Unanswered Questions

After the Prodigals' meeting with their temporary packmates had broken up, Zoe wandered off for a little while by herself, contemplating one of the questions she had been asked by the Ahroun.  

"Your Philodox seeks to reunite the tribes.  Your Ragabash seeks to redeem his tribe.  But you...what is your task?"

Zoe had given him no answer, stating distrust of him as her reason, but ironically, that answer was untrue.  After a time by herself, the Theurge returned to camp and sought out her friend and brother Galliard.  

"Hey, Eaton.  I am having trouble thinking through a particular issue and was wondering if you could help me talk it through."

Eaton sat in the shade of a tall tree, reading some of the older stories inside his journal. He let out of laugh and then noticed zoe approach him. He laid the book beside him and gestured for her to sit, "Sure. How can your favorite Bone Gnawer help out today?"

She shook her head. "Second favorite Bone Gnawer...Elijah has my heart. Don't tell Connor though."

Zoe sat and sighed. "I can't stop thinking about the question Feasts-in-Ashes asked me concerning my 'task.' I told him that I did not trust him enough to share such a thing with him, but that is not entirely the truth."

She rang her hands then laced her fingers together.

"The truth is that when I went to Nacogdoches it was to find out who I was and what happened to my parents. Ever since I met Mnemosyne and witnessed my mother's death, I've felt like I was simply tagging along with you guys while I helped complete other people's goals and missions."

She looked up at Eaton with sadness in her eyes.

"I don't know what my 'task' is, Eaton, and that fact did not bother me until someone specifically pointed it out to me."

He raised an eyebrow at the mention that his son was more preferable to him, but didn't reply until she had finished explaining what was bothering her.

"So yer wondering what your overall uh, 'mission' is? Why is that botherin' ya? I kinda thought not dyin' while killin' the wyrm mighta been enough of a charge. But I see what yer sayin,"

He elaborated, "But it ain't like Gaia herself told zas to reunite all the tribes- it might not even happen in his lifetime- but it's a goal of his to work towards, to advocate. No one really told him to do it or tasked him- it's something he wants."

He leaned back against the tree, "If yer so keen on findin' a "task", what's somethin' ya want? And how are ya gonna make it happen?"

At his last couple of questions, Zoe looked disapprovingly at the Galliard.

"If I knew what I wanted to do, Eaton, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Zoe sighed in exasperation.

"Not dyin' while killin' the Wyrm is what every Garou is tasked to do! I might as well say that my mission in life is to breathe air just like everyone else does."

"In the Christian church, they say that the church is made up of people with different specialties to accomplish different tasks toward the overall mission of making the church great. The Garou nation is similar to that in that the different tribes have their different strengths. The same can be said at the pack level. Take ours for example, we consist of not only 5 different auspices but 5 different tribes as well, which makes us a superior pack to one that consists of a single auspice and/or a single tribe because we all bring a wider variety of backgrounds and experiences into the-"

She trailed off as she considered her own personal background and experiences.

"Tell me what you know about this Ryan O'Toole character that I supposedly have some connection to."

Eaton returned zoe's frown, "Considerin' several Garou fail pretty spectacularly at fightin' the wyrm, I'd say there's a little more to it than breathin' air. I mean, just wantin' to learn about spirits and their relationship is pretty good motivator I think- or is that too typically 'case your a theurge?"

In response to the question about O'toole, Eaton raised hs eyebrow in confusion, "Uh, okay . . . it ain't gonna anything you didn't tell me but sure: He took you in after ya spent the first several years on the streets- I think after you broke into his house. Your desire to tinker with things and your curiosity about what made him tick intrigued him to let you stay I guess. Then you went all Garou on him and he sent you to Nacogdoches to discover your real family, somewhere in between he gave you that rifle and your watch."

Continuing to frown, he said, "Seriously, none of this rings a bell?"

Zoe shook her head.

"No, none of that seems familiar at all. If meeting this O'Toole doesn't jog my memory, I will have a talk with my father Tycheros and see if he can help, seeing as how he's big into memories and such."

The Theurge cocked her head to the side as she recalled a thought.

"Didn't Mocks or Rends mention that O'Toole showed up in Akna's realm? Any clue how the hell he did that? That was no place for the average human."

Eaton gave a half-shrug,

"Well between him knowin' somethin' of your Garou nature and his surprise appearance in that hell, I doubt he's entirely human. Ya also theorized that he had ties to the weaver, even if he didn't mention it by name. Steppin' between realms with the weaver's help ain't that strange, but how he knew where you were was the bigger surprise- unless ya let him know before we went in, I guess we wouldn't know if you sent him a letter or somethin'."

At the mention of seeing Mnemosyne about the issue, Eaton gave an uncertain look at the Theurge. "He may be able to help bein' a memory spirit and all, but did ya ever think he mighta been the one who stole your memories? Wait, what am I thinkin'? You wouldn't remember somethin' like that . . ."

Zoe nodded as she considered Eaton's words about O'Toole's not-simply-human nature.

"I guess we'll just have to see when we meet him. His ties to the Weaver could be very intriguing and beneficial to us as a pack. What if - ?"

Her words trail off as a new thought takes their place.

"What if that's my purpose? Mocks wants to redeem his tribe and bring honor to the Shadow Lords once again. What if I can promote the benefits of being friendly with the Weaver? If I lived with a possible mage for a few years, surely I picked up some tricks from him that I've forgotten. And we Iron Riders already get closer to the Weaver than most other tribes are comfortable with. What if I could promote both my tribe and the world of the One-Song to the Garou nation. I mean, shoot, my name - Hears-the-Song - seems to be pointing me in that direction as well! Maybe now instead of just hearing the song I need to start sharing the song."

At his final suggestion Zoe's ramblings about the Weaver are cut short.

"No! Certainly not! Mnemosyne would never... Would he? I mean, if he wanted me to forget what life was like with another father, I guess it's possible, but... No. To take away someone's memories is to take away a part of who they are. He did offer to take away the memory of my mother's death, but I knew that it would do more harm than good to not have that event as a part of my being."

Eaton gave a satisfied grin, "See? That's somethin' ya want- Show that the weaver ain't to tie everyone up in web- and now ya get to think of ways to make it happen. Purpose achieved."

As for her other concern with her father he said, "We know that he's more than capable of manipulatin' memories. But think of it this way: If you lost Agatha-pray it never happens, of course- and years later you find 'er, but she's callin' someone else her mother and only knows you gave birth to her. Would you trust her that she would just accept you and love both of ya'll equally-even though she knows next to nothin' about you? Or would you want the person who replaced ya out of the picture? And by gettin' rid of her memory, no one even has to know?"

He looked at her with genuinely curious eyes.

Zoe nodded in satisfaction as she continued to mull over her newfound purpose, but frowned as she considered Eaton's question.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I would want her to remember the person who - "

Her thoughts trailed off. Would she really be able to live with Agatha referring to someone else as her mother? Would she not want Agatha to only remember her as her mother and caregiver?

"I don't know...maybe I would do that, but in my current situation, people do know! If Mnemosyne really never wanted me to find out about O'Toole he should have had you all forget him as well and then done something to prevent me from ever finding him, don't you think?"

Eaton held up his hands, "I ain't saying that yer dad's the one who did it, I'm just sayin' to consider his motivation. I think he has one and could possibly be the reason you can't remember O'toole. As fer why we remember and you don't, your the only one who really spent a lot a time with him. Maybe he put somethin' on that spear ya used or somethin'. Again- I dunno, I'm just spitballin'."

He then gave a reassuring smile, "Either way, I'm sure seein' O'toole and his house will rejog your memory. Plus, he can still help with your newfound Weaver Championing, right?"

Zoe inhaled deeply and released the breath slowly.

"Yes, I guess you're right. Even if I cannot remember my time with O'Toole, he could still prove to be useful to my goal, and hopefully the pack's as well."

The Iron Rider cocked her head to the side inquisitively.

"What about you, Eaton? What is your reason for being?"

Eaton leaned his head as Zoe asked for his motivation. He replied, "Okay, as for my own personal goal I always wanted to find out where I'm from."

Continuing he says, "Bone Gnawer's don't exactly have a great relationship with Ancestor spirits, so it's hard to find out just askin' one of them what tree I fell from. Everyone else in the pack is whatever their parent Garou was so ya'll at least had a pretty good place to start- well, except you 'cause of yer dad. I guess that goal kinda faded into the background ever since Elijah came along . . . but it somethin' I wanna resume but I wasn't sure how to get a lead."

"I think where I come from is a good way to find out where the visions come from- which is somethin' else I wanted to figure out. That telescope we looked through showed me somethin' out west that's supposed to connect to where I'm from but we haven't had a good chance to head to far out that way yet. Hopefully, things settle down around her enough to let us head that way before the world ends."

He then adds, "Of course, I ain't gonna just sit on that knowledge, based on what I find out'll be the judge of my next goal. So hopefully, mine isn't the life-long variety, unlike yours and Zas's."