they have failed. they will be dealt with.

[kai]

In the wee hours of the morning on September 24th, the Master of Rites -- of Cold Crescent -- is absent from the sept.

Her name is Forge of Nótt, and today she is not tending to the shrines or talking with the Theurges who seek her out for the performance of obscure rituals or the education on more common ones. Today the Adren Godi is not there. Or in her apartment on the elder's floor. Or in the building.

The two hard-eyed, watchful representatives from Forgotten Questions who appeared at Cold Crescent after it was reopened are there, though. As they have been.

[kai]

The Keeper of the Land is next, though they never really called him by that title. There's not much 'land' in Cold Crescent, strictly speaking, other than in the Graves. That's where he went, to attend to the graves for those whose packs and families are dead or moved on, the ones who are not cared for any longer. Hunter of Peace, Goddess's Silence-rhya keeps things clean and tidy, and he has always worked closely with Forge of Nótt despite their wildly different worldviews.

On the 25th, the elderly -- for a werewolf, 52 is quite elderly, even if you didn't change until you were in your 30s -- Athro who has always tried to live as quietly and gratefully as one can when fighting a war... is gone. The Children of Gaia who know him and have been mentored by him make more of a fuss than the Fenrir did about the Master of Rites going missing, and the upper floors are beginning to reek with unspoken tension.

No one is asking a lot of questions yet. Those few who were not at the moot in August have heard about it.

[Samael]

To say that these disappearances trouble Keisha is an understatement. She, like the others of her tribe, are upset by them but not just that of Hunter of Peace, Goddess's Silence-rhya; the missing Rite Master also concerns and unsettles her. The disappearance of any Garou in such a manner (or any manner) would concern her but these two, for different reasons, are much deeper so.

And so she approaches the two representatives from Forgotten Questions, and she does more than make a fuss...she asks questions.

"Rhyas...my packsisters and I are dedicated to tending to the spiritual needs and well-being of the city, and that includes working with both Septs. The spiritual needs of Cold Crescent are harder to ascertain with each person who vanishes, particularly when it is the Master of Rites and Keeper of the Land. I would like to ask what has happened to them, and what it means for Cold Crescent."

A deep breath. "And what my sisters and I can do in order to help tend to matters of a spiritual nature here." It's not sensing an opportunity and moving in; it's seeing a vacuum of need that will require everyone stepping up. She's willing to do her part.

[kai]

Keisha gets to my packsisters and I are dedic-- before one of the representatives from Forgotten Questions cuts her off and tells her, brusquely: "The point. Find it."

So perhaps it is a less polite or explanatory version that makes it out after that, but either way, Keisha asks what happened to the Master of Rites and the Keeper and what her pack can do to take care of the sept. The taller of the two lifts up a hand and shows her his index finger. "Not your problem," then he lifts his middle finger to join his index, "and whatever you've been doing."

The other one, stockier but no less threatening, glances back at Keisha as the two continue walking on their way. "Yer a Theurge, aren'cha?. Figure out what needs doing and just fuckin' do it."

[Damon]

Keisha is not alone. Quite by chance, she has a buddy: another curious bystander troubled by the quiet disappearances of Those Who Have Failed. He's a little farther down the hall, and he turns his head to keep talking as the two Forgottens walk past. Keeps pace with them, if he has to, to speak his piece.

"Look, I know we're not a democracy and yadda yadda," says Erich, "but we are social animals and we... kinda like having our dirty laundry out for everyone to see. And I know you guys are Really Important People at Forgotten Questions, but this is Cold Crescent. I guess what I'm trying to say is," he hurries here, because <i>any second now</i> he just knows he's gonna be told to find the damn point, "whatever punishment you've dragged the Elders of Cold Crescent off to -- shouldn't we know? Shouldn't it be public?

"Especially 'cause, y'know. The Cold Crescent Elders were all hush-hush, and then look what happened. Maybe a little more transparency would be good."

[Samael]

Keisha is normally a very well-behaved Garou. Sure, she acts a bit more human than she should and she's all into that bullshit peace-and-love thing, but she listens to her elders, she doesn't argue when she's given orders and she knows her place in the Garou Nation. "Still Waters" is an appropriate deed name for her; she runs very deep but on the surface she's calm and placid most of the time.

This isn't most of the time. Any of her packmates could probably tell you from the way she dreams, the little things like how her smile is just slightly duller, the way that she sometimes tenses when an unexpected sound appears...the way she hasn't done a single Rite on her own unless she absolutely needs to. They could tell you that she's not over the incident that seared the upper levels of Cold Crescent and what she experienced, nor what she feels about her potential involvement. She has recovered and most wouldn't note it, but there are scars there of guilt and sorrow and horror that those truly close to her might.

Then you add to that the fact that, not twenty-four hours earlier, two of her packmates died, if for only an instant, before the Goddess told them that they weren't done and to get back into the fight. More death, even if these ones got better. Keisha didn't say anything after the fact because there was the matter of Slumbering spirits to displace from Phoebe's backyard and she bound them to her ritual tools to deliver them to the city; this wasn't a moment for sadness or fear. They'd won; they'd survived. That's what mattered. Even if her mind wandered to what if?

And now, more. A member of her tribe, a member of her Auspice. And she is told, Not your concern. She's normally a very well-behaved Garou, and it is only the very fortunate intervention of Erich that keeps her from losing that reputation.

She looks at the Shadow Lord gratefully and moves to walk with them, because frankly she very much wants to hear the answer.

[kai]

The two elders from the caern look irritated... in general, really. Getting stopped twice in a row by a couple of cliaths only adds a layer of exasperation to it. Erich gets a warning shot, a look, a slight tension in the jaw, after his first 'but', which perhaps hastens him along in getting to The Fucking Point.

"If anyone should know what happened up here, and how, and why, it's the Keeper and the Master of Rites first shot, wouldn'tcha think?" says the Stocky One, peering at Keisha and Erich. The Tall One is just glaring at them, but The Stocky One steps back to them, further into their space but not butting up chest to chest, airing his breath in their faces. Not that far. He's not actually a dick most of the time.

But as Keisha knows and feels deep down: this isn't most of the time.

"You were at the moot," he says, evenly. "You know what's happenin'. You can't be so stupid not to figure out who we're answerin' to. As for public or not... I gotta reckon it will be." And even he looks slightly uncomfortable at that, tensing a moment, nostrils flaring as he exhales, shifting on his feet, flexing his hands at his sides.

"Look, jus'... take care a'things 'round here. S'all we need from young'uns right now. Las' thing any of us need righ' now is t'be babysittin' cliaths when what we need 'em t'do is jus... take care a'things. A'right?" His eyes flick between the two of them.

[Damon]

Erich isn't quite happy with this. He knows they failed, the elders of Cold Crescent. He knows this was a long time coming. But still -- dragged off in the night, disappearing without a trace: particularly in the aftermath of such internal betrayal, it leaves Erich disquieted and unsettled.

"You know we'll do what we ought to," Erich says, "just like we have been. But ... look. We all had a part in what happened. We brought Champion back, we didn't keep him under close watch, we didn't think he could've been so corrupted, and none of us even imagined what happened was possible. It wasn't just the elders, and it wasn't like they failed so much harder than anyone else.

"So ... keep that in mind when you 'deal with' them, okay?"

[mnemosyne]

Charlotte is there with Erich; a ghost at his side. A pale little shadow, all breeding and huge pale eyes and sharp pointed elbows and pink-tipped hair. Unlike both Keisha and Erich, Charlotte is quiet. Watches the elders warily and holds her breath when Erich speaks up and holds her breath again but in a different way when he speaks up again and then her eyes are on his profile and a frown beetles between her brows and that frown is faint and reluctant and something else but not at by or for her packmate. Flicks a glance toward the elders and then back to the Keisha and then back up at Erich's profile.

Says, nothing, not a thing, nothing at all.

And still can't help but shine.

[Samael]

Erich backing her up, combined with the somewhat further explanation that they get, sends Keisha's frustration skittering away and she takes a breath. She even looks apologetic. She looks over at Charlotte a moment and then--

And then Erich brings up Champion of Honor. That considerably deep wound in Keisha's conscience is unscabbed just a little bit more--though Erich puts a lot of we in there, let's be honest...it should be she on at least a few. And the conviction in her gaze over the situation floats, her shoulders tighten a bit.

"No...you're right, Rhyas." She smiles a little bit, apologetically, and dips her head. "Don't worry, we'll do our part. Thanks for your time."

She gives a little nod to the others and heads to go back to what she was doing there at Cold Crescent in the first place: tending to the city Sept's spiritual needs.