Coming Clean

Zas had not said much during their trip. He was lost in his own mind trying to wrap his head around what had happened. He had heard stories from his father but this wasn't someone else's story-this happened to him. He had dealt with ghost before but never anything like this.
All he knew for certain was that being out on the road felt right. He had seemingly overstayed his welcome in Nacodoches and had no intentions of doing so again.

He however, did feel that he should be honest with the pack. He himself didn't have many answers and they would likely have questions but he needed to tell them the truth. The time for him to share this didn't really present itself during the first two days and Zas had no desire to bring it up forcefully so he waited.

The evening of the third night came along. The others were fairly quiet preparing their bedding for the night. A campfire had been started and for awhile each of the Prodigals simply stated into the flames. Kefka eventually stood up and finished off his drink before announcing he'd take third watch and headed to bed. Eaton followed soon after and agreed to take fourth watch. Sylvester yawned looked up into the sky and then said that he wasn't in much of a talking mood and headed off to go hunt something for a snack. All of which left Zoe and Zas alone at the campfire.

Zas turned to watch Rends head off into a nearby field carrying his hunting tools and then after he disappeared from sight Zas turned to face Zoe.

He noticed that she had been staring at him intently for some time and she seemed to have a concerned look on her face but Zas didn't know why. When he spoke up it was with a hushed calm tone. "Do you remember the other day when you asked if I was okay and I told you I was fine but that I just needed to be on the move?"

Zoe looked empathetically at her Garou brother. They had all been through a lot with the attack on the caern and cleaning up the mess left in its wake, but Snowy Owl had seemed particularly bothered by something as of late. Earlier he had tried to play it off as a need to be mobile, but Zoe had not been convinced. She was waiting for the right moment to address the issue, but as fate would have it, the issue was brought up on its own.

Zoe smirked at Zas and broke her concerned gaze, looking into the fire.

"Yep. I didn't believe you then and I don't believe you now. Care to try answering that question again? Preferably with the truth this time, Mr. Law-Abiding Philodox?"

Zoe's tone was stern, but the fire reflected a glint of friendly sarcasm in her eyes.

Zas sighs. He looks up into the night sky and says, "My answer to you was true, at least partially. I did need to be on the move. The reason for that is because I saw something that concerned me greatly."

He pauses, "Staying anywhere for long periods of time for me is difficult. I tend to draw a less than friendly crowd, and I'm not just talking about white people who dislike my skincolor."

He looks back down to Zoe and says, "I wish things were different but they aren't. My tribe as a whole deals with this type of thing, but recently, this was my first experience of it personally."

Zoe's eyes dart back to Zas as he continues to speak in obscure riddles. As a healer and the lone matriarch of the pack, Zoe longed to ease her brother's troubled mind, but could not do so without more information.

Zoe leaned toward the Strider, her eyes relaying a cocktail of concern, compassion, and confusion.

"Brother, I want to help you if I can, but you are not giving me much to work with. Why must you be on the move? What type of crowd are you drawing? What did you see that has you so concerned?"

Zoe paused to give him a chance to respond, hoping that he would be more forthcoming.

Zas nods knowingly expecting such a response from her.
He speaks with a matter-of-fact-ness as he says, "You remember when we traveled to the Dark Umbra and made an agreement with the Restless dead? This place, the Dark Umbra-is well known by my tribe. No one goes there for fun as it is very dangerous. Those that live there are equally dangerous."

He takes a deep breath before saying, "The night before we left Nacodoches and I traveled to inform Richard of our plans to leave, along the way I experienced my first...negative Restless Spirit experience. It was not a vision, but a manifestation of the Restless Spirits of Sterns men who attacked the Caern and I killed. They did not like the fact that they were dead. That is why I was so--shaken."

Zoe nodded quietly as Zas explained his plight. Her right eyebrow lifted as he finished.

"So these spirits of Stern's men are haunting you? Manifesting in this world with the intent to exact their revenge? What have your people done about this in the past? Simply run, which is why you must be on the move? I know I am supposed to be the spirit woman here, but this dark stuff is fairly new to me. Is there some way to appease or put to rest these spirits? Have they followed you out here or are they restrained to the area in which they were killed?"

Zoe's words ceased but her mind continued to race through all that she had learned from Lune Stalker, Chief Bowl, and the Iron Rider theurge from Houston in hopes of discovering a solution for her friend. She released a heavy sigh and shook her head.

"I'm not sure how to help you here, brother."

Zas shakes his head. "I do not know what can be done. Like I said, this is my first experience. What I do know is that these spirits do seem to stop chasing me as long as I stay mobile. My father explained it to me like this: "Lets talk about ghost. You are guaranteed to run into them at some point and they will definetly find you. Thing to keep in mind is that sometimes ghosts are nice, sometimes they aren't. You will figure out the difference. There are too many to try and fight, and helping one or two of them move on just draws more to you, so we stay on the move. It isn't a perfect fix but it works...usually."

Zas sighs and says, "That's all I really know. The ghosts and restless dead that I've met before all were more or less nice. This last encounter, I met ones that weren't. My tribe doesn't talk about this much at all to others because well, as you can imagine, this isn't something like talking about the weather. That's why I was hesitant to say anything."

He stares at Zoe briefly before adding, "There's honestly not much if anything that you could do that I know of. I just felt that my pack should know, but I needed to come to terms with it myself first."

Zoe frowned at the haunted philodox and sat in silence for a moment. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.

"We may not understand exactly what you're facing, but we are your pack and we will always stand by your side in this. I will do what I can to help and perhaps we can find a solution."

She smirked and laughed softly so as not to disturb the others. "If we can take out the likes of Cordova and Stern, a few ghosts won't be able to stop us, brother. Just know that we can't help you with what we don't know about, so don't be afraid to talk to me, okay?"

Zoe flipped open her pocketwatch and gestured toward Zas. "Better try to get some sleep before it's your turn to take over. And if I see any ghosts, I'll kick their tails for you, okay?"

She smiled playfully and awaited his response.

Zas met her gaze and smiled briefly as he said, "I think that I understand...I will keep you informed."

Zas smile then fades at her last comment. He says nothing further but lays down and attempts to fall asleep, his eyes ever watchful and his normal stoic face replaced by creased lines of concern and worry.

He eventually managed to start drifting off to sleep when Penelope, who was bedded down nearby rolled over in her sleep and lightly brushed the hairs on the back of his neck with an outstretched arm with the end result being that any hopes of restful sleep would have to wait until later. He was on edge.