And thus we begin again.

Subject: And thus we begin again. Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:01 am

The woman sitting at the table glanced up just as Mama Bear stepped out of the mudroom barefoot but wearing clean clothing. Her hair was sopping wet and she stretched her back and her arms up and out in a great big yawn, "How is my daughter," she shook her head, "She's still asleep. Hasn't woken up. If she doesn't wake by morning we'll bring in our witch to have a look-see." Mama Bear nodded, "Yeah. Til then though keep an eye. Oh," she turned her head as Gaucho came down, "Gaucho!" She walked over and wrapped him in a giant bear hug (pun intended), clapping him on the back exhuberantly, "thanks for saving my daughter, your cousin, my boy! And," she pulled him back and held him out at arms length, "you're looking better! I approve," then she pulled him in again for another huge hug.

Then she blinked, "Where are your clothes boy?" To which the woman sitting at the table, the one who'd brought him back, spoke up, "They're washing right now. He'll have to wait a while since the first load has to dry before he gets his clothing back," her voice was somewhat somber and just a bit sad, "I'm not particularly hungry Mama Bear. In fact I think I'll go watch some television." Rising she barely spared Gaucho a glance. She was done trying to garner his attention. She'd learned her lesson earlier in the year when he'd been blasted and basically told her that he'd rather have a slender Mare rather than a roly-poly bear. Up til that night she'd been around, in the background, just waiting to get noticed. After that she'd settled for living alone. None in the Ursa group interested her. While she was a Guard, she wasn't in the top rung of the group by any stretch of the imagination. So an out of the group relationship wouldn't have mattered. "After all," she paused just behind Gaucho and stared at Mama Bear, "I'm just a roly-poly bear," and then moved into the living room.

Mama Bear patted Gaucho on the shoulder, "ya know. You may not remember but you have a lot of bridges to repair m'boy. You might start there," she nodded towards the living room, "but not until you get some clothing on I think. Hm Jay is a bit bigger than you but a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt might work. Frank!" The younger teen came racing in, "Yeah mom?" She smiled, "Go grab one of Jay's t-shirts and a pair of his sweats for Gaucho here." Nodding, "okay," he raced up the stairs and five minutes later was back down with sweats and shirt in hand, "Here!" Shoving them into Gaucho's arms he raced back into the dining room He was nearly done with his homework now and wanted to play the PSP before it got too late. Mama Bear chuckled and chucked a finger over her shoulder towards the mudroom, "go put those on. Dinner should be done?"

The women in the kitchen spoke up, "Yeah. We're just about done. The kids ate earlier as per the norm so it's just us grownups to chow down. We got my special Unsweetened Peppermint Iced Tea to have with dinner so hop to it! First plate's up in five minutes! And a super special salad for the veggie eater who's visiting."

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:32 am

He returned the hug, even though he felt like his ribs were breaking. He was thinking fairly hard at the moment, since his questions still hadn’t been answered sufficiently. He had no issues answering her questions though.

“I would have healed the girl, whether she was a relative or not, Auntie. Healing is all I have left at the moment. I feel…empty so completely empty right now. There is a giant void in my soul at this time. You can see it when you look in my eyes I am sure. Only in my dreams now can I run free. My spirit is broken, Auntie.”

He took the sweats he was offered and looked very confused at the other bears statement. He had no memory of ever talking to her. He didn’t really even know who she was, but obviously she knew him. He nodded when Mama Bear spoke. He went upstairs and put on the clothes. He knew they had gone to the trouble of making him a salad, and he was ravenous, but he had to take care of other things before he could bring himself to eat anything.

He walked back downstairs and then took a deep, cleansing breath. He moved into the living room slowly and looked to see if she was still there. He sat down in a chair across from her, close, but maintaining some distance. He started to speak, but the words caught in his throat. He didn’t really know how to go on. He took another deep breath and tried to begin again.

“I can only begin by telling you I am sorry. The last seven years have left me deeply scarred and lost. You know most of my history I am sure. I was kicked out of my herd just because I wished to be seen and noticed. I made a poor decision and it caused a disruption that they couldn’t ignore. Without a herd I was truly lost, the loneliness ate me up inside completely. I got into more trouble as a result. I was still looking for a place to call home. I fell in at first with bad Indians. I got addicted to alcohol and peyote.
Most of the last seven years is a perpetual fog. My...My memories are so full of holes that I don’t even remember a lot of people. Or even that I said something that could be taken as hurtful or just that I didn’t care. The peyote and alcohol were crutches and they let me hide from my miserable life. Only they weren’t real crutches, they just made everything worse. It got to the point where I made one wrong mistake to many and broke free of a Vision Quest, because I felt like I was needed by my friends.
As a result, I was stripped of everything but my healing ability and that was reset to as if I was newly born. The Great Mother shaved my head personally and drained me of my power, took my horse form and marked me. I have had to start over from scratch, like I was reborn. I have to try to make up for my mistakes in my…my first life. That is if it could be called such. The healing is helping me make amends, but it won’t help me fix situations like this one. Where I harmed you with harsh words, that weren’t meant and that I can’t even remember saying.
No slim filly would have me, I am rogue, outcast. I am unclean in their eyes. I have felt like I will be alone my entire life, because I wasn’t good enough for anyone. When you look in my eyes, can you see the emptiness? Can you see the lack of my soul and spirit? I am a broken vessel, adrift in the wind. My hands still shake from the withdrawal of forcibly going off the peyote and alcohol. I am just trying to hold things together right now.
I don’t know what the future holds, or if I will ever regain even my name, let alone anything else. I am merely Gaucho, the horse natured human right now. My ties to the spirits have been cut until I earn the right to talk to them again.”

He held his hand out to her; it shook terribly even as tears streamed down his cheeks. He had never told anyone all of it, and most of it was still unknown by everyone else. Only a select few knew all of it. He wasn’t even sure how many knew he had been addicted to peyote. Or that he had lost pretty much everything. He truly was a broken vessel, it had only been a few days since he lost his power, but he had been broken much longer than that. He didn’t expect her to take his hand, he secretly hoped she would, but he didn’t have much faith in himself. His confidence and pride were shattered. He felt less than even human at this point. He still yearned for acceptance and a place to call home. The plains were vast and the wind was strong. Or in this case the plains were choked with snow and ice and there was nowhere to run. He was adrift and had no way of surviving alone. He needed a place to call home.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:06 pm

Tracy stared at him, shocked, and sighed, “Gaucho I didn’t care about any of that. We all knew you were addicted to peyote and alcohol. We’ve been watching you Gaucho Spirit Horse. You’ve worried us all. I, like a few others, have been hurt at your hands,” she took his hand into her own. “We are all here for you though. We won’t leave you hanging alone in the wind,” she pulled him into a gentle, for a bear, hug. “I’ll be your friend Gaucho. You have family who care about you whether you have that other side of you or not. You aren’t alone.” She let him go and stood up, “Dry your eyes. You’re a proud Chippewa Male. You’re making reparations. It’s a good day to live.”

Mama Bear sighed and smiled. He’d finally come around to seeing what he was doing. It was a relief, in all honesty, to see him improving instead of being mired in that rut of dependency he’d been in. Clearing her throat she shouted out, “Dinner’s done you two git a move on!”

Tracy smiled wryly and whispered, “Translated her gut is empty, belly is rumbling, and we’re holding up the meal.” Turning Gaucho around, after making sure he’d dried his eyes of course, she pushed him playfully into the kitchen where the places were set and everyone was settling into a seat. The table groaned under the weight of the food, not just his salad, but the side of venison that had been cooked nine different ways to Friday as well.

Mama Bear sighed and pointed to both of the empty seats, “Sit. Eat. Dinner is done and you’re being slow!” She tugged off a large slab of venison steak from the large serving tray and muttered, “now this is living!” Then proceeded to serve herself up from the rest of the pickings of mashed potatoes, butternut squash, corn on the cob, hot dogs, bratwursts, and finally poured herself a glass of tea and sweetened it to taste. Digging in she simply groaned happily.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Sat Oct 27, 2012 7:17 am

He didn’t know why he felt so surprised that everyone knew about his problems. He had not wanted people to know. He returned her hug unsure of what else to do, but his tears were slowing. His resolve stiffening when she reminded him of what he was.

He heard Mama Bear call them for dinner and stood once Tracy let him and let her turn him and push him in the right direction. He slipped silently into the kitchen unsure what to expect from such a meal. He smiled and took one of the empty seats when he was told too. He piled on sides as well to go with his salad, just not all of them Mama Bear did. He served himself mashed potatoes, squash and pretty much all the vegetable sides. He also took tea and sweetened it so much most would get sick from it.

He relaxed quickly and well. He was wondering what had been prepared for dessert. He seemed to remember Mama Bear always had desserts ready for dinner when he visited. He didn’t know what it would be this time, but he couldn’t scent it over all the venison. His favorite dessert tended to be anything loaded with sweets. Like Mama Bears Mountainous Apple pie. He had no idea how she could make a ten pound pie without it burning, but it always came out perfect.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was a loud knock on the door. It wasn’t so much a knock as the door seemed to shake. This confused him some, because it was a very solid door. He knew from experience that it wouldn’t even move if he pounded on it. He wished he could differentiate scents right now. He also had to wonder who would come to call at dinner time. Likely they weren’t here to see him at any rate. It would likely be Bear business.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:12 am

Dinner was going along quite well. The women had made Gaucho an ultra deluxe salad with three types of lettuce, Kale, tomatoes, apple slices, mandarin slices, cucumber chunks, onion pieces, rhubarb, turnip greens, spinach, mushrooms, sesame seeds, it even had oats in it. Dessert was sitting on the counter. There were two in actuality. One was a plain cheesecake and the other was a large apple upside down cake. Usually most people used pineapple for the cake but a couple of the women hated pineapple so apples were the norm around here.

When the knock at the door came everyone stared at each other. None of them were expecting anyone. It was snowing quite heavily outside as a matter of fact and most would be at home in their beds. Glancing at each other Tracy sighed, “I’ll get it.” Pushing away from the table she stood and walked over to the door and opened it, “Yes?” It was already dark out and so she flicked the outside light on to better see who was there.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:36 am

Tracy would know that the male visitor was a bear. He was large and very muscular. If one didn’t know better, they may think he was Native American. Well he was in a way, but he was Inuit. He still wore his lamellar scale armor, and all she could see was his face. It was so heavily tattooed that it was hard to see anything else about him. He carried what looked like a keg on his shoulder, but she would see it was woven and covered with seal skin. He wore a necklace of whale and seal bones. His weapons were also on his back. As if it was normal for someone to travel with such things.

He looked her over slowly. As if determining if she was high enough rank for him to bother with. Finally, he gave a small shrug and finally spoke. His voice was very deep and booming, like a giant bumblebee.

“I am Raging Bear. I have come to pay respects to Ursa and her clan. I brought guest gift for her.”

He shifted the large container from his shoulder and handed it to her. It was heavier than one would expect. He had spent time making it in such a large quantity. Inside the container was akutaq, which was also known as Eskimo Ice cream. In this case it was made with whale blubber, salmonberries and Alaskan salmon. It was a traditional dish and made by hand. He brought enough for everyone present to at least try some.

“May I have leave to enter your home against winter’s icy blast and seek comfort at your fire?”

He smiled when she stepped aside and allowed him entrance. His ways may be slower than most, but they were deliberate and he was courteous whenever possible. It seemed that he did not wish to cause any problems for the Ursa and her clan. Though his weapons were not friendly, he had them cased so they were not as obvious to most.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:58 am

Tracy grinned at the new bear, “All bears are welcome at the Ursa’s table save for one. Please do come in,” she stepped aside and gestured him to come in, “Winter has hit early this year,” she stated in an ironic tone of voice as she stared out past him towards the snow falling into the darkness, “Dinner is set so grab a chair,” she pointed to the dining room, “and come sit down. This,” she whisked the desert away from him, “Can go here until all of the adults have eaten,” leading the way to the kitchen she set the dessert into the freezer after checking to see what it was, “We can have it with the other desserts,”

Pausing she looked into the dining room, “Kids start getting ready for bed. Baths! The order is written so hop to it! And don’t forget to brush your teeth!” Then took her seat at the table, “Mama Bear we have a guest,” Mama Bear simply nodded at that most obvious statement and kept eating. Most were welcome at her table of Bears that came and visited. Only one exception was made in that regard however and that thing that called his self a bear wasn’t really one. He was some mutant monstrosity that should have been killed ages ago because he’d lost any shred of humanity he’d had in the first place…if he’d had any shred of humanity at all.

Mama Bear waited until the Guest Bear was seated at her table before stating, after swallowing, “Welcome. Sit, eat, and tell us what brings you to this small burg.”

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:33 am

Gaucho inhaled deeply, scenting the apple upside down cake. His mouth watered at the scent, it almost driving him crazy with anticipation. He finished the main meal and was waiting patiently for dessert when the new bear entered. He could smell what the newcomer had brought and wrinkled his nose in distaste. Who in their right mind puts salmon in ice cream? He nodded to the newcomer when he sat down. Gaucho was Alpha, but at the moment it would be impossible to tell what he was. He knew that most respected healers because they were rare and valuable to the tribe. He was more interested in the cake then in the new comer, his stomach and sweets typically came first when there was food on the table.

Raging Bear grinned deeply at her statement. He was thinking of the best reply. He would give her something in return, but likely it would be a short wait. He liked to do things slowly. At least when his survival didn’t depend on speed and lightning fast decisions he preferred to take things slowly.

“Where I come from, we call this rain, but here it will not so bad. It will probably be a very easy winter compared to what I am used too, little cousin.”

He smiled and sat at the table. He was very glad the seating was reinforced for bears. He was not a small man by any shape of the imagination. He didn’t really know what type of venison it was, though this far south it had to be white tail. Very rarely did they hunt anything else besides moose and occasionally other kinds of deer. It had a much different taste then reindeer and mule deer that he sometimes had. He much preferred whale and seal to deer though. Food was food when you’re hungry to be honest. A starving man will eat his own arm if he has nothing else after all.

He ate heartily, trying all of the sides that were prepared with the meat. He wasn’t used to eating anything but meat and fat and sometimes butter. His tribe made wonderful tea and it only tasted good with butter in it. They didn’t call it butter, but it was made from herd animals.

“I was on a hunt when Grandmother Bear came to me. She said I was needed in a very far away land. I concluded my hunt, and went to the Elders to tell them I must make a quest in the name of the Spirits. I was allowed to leave. I wandered for many days and finally Grandmother told me I had reached the right place. I am here to protect those who call this home. The land here weeps with sorrow and killing. It has been defiled in the worst way. It must be set to rights before the Land can begin to heal. Perhaps you should tell me what has been going on so I can better understand my quest for Grandmother?”

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:06 pm

Mama Bear swallowed before she began speaking, leaning back in the chair as she did so, “Well I don’t know all of the details honestly. I’m on the outskirts of the information well but a lot of bad things have been going on and they all revolve around one girl. From what I understand she arrived here abruptly. We women all got together to take her a care package. She’s staying over at Ace’s place. In the morning I’ll know more of what’s going on after I talk to the Nimir Raj.” She gave a gallic shrug, “Til then we eat, enjoy the warmth of our home, get some sleep, and wait.”

She leaned forward again and served herself up more food, mostly the venison, this time grabbing the venison burgers and venison potato sausage, “Ladies dinner is wonderful, as usual. The horses are mostly pregnant. Only two failed the prego-check. Those I’ll remate with one of the stallions in the next couple days.” Glancing out the window she grinned, “Its gonna be a cold assed winter ladies and gentlemen. But the horses will produce many money-makers for our Ursa Ring.”

Turning her eyes towards the newcomer she stated, “If we’re needed then we’ll lend aid to Ace and the Leopards. We have a cooperative group council which serves us well and keeps the peace of the Tribe at the same time,” chuckling she shook her head, “we aren’t one big happy family however. We just do our best to get along under the ruling fingers of Paul Phillippe and his second and third. The Master likes to play games but I think it’s more to ease his boredom rather than…,” the ringing of the phone interrupted her words, “Hang on,” she pushed up from the table and walked into the living room.

Her voice drifted into the kitchen, “Hello? Ah. Really? So it’s just us then? Well. Can’t say as I’m surprised. Especially since…yeah. You will? Well of course we’ll reinforce. Yup! Prego Checks are over with now. Need to mate a couple of the mares again but otherwise…right. Yup. Ha! Yeah. Whatever you need Paul Phillippe. Okay. Just let us know. Its dinner time for us so I’m going ta get back to eating. Bye.”

She hung up and came back in, a contemplative look on her face, “Well. Apparently two of the guests left today. We’re to go to the cabins and pack up the belongings in one of them, it’s a request, and deliver the box or boxes to him. Not a big deal. We can get to it in the next couple days. We might end up snowed in tomorrow. But anyways, eat, we’ll worry about it tomorrow.” One of the women, a raven-haired, delicately boned, slender native stood, “I’ll grab the dessert,” and began clearing off the empty dishes to make room for the desserts. She sat each of them down, even remembering to go to the freezer to grab their guests gift, and very soon the table was groaning yet again, this time under the weight of the desserts.

Sitting back down she simply set back to eating the rest of her dinner, not giving the sweet treats even a single glance, so that her plate would have the necessary room for the confections.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:37 am

Gaucho took a large slice of the apple upside down cake and placed it on his plate. He rubbed his hands together in glee as he dug in to the delicious cake. The first piece disappeared much faster than most would believe possible. If they didn’t know better, they would think his second piece was still his first. He needed the calories and badly. No matter how much he ate, he never seemed to gain any weight. This likely was a result of burning the calories off using his power.

He still wasn’t overly talkative, but this was a good beginning at having a home. He looked up at Mama Bear when she came back from her phone call.

“Is everything alright? Was anyone injured or harmed?”

He seemed at a loss for anything else to say at the moment, so went back to the cake while waiting for an answer.

Ragin Bear merely nodded and emptied his plate. He took a slice of cheese cake, though he had never had anything like it before. It had a very interesting, yet peculiar flavor. He didn’t mind the taste at all, it was simply different. He looked toward the odd, tiny male at the table who looked like he was starving. He had a feeling he would eat the table if he had too. When he spoke he frowned slightly. The words were not very informative.

“Is he your clan’s healer? He doesn’t look like he can fight, more like he would run first. Perhaps there is more to this one, then I can see.”

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Tue Oct 30, 2012 12:20 pm

Mama Bear sighed as she sat down, “Paul’s guests left rather abruptly and we’ve been asked to clean out the cabin since we are the owners of them. All of the belongings inside are to be taken to The Lounge where they will be shipped to their owners.” She proceeded to dish herself up slices of each dessert option plus a bit of the ice cream, “I let the wolves run on the property and use a couple of the Cabins but ultimately I own them. So cleaning them up falls to the Bears while guarding them is a duty the wolves do as a favor to us.”

The ice cream went fast, in just a few bites really, and the rest of the desserts went down slowly. When she was done she yawned, “It’s late and I need to be up early. So I’m heading up to bed." Glancing at Tracy as she stood, “Trace I need you to get a couple of the weaker Ursa on cleaning the cabin. Call them in the morning though. You’re staying the night. It’s far to bad out there right now for you to be taking that car of yours home without the chains on and I’m not digging out the chains this late at night. "

Time had passed whilst dinner and conversation were going on. The children had settled into their beds and the house had grown quiet. It was only eleven pm really but to Mama Bear who was always on the go that was late for her. She yawned greatly, pushed away from the table, stood, and walked upstairs to her Master Suite. Ten minutes later she was asleep, her snores drifting through the heavy wooden door and down the hall.

Tracy gave herself some dessert and ate it just as Mama Bear stood up and went to bed after giving last minute instructions as per her usual. She held up her finger as she pulled out her cell phone indicating she’d answer the guests questions in a moment even as she hit speed dial twice, deciding that a three way call would be much more expedient. When both parties answered she stated simply, “Tracy here. When the weather clears up go to the cabins and clean out the one that was rented out to Paul’s guests. Right. No you can’t have what was left there. Its all to be boxed up and delivered to The Lounge. Understand? Good. Bye.” She then clicked the end button and put her phone back into her pocket.

Then she answered, “He’s more than our clan’s healer. He’s Mama Bear’s Nephew. He was a very naughty horse though and pissed off the Great Mother. For that he’s paying a…price of sorts. I don’t really know all the details and prefer to not listen to hearsay and rumors. I wasn’t at the Pow Wow so I really can’t say what happened. I was down state running an errand.” Shrugging she sighed and shook her head, “All I know is that he has quite a bit to make up for to a whole lot of people.” Pushing away, her plate clean, she stood and rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment before yawning herself.

“Its been a rather long day and I’m tired. I think, ladies, we can put away what’s left of the ice cream and cheese cake and leave the apple upside-down cake out for Gaucho to keep nibbling on. Gaucho you know where you’re sleeping. Raging Bear I’ll show you where you’ll be crashing then you can decide whether to come back up here and eat some more or get some sleep or whatever.” She didn’t particularly wait for him to get up and follow her, she figured if he wanted a place to sleep he’d follow, she simply opened the door to the basement and lead the way down the stairs into a fully finished basement living area.

She opened a door, the room was fairly large for a guest room, but it was empty, “In here. This is where you’ll be sleeping.” She then shrugged and moved down to another room down the hall and pushed the door open and stepped in. She then closed the door, locking it, with a quiet snick.

Upstairs the women put away what was left of dinner save for the cake and all wandered off to their room. The four of them shared a room and a bed, sleeping in a big bear-pile, instead of having their own. It was their request that had made that happen since Mama Bear had planned on giving them each their own rooms. But they were quadruplets. They didn’t mind sharing at all. There were four bunk beds in their room and a large cushion on the floor for when they wanted to sleep in a bear pile. It was cold. They all crashed on the big cushion.

The house was more silent now. Most lights were off except for the kitchen light where Gaucho sat eating, the mudroom, and the basement light. Upstairs the bathroom light was on, mostly to accommodate the children’s preferences. Outside the wind raged, kicking up snow, even as the skies dumped more snow downward.

Subject: Re: And thus we begin again. Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:47 pm

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