The night before the Prodigals left to take Penelope down south, Zoe found Red Oath by herself in a secluded corner of the caern. Red had never been particularly gregarious, but the loss of All Friend, Lune Stalker, and Ramirez hit the caern’s leader particularly hard. The young theurge approached her tribal leader respectfully but confidently, knowing that Red Oath would not be interested in her sympathies. Without turning to face Zoe, Red Oath spoke, her tone flat and void of emotion.
“Is there something you need, Hears-the-Song?”
Zoe cleared her throat and stood erect. Her voice was softer than Red’s but still assertive.
“I wish to inform you of my accomplishments since becoming a member of your tribe. Though I have only known of my status as Garou for a few months now, I have done more than my fair share in the way of honoring Gaia and protecting her interests and the interests of those who follow her, yourself included.”
Red Oath, continuing to gaze into the late-summer sky, nodded once. “Proceed.”
Zoe closed her eyes momentarily, collecting and organizing her thoughts one last time before beginning.
“The first mission you sent me on was to investigate the disappearance of Stern’s horses. I tracked the so-called stolen beasts hours away and discovered the camp of the Wyrm-tainted Cordova, which we infiltrated without any loss of life, gathering intel on the megalomaniacal leader and his seemingly ragtag bunch of rebels, natives, and Mexicans. Cordova sent a mockery against us, but it was no match for the four of us, who took it down with relative ease. I took the group into the umbra shortly thereafter to check for taint, but we were clean on the inside.”
“When we returned to town with Richard, we found out the truth behind the horses - that Stern gave them to Richard as a way to track Cordova. Richard also gave us an in with Chief Bowls-Over-the-Great-Foe, who agreed to accompany you and the others into the abyss at our request. I argued vehemently to keep Papa Stagecoach as the caern totem and prevented Lune Stalker from awakening the bear totem.”
Zoe noticed her breathing had accelerated as she recalled battling el gaucho and standing against her soon-to-be-packmates in defense of Papa. She took a single deep breath before continuing her boast.
“We had not been back in town long before news of the raid on the Carmichael’s farm. While Rends and Mocks accompanied the militia, Zas, Eaton, and I took a shortcut to the farm, where we discovered many dead and evidence of Black Spirals. I stabilized the one survivor that was left behind and sent her back to the village with the militiaman who had accompanied Rends and Mocks to the farm, so that we could further investigate without human interference.”
“I suggested we move into the umbra temporarily to get a trail on the Black Spiral. That proved successful but we continued in the natural realm until we found him – Hawkins – dragging four children into the umbra. We dove back into the umbra after him and I worked to protect the children from him; however, he had summoned banes to possess the children. I healed one child of the possession, and Penelope healed herself by sheer force of will, but the other two had to be brought back to Lune Stalker for cleansing. I convinced Rends-the-Gar not to kill Penelope on the spot, despite her Black Spiral heritage, believing that she could make the right choice to serve Gaia and not the Wyrm. So far that decision has proven right as she has taken well to training and is willing to go to Melchizedek for correction.”
“After convincing Chief Bowl to take you into the abyss and assisting him in his preparations, I stood firm at the caern, ready to defend it with my life. Before the enemy approached, I entered the umbra and convinced nearby spirits to assist us in protecting the caern. The deer spirits acted as eyes in the forest surrounding the caern and the ferret spirits proved surprisingly helpful for their size and apparent lack of strength.”
“When Stern’s militiamen began making their way to the caern, I approached them on my own to convince them to leave, but Stern’s grip on their minds – not to mention their pocketbooks – proved too strong to overcome. I rushed back to the caern and saw All Friend had been attacked by another patrol of Stern’s men. I quickly healed him and prepared for a fight. When Stern arrived at the caern, intent on taking it for himself, my sole purpose was to destroy him. I pushed the fear of silver bullets from my mind and rushed the lying bastard with all my might.”
Zoe’s eyes burned with rage at the thought of their last major battle. Anger welled up inside of her as the man who she thought was nothing more than a neutral party became a very real enemy, accompanied by 50 men with silver bullets. All Friend fell to those bullets and there was nothing Zoe could do about it at that point. She still felt responsible for his death.
Another deep breath kept her barely grounded in homid form. She steeled herself and suppressed her emotions as she concluded her tale.
“I have served Gaia gallantly and faithfully and request that my deeds be acknowledged by you as the leader of this caern. The feats I have accomplished thus far are only the start of a legacy that would make my father proud.”
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