"One of Aesop's fables goes like this," Diane said softly, beginning the story she had promised Sky.
"Be quiet now," said an old nurse to a child sitting on her lap. "If you make that noise again I will throw you to the wolf." Now it chanced that a wolf was passing close under the window as this was said. So he crouched down by the side of the house and waited. "I am in good luck today," thought he. "It is sure to cry soon, and a daintier morsel I haven't had for many a long day." So he waited, and he waited, and he waited, till at last the child began to cry, and the wolf came forward before the window, looked up at the nurse, wagging his tail. But all the nurse did was to shut down the window and call for help, and the dogs of the house came rushing out. "Ah," said the wolf as he galloped away, "Enemies’ promises were made to be broken."Now it chanced that a wolf was indeed sitting outside the window, listening to a mother tell her children this story. She shook her head, knowing that it was a rule of her kind not to eat human flesh. She thought that it was stories like this one that nurtured the enmity between their species. So she resolved to teach the human children otherwise.
When the children played outside, she brought her cubs to play with them. The young wolves and young human children played together, getting scratched up a bit, but unharmed, and tired and joyful when they were through. The busy mother did not even seem to notice the wolf cubs, or mistaken them for dogs perhaps, though the children well knew what their playmates were.
This wolf was Kinfolk and long-lived, and many of her litters shared their frolics with these particular children. As they grew up and started families of their own, she sat outside the nurseries to see what stories they would tell their own children.
And was gratified to hear one day, Aesop's fable recast.
"Be quiet now," said the old wolf to her cub. "If you make that noise again, I will give you to the humans to chain up in their yard with the dogs." A man was passing, and heard this. He waited, hoping to get the cub for himself. But the cub was quiet, and as the man waited, he grew impatient. He made a low, frightening noise, hoping to scare the young creature. It did cry out, and the man jumped up eagerly to claim his prize. But the wolf did not bring out the cub; instead she howled, summoning her pack to her aid, and they chased the man away together. Wolf mothers, like any mothers, love their children too much to give them away, no matter how much they scream."She nodded, content. Even if she'd only taught that lesson to one human, she was satisifed." Diane finished her story, grew silent, gazed into Sky's eyes.
Sky smiled enigmatically, and began her own story. In its telling she seemed to retreat into an earlier era, becoming the narrator of the story in a near-magical portrayal.
"In a simpler time, when the Wyrm had not yet so tangled in Weaver's webs, there was a boy, a kinfolk lad who was adopted into our tribe. His family had been killed in an accident, not because they were whom they were, but because of their assistance to our tribe in the past. It was only fitting that we care for him. He was young when we gathered him into our arms, perhaps eight or nine turning of the seasons behind him - still young enough to learn, not old enough to grasp what had happened, only that he was now with us, and we with him. we tried to teach him the right ways... the ways of Gaia." Sky's voice trailed off, almost thoughtfully.
There were some things, he being kinfolk, that he could not do. This bothered him a great deal, and grew into a small Rage as he grew - he had the wisdom, but not the ability, and there were those among us who felt we had made a poor decision in taking him into our fold. He tried to be as us, to the best of his ability, and focused his Rage into a burning determination, to do as many of the things we taught as he could. But still, there was an unanswered hunger in him - he could not master the many forms... nor could he become a vessel of Gaia's gifts. This hurt him deeply, I believe, for though he was one of us, one with Gaia and all her teachings, still, he was not the same as us, and felt those differences with the keen bite of longing. Frail of body, he was, but quick of mind. We thought, perhaps, to let him spend his final years of teaching under the wings of a theurge. The man-boy had a warrior's spirit, but yet, once again, not the abilities of body to become that which he wanted - an extension of Gaia's claws. Many in our tribe felt he was going to lose himself completely to his Rage, and we sorrowed for his pain. As he grew to manhood, we watched, and waited to see what he would become, what he would do with his teachings. He was tempted by the Wyrm, and followed Its path for a time - we watched and waited, and prepared ourselves for the necessity to slay him.
Sky smiled.
Our thoughts were unfounded - the man found no comfort in ways of Wyrm, any more than he had in the ways of Gaia. and still he searched for something he could do - though he was loved by our tribe, love was not enough. Though he was accepted by our tribe, pack was not enough. He needed something more. He needed to find himself - who, and what he was. We understood the need for this search, and gave him what assistance we could from afar. He did not want our help. He wished to find himself on his own terms. He traveled far across the Mother's face, from the New World to the Old, and places beyond - places we had never heard of, seeing things Gaia can only imagine. And still he was not satisfied, deep inside, where the voice of Gaia speaks to man - he felt empty.
We sorrowed for his confusion, and waited for him to come home, if he would. In time, when he had reached the middle of his life, he returned, to see if he had found his change, but we were strong in a battle for our lands - Wyrm beset us from all sides, even within the tribe, and the monkeys sold off our homelands a piece at a time to help Weaver spin her web. Thus, the man returned to war, and there was little we could do for him - we couldn't even protect ourselves. The man went into the city, and tried to barter with the monkeys for what remained of our lands, to keep them safe. We were too busy fighting to thank him. The man used his natural gift of seeking truth to help us find the Wyrm in our midst. We were too tired to cheer him. when the battle was over, we looked around for him, to praise him for his efforts, to accept him home, but he was nowhere to be found. He had come across a wellspring of taint, and locked himself within it - he brought Weaver toys of destruction with him into this place, and, with a silent prayer to Gaia, he destroyed the taint the only way he could. Then he was no more.
"The Beast was strong in him, and some say, it consumed him in the end, though I don't believe that is so." Sky concluded her tale.
"He found his place, and himself, at the end," someone said softly.
That is the curse of Garou
-- too little, too late, and only at the end do they understand, if Gaia
is with them.