September 18th
A great many things end the way they began. History has a habit of repeating itself in ways worse that what came before. Take that to heart. Learn from it, not just in your heart and mind, but in your body in soul. You?ll need to understand that in the years to come, respect that wisdom, or it will surely kill you. Be better than your fate. Give the land its due and its heart.
-The Old Man, Words Seldom Heeded
It took the loss of the their sacred place for reality to set in.
But the corruption had started long before that. Too long. It had started near the heart of the shrine, perhaps at the heart of the place long ago dedicated to the great Bear spirit, with the browning of leaves in the dead of summer and the rictus rigidity of dry, dying tree limbs. The slowly spreading blight blackened great patches of grass and stole the song of the forest creatures from the air. The wood once entrusted to Cooper and then pilfered from him had become a sickened mockery of its former splendor. In his heart, the cowboy knew it was happening long before the terse reports from the reclusive woodland vampire started, but when Kurran started painting it all in a more detailed light, he could only shake his head.
?Ain?t muh place anymo?,? he told the golden-eyed undead, who had long since become something of a grudging friend after his connection to Jessica kept the pair from killing each other outright. ?I was taken from the land and given over t? Mangi. M? his creature now, fo? as much as I skirt the boundaries?a his demands.?
?But you can totally play house with the immortal and her welps, is that it??
It had been a conversation ender, leaving months of silence between them. Kurran didn?t need to offer any more details anyway. The connection Cooper had forged at the springs, the free life he stole by the ounce to play at being whole and living, had offered in more insight with the passage of time. He eased the pain of his hypocrisy with his joy but there were still nights the wilds called to him, screamed his name on the wind and cried for salvation. It flew in the face of everything he was told was no longer his. It wasn?t until his connection with the life springs was abruptly severed that he was forced to heed the call. Hauk?s Shadow Lords were suddenly all over the city, overtly plaguing places the family frequented like some scuzzy epidemic. They looked off. Terrible. Wrong. They had made a play at Claire, though she hadn?t realized at the time.
Staying on the sideline was no longer an option.
?Took you long enough.? The old Gangrel was waiting for him on a thickly forested hill, high ground that gave a perfect view of the surrounding land without being too obvious. He was dressed for battle and obscuring the glowing cherry of his cigarette with a cupped palm while eyeing the cowboy sidelong. ?Finally comin? to get your hands dirty. You gonna make this right??
Cooper was silent for long moments before finally replying.
?This is strike three. Lose-lose. But everthin? that matters begins and ends fo? me here. S? time t? put this all t? bed once and fo? all, make even the Mother and Mangi stand up and look. Yeah, m? gonna make this right.? He reached for his phone. ?M? just not naive enough t? think I can do it alone. S? other folks with a stake in this. Other folks who owe.?
?Or just ones who?d be put out if there was a big to-do and they weren?t invited.?
?That too.?
That was the start of how everything ended.
A great many things end the way they began. History has a habit of repeating itself in ways worse that what came before. Take that to heart. Learn from it, not just in your heart and mind, but in your body in soul. You?ll need to understand that in the years to come, respect that wisdom, or it will surely kill you. Be better than your fate. Give the land its due and its heart.
-The Old Man, Words Seldom Heeded
It took the loss of the their sacred place for reality to set in.
But the corruption had started long before that. Too long. It had started near the heart of the shrine, perhaps at the heart of the place long ago dedicated to the great Bear spirit, with the browning of leaves in the dead of summer and the rictus rigidity of dry, dying tree limbs. The slowly spreading blight blackened great patches of grass and stole the song of the forest creatures from the air. The wood once entrusted to Cooper and then pilfered from him had become a sickened mockery of its former splendor. In his heart, the cowboy knew it was happening long before the terse reports from the reclusive woodland vampire started, but when Kurran started painting it all in a more detailed light, he could only shake his head.
?Ain?t muh place anymo?,? he told the golden-eyed undead, who had long since become something of a grudging friend after his connection to Jessica kept the pair from killing each other outright. ?I was taken from the land and given over t? Mangi. M? his creature now, fo? as much as I skirt the boundaries?a his demands.?
?But you can totally play house with the immortal and her welps, is that it??
It had been a conversation ender, leaving months of silence between them. Kurran didn?t need to offer any more details anyway. The connection Cooper had forged at the springs, the free life he stole by the ounce to play at being whole and living, had offered in more insight with the passage of time. He eased the pain of his hypocrisy with his joy but there were still nights the wilds called to him, screamed his name on the wind and cried for salvation. It flew in the face of everything he was told was no longer his. It wasn?t until his connection with the life springs was abruptly severed that he was forced to heed the call. Hauk?s Shadow Lords were suddenly all over the city, overtly plaguing places the family frequented like some scuzzy epidemic. They looked off. Terrible. Wrong. They had made a play at Claire, though she hadn?t realized at the time.
Staying on the sideline was no longer an option.
?Took you long enough.? The old Gangrel was waiting for him on a thickly forested hill, high ground that gave a perfect view of the surrounding land without being too obvious. He was dressed for battle and obscuring the glowing cherry of his cigarette with a cupped palm while eyeing the cowboy sidelong. ?Finally comin? to get your hands dirty. You gonna make this right??
Cooper was silent for long moments before finally replying.
?This is strike three. Lose-lose. But everthin? that matters begins and ends fo? me here. S? time t? put this all t? bed once and fo? all, make even the Mother and Mangi stand up and look. Yeah, m? gonna make this right.? He reached for his phone. ?M? just not naive enough t? think I can do it alone. S? other folks with a stake in this. Other folks who owe.?
?Or just ones who?d be put out if there was a big to-do and they weren?t invited.?
?That too.?
That was the start of how everything ended.