy jeans. Like a hippie from the '60's upon whom age had settled in a most ungraceful way. He stopped, looked at all of us, then turned to the front door, which he had left ajar.
The oldest man I had ever seen walked in - a small, wizened black man, with baggy clothes that suggested rags but were much finer than that. He had several necklaces about his neck, and bracelets that rattles when he moved his arms. This must be Grandpa.
He nodded solemnly to us, encompassing the entire room with his gesture. As he looked around the room, he gave a little "um hmm" or "tsk" as his gaze alighted on each person. Finally, he approached Walks All Paths (who was still trapped in lupus form). He stood before the wolf and cocked his head. The wolf whined a bit and hung his head. Grandpa spoke, his voice much more vibrant than his shrunken form would suggest.
"Ah, my friend. You have placed yourself in an interesting situation."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small pouch, and placed it before the wolf. Walks All Paths nosed it, then, holding the bag with his paw, worried the string of the pouch loose. Suddenly, he changed to human form - something which, to judge from the look on his face, surprised him as much as it did us.
Grandpa straightened and looked at us. "So. Who are you all, and what has happened here?"
We went around the room, each of us introducing ourselves. When my turn came, I said, "I am Reuben Cabot, Speaker of Dreams. I bid you welcome, revered father." He dismissed me with a wave. Hell, how am I supposed to know how to deal with garou shaman? No one else seemed willing to offer an explanation of what had happened, so I explained to Grandpa how Walks All Paths had attempted to salvage Nicole's soul, and how his soul now seemed trapped beyond the Shroud.
When I was done, the old man nodded. "I see." He peered at me closely. "Tell me, O Reuben-Cabot-Speaker-of-Dreams, what do you want?"
I thought for a moment, and decided to take his question in the context of the events of the past day. "I wish to return the soul of Walks All Paths to him from the Dark Umbra."
He nodded. "A worthy goal. And what will you risk?"
I didn't even have to think about this one. "Whatever is necessary." I knew this with all my heart - the garou was a friend, and, perhaps, a kindred spirit. He was clearly in distress now, and I would do all within my power to help him however I could.
Grandpa went around the room, asking the same questions, and getting similar answers - even from Mary. When he got to Nicole, though: "Nicole of the Barabbi. Who do you serve?"
Nicole flinched a little, then said in a small voice, "She always called herself Grandma."
Of course. It figured. The old man nodded again and addressed us all. "You must go to Grandma's lair. I will send Silvertooth to instruct you. You will leave with the new moon. Silvertooth will be here at dawn; he will bring weapons and train you."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked out the still-open front door. Raoul, who had been leaning against the wall watching the entertainment, followed behind him. He stopped at the doorway and looked closely at the markings Inspector Torres had carved into the door. "You know, you should really do something about that." He shut the door behind him.
We stood still for a moment, then exhaled as if we had all been holding our breath. I turned to Walks All Paths. "Who or what is Silvertooth?" He shrugged, saying, "I'm not from around here, remember?" He stepped toward the sofa and fell more than sat down. Renee sat beside him and held him, stroking his hair. Kasee said, "Cool! He said he'd bring weapons! I hope he brings swords! Swords are neat." She then turned and bounded off to her room. Eric headed back to the library, as did Cab, and Daedelus went back to his room. Nicole just sat in one of the chairs in the living room and stared off into space. I thought to check the calendar in the kitchen - the new moon was in three days, on November 10.
It was now almost 10 PM, and this Silvertooth character was supposed to be at the chantry at dawn. I reckoned it would be a good idea to go to bed. But even as I lay staring at the ceiling in my room, I couldn't sleep. I poked Dog and said, "You awake?"
*I don't sleep. Remember?* came the sardonic reply.
"Oh yeah. Well, you do a good imitation sometimes."
*Just keeping up my 'dog' routine. Wanna see me mark my territory?*
"No! That's OK, really. Listen, I can't sleep. I want to try shapeshifting again, but I need a pattern to look at."
*You're sure you're not just taken by my canine beauty and you need a cheap excuse to admire me?*
"Goodness! I wasn't aware you spirits had such amazing vanity! Now, come down here, if you please."
I sat on the floor beside the bed, and Dog jumped down and sat next to me. I took his paw in my hand and shifted my sight until I was looking at the pattern within it. This was a little more difficult than if I had used a real dog, but the pattern was approximately the same. To begin with, I drew an imaginary line between his paw and my hand. This was an interesting shortcut I had come across in one of the texts I had read - if you have a pattern to use as a "stencil," you can tie your pattern to it and start the change. The shifting of shape then takes on an inertia of its own. The trick was that unless you wanted to become an exact duplicate of your "stencil," you had to intervene early and make the appropriate changes.
I started with the nail - curved, retracted into the "finger", somewhat blunt. I compared that to my own (short, chewed) fingernail, then ever so slightly shifted my pattern. The nail on the end of my finger flowed to become curved, retractable, and somewhat blunt. I then concentrated on fur. A white fur to contrast his black, I decided. Fur sprouted along that finger, short and dense.
I repeated that pattern across all of the fingers of my right hand, then began extending the pattern to change the bone structure. The change was accelerating now. The pattern changed was duplicated in my left hand, and I could feel my feet start to change as well. It was slow to begin with, but once the change had spread to my arms and legs, it was done in a matter of seconds.
I stood up and took a step - or tried to step, anyway. Actually, I pushed my hind legs up, tried to figure out which paw/hand/foot went first to go forward, and fell over in a heap. I heard a snickering in the back of my head. I glared at Dog. *It's not that funny!*
*Oh sure, whatever you say. Care for a quick run around the room?* He mischievously bumped me as I was righting myself and I went down again in a tangle of paws, legs, and tail. *Ow! Dammit! Cut it out!*
He leaned down and licked my face. *Sorry. I couldn't resist. Need a hand? Or a paw? Or whatever?*
I looked up from the floor and sighed. *Yeah, I guess so. This isn't going to be as easy as I'd hoped.*
We spent the next hour covering such complicated things as walking, turning, and jumping on and off the bed. Finally, I sat down on the bed, amazed at how soft it felt to this shape. *You know, Dog, I could learn to like this.*
He jumped up on the bed next to me and licked my face. *I could learn to like you like this, too.*
I licked him back, then playfully nipped his ear. He reared back indignantly, then pounced on me. We wrestled, each trying to pin the other, then both fell off the bed with a thump. I was noticing that this new shape had interesting sensations, when there was a knock on the door.
"Reuben? Are you awake?"
I stood up and looked forlornly at Dog. *Some people have no sense of timing.*
The door eased open and Cab stuck her head inside. "Reuben? I saw the light was on and…Reuben? Are you here?" I sat and looked at her with a canine smile. She looked confused, suddenly confronted by a black dog and a white dog when there had only been a black dog before. She knelt down next to Dog and said, "Dog? Do you know where Reuben is?"
I started to say, "I'm here," but it came out as more of a "Woof!" Cab looked at me, and I waved a paw. She stood up and said, "I was wondering if you could help me contact Angela." She could adapt quickly, I'll give her that.
I woofed again, and walked back to the bathroom. I changed back to human form again, even quicker than I had left it. I put on a robe and came back out, my hair only slightly tousled. I cleared my throat and said, "I'd like to help you, I'm really tired right now. Besides, Silvertooth will be here at dawn, and it's almost 11:30 now. Maybe tomorrow night."
"OK, I guess. Well, good night."
"Good night."
She shut the door behind her. I looked wistfully at Dog, "You know, all that shapechanging did tire me out. Sorry old fellow."
*Not a problem.* He jumped on the bed. *There's always some serious snuggling to be done, regardless.*
I scratched behind his ears and lay down on the bed, enjoying the warmth of him next to me in the November chill. I drifted off to sleep not long after that.